Hebrews 7:15-17 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

And it is yet far more evident;— "And, independent on all genealogical controversywhich the most ingenious malice couldurge concerning Mary's family, it is yet more abundantly manifest that the law must be changed, from the least attention to that scripture alone, so frequently mentioned, That, or inasmuch as another priest ariseth according to the similitude of Melchisedec. For, let the priesthood be in any tribe, it can continue according to the legal establishment only for the natural life of a man: and then provision is made for a successor: but the priesthood according to the similitude of Melchisedec admits of no such thing as succession, but is for an indissoluble life. A carnal commandment here is opposed to a power of living for ever; a carnal commandment therefore is a law that concerneth the flesh which dies; whereas a priesthood for ever does not depend upon flesh, which, in the common course of things, soon comes to an end." The apostle, therefore, is not speaking, of the law as enjoining sacrifices, or any other external worship; but of the necessity of the law of Moses being changed, since a priest was to arise of a different sort, who was to live for ever;—as he infers from the words of the Psalmist, Thou art a priest FOR EVER, &c. Dr. Heylin renders the 16th and 17th verses thus: Who is not established according to the law of a carnal succession, but according to the power he has to live for ever: As the scripture testifieth in these words, Thou art a priest for ever, &c.