I’m curious where the author got this information. I’ve never heard anyone claim that Melchizedek was from the seed of Shem.
Also, the preface to this writing, The book of the Bee, claims that the author was an Nestorian!!! Am I confused, or are you citing text from a heretic???
So what if Mar Solomon was a member of the Assyrian Church of the East? The book was not really an original work: it was more a compilation (hence the name; as a ). It may have been ‘tainted’ by Nestorianism, but the Melchizedek part does not seem to have any problematic area in it.
Now, based on what I’ve found out, the legend recounted in the
Book of the Bee is apparently one of the stories that was circulated in order to counter claims, common in some circles before and during the time this tome was written due to a selective reading of passages mentioning him in the Bible, that Melchizedek was actually divine. Another (earlier) Syrian work, the
Cave of Treasures also provides an apologetic against this misconception - in fact, it seems the Book of the Bee drew upon this work!
And after the death of Noah Shem did as his father had commanded him. And he went into the Ark by night, and brought out the body of Adam therefrom, and he sealed the Ark with his father’s seal, and no man perceived [what he had done]. And he called Ham and Japhet, and said unto them, “
My brethren, my father commanded me to go up and travel over the earth, even to the sea (i.e. the Mediterranean), and I am to see what the rivers are like, and then return unto you. And behold, my wife and the children of my house are with you (i.e. in your care); let your eyes be upon them.” And his brethren said unto him, “
Take with thee a company of men from the camp, for the land is a desert waste, and is shorn of inhabitants, and there are wild beasts therein.” And Shem said unto them, “
The Angel of the Lord shall go up with me, and he shall save me from every evil thing”; and his brethren said unto him, “
Go in peace, and may the Lord God of our Fathers be with thee.” And Shem said unto Mâlâkh (the brother of Shâlâh (Salah), the son of [Cainan] and [grand]son of Arphaxad), the father of Melchisedek, and Yôzadhâk, his mother, “
Give ye me Melchisedek, that he may go up with me, and be a consolation for me on the road.” And Mâlâkh and Yôzadhâk, his mother, said unto Shem, “
Take [him] and go in peace.” And Shem gave commands unto his brethren, and said unto them, “
My brethren, my father made me swear that neither I, nor any of your descendants, should go into the Ark,” and he sealed the Ark with his seal, and said unto them, “
Let no man go near it.”…
[Shem and Melchizedek go into what would be the site of Golgotha and bury Adam’s body there]
…And Shem said unto Melchisedek, “
Thou shalt be the priest of the Most High God, because thou alone hath God chosen to minister before Him in this place. And thou shalt sit (i.e. dwell) here continually, and shalt not depart from this place all the days of thy life. Thou shalt not take a wife, thou shalt not shave thy head, and thou shalt not pour out blood in this place. Thou shalt not offer up wild beasts nor feathered fowl, but thou shalt offer up bread and wine always; and thou shalt not build a building in this place. And behold, the Angel of the Lord shall come down to thee and visit thee continually.” And Shem embraced and kissed Melchisedek, and blessed him, and he returned to his brethren. And Mâlâkh, the father of Melchisedek, and Yôzâdhâk, his mother, said [unto Shem], “
Where is the young man?” And he said, “
He died on the journey, and I buried him there” (i.e. where he died); and they mourned for him greatly.
And when Shem had lived six hundred years he died, and Arphakhshar, his son, and Shâlâh (Salah), and `Abhâr (Eber), his sons, buried him.
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia:
A singular story is told of Melchizedek in the
Ethiopian Book of Adam and Eve, which, before it was turned into a Christian work, seems to have presented a strange combination of Jewish and Egyptian elements emanating from a sect afterward known as the Melchizedekites. There (iii. 13-21) Noah tells his son Shem before his death to take “Melchizedek, the son of Canaan, whom God had chosen from all generations of men, and to stand by the dead body of Adam after it had been brought from the ark to Jerusalem as the center of the earth and fulfil the ministry before God.” The angel Michael then took away Melchizedek, when fifteen years of age, from his father, and, after having anointed him as priest, brought him to (Jerusalem) the center of the earth, telling his father to share the mystery only with Shem, the son of Noah, while the Holy Spirit, speaking out of the ark when the body of Adam was hidden, greeted Melchizedek as “the first-created of God.” Shem went, carrying bread and wine, and, assisted by the angel, brought the body of Adam to its destination. Melchizedek offered the bread and wine upon the altar they built near the place where Adam’s body was deposited, and then Shem departed, leaving the pure lad in his garment of skins under the sole protection of the angel, no one on earth knowing of his whereabouts until, at last, Abraham met him.
