What Does Hebrews 7:15 Mean?
And it is yet far more plain, for another priest rises according to the likeness of Melchizedek.
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
And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,THE KEY
The verse makes likeness the evidence of a new priesthood: the priest who rises is another, yet recognizable through Melchisedec’s pattern.
THE MEANING
A distinct priest comes into view through the pattern of Melchisedec. You can hold both at once: this priest is “another,” and his likeness makes the connection evident. The verse keeps continuity and difference together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Legitimacy does not require repeating the same priestly line; a distinct priest can carry the pattern forward.
THE ROOT
ὁμοιότητα
homoiotēta
GROWS FROM
ὅμοιος
hómoios
Like, similar, resembling.
The word for “similitude” belongs to the family of words for being like and for a likeness or form. Here, likeness marks the pattern that makes the priest recognizable, while “another” preserves the difference between them.
ALSO GROWS
hómoios: Like, similar.
ὅμοιος
This is the word-family’s basic idea: the new priest corresponds to Melchisedec without being Melchisedec.
homoiōma: Likeness, form, or image.
ὁμοίωμα
This branch shows how resemblance can describe a recognizable form or pattern, illuminating how the priest’s identity is read through Melchisedec.
ἀνίσταται
anistatai
GROWS FROM
ἵστημι
histēmi
Stand or set in place; with ἀνά, rise up.
The verb for “ariseth” is built on the Greek word for standing, joined to a prefix meaning up. Its family also gives the word for resurrection, so the priest is pictured as rising into view, not merely occupying a static title.
ALSO GROWS
anastasis: Rising; resurrection.
ἀνάστασις
This noun shares the “stand up” root with “ariseth,” carrying the same movement into the idea of rising.
anthistēmi: Stand against; resist.
ἀνθίστημι
The same root can describe standing in opposition; its prefix changes the direction while the underlying image of standing remains.
THE PATTERN
A distinct priest becomes recognizable through a pattern that remains present across the testimony.
The LORD swears and will not relent. You are a priest for the ages, according to my word, Melchizedek.As he says also in another place, "You are a priest for the ages after the arrangement of Melchizedek."For it is witnessed, You are a priest for the ages according to the arrangement of Melchizedek.THE THREAD
Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest without break.The phrase “made like” in Hebrews 7:3 uses the same likeness word-family as “similitude” here. Together, the verses make likeness a structural link: Melchisedec is portrayed in relation to the Son, and another priest appears according to his pattern.
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