Hebrews 7:5
“They indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brothers, though these have come out of the body of Abraham,”
What does Hebrews 7:5 mean?
In Old Testament times, the Levites were set apart as priests and didn't receive land like other Israelite tribes. Instead, they depended on tithes, a tenth of what people produced, so the community supported those who served in worship and teaching. This passage points out something interesting about that system: even though all Israelites were descendants of Abraham and technically "brothers," the priests collected tithes from them anyway because God had established this as the proper way to sustain the priesthood. The writer is building toward a larger point about how Jesus represents a completely different kind of priesthood that works on a different principle, but here he's simply acknowledging how the old system actually functioned in practice.