Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Hebrews 7:9

"And, so to say, through Abraham even Levi, who receiveth tithes, hath paid tithes;" — Hebrews 7:9 (ASV)

The expression “one might even say” often introduces a statement that startles a reader and requires one to be careful against misinterpretation. The characteristic of Levi (and his descendants after him) was not that of paying but of receiving tithes. Of course, there is something of the “in-a-manner-ofspeaking” about Levi’s collecting of tithes, just as there is in his paying of them, because he collects them not in person but through his descendants. But the startling thing is that he should be said to pay tithes at all. In other words, when Abraham paid Melchizedek a tithe, the author sees Levi as paying it, for “Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.” This is a way of speaking we find here and there in the Bible when the ancestor includes the descendants. For example, it was said to Rebekah that not two children but “two nations are in your womb” (Genesis 25:23). Levi and all subsequent priests were thus included in the payment of the tithe. The author wants his readers to be in no doubt about the superiority of Christ to any other priests, and he sees the mysterious figure of Melchizedek as powerfully illustrating this superiority.