When Abram returned from the slaughter of the Assyrians, in his way to Hebron, he was met at Shaveh, or King’s Dale, afterward the valley of Jehoshaphat, between Jerusalem and Mount Olivet, by Melchizedek, king of Salem, the most ancient quarter of Jerusalem, a priest of the most high God, who gave him bread and wine, and blessed him in the name of the “most high God, Creator of heaven and earth;” to whom Abram in return piously gave tithes, or the tenth part of all the spoils as an offering to God, Heb 7:2. This Canaanitish prince was early considered as a type of Christ in the Jewish church: “Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek,” Psa 110:4. He resembled Christ in the following particulars:
1. In his name, Melchizedek, “King of Righteousness;”
2. In his city, Salem, “Peace;”
3. In his offices of king and priest of the most high God; and
4. In the omission of the names of his parents and genealogy, the time of his birth and length of his life, exhibiting an indefinite reign and priesthood, according to the Apostle’s exposition, Heb 7:5.
The import of this is, that he came not to his office by right of primogeniture, (which implies a genealogy,) or by the way of succession, but was raised up and immediately called of God to it. In that respect Christ is said to be a priest after his “order.” Then, again, that he had no successor, nor could have; for there was no law to constitute an order of succession, so that he was a priest only upon an extraordinary call. In this respect our Lord’s priesthood answers to his, because it is wholly in himself, who has no successor. An infinite number of absurd opinions have been at different times held respecting this mystic personage, as that he was Shem, or Ham; or, among those who think he was more than human, that he was the Holy Ghost, or the Son of God himself; absurdities which are too obsolete to need refutation.
Melchiz´edek, (king of righteousness), ’priest of the most high God,’ and king of Salem, who went forth to meet Abraham on his return from the pursuit of Chedorlaomer and his allies, who had carried Lot away captive. He brought refreshment, described in the general terms of ’bread and wine,’ for the fatigued warriors, and bestowed his blessing upon their leader, who, in return, gave to the royal priest a tenth of all the spoil which had been acquired in his expedition (Gen 14:18; Gen 14:20).
This statement seems sufficiently plain, and to offer nothing very extraordinary; yet it has formed the basis of much speculation and controversy. In particular, the fact that Abraham gave a tithe to Melchizedek attracted much attention among the later Jews. In one of the Messianic Psalms (Psa 110:4), it is foretold that the Messiah should be ’a priest after the order of Melchizedek;’ which the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 6:20) cites as showing that Melchizedek was a type of Christ, and the Jews themselves, certainly on the authority of this passage of the Psalms, regarded Melchizedek as a type of the regal-priesthood, higher than that of Aaron, to which the Messiah should belong. The bread and wine which were set forth on the table of show-bread, was also supposed to be represented by the bread and wine which the King of Salem brought forth to Abraham (Schottgen, Hor. Heb. ii. 645). A mysterious supremacy came also to be assigned to Melchizedek, by reason of his having received tithes from the Hebrew patriarch; and on this point the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 7:1-10) expatiates strongly, as showing the inferiority of the priesthood represented, to that of Melchizedek, to which the Messiah belonged. ’Consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils;’ and he goes on to argue that the Aaronic priesthood, who themselves received tithes of the Jews, actually paid tithes to Melchizedek in the person of their great ancestor. This superiority is, as we take it, inherent in his typical rather than his personal character. But the Jews, in admitting this official or personal superiority of Melchizedek to Abraham, sought to account for it by alleging that the royal priest was no other than Shem, the most pious of Noah’s sons, who, according to the shorter chronology, might have lived to the time of Abraham. Such conjectures require no refutation. The best founded opinion seems to be that of Carpzov and the most judicious moderns, who, after Josephus, allege that Melchizedek was a principal person among the Canaanites and posterity of Noah, and eminent for holiness and justice, and therefore discharged the priestly as well as regal functions among the people: and we may conclude that his twofold capacity of king and priest (characters very commonly united in the remote ages) afforded Abraham an opportunity of testifying his thankfulness to God in the manner usual in those times, by offering a tenth of all the spoil. This combination of characters happens for the first time in Scripture to be exhibited in his person, which, with the abrupt manner in which he is introduced, and the nature of the intercourse between him and Abraham, render him in various respects an appropriate and obvious type of the Messiah in his united regal and priestly character.
