Who was Melkizadek?

[scapularkid8]

Why is he in one of the Eucharistic prefaces, and who is he? Is he important? I’ve never even read of him in the Bible…? He’s Old Testament, that much I know , but what’s the story on him?

 

[Dale_M]

There are a couple references in the Bible which I am aware of:

17 When Abram returned from his victory over Chedorlaomer and the kings who were allied with him, the king of Sodom went out to greet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
18 Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram with these words:
19 Blessed be Abram by God Most High, the creator of heaven and earth;
20And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your foes into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Genesis 14:17-20

And the more familar reference from Psalms 110:4

4The LORD has sworn and will not waver: “Like Melchizedek you are a priest forever.”

I think these OT references are seen as foreshadowing Jesus, the Last Supper, and the sacraments of Holy Orders and the Eucharist.

 

[Aureole]

Melchizedek was the king of Salem, mentioned in Genesis 16:18-20. He blesses Abraham and offers bread and wine.

Melchizedek is important because he is viewed as a type (Prefigurement) of Christ. Our Lord is said to be a priest in the line of Melchizedek since He wasn’t descended of Levite ancestry.

You should check the Catholic Encyclopædia for a fairly brief article on Melchizedek. It’s actually quite interesting.

 

[scapularkid8]

Oh, so he was a prophet in a loose sense?

 

[Aureole]

I suppose you could say that. Personally I view Melchizedek more as a priest and king but he must have said something right to be viewed so highly. I also use a fairly strict sense of the word “prophet”, perhaps that plays a little bit on it.

It might be interesting to ask a Jew about Melchizedek. I recall there being a thread somewhere on these boards where a Jewish fellow answers questions about Judaism. Stillsmallvoice is another person to talk to about Judaism.

 

[Jerry-Jet]

Hebrews says that Melchizadek had no father or motrher but that his priesthood endures forever and that Jesus’ priesthood comes from his order.

God can create whatever he wants.

It is possible that Melchizadek is not a man like we are–and not an angel–but something different.

All I now is this–if God wanted to create Melchizadek without father or mother and wanted him to be a priest and wanted Jesus’ priesthood to be of his order and wanrted to make him King of Salem and wanted Abraham to give a tenth of everything he had to him and wanted him to bless Abraham–

Who are we to argue with God?

Enoch and Elijah are thought to have gone to heaven without dying because of their righteousness.

Maybe Melchizadek is like them but a righteous priest.

 

[CANman]

Tim Staples (I think) says he was Noahs’ first-born son Shem. I guess if you add up the ages in Gen, Shem would still have been alive, and apparently there was a Jewish tradition that agreed with this. He was the righteous first-born, passing on the original priesthood (of the first-born) to Abraham.

He was a foreshadowing of Christ because he was the King of Salem (King of Peace).

 

[Liberian]

In Hebrew, “melekh” means “king” and “melkhei” means “king of.” Also, “zedek” (literally “tsaddik”) means “righteous.”

Another thing to note is that King of Salem probably meant King of (Jeru)salem.

• Liberian

 

[Sabda]

According to what I have read from Scott Hahn, Melchizadek was more of a title instead of a name. As it was stated above, it means king of rightousness. According to Jewish tradition, he is said to be Shem. We see from Genesis, that Noah blessed Shem. Shem then blessed Abraham. Salem is also said to be a shortened form of Jerusalem.

This comes from Scott Hahn’s book “A Father Who Keeps His Promises” and from his bible study linked below.

salvationhistory.com/online/coursesofstudy.cfm

 

[scapularkid8]

According to Jewish tradition, he is said to be Shem. We see from Genesis, that Noah blessed Shem. Shem then blessed Abraham. Salem is also said to be a shortened form of Jerusalem.

But what of the Bible passage that says he had no geneology, no mother/father?

PS
Your link is an answer to one of my prayers because I’ve been praying for a deeper knowledge of God’s Word and Scripture. Free classes is my idea of a blessing! Thanks.

 

[NotWorthy]

This comes from the Agape Bible Study:

The identity of this man is one of the great mysteries of the Bible. According to Jewish tradition this priest-king of Salemst century Targums, the Aramaic commentaries that accompanied the Old Testament text. is Shem, the righteous firstborn son of Noah through whom God has continued His Covenant. The modern Jewish Tanach [Old Testament] includes a notation of this tradition in the footnotes, and it is also found in the 1
You may recall that Shem is the first man identified in Scripture as “God’s man”, and Shem is also the righteous “firstborn” son of Noah with whom God’s Covenant with Noah continues. In Genesis 9:26 he is identified as “Blessed be Yahweh, God of Shem”. Abram/Abraham is his descendant! Genesis 11:10 records that "When Shem was a hundred years old he fathered Arpachshad, two years after the flood. After the birth of Arpackshad, Shem lived 500 years…" Shem lived to be 600 years old. If you calculate the age of Shem from the toledoth of Genesis chapter 11 you will discover that Shem was 390 years old when Abram was born. Genesis 17:24 records that Abraham [his name is changed by then] is 99 years old when Ishmael is circumcised at age 13. At that time Shem would be a healthy 489 years old-- still alive after the events of Genesis chapter 14. If Shem is Yahweh’s Covenant representative it makes perfect sense for Abram to acknowledge his leadership and to pay a tithe. Abraham died when he was 175 [Genesis 25:7]. At that time Shem would have been a venerable 565 years old, outliving his “son” Abraham and dying in his 600th year! **

 

[Sabda]

Your welcome, about the link. I found out about it thanks to someone on this board. It’s been a good study for me so far.

