Hebrews 7:21

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
but he became a priest with an oath made by the one who said to him:

King James Version (1611)
(For those Priests were made without an oath: but this with an oath, by him that said vnto him, The Lord sware and wil not repent, thou art a Priest for euer after the order of Melchisedec)

King James Version
(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

English Standard Version
but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever.'"

New American Standard Bible
(for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, "THE LORD HAS SWORN AND WILL NOT CHANGE HIS MIND, 'YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER'");

New Century Version
but Christ became a priest with God's oath. God said: "The Lord has made a promise and will not change his mind. ‘You are a priest forever.'" Psalm 110:4

New American Standard Bible (1995)
(for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, "THE LORD HAS SWORN AND WILL NOT CHANGE HIS MIND, 'YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER'");

Legacy Standard Bible
(for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him,"The Lord has swornAnd will not change His mind,‘You are a priest forever'");

Berean Standard Bible
but Jesus became a priest with an oath by the One who said to Him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: 'You are a priest forever.'"

Complete Jewish Bible
but Yeshua became a cohen by the oath which God swore when he said to him, " Adonai has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a cohen forever.'"

Darby Translation
(for they are become priests without the swearing of an oath, but he with the swearing of an oath, by him who said, as to him, The Lord has sworn, and will not repent [of it], *Thou* [art] priest for ever [according to the order of Melchisedec];)

Easy-to-Read Version
But Christ became a priest with God's oath. God said to him, "The Lord has made a promise with an oath and will not change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever.'"

Geneva Bible (1587)
But this is made with an othe by him that said vnto him, The Lord hath sworne, and will not repent, Thou art a Priest for euer, after the order of Melchi-sedec)

George Lamsa Translation
For they were made priests without oaths; but this one was made a priest with an oath, as it was said concerning him by David, The LORD has sworn, and will not lie, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Mel-chis''edec.

Good News Translation
But Jesus became a priest by means of a vow when God said to him, "The Lord has made a solemn promise and will not take it back: ‘You will be a priest forever.'"

Lexham English Bible
but he with an oath by the one who said to him, "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever'"),

Literal Translation
for they truly becoming priests are without oath-taking, but He with oath-taking, through the One saying to Him, The Lord swore, and will not care to change, "You are a priest to the age according to the order of Melchizedek;" Psalm 110:4

Amplified Bible
(for those Levites who formerly became priests [received their office] without [its being confirmed by the taking of] an oath, but this One [was designated] with an oath through the One who said to Him, "THE LORD HAS SWORN AND WILL NOT CHANGE HIS MIND or REGRET IT, 'YOU (Christ) ARE A PRIEST FOREVER'").

American Standard Version
(for they indeed have been made priests without an oath; but he with an oath by him that saith of him, The Lord sware and will not repent himself, Thou art a priest for ever);

Bible in Basic English
(For those were made priests without an oath, but this one was made a priest with an oath by him who says of him, The Lord gave his oath, which he will not take back, that you are a priest for ever);

Hebrew Names Version
for they indeed have been made Kohanim without an oath; but he with an oath by him that says of him, "The Lord swore and will not change his mind, 'You are a Kohen forever, According to the order of Malki-Tzedek'".

International Standard Version
but Jesushe">[fn] became a priestbecame a priest">[fn] with an oath when Godhe">[fn] said to him,Psalm 110:4;">[xr] "The Lord has taken an oathand will not change his mind.You are a priest forever."Psalm 110:4">[fn]

Etheridge Translation
For they were made priests without an oath; but this [fn] with an oath: as he said unto him by the hand of David, The Lord hath sworn and will not lie, that thou art the Priest for ever in the likeness of Malki-Zedek.

Murdock Translation
For they became priests without an oath; but this man by an oath. As he said to him by David: The Lord hath sworn, and will not lie, Thou art a priest for ever, after the likeness of Melchisedec.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But this priest with an oth, by hym that saide vnto him: The Lord sware and wyll not repent, thou art a priest for euer, after the order of Melchisedech.)

English Revised Version
(for they indeed have been made priests without an oath; but he with an oath by him that saith of him, The Lord sware and will not repent himself, Thou art a priest for ever);

World English Bible
for they indeed have been made priests without an oath; but he with an oath by him that says of him, "The Lord swore and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever, According to the order of Melchizedek'".

