Hebrews: The Greater Receives from the Lesser
Hebrews 7:4-10 - Logic is used to reason with the Jewish Christians who are doubting their faith.
“Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the choicest spoils. And those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although these are descended from Abraham. But the one whose genealogy is not traced from them collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater. In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives on. And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.”
Hebrews 7:4-10 NASB1995
The author of Hebrews supplies more details in this meeting of Abraham the patriarch and Melchizedek. Abraham voluntarily gave Melchizedek a tenth of choicest spoils from his recent victories. This tithe was given long before the tribe of Levi was even a gleam in Abraham’s eyes (Isaac wasn’t even born at this point in history and Levi was, of course, one of the twelve sons of Isaac’s son Jacob). The author is telling his intended audience that not only was this early priest and king worthy of a tithe, but this priest and king also gave Abraham a blessing. The lesser (man) gives to the greater (the priest/king), who then bestows something that is authorized by God.
The priests of the tribe of Levi were mortal men. They collected the mandatory tithes. Levi, although he was born much later, also paid this tithe to Melchizedek through his ancestor Abraham (an interesting perspective on the value of the not-yet-born descendants). The same could be said of Levi’s descendant Aaron, who became a high priest in that tradition. These descendant priests died, but there is no record of the death of Melchizedek. The actions of Abraham elevate Melchizedek above the Levitical priesthoods. Obviously, the author is following a path of logic with his intended audience. The true eternal priest and king is the Messiah, a descendant of Abraham, but not through the priest tribe.
So does this make sense? I’m not sure I understand it, but here is an explanation of this passage from Enduring Word:
a. Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils… the sons of Levi… have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law: The priesthood of Levi received tithes from Israel as a commandment. Abraham voluntarily gave tithes to Melchizedek. This makes Abraham’s giving to Melchizedek greater than Israel’s payment of tithes to the priesthood instituted by Moses.
i. A tenth of the spoils: Spoils is literally the top of the heap, referring to the choicest spoils of war. When Abraham tithed to Melchizedek he literally “took it off the top.”
b. Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him: Because the whole tribe of Levi was genetically in the loins of Abraham when he did this, we see the Old Testament priesthood paying tithes to the priesthood of Melchizedek. This shows Melchizedek is in a position of authority over Abraham and his descendant Levi.
i. The phrase, “so to speak” in Hebrews 7:9 is important. The writer to the Hebrews knows he is making an allegorical point, so he doesn’t want to be taken too literally.
c. The lesser is blessed by the greater: This principle also shows that Melchizedek was greater than Abraham because he blessed Abraham. On his part, Abraham accepted that Melchizedek was greater when he received the blessing.
i. “The blessing here spoken of… is not the simple wishing of good to others, which may be done by inferiors to superiors; but it is the action of a person authorized to declare God’s intention to bestow good things on another.” (Macknight, cited by Clarke)
Perhaps this will also help (or maybe not), from Bruce Hurt at Precept Austin:
Let’s review the progression in the writer’s logic -- Melchizedek was shown to be greater than Abraham in order to show that Melchizedek was greater that Levi and in turn greater than Aaron from whose lineage came the Levitical priests. From this line of logic, one can then deduce that if Melchizedek is greater than Aaron, then Melchizedek’s priesthood must also be greater than Aaron’s priesthood and in the final analysis, Messiah’s priesthood, since it was of the order of Melchizedek must be greater than the Aaronic Priesthood. This is why the dull of hearing were not ready for the writer’s line of logic!
Think of Adam the representative head of all mankind - In Romans 5:12ff Paul uses the same principle of the head representing all the subsequent offspring of all time. Paul explained that the entire human race was considered to be in Adam, so that when Adam sinned, I sinned and you sinned, not to mention that we also inherited Adam’s “sin virus” which made us “little sinners” even from the womb. Recall Paul’s teaching...
Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin (the 100% contagious “sin virus”) entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned (this is difficult to understand but Paul flatly states it as a fact, and it reflects the principle of imputation - or receiving credit - so that when Adam sinned, every human who was ever born “received credit” for that sin as if they had themselves committed it. Don’t ask me to try to explain this further because I cannot. God says it and I believe it regardless of whether I can fully comprehend it or explain it! See Federal Headship) (Ro 5:12+)
In an similar way, the Levitical priesthood was considered to have been present in the patriarch Abraham not when he sinned but when he tithed and was blessed. Specifically the Jewish race in general and the Levitical descendants were present when their great patriarch and father acknowledged the superiority of Melchizedek by his voluntary willingness to tithe to him and receive blessing from him.
I think this makes more sense as the argument continues in Hebrews 7. My next devotional examines Hebrews 7:11-14 - The imperfection of the Levitical system.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - There are many mysteries of the faith, but I have no problem understanding a logical argument when it is laid out flawlessly. Thank you for helping me learn, at least a little bit, of how the voluntary tithe of Abraham and the blessing from Melchizedek supersede the Levitical system. Amen.
Credits and Citations:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
Precept Austin was accessed on 11/30/2025 to review commentary for Hebrews 7:4-10.
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com
Within the Enduring Word Commentary:
Clarke, Adam The New Testament with A Commentary and Critical Notes, Volume II (New York: Eaton & Mains, 1831)