What Does Hebrews 5:6 Mean in the King James?
As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Greek word for “order” makes the priest’s permanence an appointed pattern, so “for ever” describes more than duration alone.
THE MEANING
You meet a priest whose service reaches into the age, held in an order named by Melchisedec. The verse presents lasting priesthood as a pattern established and sustained, not a brief office.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that every priestly office must end with the priest’s lifetime is undone by a priesthood that continues for ever.
THE ROOT
τάξιν
táxin
GROWS FROM
τάσσω
τάσσω (tássō): to arrange, assign, or set in place.
English “order” can sound like a label for a category; τάξις carries an arrangement or assigned place. The verse connects enduring priesthood to a pattern set in place, and this word family also speaks of appointing and directing.
ALSO GROWS
tássō: Arrange, assign, appoint.
τάσσω
The verb behind τάξις makes the order sound like something set in place.
diatássō: Arrange, direct, appoint.
διατάσσω
This related verb shows the family’s sense of an arrangement established with authority.
tágma: An arranged body, division, or rank.
τάγμα
The same word family can describe an ordered body, echoing that the priest belongs to a pattern of service.
αἰῶνα
aiōna
GROWS FROM
αἰών
αἰών (aiṓn): an age, era, or span of time.
“for ever” in this verse is aiōna. The phrase εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα (eis ton aiōna, “into the age”) gives the priest’s enduring service an age-long horizon. This duration belongs to the appointed order named in the verse.
ALSO GROWS
aiṓn: An age or era.
αἰών
This is the noun in the verse’s phrase translated “for ever,” carrying the language of an age.
aiṓnios: Belonging to an age; age-long.
αἰώνιος
This related form keeps the word family’s age-language visible when describing what endures.
ἱερεύς
hiereús
GROWS FROM
ἱερ-
ἱερ- (hier-): sacred, set apart for sacred service.
The priest belongs to a word family that also names the sacred precinct and the priesthood itself. This keeps the verse’s office tied to a sacred sphere of service as well as to its appointed order.
ALSO GROWS
hierón: A sacred place or temple precinct.
ἱερόν
The shared root links the priest’s role with the sacred place of service.
hierōsýnē: Priesthood.
ἱερωσύνη
This related word names the priestly service that the verse says continues.
THE PATTERN
A priestly role is sustained by divine appointment and enduring service beyond an ordinary succession.
The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever.But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.THE THREAD
If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?Hebrews 7:11 repeats τάξις (táxis, “order”), the same Greek word used here. It places the order named by Melchisedec beside Aaron’s, making the verse’s appointed pattern a distinct form of priesthood.
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