HEBREW: 4442 qdu-yklm Malkiy-Tsedeq
NAVE: Melchisedec Melchizedek
EBD: Melchizedek
SMITH: MELCHISEDEC MELCHIZEDEK
ISBE: MELCHIZEDEK; MELCHISEDEC
PORTRAITS: Melchizedek
Melchizedek
In Bible versions:
Melchizedek: NET AVS NIV NRSV NASB TEVking of Salem who blessed Abraham and received his tithe
king of justice
Greek
Strongs #3198: Melcisedek Melchisedek
Melchizedek = "king of righteousness"1) the king of Salem and priest of the most high God, who
lived in the days of Abraham
3198 Melchisedek mel-khis-ed-ek'
of Hebrew origin (4442); Melchisedek (i.e. Malkitsedek), apatriarch:-Melchisedec.
see HEBREW for 04442
Hebrew
Strongs #04442: qdu-yklm Malkiy-Tsedeq
Melchizedek = "my king is Sedek"1) king of Salem and priest of the Most High God to whom Abram paid
tithe after the battle he fought to free Lot; 'the order of
Melchizedek' the order of the priesthood to which Christ belongs
4442 Malkiy-Tsedeq mal-kee-tseh'-dek
from 4428 and 6664; king of right; Malki-Tsedek, an earlyking in Palestine:-Melchizedek.
see HEBREW for 04428
see HEBREW for 06664
Melchizedek [EBD]
king of righteousness, the king of Salem (q.v.). All we know of him is recorded in Gen. 14:18-20. He is subsequently mentioned only once in the Old Testament, in Ps. 110:4. The typical significance of his history is set forth in detail in the Epistle to the Hebrews, ch. 7. The apostle there points out the superiority of his priesthood to that of Aaron in these several respects, (1) Even Abraham paid him tithes; (2) he blessed Abraham; (3) he is the type of a Priest who lives for ever; (4) Levi, yet unborn, paid him tithes in the person of Abraham; (5) the permanence of his priesthood in Christ implied the abrogation of the Levitical system; (6) he was made priest not without an oath; and (7) his priesthood can neither be transmitted nor interrupted by death: "this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood."
The question as to who this mysterious personage was has given rise to a great deal of modern speculation. It is an old tradition among the Jews that he was Shem, the son of Noah, who may have survived to this time. Melchizedek was a Canaanitish prince, a worshipper of the true God, and in his peculiar history and character an instructive type of our Lord, the great High Priest (Heb. 5:6, 7; 6:20). One of the Amarna tablets is from Ebed-Tob, king of Jerusalem, the successor of Melchizedek, in which he claims the very attributes and dignity given to Melchizedek in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
Melchizedek [NAVE]
MELCHIZEDEKKing of Salem, Gen. 14:18-20; Psa. 110:4.
A priest and type of Christ, Heb. 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:1-21.
MELCHISEDEC [SMITH]
(king of righteousness). (Hebrews 5:1; Hebrews 6:1; Hebrews 7:1) ... [MELCHIZEDEK]MELCHIZEDEK [SMITH]
(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. (Genesis 14:18-20) The other places in which Melchizedek is mentioned are (Psalms 110:4) where Messiah is described as a priest forever, "after the order of Melchizedek," and (Hebrews 5:1; Hebrews 6:1; Hebrews 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 od Sodom) of a settled Canaanitish tribe. The "order of Melchizedek," in (Psalms 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. [SALEM]MELCHIZEDEK; MELCHISEDEC [ISBE]
MELCHIZEDEK; MELCHISEDEC - mel-kiz'e-dek, and (the King James Version in the book of Hebrews) (malki-tsedheq, "Tsedheq, or Tsidhiq is my king" (Gen 14:18 ff; Ps 110:4); Melchisedek (Heb 5:6,10; 6:20; 7:1,10,11,15,17)): The name is explained in Heb 7:2 as "king of righteousness," with "-i" as the old genitive ending; but the correct explanation is no doubt the one given above; compare Adoni-zedek in Josh 10:1, where Septuagint with Jdg 1:5-7 has Adonibezek. Melchizedek was king of Salem (= Jerusalem) and "a priest unto 'El `Elyon" (Gen 14:18). He brought bread and wine to Abraham after the latter's victory over the kings, and also bestowed upon him the blessing of 'El `Elyon. Abraham gave him "a tenth of all," i.e. of the booty probably, unless it be of all his possessions. Gen 14:22 identifies Yahweh with 'El `Elyon, the title of the Deity as worshipped at Jerusalem; and so Heb 7:1 ff, following Septuagint of Gen 14:18 ff, calls Melchizedek. "priest of God Most High," i.e. Yahweh.Skinner (Gen, 271, where Josephus, Ant, XVI, vi, 2, and Am M 6:1 are cited) points out that the Maccabees were called "high priests of God most high." Hence, some hold that the story of Melchizedek is an invention of Judaism, but Gunkel (Genesis 3, 285 ff) maintains that he is a traditional, if not a historical, character.
