Melchizedek: King of righteousness, the king of Salem (q.v.). All we know of him is
recorded in
(Genesis 14:18-20) He is subsequently mentioned only once in
the Old Testament, in
(Psalms 110:4) The typical significance of his
history is set forth in detail in the Epistle to the Hebrews,
(He 7:1-28) The apostle there points out the superiority of his
priesthood to that of Aaron in these several respects,1. Even Abraham paid him tithes;
2. he blessed Abraham;
3. he is the type of a Priest who lives for ever;
4. Levi, yet unborn, paid him tithes in the person of Abraham;
5. the permanence of his priesthood in Christ implied the
abrogation of the Levitical system;
6. he was made priest not without an oath; and
7. his priesthood can neither be transmitted nor interrupted by
death: "this man, because he continueth ever, hath an
unchangeable priesthood."
The question as to who this mysterious personage was has given rise to
a great deal of modern speculation. It is an old tradition among the
Jews that he was Shem, the son of Noah, who may have survived to this
time. Melchizedek was a Canaanitish prince, a worshipper of the true
God, and in his peculiar history and character an instructive type of
our Lord, the great High Priest
(Hebrews 5:6,7; 6:20) One of the Amarna
tablets is from Ebed-Tob, king of Jerusalem, the successor of
Melchizedek, in which he claims the very attributes and dignity given
to Melchizedek in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
