Exodus 40:15

40:15 and anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may minister as my priests; their anointing will make them a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.”

Isaiah 61:6

61:6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests,

servants of our God.’ ¹ 

You will enjoy ²  the wealth of nations

and boast about ³  the riches you receive from them. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 33:18

33:18 Nor will the Levitical priests ever lack someone to stand before me and continually offer up burnt offerings, sacrifice cereal offerings, and offer the other sacrifices.”’” ⁵ 

Jeremiah 33:22

33:22 I will make the children who follow one another in the line of my servant David very numerous. I will also make the Levites who minister before me very numerous. I will make them all as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sands which are on the seashore.’” ⁶ 

Hebrews 7:11

Jesus and the Priesthood of Melchizedek

7:11 So if perfection had in fact been possible through the Levitical priesthood – for on that basis ⁷  the people received the law – what further need would there have been for another priest to arise, said to be in the order of Melchizedek and not in Aaron’s order?

Hebrews 7:17-18

7:17 For here is the testimony about him: ⁸  “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” ⁹  7:18 On the one hand a former command is set aside ¹⁰  because it is weak and useless, ¹¹ 

Hebrews 7:1

The Nature of Melchizedek’s Priesthood

7:1 Now this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him. ¹² 

Hebrews 2:5

Exposition of Psalm 8: Jesus and the Destiny of Humanity

2:5 For he did not put the world to come, ¹³  about which we are speaking, ¹⁴  under the control of angels.

Hebrews 2:9

2:9 but we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, ¹⁵  now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, ¹⁶  so that by God’s grace he would experience ¹⁷  death on behalf of everyone.

Revelation 1:6

1:6 and has appointed ¹⁸  us as a kingdom, ¹⁹  as priests ²⁰  serving his God and Father – to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever! ²¹  Amen.

[61:6]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text adds, “it will be said concerning you.”

[61:6]  ² tn Heb “eat” (KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “feed on”; NLT “be fed with.”

[61:6]  ³ tc The form in the Hebrew text is probably a corruption of יִתְאַמְּרוּ (yit’ammÿru), a Hitpael from אָמַר (’amar), meaning “boast about” (see HALOT 67 s.v. II אמר, HALOT 416 s.v. ימר, and BDB 56 s.v. אָמַר).

[61:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “their glory” (i.e., riches).

[33:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “And to the Levites, the priests [= the Levitical priests, the apposition in place of the adjective] there shall not be cut off a man from before me who offers up burnt offering, sacrifices a cereal offering, or makes a sacrifice all the days.”

[33:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “Just as the stars in the sky cannot be numbered or the sand on the seashore cannot be measured, so I will greatly increase [or multiply] the seed of my servant David and the Levites who minister before me.” The word “seed of” does not carry over to the “the Levites” as a noun governing two genitives because “the Levites” has the accusative marker in front of it. The sentence has been broken down in conformity with contemporary English style.

[7:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “based on it.”

[7:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “for he/it is witnessed that.”

[7:17]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 110:4 (see Heb 5:6 and 6:20).

[7:18]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the setting aside of a former command comes to pass.”

[7:18]  ¹¹ tn Grk “because of its weakness and uselessness.”

[7:1]  ¹² sn A series of quotations from Gen 14:17-19.

[2:5]  ¹³ sn The phrase the world to come means “the coming inhabited earth,” using the Greek term which describes the world of people and their civilizations.

[2:5]  ¹⁴ sn See the previous reference to the world in Heb 1:6.

[2:9]  ¹⁵ tn Or “who was made a little lower than the angels.”

[2:9]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “because of the suffering of death.”

[2:9]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “would taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[1:6]  ¹⁸ tn The verb ποιέω (poiew) can indicate appointment or assignment rather than simply “make” or “do.” See Mark 3:14 (L&N 37.106).

[1:6]  ¹⁹ tn See BDAG 168 s.v. βασιλεία 1.a for the idea of “he made us a kingdom,” which was translated as “he appointed us (to be or function) as a kingdom” (see the note on the word “appointed” earlier in the verse).

[1:6]  ²⁰ tn Grk “a kingdom, priests.” The term ἱερεῖς (Jiereis) is either in apposition to βασιλείαν (basileian) or as a second complement to the object “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas). The translation retains this ambiguity.

[1:6]  ²¹ tc Both the longer reading τῶν αἰώνων (twn aiwnwn, “to the ages of the ages” or, more idiomatically, “for ever and ever”; found in א C Ï) and the shorter (“for ever”; found in ̹⁸ A P 2050 pc bo) have good ms support. The author uses the longer expression (εἰς [τοὺς] αἰῶνας [τῶν] αἰώνων, ei" [tou"] aiwna" [twn] aiwnwn) in every other instance of αἰών in Revelation, twelve passages in all (1:18; 4:9, 10; 5:13; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 14:11; 15:7; 19:3; 20:10; 22:5). Thus, on the one hand, the style of the author is consistent, while on the other hand, the scribes may have been familiar with such a stylistic feature, causing them to add the words here. The issues are more complex than can be presented here; the longer reading, however, is probably original (the shorter reading arising from accidental omission of the genitive phrase due to similarity with the preceding words).