Salem, of which Melchizedek was king, is usually supposed to have been the original of Jerusalem.
King of righteousness, king of Salem, and also priest of the most high God, in which capacity he blessed Abraham, and received tithes at his hand, Gen 14:18-20 . Scripture tells us nothing of his father or mother, of his genealogy, his birth, or his death; he stands alone, without predecessor or successor, a royal priest by the appointment of God; and thus he was a type of Jesus Christ, who is "a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek," and not after the order of Aaron, whose origin, consecration, life, and death, are known, Psa 110:4 Heb 7:1-28 . See GENEALOGY.\par It has been a matter of great inquiry among commentators, who Melchizedek really was. He has been variously supposed to be the Holy Spirit, the Son of God, an angel, Enoch and Shem. But the safest and most probable opinion is that which considers Melchizedek as a righteous and peaceful king, a worshiper and priest of the most high God, in the land of Caanan; a friend of Abraham, and of a rank elevated above him. This opinion, indeed, lies upon the very face of the sacred record in Gen 14:1-24 Heb 7:1-28, and it is the only one that can be defeated on any tolerable grounds of interpretation. See SALEM.\par
Melchiz’edek. (king of righteousness). King of Salem, and priest of the most high God, who met Abram in the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s valley, bought out bread and wine, blessed him, and received tithes from him. Gen 14:18-20. The other places in which Melchizedek is mentioned are Psa 110:4, where Messiah is described as a priest forever, "after the order of Melchizedek," and Heb 5:1; Heb 6:1; Heb 7:1, where these two passages of the Old Testament are quoted, and the typical relation of Melchizedek to our Lord is stated at great length.
There is something surprising and mysterious in the first appearance of Melchizedek, and in the subsequent reference to him. Bearing a title, which Jews in after ages would recognize as designating their own sovereign, bearing gifts which recall to Christians the Lord’s Supper, this Canaanite crosses, for a moment, the path of Abram, and is unhesitatingly recognized as a person of higher spiritual rank than the friend of God. Disappearing as suddenly as he came, he is lost to the sacred writings for a thousand years.
Jewish tradition pronounces Melchizedek to be a survivor of the deluge, the patriarch Shem. The way in which he is mentioned in Genesis would rather lead to the inference that Melchizedek was of one blood with the children of Ham, among whom he lived, chief , (like the king of Sodom), of a settled Canaanitish tribe.
The "order of Melchizedek," in Psa 110:4, is explained to mean "manner" = likeness in official dignity = a king and priest. The relation between Melchizedek and Christ as type and antitype, is made in the Epistle to the Hebrews to consist in the following particulars: Each was a priest, (1) not of the Levitical tribe; (2) superior to Abraham; (3) whose beginning and end are unknown; (4) who is not only a priest, but also a king of righteousness and peace. A fruitful source of discussion has been found in the site of Salem. See Salem.
("king of righteousness".) King of Salem (Jerusalem) and priest of the most high God (Elion; used by Balaam, Num 24:16. The Phoenicians so named their chief god according to Sanchoniathon in Enseb. Praep. Event., doubtless from primitive revelation. After the slaughter of Chedorlaomer Melchizedek met Abram in the valley of Shaveh (level), the king’s dale (Gen 14:17-20; 2Sa 18:18), namely, the valley of the upper Kedron, where Absalom long afterward reared a pillar; adjoining Jerusalem. Salem was the oldest, the poetic name (Psa 76:2), Jebus was the next name, and Jerusalem is the most recent name. This favors the view that Siddim, Sodom, and Gomorrah were to the S. of the Dead Sea. Abram in returning from Dan to Hebron would naturally take the route by Jerusalem (Thomson, Land and Book, 2:31). Adonizedek ("lord of righteousness") corresponds; being also the name of a king of Jerusalem (Jos 10:1).
