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autem factus est quando carnem suscepit, quando sacrificium obtulit.

It was not unnatural that some endeavoured to claim for the Lord a double descent from Levi as well as from Judah. Comp. Lightfoot on Clem. 1 Cor. 32.
prosevschken tw'/ qusiast. ] hath given attendance at ...Latt. ( alt. ) praesto fuit. For prosevcein compare Heb. 2:1 note. From the sense of ‘giving attention to,’ that of practical ‘devotion’ to an object follows naturally: 1 Tim. 4:13; 3:8 ( tw'/ oi[nw/ ). The statement applies only to the regular legitimate service of the altar and does not take account of any exceptional acts, as of the royal sacrifices of David and Solomon.

Heb. 7:14. provdhlon gavr ...] For it is openly, obviously, evident to all...Comp. 1 Tim. 5:24 f. The word provdhlo" occurs several times in Clem. 1 Cor. cc. 11, 12, 40, 51.
ejx jIouvda ] out of the tribe of Judah. Compare Apo c. 5.5 oJ levwn oJ ejk th'" fulh'" jIouvda .

These are the only two passages in the N.T. in which the Lord is definitely connected with Judah except in the record of the Nativity (Matt. 2:6 || Micah 5:2). The privilege of the tribe is elsewhere concentrated in its representative, David (2 Sam. 7:12; Jer. 23:5; Ps. 132:11; Luke 1:32; Rom. 1:3). Comp. Gen. 49:8 ff.

Here the contrast with Levi makes the mention of the tribe necessary. The Lord traced His descent from the royal and not from the priestly tribe. There is no direct mention in this Epistle of the relation of the Lord to David.

It is important to observe that the writer affirms here most plainly the true manhood of the Lord (comp. Heb. 7:7 ff.). Like St John he combines the most striking testimonies to His divine and Human natures.

There is nothing to shew in what exact form he held that the Lord's descent from Judah through David was reckoned: whether as the legal representative of Joseph, or as the Son of Mary, who was herself known to be of Davidic descent. The genealogies are in favour of the former view. Compare Clem. R. xxxii. and Lightf.
ajnatevtalken ] hath risen, sprung. Latt. ortus est. The image may be taken from the rising of the sun or of a star, or from the rising of a plant from its hidden germ. For the former image comp. Luke 1:78; 2 Pet. 1:19; Num. 24:17; Mal. 4:2. For the latter, Is. 61:11; Jer. 23:5; Zech. 3:8; 6:12. The usage of the N.T. is in favour of the former interpretation; and Theophylact, referring to Num. 24 and Mal. 4, says well: dij w|n dhlou'tai to; eij" fwtismo;n tou' kovsmou th;n parousivan tou' kurivou genevsqai .
oJ kuvrio" hJmw'n ] Compare Heb. 13:20 oJ kuvrio" hJ. jIhsou'" . The title without any addition is very rare and occurs (only) 1 Tim. 1:14; 2 Tim. 1:8; 2 Pet. 3:15.

Comp. oJ kuvrio" Heb. 2:3 note. In Apoc. 11:15 the title is applied to the Father; oJ kuvrio" hJmw'n kai; oJ cristo;" aujtou' .
eij" h}n f. ] Latt. in qua tribu.

Comp. ejf o{n Heb. 7:13; Luke 22:65; Eph. 5:32; Acts 2:25; and also 1 Pet. 1:11.

Heb. 7:15-19. The Levitical priesthood was transitory, and during its continuance it was stamped with the conditions of limitation.


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