<p>5:6 <i>As also He said elsewhere: You are a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek</i>- This spoken word of inauguration and appointment was likewise uttered in the &quot;day&quot; when the Lord was &quot;begotten&quot; in resurrection (:5). There is no evidence here for any personally pre-existent Christ. The Hebrew writer alludes to and subverts the defiant language of the Maccabees in repeatedly describing Christ as &quot;priest for ever&quot; (Heb. 5:6; 6:20; 7:3,17,21)- when this was the term applied to Simon Maccabaeus in 1 Macc 14:41. See on Lk. 20:25. The nature of the priesthood was to be eternal; so although there were similarities with the Aaronic priests, the priesthood of Messiah was not identical with it. It was after the order of Melchizedek.</p>