Hebrews 7:9

as I may so say--to preclude what he is about to say being taken in the mere literal sense; I may say that, virtually, Levi, in the person of his father Abraham, acknowledged Melchisedec's superiority, and paid tithes to him. who receiveth tithes--(Compare Heb 7:5). in Abraham--Greek, "by means of (by the hand of) Abraham"; through Abraham. "Paid tithes," literally, "hath been tithed," that is, been taken tithes of.

The doctrine of the priestly office of Christ is so excellent in itself, and so essential a part of the Christian faith, that the apostle loves to dwell upon it. Nothing made the Jews so fond of the Levitical dispensation as the high esteem they had of their priesthood, and it was doubtless a sacred and most excellent institution; it was a very severe threatening denounced against the Jews (Hos 3:4), that the children of Israel should abide many days without a prince or priest, and without a sacrifice, and with an ephod, and without teraphim. Now the apostle assures them that by receiving the Lord Jesus they would have a much better high priest, a priesthood of a higher order, and consequently a better dispensation or covenant, a better law and testament; this he shows in this chapter, where, I. We have a more particular account of Melchisedec (Heb 7:1-3). II. The superiority of his priesthood to that of Aaron (Heb 7:4-10). III. An accommodation of all to Christ, to show the superior excellency of his person, office, and covenant (Heb 7:11 to the end).

7:9-10 we might even say: The author recognizes that what he is about to say, that the Levites . . . paid a tithe to Melchizedek, is not literally true, since Levi wasn’t born yet. Abraham represented all his descendants in paying his tithe to Melchizedek. Levi was united with Abraham because the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s body. All the people issuing from Abraham were one with him. Thus, his act could be considered their act.