singular in vv. 2, 4, to express the repeated and manifold tithings under the Mosaic system; or perhaps the many objects which were tithed. The former interpretation is the more likely because in vv. 2, 4, the reference is to one special act.
7:9, 10. It might be said by a Jewish opponent: But Abraham was not a priest: the priesthood, with its peculiar prerogatives, was not instituted in his time. Tiv pro;" tou;" iJereva" hJmw'n eij jAbraa;m dekavthn e[dwken ; (Chrys.). The answer is that Abraham included in himself, as the depositary of the divine promise and the divine blessing, all the forms, as yet undifferentiated, in which they were to be embodied.
7:9. kai;...dij jAbraavm...dedekavtwtai ] And through Abraham , as the representative of the whole Jewish people, Levi also...is tithed. Vulg. Et...per (August. propter ) Abraham et Levi...decimatus est. The descendants of Abraham were included in him, not only as he was their forefather physically, but also because he was the recipient of the divine promises in which the fulness of the race in its manifold developments was included. And Levi includes his descendants in his own person just as he was himself included in Abraham.
It must be observed that Levi is not represented as sharing in the act ( dekavthn e[dwken ), but in the consequences of the act passively ( dedekavtwtai , Latt. decimatus est ). The act of his father determined his relation to Melchizedek, just as if Abraham had made himself Melchizedek's vassal. wJ" e[po" eijpei'n ] Vulg. ut ita dictum sit. V. L. quemadmodum dicam (Aug. sicut oportet dicere ).
This classical phrase does not occur elsewhere in the N.T. or in LXX. but is found in Philo ( e.g., De plant. Noae 1.353 M.). It serves to introduce a statement which may startle a reader, and which requires to be guarded from misinterpretation.
7:10. e[ti ga;r ejn th'/ ojsfuvi> ...] Comp. 7:5 ejxel. ejk th'" ojsf. The repetition of the phrase, which occurs again in the N.T. only in Acts 2:30, emphasises the idea of the real unity of Abraham's race in the conditions of their earthly existence. By this teaching a mystery is indicated to us into which we can see but a little way, a final antithesis in our being; we feel at every turn that we are dependent on the past, and that the future will depend in a large degree upon ourselves. This is one aspect of life, and it is not overlooked in Scripture. At the same time it does not give a complete view of our position. On the one side our outward life is conditioned by our ancestry: on the other side we stand in virtue of our spirit in immediate, personal connexion with God (Heb. 12:9). Each man is at once an individual of a race and a new power in the evolution of the race. He is born (Traducianism), and also he is created (Creationism). Comp. Martensen Dogm. § 74. Additional Note on 4:12. tou' patrov" ] The context in the absence of further definition, requires the sense his father (not our father). Abraham, who was the father of all Israel (Luke 1:73; John 8:53, 56; Acts 7:2; James 2:21; Rom. 4:1, 12, oJ path;r hJmw'n ), can be spoken of also as the father of Levi in particular, through Isaac and Jacob.
(
c
) The Levitical priesthood and the priesthood of Christ (Heb. 7:11-
25).
Having interpreted the type of an absolute priesthood, independent of descent and uninterrupted by death (7:3) offered in the record of