ἀπάτωρ (apatōr)
apatōr
fatherless
Quick Reference
- Language
- Koine Greek
- Testament
- New Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
Word Overview
The noun apatōr literally means "fatherless," formed from a negative prefix and the word for father. In the New Testament, it appears only once, in Hebrews 7:3, to describe Melchizedek. Here, the term does not merely indicate an orphan who has lost his parent; rather, it highlights that no genealogical record of his father is provided in the biblical text.
This specific usage carries significant theological weight. The author of Hebrews uses apatōr to emphasize that Melchizedek’s priesthood stands apart from the Levitical system, which relied heavily on documented lineage. By noting that Melchizedek is "without father" in the scriptural record, the text underscores a priesthood that appears timeless and independent of ancestral descent.
Translators typically render this as "without father" or "fatherless," capturing the absence of recorded origin. This distinction separates Melchizedek from the Aaronic priests, whose authority was strictly tied to their family trees. The word thus serves as a literary marker for a unique, non-hereditary priestly order.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word apatōr appears only once in the New Testament, describing Melchizedek in Hebrews 7:3. The text notes he is "without father," not to suggest an orphaned childhood, but because Scripture provides no record of his lineage. This absence is intentional. It marks him as a priest whose authority does not come from ancestral descent or family trees.
This detail highlights a priesthood that stands apart from the Levitical system. Melchizedek remains a priest continually, independent of human genealogy. For believers, this points to a spiritual reality: our standing before God rests on His eternal order, not on our own heritage or achievements. We are invited into a relationship defined by grace, not by bloodline.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- Without father,1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- ἀπάτωρ,1×
Key Verses
-
Hebrews 7:3
without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God), remains a priest continually.
The term highlights the lack of recorded lineage for Melchizedek, distinguishing his priesthood from the hereditary Levitical system.