What Does Hebrews 7:20 Mean?

And to that degree it was not without an oath that he was made priest.

Hebrews 7:20 · SDV

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.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:

THE KEY

The oath is part of the priesthood’s foundation: this authority rests on a sworn word.

THE MEANING

This priesthood stands under a sworn declaration. Its authority carries the commitment of the one who swears, giving the appointment weight in the present.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This priesthood’s authority comes from its title alone. The verse locates that authority in a sworn word.

THE ROOT

ὁρκωμοσία

horkōmosia

GROWS FROM

ὅρκ-

hork-

oath; sworn speech

⁨ὁρκωμοσία⁩ (horkōmosia, a sworn oath) combines ⁨ὅρκος⁩ (horkos, oath) with ⁨ὄμνυμι⁩ (omnumi, swear). The word holds together the oath and the act of swearing, so the appointment rests on a declaration backed by the speaker’s own commitment.

ALSO GROWS

horkos: oath

ὅρκος

This names the oath contained in the verse’s fuller word for a sworn declaration.

horkizō: to adjure, put under oath

ὁρκίζω

This related word shows the same oath-root at work in speech that binds a person to a solemn declaration.

THE PATTERN

A sworn word gives a promise a firm standing beyond the moment it is spoken.

And he said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not held back your son, your only son.

Genesis 22:16 · SDVThe LORD swears by himself, placing the promise under his own declared commitment.

The LORD swears and will not relent. You are a priest for the ages, according to my word, Melchizedek.

Psalm 110:4 · SDVThe sworn declaration establishes a priesthood that endures.

In this, God, desiring all the more to point out to the heirs of the promise the unshifting of his purpose, placed himself in the middle with an oath.

Hebrews 6:17 · SDVThe oath makes the unchanging purpose of the promise plain to those who receive it.

THE THREAD

For those priests were made without an oath, but this one with an oath by the one who said to him, The LORD swore and will not take it back. You are a priest for the ages according to the arrangement of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 7:21 · SDV

The Greek word ⁨ὁρκωμοσία⁩ (horkōmosia, sworn oath) repeats in this verse, where the contrast is completed: other priests are without an oath, while this priesthood is established with one. The verse then quotes Psalm 110:4, revealing the sworn declaration behind the claim.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us