Bible Strands
Hebrews 10:21
and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The author addresses Jewish believers tempted to abandon the new covenant, placing this clause directly after the description of the curtain torn and immediately before the command to draw near with full assurance.
The words — μέγαν (megan) = great and ἱερέα (hiereus) = priest form the phrase "great priest," marking Christ’s superior rank and efficacy over the Levitical order.
The thread — This designation recurs in Hebrews 4:14, Hebrews 6:20, and Hebrews 2:17, consistently tying Christ’s heavenly session and eternal priesthood to believer access.
Why it lands — It requires the reader to abandon reliance on earthly mediation and approach God directly, grounded solely in Christ’s finished work and ongoing intercession.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And having an high priest over the house of God;
Cross-references
- Hebrews 2:17 For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, in order to make atonement for the sins of the people.
- Hebrews 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess.
- Hebrews 6:20 where Jesus our forerunner has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
- Hebrews 8:1 The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,
- Ephesians 2:19 Therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household,
- Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, set your focus on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess.
- Hebrews 7:26 Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
- Hebrews 3:3 For Jesus has been counted worthy of greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.
- 2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”
- 1 Timothy 3:15 in case I am delayed, so that you will know how each one must conduct himself in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.