In this post I extract the section on Melchizedek from James Kugel’s book, Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible as It Was at the Start of the Common Era, Chapter 8. Melchizedek (GENESIS 14:17-20), published by Harvest University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts/London, England, in 1998. All emphasis will be mine.

MELCHIZEDEK is something of an enigma in the Bible. We are not told the name of his father or his mother, or anything about his family. He is not mentioned anywhere in the various lists of Noah’s descendants. We are not told when he was born–nor even that he was born–and the Bible is equally silent about his death. Nor, for that matter, is the location of his kingdom, Salem, known for sure. Thus, almost everything about was mysterious for ancient interpreters. His encounter with Abraham certainly seemed designed to impart some lesson–but what exactly was it? Nothing really happened in this meeting, save that Melchizedek brought out food and then blessed Abraham (as priests were later to bless the people who came to the Jerusalem Temple). Abraham then apparently gave him a tithe (as people were also to bring tithes to the temple). But these very details were what was most intriguing in the story. For Melchizedek thus seemed to be a priest. But how could that be? The priesthood itself had not yet been established, nor had the Jerusalem Temple been built. Yet here was Melchizedek, bluntly described as a “priest of God Most High.” Not only that, but Melchizedek apparently had not the slightest connection to the priesthood that would eventually be established in Israel–for the priesthood was hereditary, and its family line went back through Abraham, not Melchizedek! Who was this so-called priest?…

Righteous King and Priest

Other things, however, suggested that Melchizedek must have been a noteworthy figure in his own right. To begin with, Melchizedek seems to mean something like “king of righteousness” or “king of justice” in Hebrew. It occurred to some that this might be not his real name but–like “king of Salem” and “priest of God most High”– a title, one that might hold the key to his real importance. Perhaps he was an extraordinarily just and righteous king.

[Jerusalem’s] first founder was a leader of the Canaanites, called in his native tongue “righteous king”–for indeed he was. –Josephus, Jewish Wars 6:438

He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness. –Heb. 7:2

Moreover, since “Salem” corresponded to the last part of the name “Jerusalem,” some interpreters concluded that Melchizedek had been Jerusalem’s first king and founder. Indeed, if he was a “priest,” perhaps he had also founded some sort of sanctuary in Jerusalem, a forerunner of the great temple to be built there centuries later:

For this reason he was the first to serve as a priest before God and, having been the first to build the temple, gave to the city previously called “Salem” the name Jerusalem [understood in Greek as “Holy Salem”]. –Josephus, Jewish Wars 6:438 (also Jewish Antiquities 1:180-181)

He was made king by reason of his greatness … and moreover was a high priest, which office he had received from Noah in succession. –Ephraem, Commentary on Genesis 11:2

The Jerusalem temple was built in his [Melchizedek’s] domain, as it says, “And Melchizedek, king of Salem …” [Gen. 14:18], and “Salem” means Jerusalem, as it says, “His [God’s] abode has been established in Salem, his dwelling place in Zion” [Ps. 78:3 (some texts: 2)]. –Midrash ha-Gadol Gen. 11:10

Divinely Appointed Priest

There was, however, another factor that bore on Melchizedek’s true identity. The name “Melchizedek” appears in one other place in the Hebrew Bible, in a passing reference in Psalm 110. The language of this psalm is somewhat obscure in Hebrew; here is one modern translation of its opening line:

The Lord says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”

The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes!

Your people will offer themselves freely on the day you lead your host upon the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning like a dew your youth will come to you.

The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever, after the line of Melchizedek.” –Ps. 110:1-4

Ancient readers of the story of Abraham and Melchizedek in Genesis looked to this psalm to help clarify its significance. But that meant first of all deciding to whom these words were addressed and what they meant. Here, the potentially ambiguous writing system of biblical Hebrew played a crucial role: the Hebrew words that correspond to those highlighted above could in fact be read and understood in two radically different fashions. This led to the development of two different schools of thought on the identity of Melchizedek among the Bible’s ancient interpreters.

