Sophia Scriptura

Church History 1.3.17

Eusebius of Caesarea · Church History · ca. 300–325 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: Like Melchizedek, whose priesthood came neither by anointing nor descent, Christ is priest by God's oath.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:15–16

οὗτος δὲ εἰσάγεται ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς λόγοις ὁ Μελχισεδὲκ, ἱερεὺς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου, οὐκ ἐν σκευαστῷ τινι χρίσματι ἀναδεδειγμένος, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ διαδοχῇ γένους προσήκων τῇ καθʼ Εβραίους ἱερωσύνῃ. διὸ κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ τάξιν, ἀλλʼ οὐ κατὰ τὴν τῶν ἄλλων σύμβολα καὶ τύπους ἀνειληφότων Χριστὸς καὶ ἱερεὺς μεθʼ ὅρκου παραλήψεως ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν ἀνηγόρευται.

English · Claude translation

This Melchizedek is introduced in the sacred books as a priest of God Most High, not appointed by any prepared anointing, nor belonging by descent to the priesthood of the Hebrews. Therefore it is after his order, and not after that of the others who received symbols and types, that our Saviour has been proclaimed Christ and priest with the confirmation of an oath.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:15–16 · Wilhelm Dindorf, ed., Eusebii Caesariensis Opera, vol. 4: Historiae ecclesiasticae libri I–X (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871) · Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 4. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Scripture
Topics
Christology

Notes

Translation notes

  • Allusion to Gen 14:18 and Heb 7:1–3, 20–21.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 1.3.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/1/3/17/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 1.3.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/1/3/17/).

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