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
but this with an oath, by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedek:)

Weymouth's New Testament
for these men hold office without any oath having been taken, but He holds it attested by an oath from Him who said to Him, "The Lord has sworn and will not recall His words, Thou art a Priest for ever" --

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
but this preest with an ooth, bi hym that seide `to hym, The Lord swoor, and it schal not rewe hym, Thou art a preest with outen ende, bi the ordre of Melchisedech;

Update Bible Version
(for they indeed have been made priests without an oath; but he with an oath by him that says of him, The Lord swore and will not repent, You are a priest forever);

Webster's Bible Translation
(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath, by him that said to him, The Lord swore, and will not repent, Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

New English Translation
but Jesus did so with a sworn affirmation by the one who said to him, " The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind , ‘ You are a priest forever '"—

New King James Version
(for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: "The Lord has swornAnd will not relent,'You are a priest forever [fn] According to the order of Melchizedek' "), Psalms 110:4 ">[fn]

New Living Translation
but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him, "The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: ‘You are a priest forever.'"

New Life Bible
God did not make such a promise when Levi's family group became religious leaders. But when Christ became a Religious Leader, this is the promise God made, "The Lord has made a promise. He will never change His mind. You will be a Religious Leader forever."

New Revised Standard
but this one became a priest with an oath, because of the one who said to him, "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever'"—

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, they, indeed, apart from oath-taking, have been made priests, but, he, with an oath-taking, through him that was saying unto him - The Lord sware, and will not regret, - Thou, art a priest, age-abidingly

Douay-Rheims Bible
But this with an oath, by him that said unto him: The Lord hath sworn and he will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever).

Revised Standard Version
Those who formerly became priests took their office without an oath, but this one was addressed with an oath, "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, 'Thou art a priest for ever.'"

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Those prestes were made wt out an oth: but this prest with an oth by him that saide vnto him The lorde sware and will not repent: Thou arte a prest for ever after the order of Melchisedech.

Young's Literal Translation
and he with an oath through Him who is saying unto him, `The Lord sware, and will not repent, Thou [art] a priest -- to the age, according to the order of Melchisedek;')

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Those prestes were made without an ooth, but this prest with an ooth, by him that sayde vnto him: The LORDE sware, and wyl not repente: Thou art a prest for euer after the order of Melchisedech.

Mace New Testament (1729)
by him that said to him, "the Lord has swore, and will not repent, thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec."

Simplified Cowboy Version
But God made an oath about Jesus when God said, "The Lord has made a promise and it won't ever be broken—you are the trail boss forever."

Contextual Overview

¹¹If the priesthood of Levi and Aaron, which provided the framework for the giving of the law, could really make people perfect, there wouldn't have been need for a new priesthood like that of Melchizedek. But since it didn't get the job done, there was a change of priesthood, which brought with it a radical new kind of law. There is no way of understanding this in terms of the old Levitical priesthood, which is why there is nothing in Jesus' family tree connecting him with that priestly line. ¹⁵But the Melchizedek story provides a perfect analogy: Jesus, a priest like Melchizedek, not by genealogical descent but by the sheer force of resurrection life—he lives!—"priest forever in the royal order of Melchizedek." The former way of doing things, a system of commandments that never worked out the way it was supposed to, was set aside; the law brought nothing to maturity. Another way—Jesus!—a way that does work, that brings us right into the presence of God, is put in its place. ²⁰The old priesthood of Aaron perpetuated itself automatically, father to son, without explicit confirmation by God. But then God intervened and called this new, permanent priesthood into being with an added promise: God gave his word; he won't take it back: "You're the permanent priest." This makes Jesus the guarantee of a far better way between us and God—one that really works! A new covenant. ²³Earlier there were a lot of priests, for they died and had to be replaced. But Jesus' priesthood is permanent. He's there from now to eternity to save everyone who comes to God through him, always on the job to speak up for them. ²⁶So now we have a high priest who perfectly fits our needs: completely holy, uncompromised by sin, with authority extending as high as God's presence in heaven itself. Unlike the other high priests, he doesn't have to offer sacrifices for his own sins every day before he can get around to us and our sins. He's done it, once and for all: offered up himself as the sacrifice. The law appoints as high priests men who are never able to get the job done right. But this intervening command of God, which came later, appoints the Son, who is absolutely, eternally perfect.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

an oath: or, swearing of an oath

The Lord: Hebrews 7:17, Psalms 110:4

sware: Hebrews 6:16-18

Reciprocal: Psalms 61:7 - abide Psalms 89:3 - sworn Psalms 89:49 - thou Jeremiah 4:28 - because Jeremiah 30:21 - and I Ezekiel 37:25 - and my Acts 2:30 - knowing 2 Corinthians 3:11 - if Hebrews 5:6 - Thou Hebrews 6:18 - two Hebrews 7:11 - another Hebrews 7:16 - the power Hebrews 7:28 - the word

Cross-References

Genesis 6:13
God said to Noah, "It's all over. It's the end of the human race. The violence is everywhere; I'm making a clean sweep.