"Brought forth bread and wine" (1Sa 25:18), hospitably to refresh Abram’s weary band (which, though not referred to in Hebrew, reminds us of the Lord’s supper), probably after sacrificing animals the first fruits of the spoil (as Philo, de Abr., asserts,
(I) Combining the kingship with the priesthood (Zec 6:9-15, especially Zec 6:13). David cannot be the king priest; he could bring wrath on, but not effect an atonement for, his people (2Sa 24:17). Uzziah, heir of his throne, incurred leprosy by usurping the priesthood (2Ch 26:16-21). The divine (Heb 7:20) oath accompanying this priesthood, but not the Aaronic, shows its unparalleled excellency. David died, and the Aaronic priests could not continue by reason of death (Heb 7:8). The Aaronic priesthood was "made after the law of a carnal commandment," but the Melchizedek priesthood "after the power of an endless life," as is declared a thousand years later than the psalm (Heb 7:1-3; Heb 7:15-16; Heb 7:28). Melchizedek was probably of Semitic stock, for Shemites were in Palestine before the immigration of the Canaanites (Hamites). By the time that Abram arrived "the Canaanite was then (already) in the land" (Gen 12:6).
(II) Melchizedek is introduced "without father, without, mother, without descent" being recorded, whereas this was an essential in the Aaronic priesthood (see Ezr 2:62-63; Exo 29:9; Exo 29:29-30; Lev 21:13-14). This is a second peculiarity of Messiah’s priesthood, that it is not derived from another before Him, and "passeth not to another" after Him (Heb 7:24 margin). The "without father," etc., refers to Melchizedek officially not naturally. Melchizedek was without father, etc., i.e. sacerdotally he was independent of his descent, unlike the Aaronic priests, who forfeited the priesthood if they could not trace their descent (see Neh 7:64-65). Melchizedek had no fixed beginning or end of his king priesthood, such as the Levitical priests, who began at 30 and ended at 50 years of age. Christ as man had "father, mother, beginning of days and end of life, and descent" genealogically traced (Heb 7:3).
Melchizedek therefore cannot have been absolutely without these; but officially he was without them, even as the antitypical priest Messiah was officially and sacerdotally without them. Messiah was not of Levi, but of Judah, so did not receive His priesthood by inheritance. He did not transmit it to any successor; nay, the term
(III) The Aaronic priesthood was local, temporary, and national; the Melchizedek priesthood was prior to the Levitical temporary law, and so world-wide and everlasting. The Aaronic high priest claimed no authority over other nations. Melchizedek was priest not only to his own city Salem, but is recognized as such by Abram the representative of God’s church and people; and the king of Sodom tacitly acquiesces in this claim to an universal priesthood. This is the significance of the title, priest of "the Possessor of heaven and earth." Melchizedek is the first and the last who by God’s appointment, and in God’s name, exercised the priesthood for Shemite and Hamite alike, the forerunner of gospel universality which joins under Christ all of every race (Gal 3:28; Col 3:11; Rom 10:12).
(IV) Melchizedek was superior to Abram, in that he Blessed and received tithes from him (the giver’s token of acknowledgment that all his property is God’s), and so was superior to Levi and the Aaronic priesthood which were in Abram’s loins. So Messiah is infinitely above the Antonio priests.
(V) Melchizedek as king of "righteousness" (
Melchizedek is the first designated
Melchizedek, or Melchisedec (mel-kĭz’-e-dĕk), the Greek form in the New Testament (king of righteousness), is mentioned in Gen 14:18-20 as king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, meeting Abram in the valley of Shaveh, bringing out bread and wine to him, blessing him, and receiving tithes from him; in Psa 110:4, where Messiah is described as a priest "after the order of Melchizedek;" and finally, in Heb 5:6-7, where the typical relations between Melchizedek and Christ are defined, both being priests without belonging to the Levitical tribe, superior to Abram, of unknown beginning and end, and kings of righteousness and peace. The short but impressive account of Melchizedek in Genesis, and the striking though mystical applications made in the Psalms and the Epistle to the Hebrews, have given rise to various interpretations. One Jewish tradition considers him to be a survivor of the Deluge, the patriarch Shem, and thus entitled by his very age to bless the father of the faithful, and by his position as ruler of Canaan to confer his rights to Abram. Another tradition, equally old, but not so widely accepted, considers him to be an angel, the Son of God in human form, the Messiah. Modern scholars, arguing back from the expositions given in the Epistle to the Hebrews, consider him to be a descendant of Ham, a priest among the heathen, constituted by God himself; and given a title above that of the ordinary patriarchal priesthood, even above that of Abram.
