Who was Melchiz'edek?

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Bwtby said:
Wow, so he was conceived by the Holy Ghost too? Interesting.
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No.
But the scripture says he is without father.
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The “without father or mother or genealogy” (Heb. 7:3) simply means there is no record of parentage in Scripture for someone named Melchizedek. (The connection to Shem is extrabiblical and not necessarily factual.)

Likewise, “has neither beginning of days nor end of life” simply means that neither the date of his birth nor his death is recorded in Scripture.

Source for the above is St. John Chrysostom, an early Church father, in his commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Here is a link. Just scroll down to “3.” and start reading.
newadvent.org/fathers/240212.htm
 
Bwtby said:
You believe it could of been an angel too?

Yeah, I agree with you, I think it seems pretty literal 🤷.
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Since we only know about angels, humans, and a divine being, I vote angel. I think the original listeners of the letter would have taken it literally.
 
IMO, Melchizedek is Jesus.

I believe this by looking at all the verses, specifially the ones in Hebrews, and to me it points to Jesus.

Ge 14:18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. (How else used Bread and Wine?)

Heb 7:

1 ¶ For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,”
3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.
5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham;
6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.
8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.
9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak,
10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
 
Melchizedek means ‘king of righteousness’. It’s a title not a name.
This was the title of the king of Jerusalem in righteousness. Notice the word play:
Melchizedek reigning in Salem:
King of righteousness reigns in the city of peace. Well. obviously!

After the flood, righteous Noah and his family were to repopulate the world and rule it in righteousness. Who was going to rule the earth?, what mode of governance? the righteous mode?

The natural structure of human society as instituted by God is the family. Father, mother, childreen. The father is the ‘king’ of the kingdom that is the family. Keeping with righteousness, without the father, the first born son, become the protector (king) of the family of his father as well as his own local one. Here, it is assumed that the first born son being the eldest is also the wisest, therefore the most righteous. However it was not always the case. There are many instances where the eldest sons were coward and Prophet had to pick a younger son because prophets checked ‘righteousness’. David is one of those instances.

In Melchizedek we have no disappointment the ‘first born’ is also ‘the righteous’, plus he is the first born of the new humanity:Shem. It is in this sense that he is a type of Christ.

The Book says, he has no number of days, nor mother or father, because this priesthood does not depend on how old you are, nor who is your father or mother, but only on the fact that you are ‘first born in righteousness’. This fact is eternal, the first born in righteousness if in fact the Son of God who became man and become first born in righteousness of the new humanity.

God bless
 
I believe he was a human.
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High.
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From indications Salem my have been Jerusalem.
 
You all amaze me here. I thought this thread would attract bible scholar types.

Let me know when one jumps on board.
 
Dokimas said:
IMO, Melchizedek is Jesus.

I believe this by looking at all the verses, specifially the ones in Hebrews, and to me it points to Jesus.

Ge 14:18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. (How else used Bread and Wine?)

Heb 7:

1 ¶ For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,”
3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils.
5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham;
6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.
7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.
8 Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives.
9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak,
10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
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🙂
 
I tread lightly here, being no scholar.

Melchizedek was stated as having no beginning or end, mother or father. Scripture simply didn’t record it. But Christ as God, literal here, did not have mother or father, beginning or end.

The Levites could only serve as priests because they alone refused to worship the golden calf. However, they were under time restraints, only able to minister between an age in their 30’s up to early 50’s. Melchizedek did not have age/time restrictions.

The Levites had to prove their lineage. Otherwise, they could not be priests.

The Levites were bound by the law. Melchizedek was not bound by the law. Christ came to fulfill the Law.

Melchizedek blessed Abraham and gave him offerings of bread and wine. Jesus offered us a new sacrifice, made from human hands and ordinary food…and through Him, became the elements of the sacrifice of bread and wine transformed into Him.

Thus Melchizedek is a prefigure of the coming High priesthood of Jesus Christ. The priest acts in the place of the Lord through the sacrament of holy orders. The Eucharist then becomes the first fruits of Jesus Christ.
 
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