In the Hebrew Bible, Melchizedek was the king of Salem and priest of (often translated as "God Most High"). He is mentioned in Genesis 14:18–20, where he brings out bread and wine and blesses Abram (Abraham), following the Battle of the Vale of Siddim and Abram's subsequent rescue of the captives and plunder taken in the battle, and in Psalm 110:4.
In Christianity, according to the Epistle to the Hebrews, Jesus Christ is identified as "High priest forever in the order of Melchizedek", and so Jesus assumes the role of High Priest once and for all. Chazalic literature – specifically Targum Jonathan, Targum Yerushalmi, and the Babylonian Talmud – presents his name () as a nickname for Shem.Targum Yonathan and Targum Yerushalmi to Bereishith 14:18–20. Talmud Bavli to tractate Nedarim 32b et al.
Joseph Blenkinsopp has suggested that the story of Melchizedek is an informal insertion into the Genesis narration, possibly inserted in order to give validity to the priesthood and titles connected with the Second Temple. It has also been conjectured that the suffix "-zedek" may have been or become a reference to a Canaanite deity worshipped in Jebusite Jerusalem.
Name In the majority of Masoretic Hebrew texts the name is written as two words, , rendered in one word in both the Septuagint () and Vulgate (). The Authorised King James Version of 1611 renders the name "Melchizedek" when translating from the Hebrew, and "Melchisedec" in the New Testament.E.g. : AKJV
The name is composed from the two elements: , 'king', and , which means either 'righteousness'Strong's Concordance no. 4428 and 6666. or the proper name Zedek. With the addition of the compaginis (-ī) indicating the archaic construct form, means 'king of', so that the name literally translates to 'king of righteousness'A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament with an appendix containing the Biblical Aramaic, written by Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver and Charles Augustus Briggs, based on the Hebrew lexicon of Wilhelm Gesenius as translated by Edward Robinson, Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1906, p. 575. or 'my king is Zedek', indicating that he worshipped Zedek, a Canaanite deity worshipped in pre-Israelite Jerusalem. The latter, however, is often dismissed since Hebrews 7:2 gives the translation of the name Melchizedek as "king of righteousness", although Robert R. Cargill has recently argued in favour of that etymology. Mainstream scholarly understanding of these names ("My King is Righteousness" and "My Lord is Righteousness" respectively) is that they refer to the concept of righteousness and not to a god.Geoffrey W. Bromiley ed., The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1994, entries Melchizedek, Adoni-zedek
The name is formed in parallel with , a king of Jerusalem mentioned in Joshua 10:1–3, where the element ('king') is replaced by ('lord'). Parallel theophoric names, with Sedeq replaced by Yahu, are those of Malchijah and Adonijah, both biblical characters placed in the time of David.The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges at Google Books
Hebrew Tanakh
Genesis 14 The narrative of Genesis 14 is part of the larger story telling how Abram returns from defeating king Chedorlaomer and meets with Bera the king of Sodom, see below at which point:
Some textual critics classify the narration as not being derived from any of the usual pentateuchal sources.Speiser, E. A. "Genesis. Introduction, translation, and notes" (AB 1; Garden City 1964) p. 105; Von Rad, "Genesis", pp. 170, 174; Noth, Martin. "A History of Pentateuchal Traditions" (Englewood Cliffs 1972) p. 28, n. 84. It has been speculated that verses 18–20 (in which Melchizedek appears) are an informal insertion into the narration, as they interrupt the account of the meeting of Abraham with the king of Sodom.Gunkel, Hermann. Genesis (Göttingen 1922) pp. 284–5 There is no consensus on when or why the story might have been added. It may have been inserted in order to give validity to the priesthood and tithes connected with the Second Temple. It also may have been inserted to give validity to the superiority of the Zadokite priests over the Levite priests.
Lebanese Protestant scholar Kamal Salibi (1929–2011) observes that , which literally does mean 'tenth', might more loosely be used to mean 'portion', and , or 'from all', might refer just to food in the giver's possession, so that the whole verse might mean "He gave him a portion of food".Kamal Salibi, The Bible Came from Arabia, Jonathan Cape, 1985, chapter 12
Genesis 14:18 introduces Melchizedek, a "Priest of the Most High God" (), a term which is re-used in Genesis 14:19–20 and Genesis 14:22. The term "Most High" is used another twenty times to refer to the God of Israel in the Psalms. Giorgio Levi Della Vida (1944) suspects that this is a late development,Della Vida, G. Levi. "El Elyon in Genesis 14:18–20", JBL 63 (1944) pp. 1–9 and Joseph Fitzmyer (1962) connects Genesis 14 with the mention of a god called "Most High," who may appear according to one of three possible translations of a 750 BC inscription found at Al-Safirah in Syria.Fitzmyer, J. A. The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire, Revised Edition (Bibor 19A; Rome 1995) pp. 41, 75 Remi Lack (1962) considers that the Genesis verses were taken over by Jewish redactor(s), for whom El was already identified with YHWH, El-Elyon became an epithet for the God of Israel.Lack, R., "Les origines de Elyon, le Très-Haut, dans la tradition cultuelle d’Israel", CBQ 24 (1962) pp. 44–64
Tithe recipient Due to an ambiguity in the Hebrew text, it is unclear who gave tithe to whom: Abram to Melchizedek, or Melchizedek to Abram: the verse in question states simply, "And [he] gave him tithe from all" (, ). Most translations of this verse preserve the ambiguity, "he gave to him", but some modern translations make explicit the mainstream interpretation of Abram being the giver and Melchizedek the recipient.Hebrews 7:9-10 explicitly states that Levi paid tithes through Abraham to Melchizedek.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, the Book of Jubilees, Josephus, Philo of Alexandria, and Rashi all read Abram as the giver of the tithe to Melchizedek. The Rogatchover Gaon, also understanding Abram to be the tithe giver, comments that the presented tithe was not a standard tithe (Maaser Rishon) as described in the Torah (given on an annual basis), but was a one-time "tribute offering" (, ), such as Moses gave to God in Numbers 31:41. commentary on Gen. 14
Expressing a kabbalistic point of view, the Zohar commentary to Genesis 14 cites Rabbi Yitzchak as saying that it was God who gave a tithe to Abram in the form of removing the Hebrew letter from his own throne of glory and presenting it to the soul of Abram for his benefit.Zohar Chodosh to Bereishit chap. 14 (the Zohar text, however, does not state that a name change to "Abra-ha-m" occurred at this point).
Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk (1843–1926) interprets the phrase "And he gave him tithe from all" as a verbal continuation of Melchizedek's speech, i.e., Melchizedek exclaimed that God had chosen to gift Abram a tenth of God's possession of the entire human race (consisting of seventy nations as described in Genesis) in the form of the seven nations of the land of Canaan, including the cities of Sodom that Abram succeeded in saving. Rabbi Meir Simcha argues that continued speech of this sort was a common form of prophetic expression.
Psalm 110
The only other Hebrew Bible mention of Melchizedek is in Psalm 110:4. The many translations that follow the Septuagint, such as the Vulgate, KJV 1611, and JPS 1917, translate it as:
Although the above is the traditional translation of the text, the Hebrew text can be interpreted in various ways, and the New Jewish Publication Society of America Tanakh, (1985 edition), for example, has:
Another alternative keeps Melchizedek as a personal name but changes the identity of the person addressed: "You are a priest forever by my order (or 'on my account'), O Melchizedek" – here it is Melchizedek who is being addressed throughout the psalm.Kugel, James L., Traditions of the Bible, pp. 278–9
The majority of Chazalic literature attributes the primary character of the psalm as King David who was a "righteous king" () of Jerusalem and, like Melchizedek, had certain priest-like responsibilities, while the Babylonian Talmud understands the chapter as referring to Abram who was victorious in battling to save his nephew Lot and merited priesthood.Babylonian Talmud to Nedarim, p. 32 The Zohar defines the noted Melchizedek as referring to Aaron the Kohen Gadol (high priest).Zohar vol. 3 p. 53b
Samaritan Pentateuch In Genesis 14, the Samaritan Pentateuch reads ( or in contextual flow 'allied with him') in place of the Masoretic (Salem), with addition of a letter ().
William F. Albright views the Samaritan wording as authentic, as does the New American Bible.New American Bible (1980), Genesis 14, fn.5
Regarding the residence of Melchizedek, Samaritan tradition identified a "Salem" as a place on the slopes of Mount Gerizim which served as a blessing place of the children of Israel upon their initial crossing of the Jordan river. The Samaritans allocate Gerizim (and not Jerusalem) as the site intended for the Temple, and thus the "" text serves an obvious sectarian purpose. However, this practice is not solely associated with the Samaritans: the possessive suffix is also found in the 3rd- or 2nd-century BC Book of Jubilees, and Greek possessive suffixes are even used in the Septuagint version of Genesis.James L. Kugel, Traditions of the Bible, pp. 283–284
New Testament With respect to Genesis 14:20, Hebrews chapter 7 verses 2 and 4 in the New Testament state that the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoil to Melchizedek.
Psalm 110:4 is cited in the New Testament letter to the Hebrews as an indicator that Jesus, regarded in the letter as the Messiah, had a right to a priesthood pre-dating the Jewish Aaronic priesthood (Hebrews 5:5–6).
In Judaism
Hasmonean dynasty The Babylonian Talmud recounts that Hasmonean rulers used to identify themselves as "High Priest of El Elyon": "When the Hasmonean kingdom became strong and defeated the Greeks, they instituted that people should mention the name of Heaven even in their legal documents. And therefore they would write: In year such and such of Yoḥanan the High Priest of the God Most High." Scholars have observed that the Hasmoneans used Melchizedek's example of monarch-priest to justify occupying both offices.
Late Hellenistic Judaism Josephus refers to Melchizedek as a "Canaanite chief" in The Jewish War, but as a priest in Antiquities of the Jews.
Philo identifies Melchizedek with the Logos as priest of God,Jutta Leonhardt Jewish worship in Philo of Alexandria 2001 p216 "IIl 82 Philo also identifies Melchizedek with the Logos as priest of God. Thus Melchizedek, Although Philo interprets the Jewish first-fruit offering and quotes the Jewish laws, the general context is still Cain's sacrifice." and honoured as an untutored priesthood.Fred L. Horton The Melchizedek Tradition: A Critical Examination of the Sources 2005 p170 "In the Genesis Apocryphon Melchizedek is brought into connection with Jerusalem (as he is later in Josephus), and in Philo Melchizedek is honored as the possessor of an unlearned and untutored priesthood, indeed as a representation"