During Abram’s sojourn in Canaan this priest and king met and Treated him with hospitality (Gen 14:18-20). Much mystery appears to hang about this distinguished personage. Various theories have been Advanced concerning him. Some assert that he was God Almighty. This is Not a fact, for he was "the priest of the most high God" (Gen 14:18). Others assert that he was Jesus Christ. This is not a fact, for he was "Made like the Son of God" (Heb 7:3). It is asserted in the Scriptures that he was a man (Heb 7:1-4). If you will reflect that the Scriptures deal with him in his official capacity, the difficulties and Mysteries surrounding him will immediately vanish. Let us take a closer View. The history of the world, from the Biblical standpoint, naturally Divides itself into three different periods, which for want of better Terms I will designate,
the Patriarchal dispensation, the Jewish dispensation, the Christian dispensation. Each dispensation is characterized by a priesthood peculiarly its own. There was no regular priestly line from the transgression to the giving Of the law of Moses. In a general way, it may be asserted that every Man was his own priest (Gen 4:1-4; Gen 12:7,8; Gen 15:8-18; Gen 26:19-25; Gen 31:43-55 Gen 35:1-15; Gen 46:1). During this age Melchizedek appeared. He was king of Salem and priest of the most high God. We know nothing of his duties Or prerogatives as priest or king. We know that he did not belong to Any special priestly order. His priestly office was independent of all Other men. In the priestly office he was without father, and without Mother, and without descent. No record was kept of his installation as Priest, his official acts, or his death, hence, so far as the record is Concerned, he was without beginning of days or end of life. At the Inauguration of the second dispensation an entire family was set apart To the priestly office, and the priestly office remained in that Family, and was transmitted from father to son and from generation to Generation to the death of Christ (Exo 29:1,29; Num 17:1-13; Num 18:1-7 Heb 7:11,23-28). David predicted that a priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek (Psa 110:4). This is repeatedly affirmed by the author of Hebrews. The priesthood of the Christian dispensation is After the order of Melchizedek, and not after the order of Aaron. Jesus became a priest when he entered heaven by his own blood (Heb 8:1-4; Heb 10:11-12). His priesthood is independent. He had no predecessor, and he will have no successor. He will remain in heaven And officiate as priest until the work of redemption is done.
MELCHIZEDEK.—See Priest.
(
="king of righteousness"):
By: Isidore Singer, Kaufmann Kohler
King of Salem and priest of the Most High in the time of Abraham. He brought out bread and wine, blessed Abram, and received tithes from him (Gen. xiv. 18-20). Reference is made to him in Ps. cx. 4, where the victorious ruler is declared to be "priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." The story is neither an invention nor the product of a copyist's error, as Cheyne ("Encyc. Bibl.") thinks, but rests upon ancient Jerusalemic tradition (as Josephus, "B. J." vi. 10, affirms; comp. Gunkel, "Genesis," 1901, p. 261), "Zedek" being an ancient name of Jerusalem (probably connected with the Phenician
Type of Ancient Monotheism.
