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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - Hebrews 7:18 - 7:18
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There is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before (ἀθέτησις μὲν γὰρ γίνεται προαγούσης ἐντολῆς)
Verily is superfluous. Ἀθέτησις only here and Heb 9:26; a very few times in lxx: The fundamental idea is the doing away of something established (θετόν). The verb ἀθετεῖν to make void, do away with, is common in N.T. and in lxx, where it represents fifteen different Hebrew words, meaning to deal falsely, to make merchandise of, to abhor, to transgress, to rebel, to break an oath, etc. The noun, in a technical, legal sense, is found in a number of papyri from 98 to 271 a.d., meaning the making void of a document. It appears in the formula εἰς ἀθίτησιν καὶ ἀκύρωσιν for annulling and canceling. Προαγούσης ἐντολῆς rend. of a foregoing commandment. The expression is indefinite, applying to any commandment which might be superseded, although the commandment in Heb 7:16 is probably in the writer's mind. Foregoing, not emphasizing mere precedence in time, but rather the preliminary character of the commandment as destined to be done away by a later ordinance. With foregoing comp. 1Ti 1:18; 1Ti 5:24.
For the weakness and unprofitableness thereof (διὰ τὸ αὐτῆς ἀσθενὲς καὶ ἀνωφελές)
Rend. “because of its weakness and unprofitableness.” It could not bring men into close fellowship with God. See Rom 5:20; Rom 8:3; Gal 3:21. Ἀνωφελής unprofitable, only here and Tit 3:9.