Melchizedek
First named at Gen 14 18
king of Salem (Gen 14:18) · priest of God Most High (Gen 14:18)
- Passages
- 11
- Named in
- Old Testament (2 books), New Testament (1 book)
The name
- Μελχισέδεκ Melchisedek — of Melchizedek
- וּמַלְכִּי ־ u.mal.ki- — and Melchi- lexicon
More than one form is recorded — a renaming, or the Greek and Hebrew of the same person. They are listed under one entry rather than as separate people.
What the traditions disagree about
Who was Melchizedek?
Genuine disagreement
Common ground. All traditions read Hebrews 7 as presenting Melchizedek as a pattern of a priesthood not dependent on descent from Levi, and hold that Christ's priesthood is of that order. The dispute is about the man, not about the typology.
Genesis gives him three verses and no genealogy; Hebrews makes that silence the point. Beyond agreeing he prefigures Christ, readings diverge: a Canaanite priest-king of Salem, an appearance of the pre-incarnate Son, or -- in a rabbinic tradition the Fathers knew and mostly rejected -- Shem outliving his descendants.
- Roman Catholic
- A historical priest-king of Salem whose offering of bread and wine is read as prefiguring the eucharistic sacrifice; named in the Roman Canon. Gen 14:18
- Eastern Orthodox
- A historical figure and a type of Christ; the speculative identifications are treated as opinion rather than teaching. Heb 7:3
- Reformed / Presbyterian
- A real Canaanite king, and no more; Hebrews' argument rests on what Genesis omits about him, not on his being extraordinary. Heb 7:3
- Baptist
- The same reading; the bread and wine are not treated as eucharistic. Gen 14:18
Traditions not listed have no position recorded here. That is a gap in what we have written down, not a statement that they are silent.
Read as a pattern
-
Read as prefiguring Jesus of Nazareth
Hebrews reads Melchizedek -- a priest who is not of Levi, appearing without recorded genealogy -- as the pattern of a priesthood that does not depend on descent.
Heb 7:1-17; Psa 110:4
Places named alongside
- Salem 2 verses
Named in
- Genesis 14:18
- Psalms 110:4
- Hebrews 5:6
- Hebrews 5:10
- Hebrews 6:20
- Hebrews 7:1
- Hebrews 7:10
- Hebrews 7:11
- Hebrews 7:15
- Hebrews 7:17
- Hebrews 7:21
This entry is generated from the tagged text: the name, its language and the passages it appears in. Nobody has yet written up who this person is or what the traditions make of them, and rather than guess, the page says so. Identification follows STEPBible's tagging, which distinguishes people who share a name.