But to the Jewish propagandists of Alexandria, who were eager to win proselytes for Judaism without submitting them to the rite of circumcision, Melchizedek appealed with especial force as a type of the monotheist of the pre-Abrahamic time or of non-Jewish race, like Enoch. Like Enoch, too, he was apotheosized. He was placed in the same category with Elijah, the Messiah ben Joseph, and the Messiah ben David (Suk. 52b, where "Kohenẓedek" should be corrected to "Malkiẓedeḳ"). The singular feature of supernatural origin is ascribed to all four, in that they are described as being "without father and without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the son of God abiding forever" (Heb. vii 2-3; comp. Ruth. R. v. 3, where the original text [see "Pugio Fidei," p. 125] referred also to Ps. cx. 4, Isa. liii. 2, and Zech. vi. 12, comp. Yalḳ., Reubeni Bereshit, 9d; Epiphanius, "Hæresis," lv. 3). According to Midr. Teh. to Ps. xxxvii., Abraham learned the practise of charity from Melchizedek. Philo speaks of him as "the logos, the priest whose inheritance is the true God" ("De Allegoriis Legum," iii. 26).
The Samaritans identified the city of Salem with their sanctuary on Mount Gerizim (see LXX., Gen. xxxiii. 18; comp. Eusebius, "Præparatio Evangelica," ix. 17).
The Melchizedekites.
The rabbis of later generations, rather antagonistic to the cosmopolitan monotheism of Alexandria, identified Melchizedek with Shem, the ancestor of Abraham (Ned. 32b; Pirḳe R. El. xxiii.; Targ. to Gen. xiv. 4). A singular story is told of Melchizedek in the Ethiopian Book of Adam and Eve, which, before it was turned into a Christian work, seems to have presented a strange combination of Jewish and Egyptian elements emanating from a sect afterward known as the Melchizedekites. There (iii. 13-21) Noah tells his son Shem before his death to take "Melchizedek, the son of Canaan, whom God had chosen from all generations of men, and to stand by the dead body of Adam after it had been brought from the ark to Jerusalem as the center of the earth and fulfil the ministry before God." The angel Michael then took away Melchizedek, when fifteen years of age, from his father, and, after having anointed him as priest, brought him to (Jerusalem) the center of the earth, telling his father to share the mystery only with Shem, the son of Noah, while the Holy Spirit, speaking out of the ark when the body of Adam was hidden, greeted Melchizedek as "the first-created of God." Shem went, carrying bread and wine, and, assisted by the angel, brought the body of Adam to its destination. Melchizedek offered the bread and wine upon the altar they built near the place where Adam's body was deposited, and then Shem departed, leaving the pure lad in his garment of skins under the sole protection of the angel, no one on earth knowing of his whereabouts until, at last, Abraham met him. Compare also "Die Schatzhöhle" (Bezold's transl. 1883, pp. 26-28), where the father of Melchizedek is called "Malki" and the mother "YoẒedeḳ"; and see the notes to Malan's "Book of Adam and Eve" (1882, pp. 237-238). Against the opinion of Roensch (Das Buch der Jubiläen," 1874, p. 502), that the story of Melchizedek has been intentionally omitted from the Book of Jubilees, see Charles in his Commentary to Jubilees (xiii. 25). A remnant, probably, of these Melchizedekites appears in early Christian literature as a heretic sect which regarded Melchizedek as a great heavenly power and as a son of God, superior to Jesus (Epiphanius," Hæresis," lv. 1-9; Hippolytus, "Refutatio Hæresium," vii. 36, x. 20; pseudo-Tertullian, 48; Augustinus, "De Hæresibus," 34; see also Herzog-Hauck, "Real-Encyc." s.v. "Monarchianismus").
Bibliography:
Friedländer, Antichrist, 1901, pp. 88-89.
MELCHIZEDEK.—Described as king of Salem and priest of God Most High (‘El ‘Elyôn), who met Abraham on his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and his allies, refreshed him and his servants with bread and wine, blessed him, and received from him a tenth of the spoil he had taken (Gen 14:18-20). Salem has been variously identified: (1) with the Shalem of Gen 33:18 (AV
The historical character of the narrative in which Melchizedek is mentioned has been questioned on the ground of certain improbabilities which it contains; but though the events related have received no corroboration from other sources, the names of two of the kings who fought against Abraham, viz. Amraphel and Arioch, have with some plausibility been identified with those of Hammurabi and Eriaku, contemporary kings of Babylon and Larsa about b.c. 2200; so that, if the identification is correct, it confirms the setting of the story, though not its incidents. For the name and personality of Melchizedek no independent confirmatory evidence has yet been obtained.
