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Melchizedek or Malki-tzédek (מלכי־צדק "My king is righteous", Standard Hebrew Malki-ẓédeq / Malki-ẓádeq, Tiberian Hebrew Malkî-ṣéḏeq / Malkî-ṣāḏeq), sometimes written Melchisedec, Melchisedech or Melchisedek, is a character in the Bible who appeared in Genesis to the patriarch Abraham. He is called "king of Salem (believed to be ancient Jerusalem)" and "priest of the most high God" in Genesis 14:18.

Old Testament

Reference to Melchizedek is brief in the Old Testament. Melchizedek first appears bringing bread and wine to Abraham (then Abram) after his victory (described in Genesis 14) over the four kings who had besieged Sodom and Gomorrah and had taken his nephew Lot prisoner. In return, Abraham gives Melchizedek a tithe of the bounty that he took in battle:

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. — Genesis 14:18-20 (NIV).

Psalm 110:4 names Melchizedek as representative of the priestly line through which a future king of Israel's Davidic line was ordained. The future king -- in Christian belief, Jesus Christ -- is referred to as a "priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek".

The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. — Psalms 110:4 (NIV).

Some rabbinic scholars identify Melchizedek with Noah's son Shem. The account of Melchizedek given in the Dead Sea Scrolls has also divided scholars into two camps, one that touts his existence as a mortal man and another that identifies him with the archangel Michael.

New Testament

Hebrews 7:3 in the New Testament refers to Melchizedek as a king "without father or mother or genealogy", a reference which some Christians take as referring to Melchizedek's true nature as an angel or even as Jesus himself, appearing thousands of years before his earthly incarnation.

Melchizedek in the theology of the Latter-day Saints

According to the tradition of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), Melchizedek's blessing of Abraham at Salem is a priesthood authority whose keys were restored to Joseph Smith along with the keys of Aaron's priesthood. See Melchizedek Priesthood and Aaronic Priesthood.

Biblical references to Melchizedek

Genesis 14:18-20; Psalms 110:4; Hebrews 5:6-10; Hebrews 6:20; Hebrews 7:1-17

The Historical Melchizedek

Summary and Translation

Genesis 14, which contains the story about Melchizedek is a unique, ancient, and ultimately foreign, that is to say, non-Hebrew/Jewish, tradition dating most probably to the 18th century BC., according to the translator of and commentator on Genesis for the Anchor Bible series, the late Professor Ephraim Speiser of the University of Pennsylvania. "Abram the Hebrew," returning from a military sortie which rescued his brother Lot and Lot's clan from the clutches of a group of foreign marauding kings probably intent upon seizing the copper mines south of the Dead Sea, was hailed by an enigmatic figure, the Canaanite king of the city-state of Salem (Jerusalem) who was also the high priest of the local Canaanite god of that region, El-Elyon.

(Gen 14:18) And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of El-Elyon. (19) He blessed him (i.e. Abram the Hebrew), saying,

"Blessed be Abram by El-Elyon, Creator of heaven and earth. (20) And praised be El-Elyon, Who has delivered your foes to you."

And he (Abram) gave him a tenth of everything."

(E. A. Speiser, Genesis, Anchor Bible, Vol.1, 1964)

Invasion and Rescue

The text of Genesis 14 relates that Abram’s brother Lot was taken away into captivity, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah had been defeated in attempting to stop the marauding group of foreign kings and had fled. Neither king could legally lay claim to any share of Abram’s spoils, as the kings had not participated in Abram’s raid. For reasons of security and control, the eastern invaders most likely never separated Lot and his clan from their flocks and herds, and the group, with the exception, perhaps, of the more attractive girls, was pretty much kept together. One night Abram’s raiders surprised the camp of the army which had captured Lot, routing its defending soldiers. He snatched his nephew and his clan with what possessions they still retained and with what of their flocks and herds had not already been eaten or offered as sacrifices by their captors. Then over the next day or so Abram and his retainers harried the fleeing army as it retreated to the area north of Damascus. Presumably the other three allied armies with their plunder intact pulled back as well. This pull-back was counted as a “defeat” in the biblical account of Gen 14:17a.

