James Swetnam 120 math of the sacrifice of Isaac. Thus the high priesthood of Christ in 4,13 – 6,20, since it is interpreted in Hebrews as being prefigured by the high priesthood of Melchizedek as presented in 7,1-28 as introduced by 6,9- 20, should be seen as the vehicle of transmitting the Christianized prom- ise of progeny to Abraham by God. This progeny, like Melchizedek and hence like Christ, is viewed as being ‘without (human) father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days nor end of life’ (7,3). Thus the key elements for understanding the background of the crux at Heb 5,7-8 are Jesus as lovgo~ in 5,13 and Jesus as prefigured by Melchizedek. That is to say, the crux at Heb 5,7-8, with its emphasis on Christ’s free sacrifice of Himself and the relation of this sacrifice to the Christian tôdâ, is intimately connected with the promise of God to Abraham of Progeny following the sacrifice of Isaac. But in Hebrews, this progeny is brought to a spiritualized, Christianized fulfillment transcend- ing the promise of physical Progeny as the original promise in Gen 22 is usually understood. James SWETNAM Pontifical Biblical Institute Piazza della Pilotta, 25 00187 Rome (ITALY)