Genesis 6:17
"I'm going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction.

Genesis 7:6
Noah was 600 years old when the floodwaters covered the Earth. Noah and his wife and sons and their wives boarded the ship to escape the flood. Clean and unclean animals, birds, and all the crawling creatures came in pairs to Noah and to the ship, male and female, just as God had commanded Noah. In seven days the floodwaters came.

Genesis 7:17
The flood continued forty days and the waters rose and lifted the ship high over the Earth. The waters kept rising, the flood deepened on the Earth, the ship floated on the surface. The flood got worse until all the highest mountains were covered—the high-water mark reached twenty feet above the crest of the mountains. Everything died. Anything that moved—dead. Birds, farm animals, wild animals, the entire teeming exuberance of life—dead. And all people—dead. Every living, breathing creature that lived on dry land died; he wiped out the whole works—people and animals, crawling creatures and flying birds, every last one of them, gone. Only Noah and his company on the ship lived.

Isaiah 24:19
The Landscape Will Be a Moonscape Danger ahead! God 's about to ravish the earth and leave it in ruins, Rip everything out by the roots and send everyone scurrying: priests and laypeople alike, owners and workers alike, celebrities and nobodies alike, buyers and sellers alike, bankers and beggars alike, the haves and have-nots alike. The landscape will be a moonscape, totally wasted. And why? Because God says so. He's issued the orders. The earth turns gaunt and gray, the world silent and sad, sky and land lifeless, colorless. Earth is polluted by its very own people, who have broken its laws, Disrupted its order, violated the sacred and eternal covenant. Therefore a curse, like a cancer, ravages the earth. Its people pay the price of their sacrilege. They dwindle away, dying out one by one. No more wine, no more vineyards, no more songs or singers. The laughter of castanets is gone, the shouts of celebrants, gone, the laughter of fiddles, gone. No more parties with toasts of champagne. Serious drinkers gag on their drinks. The chaotic cities are unlivable. Anarchy reigns. Every house is boarded up, condemned. People riot in the streets for wine, but the good times are gone forever— no more joy for this old world. The city is dead and deserted, bulldozed into piles of rubble. That's the way it will be on this earth. This is the fate of all nations: An olive tree shaken clean of its olives, a grapevine picked clean of its grapes. But there are some who will break into glad song. Out of the west they'll shout of God 's majesty. Yes, from the east God 's glory will ascend. Every island of the sea Will broadcast God 's fame, the fame of the God of Israel. From the four winds and the seven seas we hear the singing: "All praise to the Righteous One!" But I said, "That's all well and good for somebody, but all I can see is doom, doom, and more doom." All of them at one another's throats, yes, all of them at one another's throats. Terror and pits and booby traps are everywhere, whoever you are. If you run from the terror, you'll fall into the pit. If you climb out of the pit, you'll get caught in the trap. Chaos pours out of the skies. The foundations of earth are crumbling. Earth is smashed to pieces, earth is ripped to shreds, earth is wobbling out of control, Earth staggers like a drunk, sways like a shack in a high wind. Its piled-up sins are too much for it. It collapses and won't get up again. That's when God will call on the carpet rebel powers in the skies and Rebel kings on earth. They'll be rounded up like prisoners in a jail, Corralled and locked up in a jail, and then sentenced and put to hard labor. Shamefaced moon will cower, humiliated, red-faced sun will skulk, disgraced, Because God -of-the-Angel-Armies will take over, ruling from Mount Zion and Jerusalem, Splendid and glorious before all his leaders.

Zephaniah 1:3
"Men and women and animals, including birds and fish— Anything and everything that causes sin—will go, but especially people.