One way of understanding the highlighted words in Ps. 110:4 was: “You are a priest forever by my order [or “on my account”], O Melchizedek.” If this is the right translation, then it is Melchizedek who is being addressed throughout the psalm, and everything else in the psalm that refers to “you” must therefore be talking about Melchizedek. The psalm would thus seem to recount that Melchizedek had been appointed to the priesthood by God Himself (since the whole of verse 4 would now be: “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever by my order, O Melchizedek’”). This would of course correspond to his description in Genesis as a “priest of God Most High”–indeed, a priest who was personally appointed by God must have been no ordinary priest but an ancient forerunner to the exalted office of high priest:

When the high priest of God Most High saw him [Abraham] approaching and bearing his spoils … – Philo, On Abraham 235

You [O God] are the one who appointed Melchizedek as a high priest in Your service. – Apostolic Constitutions 8.12.23

And Melchizedek, the king of Jerusalem … was a priest serving in the high priesthood before God Most High. – Targum Neophyte Gen. 14:18

The Heavenly Melchizedek

But interpreting Abraham’s encounter with Melchizedek in the light of Psalm 110 led to other, more radical conclusions. After all, the Melchizedek described in the psalm seemed in some ways superhuman. His royal scepter had come from God Himself (“The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter”). In fact, Melchizedek is apparently the “lord” referred to in the first line, who was commanded by God to “sit at my right hand” like some sort of angel or divine being.

It is from this interpretation of Psalm 110 that there emerged the figure of a heavenly Melchizedek, an angelic being who sits next to the divine throne. Such a Melchizedek is found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, where (in a text going back to the early first or second century B.C.E.) he is said to be ready to punish the guilty and save the righteous in the great day of reckoning:

Melchizedek will carry out the vengeance of the laws of Go[d on that day and he will sa]v[e them from] Belial and from all his k[indred spirits,] and to his aid will (come) all the “gods” of [justice and] he [Melchizedek] is the one w[ho will stand on that day over] all the sons of God and will ord[ain] this [asse]mbly.

This is the Day of P[eace, a]bout which [God] spoke [of old in the words of] the prophet [Isai]ah, who said “[How] beautiful on the mountains are the messen[ger]’s feet, [pr]oclaiming peace.” – (11Q13) Melchizedek Text 2:13-16  

It may be that the interpretation of the name of “Melchizedek” had a role in the understanding of this angel’s precise functions: he is the “king of justice” in the sense that he “will carry out the vengeance of God’s laws.” This understanding also corresponds to the psalm’s assertion that “he will execute judgment among the nations” (Ps. 110:6). Some identified this angelic Melchizedek with the archangel Michael.

In a liturgical text among the Dead Sea Scrolls are further possible references to Melchizedek the angel; unfortunately, the text here is quite fragmentary:

] priest[s

G]od of knowledge and [

Melchi[Zedek, priest in the assemb]ly of God – (4Q401) Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice 11:1-3

] holy ones of [

Holine]ss [?] consecrate [

Mel]chizedek [ –(4Q401) Songs of Sabbath 22:1-3

Although both passages are fragmentary, if the restoration of the name Melchizedek is correct, it would seem from the overall context (namely, a hymn describing the service of God performed by the angels in the heavenly temple) that Melchizedek is, here as well, an angel, indeed perhaps the highest of the angels serving God in heaven. 

Another crucial ambiguity found in Psalm 110 also contributed to the identification of Melchizedek as an angel or heavenly being. It is the verse translated above as, “From the womb of the morning like dew your youth will come to you.” This could be translated in a radically different way–and was. The old Greek (“Septuagint”) translation of this verse reads:

From the womb, before the morning star, I have begotten you.  – Septuagint, Ps. 110:5 [sic]

If these words were spoken by God to Melchizedek (as they seemed to be in context), then they meant that Melchizedek is God’s “son.” Now, “sons of God,” as we have seen, was a phrase elsewhere understood as referring specifically to the angels. If so, then this “son of God” who sits at God’s right hand, must have been an angel charged with executing divine justice on earth, the angelic “king of justice.”

A somewhat related Melchizedek appears in the work called 2 Enoch, which may go back to the early first century C.E. In this text, Melchizedek seems to be born to Sopanim (or “Sothonim”), the wife of Noah’s (mythical) brother Nir, without any prior act of sexual intercourse (2 Enoch 71:2). The idea that Melchizedek was so conceived may be in keeping with the interpretation of Ps. 110:5 [sic] just seen: God’s words “I have begotten you” meant that Melchizedek was begotten without any human progenitor. In any case, God promises Nir that, although a great flood is coming to destroy the earth, Melchizedek will be safe:  

Behold, I plan now to send down a great destruction onto the earth. But concerning the child [Melchizedek], do not be anxious, Nir, because I in a short while shall send my archangel Gabriel. And he will take the child and put him in the garden of Eden, and he will not perish with those who must perish … And Melchizedek will be my priest to all priests, and I will sanctify him and I will change him into a great people who will sanctify me. – 2 Enoch (A) 71:27-29

However much this Melchizedek had a human mother, he nonetheless seems to have acquired superhuman traits: miraculously saved from the flood, he is actually permitted to reenter Eden, and will go on to become some sort of “priest to all priests”–in keeping with Melchizedek’s title in Genesis, “a priest [directly] to God Most High.” (Pp. 278-281)

An Uncircumcised Priest?

