Hebrews 7 · Verse 12

Hebrews 7:12

For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

Hebrews 7:12, King James Version

Hebrews 7:12 in other translations

BSB	For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed as well.
WEB	For the priesthood being changed, there is of necessity a change made also in the law.
ASV	For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
YLT	for the priesthood being changed, of necessity also, of the law a change doth come,
DARBY	For, the priesthood being changed, there takes place of necessity a change of law also.
BBE	Because if the priests are changed, it is necessary to make a change in the law.
Webster	For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.

What does Hebrews 7:12 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

12. For--the reason why Paul presses the words "after the order of Melchisedec" in Psa 110:4, namely, because these presuppose a change or transference of the priesthood, and this carries with it a change also of the law (which is inseparably bound up with the priesthood, both stand and fall together, He 7:11). This is his answer to those who might object, What need was there of a new covenant?

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes

Verse 12. For the priesthood being changed. According to the prediction in Ps 110 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 connexion 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reference to the rites of religion, which they were to observe or superintend, it followed that when their office was superseded by one of a wholly different order, the law which had regulated them vanished also, or ceased to be binding.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.

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 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 Psa 40:6, Psa 40:7, compared with Heb 10:5-10, and with Psa 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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Hebrews 7:11-25

The priesthood and law by which perfection could not come, are done away; a Priest is risen, and a dispensation now set up, by which true believers may be made perfect. That there is such a change is plain. The law which made the Levitical priesthood, showed that the priests were frail, dying creatures, not able to save their own lives, much less could they save the souls of those who came to them. But the High…

Read the full comment on Hebrews 7:11-25 →

Hebrews 7:12 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

μετατιθεμένηςmetatithemenēsWhen is being changedG3346

γὰρgarforG1063

τῆςtēstheG3588

ἱερωσύνηςhi'erōsunēspriesthoodG2420

ἐξexfromG1537

ἀνάγκηςanagkēsnecessityG318

καὶkaialsoG2532

νόμουnomouof lawG3551

μετάθεσιςmetathesisa changeG3331

γίνεται.ginetaitakes place.G1096

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Hebrews 7:12

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Isaiah 66:21
And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord.
Acts 6:13-14
And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
Ezekiel 16:61
Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

a change.
Isa 66:21; Jer 31:31-34; Eze 16:61; Ac 6:13,14

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Hebrews 7:11
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 7:12
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
Hebrews 7:13
For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar.

Read all of Hebrews 7

Hebrews 7:12 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Pues mudado el sacerdocio, necesario es que se haga también mudanza de la ley.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Car la sacrificature étant changée, il y a aussi par nécessité un changement de loi.
German Elberfelder 1871	Denn wenn das Priestertum geändert wird, so findet notwendig auch eine Änderung des Gesetzes statt.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Translato enim sacerdotio, necesse est ut et legis translatio fiat.