In Psa 110:4, to the ideal king of Jewish hopes, the Messiah, there is promised an endless priesthood ‘after the order of Melchizedek.’ This ascription of priestly functions to a sovereign who was expected to be of the house of David and the tribe of Judah is evidently meant as an exceptional distinction, and implies that the writer lived at a time when priests in Israel were taken exclusively from the tribe of Levi, as was the case after the promulgation of the Deuteronomic law (probably in the 7th cent.). At an earlier date persons belonging to other tribes than that of Levi were sometimes priests: David’s sons (2Sa 8:18); and Ira the Jairite (2Sa 20:26), who belonged to Manasseh (Num 32:41); but the author of Psa 110:1-7, in seeking a type for the combination in the same person of both the regal and priestly offices, had to go outside the limits of Israel, and found what he wanted in the priest-king of Salem, who was all the more adapted for the purpose by reason of the deference paid to him by so illustrious a personage as Abraham.
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, identifying Jesus with the Messiah, and asserting His high priesthood, cites the words of Psa 110:1-7, and declares that He was named of God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek’ (Heb 5:10). He then proceeds to show the superiority of Christ’s priesthood over that of the Jewish priests, the descendants of Aaron, and seeks to illustrate it by the superiority of Melchizedek over Abraham, as he gathers it from Gen 14:1-24. He explains Melchizedek’s name to mean ‘king of righteousness,’ and his title of ‘king of Salem’ to mean ‘king of peace’; and then, arguing from the silence of the record respecting his parentage, birth, and death, describes him as ‘without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God,’ and affirms him to have been greater than Abraham, since he blessed him (‘for without any dispute the less is blessed of the better’) and received from him (and through him from his unborn descendants the Levitical priests) a tithe of his spoils (Heb 7:1-16). In this passage much of the writer’s argument is fanciful, the narrative in Genesis being handled after a Rabbinic fashion, and the parallel drawn between our Lord and Melchizedek being largely based on the mere omission, in the OT record, of certain particulars about the latter, which, for the historian’s purpose, were obviously irrelevant. At the same time it may perhaps be said that, as contrasted with the Levitical priests who succeeded to their priestly offices by reason of their descent, an ancient priest-king is really typical of our Lord, inasmuch as it is likely that, in a primitive age, such a one would owe his position to his natural endowments and force of character. It was in virtue of His personality that our Lord made, and makes, His appeal to the world; and to the authoritativeness of His attitude in regard to the current teaching of the Jewish religious teachers of His day (Mat 5:21-48, Mar 7:1-28) a distant analogy is, in fact, afforded by the superior position which in Genesis seems to be ascribed to Melchizedek in respect of Abraham, the ancestor of the Jewish race. See also art. Priest (in NT).
G. W. Wade.
(Hebrew: king of justice)
King of Salem, most probably Jerusalem, and a priest of the Most High God. He came to meet Abram after his victory over Chodorlahomor and his allies (Genesis 14), and on this occasion brought forth bread and wine, blessed Abram, thanked God for the victory, and received tithes of all the spoils. The "bringing forth bread and wine" is interpreted by all the Fathers and Catholic commentators as offering a sacrifice to God, because the phrase which follows, "he was priest of the Most High God," seems to give the motive why he brought forth bread and wine. According to oriental custom Abram would wish to thank God by sacrifice, and if Melchisedech came to meet Abram because he was a priest of the Most High God, the latter would ask him to offer the sacrifice, and would pay him the tithes for this truly sacerdotal function. Melchisedech is a type of Christ (Psalm 109; Hebrews 7), because of his titles, King of Justice, King of Peace, Priest of the Most High God; and because of his eternal priesthood. Scripture is silent about his lineage, about his birth and death; and in this sense he is "without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life" (Hebrews 7). This silence suggests the eternal Son of God and His endless priesthood. He is a type of Christ also because of his superiority to Abram, from whom he received tithes and whom he blessed. In Jewish tradition Melchisedech is commonly identified with Sem; Origen and Didymus held him to have been an angel; some even thought that he Wall an incarnation of the Holy Spirit or the Son of God.
