(5) If therefore (d) 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?
(5) The third treatise of this Epistle, in which after he has proved Christ to be a King, Prophet and a Priest, he now handles distinctly the condition and excellency of all these offices, showing that all these were shadows, but in Christ they are true and perfect. He begins with the priesthood that the former treatise ended with, that by this means all the parts of the debate may better hold together. First of all he proves that the Levitical priesthood was imperfect because another priest is promised later according to an other order, that is, of another rule and fashion.
(d) If the priesthood of Levi could have made any man perfect.