Romans 8:22
All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For these priests were made without an oath,.... The priests of the tribe of Levi, and of the order of Aaron, were installed into their office, and invested with it, without an oath; no mention is made of any when Aaron and his sons were put into it in Moses's time; nor was any used afterwards, neither by God, nor by the priests, nor by the people; it is true indeed that after the sect of the Sadducees arose, the high priest on the day of atonement, was obliged to take an oath that he would not change any of the customs of the day t; but then this regarded not his investiture, but the execution of his office; and was an oath of his and not of the Lord's, which is here designed:

but this with an oath; that is, Christ was made an high priest with an oath, even with an oath of God; which gives his priesthood the preference to the Levitical priesthood, which was without one: and this oath was made,

by him that said unto him: the Syriac version reads, "as he said to him by David"; that is, in Psalms 110:4. David being the penman of that psalm, in which stand the following words of the Father to Christ:

the Lord sware and will not repent, thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec; which proves that Jehovah swore that Christ should be a priest, and continue so: swearing, when ascribed to God, is after the manner of men, and is always by himself, and never upon any trivial account; but either to confirm his love to his people, or his covenant with them, or the mission of his Son to be the Redeemer, or, as here, his priestly office: and this oath was made not so much on Christ's account, as on account of the heirs of promise, for their consolation; and shows the dignity, validity, importance, and singularity of Christ's priesthood, as well as the durableness of it; and of this oath God will never repent: repentance cannot properly fall upon God, on any account; for it is contrary to his holiness and righteousness, and to his happiness, to his unchangeableness, omniscience, and omnipotence; it is indeed sometimes ascribed to him improperly, and after the manner of men; and only regards a change of his outward conduct according to his immutable will; and the change that is made is in the creature, and not in God himself: but God will not repent in any sense of the priesthood of Christ, nor of his oath, that it should continue for ever according to the order of Melchizedek; for he was every way qualified for it, and has faithfully performed it, not his investiture, but the execution of his office; and was an oath of his and not of the Lord's, which is here designed:

but this with an oath; that is, Christ was made an high priest with an oath, even with an oath of God; which gives his priesthood the preference to the Levitical priesthood, which was without one: and this oath was made,

by him that said unto him: the Syriac version reads, "as he said to him by David"; that is, in Psalms 110:4. David being the penman of that psalm, in which stand the following words of the Father to Christ:

the Lord sware and will not repent, thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec; which proves that Jehovah swore that Christ should be a priest, and continue so: swearing, when ascribed to God, is after the manner of men, and is always by himself, and never upon any trivial account; but either to confirm his love to his people, or his covenant with them, or the mission of his Son to be the Redeemer, or, as here, his priestly office: and this oath was made not so much on Christ's account, as on account of the heirs of promise, for their consolation; and shows the dignity, validity, importance, and singularity of Christ's priesthood, as well as the durableness of it; and of this oath God will never repent: repentance cannot properly fall upon God, on any account; for it is contrary to his holiness and righteousness, and to his happiness, to his unchangeableness, omniscience, and omnipotence; it is indeed sometimes ascribed to him improperly, and after the manner of men; and only regards a change of his outward conduct according to his immutable will; and the change that is made is in the creature, and not in God himself: but God will not repent in any sense of the priesthood of Christ, nor of his oath, that it should continue for ever according to the order of Melchizedek; for he was every way qualified for it, and has faithfully performed it.

t Misn. Yoma, c. 1. sect. 5.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For those priests were made without an oath - The Levitical priests were set apart and consecrated without their office being confirmed to them by an oath on the part of God. They received it by regular descent, and when they arrived at a suitable age they entered on it of course. Jesus received his office by special appointment, and it was secured to him by an oath. The word rendered “oath” is in the margin “swearing of an oath.” This is the proper meaning of the Greek word, but the sense is not materially varied.

But this with an oath - This priest, the Lord Jesus, became a priest in virtue of an oath.

The Lord sware - see the note at Hebrews 6:13. The reference here is to Psalms 110:4. “The Lord hath sworn.”

And will not repent - That is, “will not regret, or will not alter his mind through regret” - for this is the meaning of the Greek word.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 21. Those priests — The Levitical, were made without an oath, to show that the whole system was changeable, and might be abolished.

But this — The everlasting priesthood of Christ, with an oath, to show that the Gospel dispensation should never change, and never be abolished.

By him — God the Father, that said unto him-the promised Messiah, Psalms 110:4, The Lord sware, to show the immutability of his counsel, and will not repent - can never change his mind nor purpose, Thou art a priest for ever-as long as time shall run, and the generations of men be continued on earth. Till the necessity of the mediatorial kingdom be superseded by the fixed state of eternity, till this kingdom be delivered up unto the Father, and God shall be all in all, shall this priesthood of Christ endure.