Who was Melchizedek?
(NOTE: These answers are not presented in a particular order, just in the approximate order that they arrived from our contributors. Feel free to add your comments. If you have a burning question send it to steve@saltshakers.com or if you feel able to answer these type of questions email us to join our panel of "messianic rabbis".)
SANDRA JEFFERY answers ...
Melchizedek was the 1st priest mentioned in the Bible, and was Priest of the most High God and King of ancient Salem which means King of peace – later known as the nucleus of Jerusalem (Jerusalem means ‘peace’). Melchizedek name’s meaning is ‘King of Righteousness’ and he blessed Abraham in the Bible – Genesis 14:18. Melchizedek had no recorded predecessor or successor in his priesthood, and his nationality, genealogy and offspring are left undisclosed in Scripture. Hebrews 7: 3. He was a foreshadowing of Jesus, who has an unending priesthood, unlike the imperfect Levitical priesthood that died and needed successors. The resurrected, sinless Jesus Christ continues alive forever, having his priesthood without any successors, and is able to save completely those who are approaching God through him, because he is alive to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7: 11 – 25.
Jesus blessed his disciples as Melchizedek blessed Abraham, and after his resurrection, he has become High Priest and King of the New Jerusalem - heaven and earth as one in peace.
RABBI GUTMANN answers ...
Melchizedek occupies a very small space in the Torah and is a contemporary of Abraham. We meet him in Genesis 14, following the defeat of a coalition of 5 nations including Sodom and Gomorrah through which Lot, Abram's nephew, who lived in Sodom, is taken captive. On hearing this, Abram (as he was then called), takes 318 men and defeats the previously victorious coalition of 4 nations and recovers Lot, the possessions and people of Sodom. Suddenly a 10th King, Melchizedek, King of Salem. is mentioned, who is also described as priest of the Most High God. He "brought out" bread and wine to Abram, and blesses him. We are told that Abram gave him a tithe (tenth) of all he had. We find no further mention of Melchizedek nor of the Kingdom of Salem, in the Hebrew Scriptures, except in Psalm 110, ascribed to David, in which v4 reads, "You are a priest for ever, in the order of Melchizedek". However, in the Aramaic Targum of 1 Chronicles 1:24, Shem, son of Noah, is described as High Priest!
At least one Targum source, Codex Neofiti, uses "Shem" in the Genesis 14 passage. In Rabbinic early sources, "Rabbi Zechariah said in the name of Rabbi Ishmael: The Holy One, blessed be He, desired to derive the priesthood from Shem, as it is said: And he was priest to El Elyon." According to the chronology of Genesis 11:10ff Shem must have outlived Abraham by 35 years, and did not die until Jacob himself was 50! Jewish writer, Ephrem of Syria (306-373 AD), in his Commentary on Genesis identifies Melchizedek as Shem. However, the thrust of Jewish commentary on the passage is that the priesthood of God held by Noah then Shem was transferred to Abram at the time. The passage in Psalm 110:4 is seen as referring to Abraham by some Jewish commentators-Abraham being the "Adonai "of verse 1! However as followers of Yeshua HaMashiach we accept the New Testament commentary on Melchizedek (Hebrews 4:5-10, 6:20b-22) as Scripture. This stresses the fact that Melchizedek is introduced with no detail of his origins ("Without Mother or Father, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end life" - Heb 7:3). The "priesthood" of Melchizedek is superior to that of the Aaronic (ie Levitical) priesthood because Abraham received bread and wine and God's Blessing from Melchizedek and paid tithes to him (Hebrews 7:4-10). Some Christian expositors take Melchizedek to be a "Theophany" or manifestation of God prior to the incarnation of Yeshua. One Messianic well known preacher described this as a "Christophany," though I feel the use of a distinction between the 2 terms risks diminishing the co-equal Divinity of the Son to the Father I fear.
Furthermore I am not sure that Melchizedek can be understood as Yeshua Himself in a pre-incarnational form. Hebrews (quoting Psalm 110:4) describes Yeshua as a Priest "in the order of Melchizedek" (Heb 7:11, 17) and as "like Melchizedek" (ibid v15). Whether or not Melchizedek may be equated with the Angel of the Lord and/or as a Theophany at all, I will leave out at this point!
MOSHE COHEN answers ...
This word is the Greek/Anglo word taken from the Hebrew root, Melech (מלך) and Tsadiq (צדיק). It means King of Righteousness, or King of the Just and Pious. Many believe that this man, also King of Salem (Peace) was a "Theophany", i.e. a physical appearance of G-d Himself, before the birth of Yeshua. This happens many times in the Tanakh, Moshe at the burning bush, Moshe on the mountain, Avraham and the L-rd, et al. Some believe then, this Man was a pre-incarnate visit by Yeshua to earth. We can also consider, as Yeshua is the Word of G-d, that when G-d speaks in a voice, it could well be Yeshua speaking. This would explain the mystery of some verses saying that no man can look upon G-d and live, when at other times we see people talking with G-d, Moshe face to face, the 70 elders eating a feast with G-d, Manoah, Ya'akov (Jacob), Yehoshua (Joshua), and other appearances of the "Angel of the L-rd", the "Lord of Hosts." Some disagree on this, and we should respect their opinions. To me, the one that makes most sense is that Avraham saw the Lord Yeshua, as he also saw Him when he was about sacrifice Yitzchak (Isaac), the Angel of the L-rd before Sodom, destruction, etc. As Avraham recognised who He was, he worshipped Him and gave Him a tenth of everything.
RABBI JOSEPH KRESEFSKY answers ...