Disposition of Booty

We cannot assume that Abram only recovered previously plundered property. At least some of the gods and ritual utensils used in the enemy cultus, some of the harem, baggage, gold, and other valuables, even body armor and weapons, all belonging to the retreating army and its leaders would have ended up in Abram’s possession. To assume that Abram plundered all this only in order to give it away gratuitously in a spirit of Christian giving (for which Abram was almost 2000 years too early) is unwarranted. Especially in the Ancient World to the victor went all the spoils. But Abram had a problem: His pride. He could not allow the king of Sodom to brag that Abram’s wealth had all come from the city of Sodom and that he had been the one who had made Abram rich. So Abram did what any proud man would do: He returned to the king of Sodom all the plunder that had come from his city. It is unknown what became of the plunder of Gomorrah and other cities. The sole surviving record is silent on this point. One can surmise, however, that it had been seized by the other allied invading armies, and had been removed to their homelands by those armies. One may assume, based on the extant account, that Abram did in fact keep all the plunder that was not taxed or returned to the king of Sodom and Lot. It was this plunder that Abram then distributed among his retainers as ‘payment’ for their loyalty and service; for undisclosed reasons, he chose to keep none of the acquired plunder for himself (Gen 14:24).

Blessing and Transit Tax

Melchizedek, the Canaanite king and priest of Salem/Jerusalem, intercepted Abram and his armed retainers returning from their successful raid against the invading foreign kings. True to form, Melchizedek blessed "Abram the Hebrew" in the name of his own Canaanite god, "El-Elyon, creator of heaven and earth." Equally true to form, Abraham swore by his own God, "Yahweh, God Most High, Creator of Heaven and Earth," when he addressed his ally the king of Sodom. What had occurred was this: A large armed force swarmed into the territory of the king of Salem/Jerusalem after a successful foray. We have all heard of the medieval German "robber barons" – one can see their ruined castles on hill-tops throughout Germany. It was not for nothing that they were called "robber barons." Their castles sat astride important arteries and routes of communication and trade; they made their living from the taxes collected from all and sundry who passed through their territories. The situation was no different in the ancient Near East. Melchizedek wanted his "one-tenth," his tithe, from Abraham as leader of the war band as payment for the permission to move through the territory of Salem. This was a perfectly normal thing to require, for Abraham it was a perfectly normal thing to pay, and for neither did it require any explanation. Neither man thought any more about it. Their business concluded, they departed, and we never meet Melchizedek again.

Historicity of the Narrative

Does this account of what must have actually occurred encroach upon the sacredness of the Old Testament? Does it take some of the divine mystery away from Jesus Christ? The Melchizedek story explained in this manner, without any recourse to revelation or divine mystery, provides the modern Jewish and Christian reader alike a vital cornerstone upon which to secure their faith. And for the historian it provides a unique insight into the interplay of forces in ancient Near Eastern society. The story exhibits none of the characteristics of the known OT sources; it is most probably an intrusion, a foreign source which has been included into the OT narrative at this point. Gen 14 exhibits non-standard Hebrew grammar and syntax; the designation "Hebrew" is not applied elsewhere in the Bible to Israelites, except by outsiders or for self-identification to foreigners; the setting is international and the approach is impersonal; it exhibits unusual style and vocabulary; and Abra(ha)m is shown as a powerful and decisive clan chief (Speiser, AB, Genesis (p. 108). This unique foreign source embedded in Genesis mentions Abra(ha)m by name and provides the only extra-Biblical and nearly contemporary evidence for the historical existence of one of the Patriarchs. The setting, the events as they unfolded, and the blessings all point to a degree of historicity unparalleled in the Genesis narratives. “Abram the Hebrew” and Melchizedek both appear as believable historical figures interacting in a situation typical of that period in the ancient Near East, presumably the mid-2nd millennium B.C..

Reference:

Speiser, E. A. Genesis, The Anchor Bible, Vol.1. Garden City, New York, 1964.

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