By means of: it may be difficult to introduce means when a verb or an event such as taking a vow is involved. Therefore Jesus became a priest by means of a vow may need to be expressed as “God made a vow when Jesus became a priest” or “when Jesus became a priest God vowed.” Vow may sometimes be rendered as “made a strong promise.”

God said: the Greek has “he said,” but Good News Translation avoids confusion by using the noun God instead of the pronoun “he.”

There is a serious problem involved in the reference to The Lord, since in this context The Lord refers to God. It may be necessary to begin the quotation as “I, the Lord God, have made a solemn promise.”

Not take it back may need to be expressed as “will not change my mind” or “will not decide to do something different.”

In the quotation from the first part of Psalm 110.4, the first line is emphasized and Melchizedek is not mentioned. Modern editions of the Greek text omit the words which King James Version translates “after the order of Melchisedec.”

The second line of the quotation partly repeats the meaning of the first. This is common in Hebrew poetry but may not be necessary in translation. In languages where “and” suggests that new information is to follow, it may be better to omit and here and to translate as follows:

“The Lord has made a vow,
he will not change his mind….”

You will be a priest forever may be expressed negatively as “You will never cease to be a priest” or “There will never be a time when you will not be a priest.”

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 .