Lectionary Calendar
Friday, May 16th, 2025
the Fourth Week after Easter
Attention!
For 10¢ a day you can enjoy StudyLight.org ads
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

Hebrews 7:12

And when the rules for selecting a priest are changed, the Law must also be changed.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Melchizedek;   Priest;   Succession;   Types;   Scofield Reference Index - Sacrifice;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - High Priest, the;   Types of Christ;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Melchizedek;   Priest;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Type, typology;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Law;   Priest, Christ as;   Priest, Priesthood;   Psalms, Theology of;   Worship;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Covenant;   Offices of Christ;   Preaching;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Hebrews, the Epistle to the;   Zechariah, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Hebrews;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Melchizedek;   Perfection;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Priest (2);   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Melchisedec, Melchizedek ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Paul;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Law of Moses, the;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Change;   Hebrews, Epistle to the;   Priest, High;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for November 6;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must be a change of law as well.
King James Version (1611)
For the Priesthood being chaunged, there is made of necessitie a change also of the Law.
King James Version
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
English Standard Version
For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.
New American Standard Bible
For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also.
New Century Version
And when a different kind of priest comes, the law must be changed, too.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also.
Legacy Standard Bible
For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also.
Berean Standard Bible
For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed as well.
Complete Jewish Bible
For if the system of cohanim is transformed, there must of necessity occur a transformation of Torah.
Darby Translation
For, the priesthood being changed, there takes place of necessity a change of law also.
Easy-to-Read Version
And when a different kind of priest comes, then the law must be changed too.
Geneva Bible (1587)
For if the Priesthood be changed, then of necessitie must there be a change of the Lawe.
George Lamsa Translation
Since there was a change in the priesthood, so also there was a change in the law.
Good News Translation
For when the priesthood is changed, there also has to be a change in the law.
Lexham English Bible
For when the priesthood changes, of necessity there is a change of the law also.
Literal Translation
For the priestly office having been changed, of necessity a change of law also occurs.
Amplified Bible
For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is of necessity a change of the law [concerning the priesthood] as well.
American Standard Version
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
Bible in Basic English
Because if the priests are changed, it is necessary to make a change in the law.
Hebrew Names Version
For the priesthood being changed, there is of necessity a change made also of the law.
International Standard Version
For when a change in the priesthood takes place, there must also be a change in the law.
Etheridge Translation
But as a change hath been made in the priesthood, so is there also a change made in the law.
Murdock Translation
But as there is a change in the priesthood, so also is there a change in the law.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For yf the priesthood be translated, of necessitie also there is made a translation of the lawe.
English Revised Version
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
World English Bible
For the priesthood being changed, there is of necessity a change made also of the law.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For the priesthood being changed, there is also necessarily a change of the law.
Weymouth's New Testament
For when the priesthood changes, a change of Law also of necessity takes place.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For whi whanne the preesthod is translatid, it is nede that also translacioun of the lawe be maad.
Update Bible Version
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
Webster's Bible Translation
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
New English Translation
For when the priesthood changes, a change in the law must come as well.
New King James Version
For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law.
New Living Translation
And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it.
New Life Bible
For when the family group of religious leaders changed, the Law had to be changed also.
New Revised Standard
For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, seeing there is to be a change of the priesthood, of necessity, of law too, a change cometh.
Douay-Rheims Bible
For the priesthood being translated, it is necessary that a translation also be made of the law,
Revised Standard Version
For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Now no dout yf the presthod be translated then of necessitie must the lawe be translated also.
Young's Literal Translation
for the priesthood being changed, of necessity also, of the law a change doth come,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For yf the presthode be traslated, the of necessite must the lawe be translated also.
Mace New Testament (1729)
now the priesthood being changed, the law must necessarily be changed too.
Simplified Cowboy Version
So if the trail has changed, the Law must also be changed to allow it.

Contextual Overview

11 Even though the Law of Moses says that the priests must be descendants of Levi, those priests cannot make anyone perfect. So there needs to be a priest like Melchizedek, rather than one from the priestly family of Aaron. 12 And when the rules for selecting a priest are changed, the Law must also be changed. 13 The person we are talking about is our Lord, who came from a tribe that had never had anyone to serve as a priest at the altar. 14 Everyone knows he came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never said that priests would come from that tribe. 15 All of this becomes clearer, when someone who is like Melchizedek is appointed to be a priest. 16 That person wasn't appointed because of his ancestors, but because his life can never end. 17 The Scriptures say about him, "You are a priest forever, just like Melchizedek." 18 In this way a weak and useless command was put aside, 19 because the Law cannot make anything perfect. At the same time, we are given a much better hope, and it can bring us close to God. 20God himself made a promise when this priest was appointed. But he did not make a promise like this when the other priests were appointed. The promise he made is, "I, the Lord, promise that you will be a priest forever! And I will never change my mind!"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

a change: Isaiah 66:21, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 16:61, Acts 6:13, Acts 6:14

Reciprocal: Hebrews 7:18 - a disannulling Hebrews 8:13 - he hath

Cross-References

Genesis 7:4
Seven days from now I will send rain that will last for forty days and nights, and I will destroy all other living creatures I have made.
Genesis 7:17
For forty days the rain poured down without stopping. And the water became deeper and deeper, until the boat started floating high above the ground.
Deuteronomy 9:9
It happened during those forty days and nights that I was on the mountain, without anything to eat or drink. He had told me to come up there so he could give me the agreement he made with us. And this agreement was actually the same Ten Commandments he had announced to you when he spoke from the fire on the mountain. The Lord had written them on two flat stones with his own hand. But after giving me the two stones,
Deuteronomy 9:18
I bowed down at the place of worship and prayed to the Lord , without eating or drinking for forty days and nights. You had committed a terrible sin by making that idol, and the Lord hated what you had done. He was angry enough to destroy all of you and Aaron as well. So I prayed for you and Aaron as I had done before, and this time the Lord answered my prayers.
Deuteronomy 10:10
Moses said to Israel: When I had taken the second set of stones up the mountain, I spent forty days and nights there, just as I had done before. Once again, the Lord answered my prayer and did not destroy you.
1 Kings 19:8
So Elijah sat up and ate and drank. The food and water made him strong enough to walk forty more days. At last, he reached Mount Sinai, the mountain of God,
Matthew 4:2
After Jesus had gone without eating for forty days and nights, he was very hungry.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For the priesthood being changed,.... Not translated from one tribe, family, or order, to another, but utterly abolished; for though it is called an everlasting priesthood, yet that is to be understood with a limitation, as the word "everlasting" often is, as relating to things under that dispensation; for nothing is more certain than that it is done away: it was of right abrogated at the death of Christ, and it is now in fact; since the destruction of Jerusalem, the daily sacrifice has ceased, and the children of Israel have been many days without one, and without an ephod. And the Jews themselves own, that the high priesthood was to cease in time to come m, and which they say Azariah the son of Oded prophesied of in 2 Chronicles 15:3.

There is made of necessity a change also of the law; not the moral law, that was in being before the priesthood of Aaron, nor do they stand and fall together; besides, this still remains, for it is perfect, and cannot be made void by any other; nor is it set aside by Christ's priesthood: though there is a sense in which it is abolished; as it is in the hands of Moses; as it is a covenant of works; as to justification by it; and as to its curse and condemnation to them that are Christ's; yet it still remains in the hands of Christ, and as a rule of walk and conversation; and is useful, and continues so on many accounts: but either the judicial law; not that part of it which is founded on justice and equity, and was a means of guarding the moral law, for that still subsists; but that which was given to the Jews as Jews, and some parts of which depended on the priesthood, and so ceased with it; as the laws concerning the cities of refuge, raising up seed to a deceased brother, preserving inheritances in families, and judging and determining controversies: or rather the ceremonial law, which was but a shadow of good things to come, and was given but for a time; and this concerned the priesthood, and was made void by the priesthood of Christ; for that putting an end to the Levitical priesthood, the law which related to it must unavoidably cease, and become of no effect. This the Jews most strongly deny; God, they n say, will not change nor alter the law of Moses for ever. The nineth article of their creed, as drawn up by Maimonides, runs thus o;

"I believe with a perfect faith that this law לא תהא מוחלפת "shall not be changed", nor shall there be another law from the Creator, blessed be his name.''

But the reasoning of the apostle is strong and unanswerable.

m Vajikra Rabba, sect. 19. fol. 160. 4. n Seder Tephillot, Ed. Amsterd. fol. 2. 1. o Apud Seder Tephillot, Ed. Basil. fol. 86. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For the priesthood being changed - According to the prediction in Ps. cx., that it would be. When that occurs, the consequence specified will also follow.

There is made of necessity a change also of the law - The Law so far as it grew out of that, or was dependent on it. The connection requires us to understand it only of the Law “so far as it was connected with the Levitical priesthood.” This could not apply to the ten commandments - for they were given before the institution of the priesthood; nor could it apply to any other part of the moral law, for that was not dependent on the appointment of the Levitical priests. But the meaning is, that since a large number of laws - constituting a code of considerable extent and importance - was given for the regulation of the priesthood, and in reference to the rites of religion, which they were to observe or superintend, it followed that when their office was superseded by “one of a wholly different order,” the Law which had regulated them vanished also, or ceased to be binding. This was a very important point in the introduction of Christianity, and hence, it is that it is so often insisted on in the writings of Paul. The argument to show that there had been a change or transfer of the priestly office, he proceeds to establish in the sequel.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Hebrews 7:12. The priesthood being changed — That is, The order of Aaron being now abrogated, to make way for that which had preceded it, the order of Melchisedec.

There is made of necessity a change also of the law. — The very essence of the Levitical law consisting in its sacrificial offerings; and as these could not confer perfection, could not reconcile God to man, purify the unholy heart, nor open the kingdom of heaven to the souls of men, consequently it must be abolished, according to the order of God himself; for he said, Sacrifice and offering, and burnt-offering, and sacrifice for sin, he would not; see Psalms 40:6; Psalms 40:7, compared with Hebrews 10:5-10, and with Psalms 110:4, where it is evident God designed to change both the law and the priesthood, and to introduce Jesus as the only Priest and Sacrifice, and to substitute the Gospel system for that of the Levitical institutions. The priesthood, therefore, being changed, Jesus coming in the place of Aaron, the law of ordinances and ceremonies, which served only to point out the Messiah, must of necessity be changed also.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile