The third point of contrast is between Melchizedek on the one hand, and Levi and his descendants on the other hand. The contrast may be only with the priests, but In the case of the priests is not expressed in the Greek. In the case of the priests may have to be rendered as “In the case of the priests descended from Levi”; otherwise “the priests” might also imply Melchizedek, since he is also called a priest.

Is collected: as in verse 5, there is no stress on the priest’s initiative in “collecting.”

Men who die means that the tithes are collected by “mortal men” (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, Jerusalem Bible), that is to say, by “men who must die” (New English Bible). A strictly literal translation of men who die might suggest that the tithes are collected by “dying men.” It may therefore be necessary to render men who die as “men who will ultimately die” or “men who will finally die.”

The writer draws the conclusion that Melchizedek did not die from the fact that Scripture does not mention his death. New American Bible has “Scripture testifies that this man lives on.” The Greek verb is not simply “says” but “supports by its witness”; the same word is used of Abel and Enoch in 11.4-5. As for Melchizedek may be rendered as “in the case of Melchizedek” or “but in speaking about what Melchizedek did.”

If the passive construction was collected by one who lives must be rendered in an active form, it may be possible to render but as for Melchizedek the tenth was collected by one who lives as “but with regard to Melchizedek, he is the one who lives and is the one who collected the tenth.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .