World English Bible · Under Rome
Hebrews 7
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For this , king of , priest of , who met returning from the slaughter of the kings and him, to whom also divided a tenth part of all (being first, by , "king of ", and then also "king of ", which means "king of peace", without , without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of ), a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch gave a tenth out of the best plunder. They indeed of the who receive the priest's office have a to take from the people according to , that is, of their brothers, though these have come out of the body of , but he whose genealogy is not counted from them has accepted from , and has him who has the promises. But without any dispute the lesser is by the greater. Here people who receive , but there one receives of whom it is testified that he lives. We can say that through even , who receives , has paid , for he was yet in the body of his when met him. Now if perfection was through the priesthood (for under it the people have received ), what further need was there for another priest to arise after the order of , and not be called after the order of ? For the priesthood being changed, there is of necessity a change made also in . For he of whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the . For it is evident that our has sprung out of Judah, about which tribe spoke nothing concerning priesthood. This is yet more abundantly evident, if after the of there arises another priest, who has been made, not after of a , but after the of an endless life; for it is testified, "You are a priest , according to the order of ." For there is an annulling of a foregoing because of its weakness and uselessness (for made nothing perfect), and a bringing in of a better , through which we draw near to . Inasmuch as he was not made priest without the taking of an (for they indeed have been made priests without an ), but he with an by him that says of him, " and will not change his , 'You are a priest , according to the order of .'" By so much, has become the guarantee of a better . Many, indeed, have been made priests, because they are hindered from continuing by . But he, because he lives , has his priesthood unchangeable. Therefore he is also able to to the uttermost those who draw near to through him, seeing that he lives to make intercession for them. For such a was fitting for us: , guiltless, undefiled, separated from , and made higher than ; who doesn't need, like those high priests, to offer up daily, first for his own , and then for the of the people. For he did this once for all, when he offered up himself. For appoints men as high priests who have weakness, but the word of the , which came after , appoints a Son who has been perfected.
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The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.