As far as the no father/mother. I don’t know about that. Maybe someone with more knowledge knows? Scott Hahn does get into what I said above in the bible study I linked. It’s under Covenant Love, Lesson Three. However, it appears he does not address the issue of no father/mother. That was after giving the study a quick scan. I’m only on lesson two right now. Like I said, maybe someone else will know about that one.

 

[NotWorthy]

Here’s what the NAB says about Hebrews 7:3

Without father, mother, or ancestry, without beginning of days or end of life: this is perhaps a quotation from a hymn about Melchizedek. The rabbis maintained that anything not mentioned in the Torah does not exist. Consequently, since the Old Testament nowhere mentions Melchizedek’s ancestry, birth, or death, the conclusion can be drawn that he remains . . . forever.

 

[Sabda]

Here’s what the NAB says about Hebrews 7:3
Quote:
Without father, mother, or ancestry, without beginning of days or end of life: this is perhaps a quotation from a hymn about Melchizedek. The rabbis maintained that anything not mentioned in the Torah does not exist. Consequently, since the Old Testament nowhere mentions Melchizedek’s ancestry, birth, or death, the conclusion can be drawn that he remains . . . forever.

Ah, well there are a lot of things not mentioned in the Torah that actually did/do exist. Thanks for the explanation, that does help.

 

[NotWorthy]

Ah, well there are a lot of things not mentioned in the Torah that actually did/do exist. Thanks for the explanation, that does help.

Yes, I wonder, do you think Paul was yanking the Pharisee’s chain, maybe?

Sort of a predecessor to the Sola Scriptura debate?

 

[axolotl]

Consequently, since the Old Testament nowhere mentions Melchizedek’s ancestry, birth, or death,

That’s part of the argument that he is Shem. He appears out of nowhere, and passes the torch (kingship/priesthood) to Abraham. But where did he get it from? Since the last perswon we saw with it was Shem…

Then Jacob passes the kingship to Judah and the family priesthood to Levi.

 

[scapularkid8]

Got it. This is becoming more clear now.

 

[richardeekw]

Taken from Catholic Exchange Bible study prepared by Dr Scott Hahn and his Teak

[After Abram had defeated the five kings and rescued Lot, he had a meeting with the king of Sodom and “Melchizedek, king of Salem.” This person raises a number of questions for us. He could be just another difficult name attached to an obscure place except that the New Testament tells us that Jesus is a high priest “after the orderof Melchizedek” (see Heb. 6:20). For this reason, Melchizedek is of great interest to us.Most modern biblical scholarship sees in Melchizedek a pre-figuring of Christ; some scholars suggest that it was actually an appearance of Christ to Abram. He is a mysterious figure. The early tradition of the Church, which continued well up to the time of the Reformation, was influenced by the Jewish rabbinic teaching that Melchizedek was actually Shem, the firstborn son of Noah who lived a very long time. This is a compelling idea.Shem was the one on whom Noah’s blessing had rested. He was destined to be a master over the Canaanites. His priesthood was domestic; that is, the one who conducted the worship of God and through whom the blessing of God was received was the head of the family. We have seen this in Noah and Abram. This role was passed from father to firstborn son. If, in fact, Shem is Melchizedek (this name is more of a title than a name), as the Fathers taught (even Martin Luther understood and taught this), what can we make of the description of him in Hebrews 7:1-10 (please read)?Heb 7:1-10

Heb. 7:3, he is described as “without father or mother or genealogy, and has neither beginning of days nor endof life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.” In order to understand this statement, we need to know something about the Levitical priesthood in Israel, with which Melchizedek’s priesthood is contrasted in the verses that follow.The Levitical priesthood was instituted in Israel at the time of a great apostasy, a grave turning away from the covenant God had made with His people (see Exodus 32:25-29). Before that time, the priesthood had been a domestic one, as we have seen in Genesis thus far, passed from father to firstborn son. Due to the circumstances of its institution, the Levitical priesthood must be seen as inferior to the earlier one. The writer of Hebrews makes this clear. Additionally, by the time of the writing of Hebrews, the Levitical priesthood featured certain restrictions. A man could not become a priest until he was 30 and had to retire when he was 50. He also had to prove his Levitical (of the tribe of Levi) genealogy through both his father and his mother (this had become important when Israel returned to its land after foreign exile, in about 500 B.C.; there was careful attention to lineage in order to prevent any foreign corruption in the priesthood).The priesthood of Melchizedek was not that way. There was no need for the Levitical attention to parental lineage(“He is without father or mother or geneaolgy…”). There was no start and end of his service (“neither beginning of days nor end of life”). It would be this kind of royal priesthood that Jesus would have (prophesied of the Messiah long before by King David in Psalm 110:4). His was the superior priesthood of the firstborn son, not theLevitical one. God’s own Son became High Priest. Melchizedek was a type of the One Who was to come.]

God Bless