The original meaning was probably ‘My king is Zedek’; but the name is interpreted ideally in Heb_7:2, where it is taken to mean ‘king of righteousness,’ and at the same time, because of Melchizedek’s rule over Salem (= ‘peace’), ‘king of peace.’ Thus the personal and the official titles point to the actual character of the man. The typical hero, first righteous and therefore self-governed and blessed with the tranquillizing consciousness of the presence of God, appears to the writer as an anticipation of Him in whom alone righteousness and peace are completely realized both in His own person and life and in His gifts to men. Thereupon the writer proceeds to develop the comparison in the interest of his conception of the supreme and permanent priesthood of Jesus Christ.
1. The original source of the story is Gen_14:17-20, of which the literary history is still uncertain. It is not an integral part of any of the principal documents, though the chapter as a whole has a few affinities with P. At present the only safe conclusion is that it comes from an independent source, of which the special characteristics cannot yet be determined. Nor is there any real evidence of a lack of historicity. The combination of kingly and priestly offices in one person, who was invested with a sacred character as a descendant of a deity, was a not unusual feature of government in the primitive ages (see J. G. Frazer, Lectures on the Early History of the Kingship, 1905, p. 29 ff.), and may well have prevailed among the Canaanite tribes. Yet the writer of Hebrews need not be regarded as a witness to the historicity of the narrative, or as concerning himself with such a question. He treats Melchizedek ideally rather than historically, and interprets the picture preserved in Genesis without committing himself to any opinion as to its literal or biographical accuracy. His object is not to confirm nor to question the narrative, but to work out a conception of priesthood which he found in the priestly archives of his nation; and in so doing he makes at least as much use of the silences of Scripture as of the assertions. Accordingly, B. F. Westcott (Hebrews, 1889, p. 199 f.) takes him as pronouncing no judgment on the historical problems, but as eliciting the typical and abiding value of the story.
2. Immediate source of the exposition.-The writer need not be conceived as going back through Psa_110:4 to the original tradition in Genesis 14 and working upon it independently; for there is sufficient reason to believe that the narrative had for a couple of centuries engaged the attention of some of the religious leaders of the people, and in the interpretation an interesting development may be traced. ‘God Most High’ (Heb_7:1) is a phrase of frequent occurrence in the Apocrypha (for the passages see E. Hatch and H. A. Redpath, Concordance to the Septuagint , 1892 ff.), especially in Ecclesiasticus; and the title ‘priest of the Most High God’ was revived by the Maccabaean princes, whilst John Hyrcanus (137-105 b.c.) combined in himself the triple functions of prophet, priest, and king (see Josephus, Ant. XIII. x. 7, Bellum Judaicum (Josephus) I. ii. 8; and R. H. Charles, Book of Jubilees, 1902, p. lxxxviii, Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, 1908, p. li ff., with references there cited). Evidently the Melchizedek tradition was considered as pointing to the Maccabaean leaders (cf. J. Skinner, Genesis, 1910, on 14:20), in whose period Psalms 110 may have undergone its final liturgical revision. The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs is a Palestinian book; but Philo is a witness for the prevalence of a similar interest in the ancient story in Egypt. He argues in favour of an identification of Melchizedek with the Logos, whose priesthood, however, is viewed as a symbol of the action of reason in bringing righteousness and peace to men (Mangey, i. 103, 533, ii. 34). The thought in Hebrews is clearly an advance, parallel in part to that between the Philonic and the Johannine Logos, but confronting the reader with a religion instead of a philosophy, and with a supreme personal Helper instead of with a dubious process of reasoning.