Straight forward answer: According to the Hebrew text of Genesis 18 (B’reshit 18), Malki-Tzedek was the king of Shalem who brought bread and wine to the patriarch Avram (Avraham). He was Cohen of El 'Elyon [G_d Most High]. Avram gave him a tenth of the booty that he confiscated when he went out to save his cousin Lot from those nations who took him captive. His name means King of Righteousness. Many people assume that he was Y’shua but there is no proof of this – as a matter of fact, in the Brit Chadasha (New Testament), in the Book of Hebrews, it clearly states that Y’shua was compared with Malki-Tzedek – not that he was Malki-Tzedek. I would recommend reading Hebrews Chapters 5 thru 7 for further study on this.
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Malki-Tzedek
It says that Noah was the 8th, a preacher of righteousness. Solomon as king described himself also as a preacher. If according to some conjecture, Adam was the first King of Righteousness (and was originally to live forever)and because of his fall brought the aspect of death and the need to pass on the priesthood. Enoch was taken, so his father Jared would need to pass the 7th passage of the order on to his son Methuselah, who outlived his son Lamech, plus died the same year as the flood. He would then pass the order on to Noah, being the 8th King (or preacher) of Righteousness and who would then pass it on to Shem. Abram came along but it appears from Hebrews that the concept of the Levitical priesthood was formulated in his generation and thus the order of Melchisedek would ultimately pass on to the final Adam, who was given an endless life.
Melchizedek
Gerrie Malan, South Africa:
A short article I wrote some time ago because of the manipulative use of the Abraham/Melchizedek meeting in church teachings:
The Biblical figure of Melchizedek is mentioned from time
to time in our churches. We know that not much is given to
us about him - unfortunately, because the little there is,
seems to indicate a figure of importance. He is often mentioned from the pulpits as a type of Christ (and we’re not questioning that). Some preachers even go as far as saying he was a manifest appearance of Christ. Mostly, however, he is mentioned in “offering teachings” where it is underlined that Abraham gave him a tenth (or tithe) of everything. As a rule they omit to note that it was a tenth of the plunder of war and not of Abraham’s personal wealth, and also that he returned the rest to the king of Sodom!
We first read of Melchizedek in Genesis 14:18-20 after
Abram (his name had not yet been changed) had rescued
Lot from the kings who took him and his possessions.
Melchizedek is mentioned as king of Salem and priest to
God. He brought out bread and wine, and blessed Abram.
A thousand years later, the Psalmist mentions him again in
Psalm 110:4 - the Messianic Psalm that speaks of a priestly king like Melchizedek (or, as the KJV reads, after the order of Melchizedek - which simply means ‘in like manner’).
Another thousand years pass before we read again of
Melchizedek in Hebrews 7 of the greatness of Melchizedek.
Once again he is called the king of Salem (or king of peace), and priest of the Most High God. It is also explained that his name means king of righteousness. Whereas the priests descended from the linage of Abraham, he was not. Tithes were brought to the Levites (Abraham’s linage) and yet he received a tithe of the plunder from Abraham. Let this suffice for the purpose of our
meditation. Salem later becomes Jerusalem.
My research took me once again to the ancient Jewish writings and I was informed that, according to the ancient Jewish sages (or wise men and teachers), Melchizedek was none other than Shem, the eldest son of Noah. Now, wait a minute, you might be saying, Shem was born ages before Abraham! And you would be right too! Abraham is, in fact, the ninth generation of Shem’s
lineage (Gen. 11). But, Shem lived to the age of 600 years and Abraham died at 175. If we calculate the time periods according to the genealogy in Genesis 11, Shem would have been approximately 390 years old at Abraham’s birth. He would then not only have lived in Abraham’s lifetime, but also outlived Abraham!
Shem is called the father of all the children of Eber, who was his great-grandson and from whom the name of the Hebrews came forth. History shows that Shem and his descendants settled in the area north of the Persian Gulf, which would place him in the correct geographical area for the meeting with Abraham in Gen.14. In Noah’s curse upon Canaan, son of Ham, he pronounced that Canaan would be Shem’s slave - once again confirmation of
the geographical setting.
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews would then also be correct in his statement that Melchizedek was not a descendent of Abraham and that he was Abraham’s superior. Abraham was his descendent and it would be correct for Melchizedek to bless him, and not the other way around.
History and ancient Jewish writings, long before the influence of
Greek philosophy could pollute the knowledge, therefore point strongly to a Biblical explanation for the figure and mention of Melchizedek in the Scriptures.
It is also interesting to note that Shem’s father, Noah, is called heir of righteousness in Hebrews 11:7, following the statement in Hebrews 7:2, that the name Melchizedek means ‘king of righteousness’.
An interesting question arises (although I stress that we are not seeking interesting possibilities, but the truth): did Abraham learn of the living God at Shem’s feet, and is that why he so readily recognised that living God’s voice when it called him?
Shem, of course means Name. God is also called HaShem, or
The Name, within Judaism.
Much of the confusion coming from the vast array of doctrinal differences, to my mind, is the result of too much spiritual philosophying of the Scriptures, reading far beyond and above what is written.
Melchizedek
Yes, I am also of the opinion that Melchizedek is Noah's son Shem, who would then be Abraham's Grandfather, and I would also agree that Abraham was taught in the way's of Elohim by Shem, who also,I beleive schooled Isaac & Jacob way's of The Lord.
Ephraim.
I believe that Melchizedek
I believe that Melchizedek was just a king-priest of Jerusalem who believed in the One God, El.
The "righteous" end of the name, "zedek" apparaently continued on. Perhaps it is Melchizedek's descendent we read of in Josh. 10:1
"Now Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard that Joshua had taken Ai and totally destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king, and that the people of Gibeon had made a treaty of peace with Israel and were living near them."