Ps 110:4 makes the klng-priest who is addressed there a virtual successor of Melchizedek, and the kings of Jerusalem might well, as Gunkel suggests, have been considered successors of Melchizedek in the same way that Charlemagne was regarded as the successor of the Caesars, and the latter as successors of the Pharaohs in Egypt. This leads naturally to an early date being ascribed to Ps 110.
The thought of a priest after the order of Melchizedek is taken up by the author of Hebrews. He wanted to prove the claim of Christ to be called priest. It was impossible, even had he so wished, to consider Jesus as an Aaronic priest, for He was descended from the tribe of Judah and not from that of Levi (7:14). The words of Ps 110:4 are taken to refer to Him (Heb 5:5 f), and in Heb 7:5 ff the order of Melchizedek is held to be higher than that of Aaron, for the superiority of Melchizedek was acknowledged by Abraham (a) when he paid tithes to Melchizedek and (b) when he was blessed by Melchizedek, for "the less is blessed of the better." It might be added that Jesus can be considered a priest after the order of Melchizedek in virtue of His descent from David, if the latter be regarded as successor to Melchizedek But the author of He does not explicitly say this. Further, Aaron is only a "type" brought forward in He to show the more excellent glory of the work of Jesus, whereas Melchizedek is "made like unto the Son of God" (7:3), and Jesus is said to be "after the likeness of Melchizedek" (7:15).
Heb 7:1 ff presents difficulties. Where did the author get the material for this description of Melchizedek? (1) Melchizedek is said to be "without father, without mother, (i.e.) without genealogy"; and (2) he is described as "having neither beginning of days nor end of life"; he "abideth a priest continually." The answer is perhaps to be had among the Tell el-Amarna Letters, among which are at least 6, probably 8, letters from a king of Urusalim to Amenophis IV, king of Egypt, whose "slave" the former calls himself. Urusalim is to be identified with Jerusalem, and the letters belong to circa 1400 BC. The name of this king is given as Abd-Khiba (or Abd-chiba), though Hommel, quoted by G.A. Smith, Jerusalem, II, 14, note 7, reads Chiba. Zimmer, in ZA, 1891, 246, says that it can be read Abditaba, and so Sayce (HDB, III, 335b) calls him `ebhedh tobh. The king tells his Egyptian overlord, "Neither my father nor my mother set me in this place: the mighty arm of the king (or, according to Sayce, "the arm of the mighty king") established me in my father's house" (Letter 102 in Berlin collection, ll. 9-13; also number 103, ll. 25-28; number 104, ll. 13-15; see, further, H. Winckler, Die Thontafeln von Tell-el-Amarna; Knudtzon, Beitrage zur Assyriologie, IV, 101 ff, 279 ff, cited by G.A. Smith, Jerusalem, II, 8, note 1).
It thus becomes clear that possibly tradition identified Melchizedek with Abd-Khiba. At any rate the idea that Melchizedek was "without father, without mother, (i.e.) without genealogy" can easily be explained if the words of Abd-Khiba concerning himself can have been also attributed to Melchizedek. The words meant originally that he acknowledged that he did not come to the throne because he had a claim on it through descent; he owed it to appointment. But Jewish interpretation explained them as implying that he had no father or mother. Ps 110:4 had spoken of the king there as being "a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek," and this seems to have been taken to involve the perpetuity of Melchizedek also as priest. Melchizedek was then thought of as "having neither beginning of days" = "without father, without mother, without genealogy," and again as not having "end of life" = "abideth a priest continually." Hence, he is "made like unto the son of God," having neither beginning of days nor end of life. We get another New Testament example of Jewish interpretation in Gal 4:21 ff. We have no actual proof that Melchizedek is identical with Abd-Khiba; possibly the reference to the former as being "without father," etc., is not to be explained as above. But why should Melchizedek, and he alone, of all the Old Testament characters be thought of in this way?
Westcott, Hebrews, 199, has a suggestive thought about Melchizedek: "The lessons of his appearance lie in the appearance itself. Abraham marks a new departure. .... But before the fresh order is established we have a vision of the old in its superior majesty; and this, on the eve of disappearance, gives its blessing to the new."
On the references to Melchizedek in Philo see Westcott, op. cit., 201; F. Rendall, Hebrews, App., 58 ff; and especially (with the passages and other authorities cited there) G. Milligan, Theology of Epistle to the Hebrews, 203 ff.
The conclusions we come to are: (1) There was a tradition in Jerusalem of Melchizedek, a king in pre-Israelitish times, who was also priest to 'El `Elyon. This is the origin of Gen 14:18 ff, where 'El `Elyon is identified with Yahweh. (2) Ps 110 makes use of this tradition and the Psalmist's king is regarded as Melchizedek's successor. (3) The Epistle to the Hebrews makes use of (a) Ps 110, which is taken to be a prophecy of Christ, (b) of Gen 14:18 ff, and (c) of oral tradition which was not found in the Old Testament. It is this unwritten tradition that is possibly explained by the Tell el-Amarna Letters. See, further, articles by Sayce, Driver, and Hommel in Expository Times, VII, VIII.
See also JERUSALEM.
David Francis Roberts
