Hebrews 7:9-10

Do these verses indicate that an embryo is merely a potential human being, not an actual human person?

PROBLEM: The writer of Hebrews declares that Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek through Abraham. However, Levi was not even born until hundreds of years after this time. So Levi could not possibly have actually paid tithes to Melchizedek—he could only have done it potentially.

SOLUTION: This text is not speaking of an embryo, to say nothing of calling it a potential human being.

Fourth, if this is so, then even human sperm (before they fertilize an ovum) are potential human beings just like embryos. But this is genetically incorrect. Sperm have only 23 chromosomes while embryos have 46 (see comments on Psalms 139:13-16).