Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 7:14

"For it is evident that our Lord hath sprung out of Judah; as to which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priests." — Hebrews 7:14 (ASV)

“For” introduces the explanation of the preceding. The author calls Jesus “our Lord” (GK 3261) again only in 13:20 (a title usually reserved for the Father). His verb “descended” (GK 422) is unusual here. It means “rise” or “spring up,” and it can be used of the rising of a star or of the springing up of a shoot from the roots of a plant. The author may have in mind the rising of a star or, more likely, the OT prophecies about the Messiah being a shoot from the root of David (Jeremiah 23:5). Here Jesus is said to come “from Judah,” a tribe for which Moses had nothing to say about priests; the law did not envisage priests from any tribe other than Levi. That is what made a priesthood like Melchizedek’s so unusual.