Chapter 18

1 And after their punishment has come from the Lord, the priesthood will fail. 2 Then the Lord will raise up a new priest. 3 And to him all the words of the Lord will be revealed; and he will execute a righteous judgment on the earth for many days. 4 And his star will arise in heaven like that of a king. 5 Lighting up the light of knowledge as the sun lights the day, and he will be magnified in the world. 6 He will shine forth like the sun on the earth, and will remove all darkness from under heaven, and there will be peace throughout the earth. 7 The heavens will exult in his days, and the earth will be glad, and the clouds will rejoice, and the knowledge of the Lord will be poured out on the earth, as the water of the seas. And the angels of the glory of the presence of the Lord will be glad in him. 8 The heavens will be opened, and from the temple of glory sanctification will come upon him, with the Father’s voice, as from Abraham to Isaac. 9 And the glory of the Most High will be proclaimed over him, and the spirit of understanding and sanctification will rest on him in the water.⁠ 10 For he will give the majesty of the Lord to His children in truth forever; and none will succeed him for all generations ever. 11 And in his priesthood the Gentiles will be multiplied in knowledge on the earth, and enlightened by the grace of the Lord. In his priesthood, sin will come to an end, and the lawless will cease to do evil.⁠ 12 And the just will rest in him. And he will open the gates of paradise, and will remove the threatening sword against Adam. 13 And he will give to the saints to eat from the tree of life, and the spirit of holiness will be upon them. 14 And Beliar will be bound by him, and he will give power to His children to trample upon the evil spirits.⁠ 15 And the Lord will rejoice in His children, and be well pleased in His beloved ones forever. 16 Then Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be joyful, and I will be glad, and all the saints will clothe themselves with joy.

Texts in conversation

Compare Testament of Levi 18:9 and Hebrews 9:26

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · New Testament

Summary

Hebrews describes Jesus as the final priest whose offering brings an end to sin, an idea also found in the Testament of Levi, which describes a future priest who ends sin and injustice and brings peace.

Passages

Testament of Levi 18:9

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs

9 And the glory of the Most High will be proclaimed over him, and the spirit of understanding and sanctification will rest on him in the water. 10 For he will give the majesty of the Lord to His children in truth forever; and none will succeed him for all generations ever. 11 And in his priesthood the Gentiles will be multiplied in knowledge on the earth, and enlightened by the grace of the Lord. In his priesthood, sin will come to an end, and the lawless will cease to do evil. 12 And the just will rest in him. And he will open the gates of paradise, and will remove the threatening sword against Adam. 13 And he will give to the saints to eat from the tree of life, and the spirit of holiness will be upon them. 14 And Beliar will be bound by him, and he will give power to His children to trample upon the evil spirits. 15 And the Lord will rejoice in His children, and be well pleased in His beloved ones forever.

100 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Testament of Levi

Hebrews 9:26

New Testament

24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands—the representation of the true sanctuary—but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us. 25 And he did not enter to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the sanctuary year after year with blood that is not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice. 27 And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment, 28 so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation.

80–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Hebrews

References

"... Hebrews follows a common Christian tradition in declaring that Jesus was 'without sin' (4:15), 'holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners' (7:26), who 'offered himself without blemish to God' (9:14). Hebrews' idea of Jesus' sinlessness was not derived in any simple way from current views of priesthood or messianic expectation, although it was compatible with such ideas. The messianic 'Branch' of David was to be righteous (Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-16; Isaiah 9:7; 11:1-5), and the Messiah was to 'be clean of sin' (Psalms of Solomon 17:36) and to oppose sin and unrighteousness (17:22-32; compare Hebrews 1:8-9). Priests were expected, not to be sinless, but to minister in a state of purity. Some anticipated an eschatological priest who would make sin to cease (CD XII, 23; Testament of Levi 18:9), and Philo spoke of the Logos as a priest, 'immune from all unrighteousness.' None of these sources, however, portrays sinlessness as obedience in suffering, as does Hebrews ..."

Craig R. Koester, Hebrews: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010), 294.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Testament of Levi19 chapters

Compare Testament of Levi 18:9 and Hebrews 9:26

Summary

Passages

Testament of Levi 18:9

Hebrews 9:26

References

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