What Does Hebrews 7:13 Mean?
For the one of whom these things are spoken shares in another tribe, from which no one has tended the altar.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.THE KEY
Priestly belonging can come through a tribe whose members have no service at the altar.
THE MEANING
The one named here shares in another tribe, whose members have no service at the altar. The verse reveals priestly standing through a lineage with no claim to altar attendance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that priestly access must come only through the tribe already authorized to serve at the altar.
THE ROOT
μετέσχηκεν
meteschēken
GROWS FROM
ἔχω
echō
to have, hold, or possess
“shares in” in this verse is meteschēken. Both Greek verbs rendered “pertaineth” and “gave attendance” grow from ἔχω (echō, to have or hold): μετέχω (metechō, to share in) and προσέχω (prosechō, to attend to or turn toward). The verse sets shared belonging beside directed service: he belongs to a tribe whose members do not attend the altar.
ALSO GROWS
metechō: to share in, partake
μετέχω
This is the verb behind “pertaineth”; it frames his tribal belonging as sharing in a lineage.
prosechō: to attend to, turn toward
προσέχω
This is the verb behind “gave attendance”; the same root links belonging to the distinct act of serving at the altar.
katechō: to hold fast, retain
κατέχω
This branch shows the wider range of ἔχω: holding something, sharing in it, or directing oneself toward it.
THE PATTERN
Priestly authority can come through a lineage outside the tribe assigned to altar service.
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; and he was the priest of God Most High.The LORD swears and will not relent. You are a priest for the ages, according to my word, Melchizedek.For it is plain that our Lord has sprung out of Judah, a tribe of which Moses spoke nothing concerning the priesthood.THE THREAD
For it is plain that our Lord has sprung out of Judah, a tribe of which Moses spoke nothing concerning the priesthood.The same Greek word φυλή (phylē, tribe) appears in both verses. Verse 14 names Judah and shows which tribe verse 13 calls “another,” bringing that unexpected lineage into view.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us