Theophylact, while holding an errant understanding of the term απαραβατος in Heb 7:24, did not reject an ordained priesthood (his being a bishop, a sacerdotal, one, too, to boot) in the New Covenant, showing the importance of reading the entirety of one’s corpus. Consider, for example, the following from his commentary on the epistle to the Hebrews:
Heb 5:6:
. . . Let the Jews ask: who else was priest by the order of
Melchizedek besides Christ? All were under the Law, all observed sabbath and
offered sacrifices. It is clear only He alone sanctified the bread and wine as
sacrifice, as Melchizedek did. And what does “forever” mean? That now, in HIs
body offered for us before God and the Father—His sufferings themselves
represent the great intercession without words: “for human nature Your Son
endured this; have mercy on those for whom I condescended to suffer.” Or
that this offering, done daily through God’s ministers, has as High Priest and Sacrifice
the Lord Himself, sanctifying, enduring, and distributing Himself. And
thus, whenever it is offered, the Lord’s death is proclaimed. (The New
Testament Commentaries of Saint Theophylact of Ohrid, 3 vols. [trans. Dean
Marais; Based Books, 2025], 3:222)
Heb 7:3:
Therefore, where are the Arains? Let
them hear that “the Son” has no beginning. In this sense, Paul resolves the
question for us. And if anything troubles us, it is this: how is Christ “a
priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek,” when Melchizedek died
and was not a priest “forever”? We resolve this difficulty by saying that Christ,
as eternal and immortal, is truly the “Priest forever.” For even now—we believe—He
continually offers Himself for us through His ministers and especially as
Intercessor before the Father: . . . (Ibid., 3:230)