3. Significance in Hebrews.-The apparent object of the writer was to mark the adequate and final character of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. As a person He is compared with Melchizedek, whose order of priesthood was confessedly above that of Aaron (q.v. [Note: .v. quod vide, which see.] ); while in regard to priestly acts and functions His efficiency and freedom from limitations are exhibited in comparison with the necessary defects of the Aaronic office. More particularly three features in the story of Melchizedek are singled out. (a) He was king as well as priest, and as priest-king he possessed the endowments of righteousness and peace, and was able to impart them with royal bounty. (b) He was dissociated from all the relations of time, neither qualified by priestly descent for his office, nor interrupted in its discharge by death (Heb_7:3). (c) Accordingly, through these timeless and regal qualities his priesthood becomes unique, incomparably above all Aaronic and Levitical institutions, and with nothing like it in human history until the Incarnate comes upon the stage and takes to Himself a Priesthood in which He admits no peer, and of which eternal and superabundant adequacy is the note (see Priest).
4. Later developments.-In the patristic literature of our period no objection appears to have been taken to the use of the story in Hebrews, though its classification among the alleged theophanies was early and had probably already begun. On the other hand, the Jewish writers adopt an interpretation of their own, either through dislike of the teaching in Hebrews, or in substitution for its application to John Hyrcanus, which had been discredited by the collapse of his influence before the end of his reign. Shem was identified with Melchizedek in early parts of the Talmud and Targums (Nedarim, 32b, Sanhedrin, 108b, Targ. [Note: Targum.] Jonathan), and the narrative was taken to mean that the priesthood was transferred to Abraham, while the rest of the descendants of Shem were excluded. Another tradition distinguishes Shem from Melchizedek, but associates them in the work of transferring the body of Adam to Jerusalem. The story survives with many embellishments in the Ethiopic Book of Adam; and only for its beginnings, with mixed Jewish and Christian influences at work upon it, can a place be allowed within our century.
R. W. Moss.
(Hebrews 4)
- The mysterious priest-king of Salem (Jerusalem), and priest of God Most High. In Genesis 14, after Abraham had rescued his kidnapped nephew Lot, Melchizedek brought out bread and wine, and blessed Abraham. In return, Abraham gave him a tenth, or tithe, of all he had.
Heb 7:1 (a) Scholars disagree on the position occupied by this priest. Some are quite sure that he was an Old Testament incarnation of CHRIST JESUS Himself. Others believe that he was a strange, unusual character who was a type of the Saviour. The evidence is not too clear, and the reader may use either conclusion that he feels the Scriptures justify.
When Abraham was returning from victory over a group of invaders, he was met by Melchizedek, the ruler of the Canaanite city-state of Salem. (This appears to be the place later known as Jerusalem.) Like Abraham, Melchizedek was a worshipper of the Most High God. In fact, he was God’s priest, and he reminded Abraham that God was the one who had given Abraham victory. Abraham acknowledged this by offering to God a costly sacrifice, which he presented through God’s priest (Gen 14:17-20; Heb 7:1-4).
Several centuries later, when the nation Israel had settled in Canaan, David conquered Jerusalem and made it his national capital. To celebrate his victory he wrote a psalm to be sung by the Levitical singers. It was as if David had become a successor to Melchizedek and heir to all Melchizedek’s titles. As ruler of Salem, he was like a king-priest who represented God to his people and whose authority seemed unlimited (Psalms 110).
When the psalm was applied literally to David, it was extravagant, but in later times Jews applied it to the expected Messiah. Jesus agreed that this was a correct application (Mat 22:42-45). A song of lavish praise, extravagant when applied to David, was fitting when applied to Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is a high priest after the order of Melchizedek, and his priesthood is complete and eternal. Like Melchizedek, Christ is a king and a priest, a combination not allowed in the traditional Israelite system. The Levitical priests of Israel kept family records of people’s ancestry, birth and death, to confirm a person’s right to the priesthood. But there were no such records for Melchizedek, as his kind of priesthood was not limited by time or Levitical laws. In this way he foreshadowed Christ, whose priesthood is for all people of all eras and all nations (Heb 7:3; Heb 7:15-17; see PRIEST, sub-heading ‘The high priesthood of Jesus’).
A priest and king who lived in
the time of Abraham. See Gen. 14:17–24.