At the same time, the fact that Melchizedek was a priest without the usual genealogy, and that he had apparently not undergone circumcision nor followed other Jewish laws and practices, was taken by Christians from an early period as a biblical proof that such things were not important.  

For if [circumcision] were necessary, as you think, God would not have formed Adam uncircumcised, nor would He have looked with favor upon the gifts of Abel, who offered sacrifices but was not circumcised, nor would Enoch, who was not circumcised, have pleased him… The priest of God Most High, Melchizedek, was without circumcision, and he had tithes given him by Abraham as offerings. Abraham was the first to receive circumcision in the fleshly sense, and yet he was blessed by Melchizedek [the uncircumcised], after whose order God has announced by David [for example, in Psalm 110] that He would establish the eternal Priest. –Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 19:3-4 [also ch. 33)

Likewise Melchizedek priest of God Most High, was not circumcised and did not keep the sabbath, yet he was chosen for the priesthood of God. –Tertullian, Against the Jews 2

Others maintained the opposite:

Likewise, [Melchizedek] was born circumcised, as it says “And Melchizedek, king of Salem” [interpreted as the king of shalem, “complete” or “perfect,” hence, circumcised]. –Abot deR. Natan (A) 2

He was righteous and he was born circumcised. –Genesis Rabba 26:3

 Melchizedek in Samaria

As we have already glimpsed, Jewish sources generally held that Melchizedek’s kingdom. Salem, was simply a shortened form of the name “Jerusalem”:

And the kingdom of Sodom heard that Abraham had given back all the captives and all the booty, and he went up to meet him; and he came to Salem, which is Jerusalem. –(1Q20) Genesis Apocryphon col. 22:12-13

Some interpreters

Elsewhere, as well, Salem is identified as a place in its own right:

And Jacob came to Salem, the city of Shechems. – Septuagint Gen. 33:18

And … Jacob went up to Salem, to the east of Shechem, in peace. –Jubilees 30:1

And Jared became the father of Enoch and he built a city and called it Salem the Great. –al-Asatir 2:5

The idea that Salem was at or near Shechem would have been very useful to the Samaritans. For in later time, too, they considered Mt. Gerizim to be sacred and, indeed, the real site intended by God for His temple (not Jerusalem). If Melchizedek had been a priest of God in their territory way back in the time of Abraham, here was biblical proof that their claims for the sanctity of their own temple and its priests were truly valid.  

Melchizedek Was Shem

Many Jews must have found such uses of the story of Melchizedek disturbing. No doubt the situation was eased somewhat by a contrary tradition that held that “Melchizedek” was simply an honorific name of Shem, Noah’s son.

About Shem [‘s being a prophet] it says, “Upon My Word, Melchizedek” [Ps. 110:4]. –Seder Olam 21

And Melchizedek, the king of Jerusalem, who was the great Shem… –Targum Neophyti Gen. 14:18

Likewise Shem was born circumcised, as it says, “And Melchizedek, king of Salem …” [interpreted as the king was shalem, “complete” or “perfect,” hence, circumcised]. –Abot deR. Natan (A) 2

This Melchizedek was Shem. –Ephrem, Commentary on Genesis 11:2

The [Jews] say that he [Melchizedek] was Shem, Noah’s son, and counting up the total years of his lifetime [eight hundred years, according to Gen. 11:11] they demonstrate that he would have lived up to [the time of] Isaac [and so certainly could have encountered Abraham in Gen. 14:18-21]. –Jerome, Questions in Genesis, Gen. 14:18

This identification–while probably of ancient origin–must have helped to “domesticate” Melchizedek in the face of some of the claims made regarding his true identity. For if Melchizedek was indeed Shem, a distant ancestor of the Jews, and if his high priesthood was associated with the very site on which the great temple was to be built (Salem, understood as Jerusalem), then here was really only another indication that Jerusalem had always been God’s chosen spot for His sanctuary and that the Jewish people, even in the time of their remotest ancestors, had already been chosen by God to supply that sanctuary with its priests. (Pp. 281-285)

FURTHER READING

Is Michael the Ruler of Israel? The Witness of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Doesn’t the Bible (also) present Melchizedek as possessing divine attributes?

The Dead Sea Scrolls and God’s Uniplurality: Some Observations on Melchizedek

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