Hebrews 7:1

Οὖτος γὰρ ὁ Μελχισεδέκ. All that is historically known of Melchisedek is found in three verses of the book of Genesis (Genesis 14:18-20). In all the twenty centuries of sacred history he is only mentioned once, in Psalms 110:4. This chapter is a mystical explanation of the significance of these two brief allusions. It was not wholly new, since the Jews attached high honour to the name of Melchisedek, whom they identified with Shem, and Philo had already spoken of Melchisedek as a type of the Logos (De Leg. Alleg. III. 25, Opp. I. 102).

βασιλεὺς Σαλήμ. Salem is probably a town near Shechem. It is the same which is mentioned in Genesis 33:18 (though there the words rendered “to Shalem” may mean “in safety”), and in John 3:23; and it is the Salumias of Jdt 4:4. This is the view of Jerome, who in his Onomasticon places it eight miles south of Bethshean. The site is marked by a ruined well still called Sheikh Salim (Robinson, Bibl. Res. III. 333). In Jerome’s time the ruins of a large palace were shewn in this place as “the palace of Melchisedek”; and this agrees with the Samaritan tradition that Abraham had been met by Melchisedek not at Jerusalem but at Gerizim. The same tradition is mentioned by Eupolemos (Euseb. Praep. Evang. IX. 17. See Stanley, Sin. and Pal. p. 237). The more common view has been that Salem is a shortened form of Jerusalem, but this is very improbable; for (1) only a single instance of this abbreviation has been adduced, and that only as a poetic license in a late Psalm which the LXX. describe as “A Psalm with reference to the Assyrian” (Psalms 76:2). (2) Even this instance is very dubious, for (α) the Psalmist may be intending to contrast the sanctuary of Melchisedek with that of David; or (β) even here the true rendering may be “His place has been made in peace” as the Vulgate renders it. (3) Jerusalem in the days of Abraham, and for centuries afterwards, was only known by the name Jebus. (4) The typical character of Melchisedek would be rather impaired than enhanced by his being a king at Jerusalem, for that was the holy city of the Aaronic priesthood of which he was wholly independent, being a type of One in whose priesthood men should worship the Father in all places alike if they offered a spiritual worship. We must then regard Salem as being a different place from Jerusalem, if any place at all is intended. For though both the Targums and Josephus (Antt. I. 10, § 2) here identify Salem with Jerusalem, the Bereshith Rabba interprets the word Salem as an appellative, and says that “King of Salem” means “Perfect King,” and that this title was given to him because he was circumcised (see Wünsche, Bibl. Rabbinica, Beresh. Rabba, p. 198). Philo too says “king of peace, for that is the meaning of Salem” (Leg. Alleg. III. 25, comp. Isaiah 9:6; Colossians 1:20). Nothing depends on the solution of the question, for in any case the fact that “Salem” means “peace” or “peaceful” is pressed into the typology. But the Salem near Sichem was itself in a neighbourhood hallowed by reminiscences scarcely less sacred than those of Jerusalem. Besides this connexion with the name of Melchisedek, it was the place where Jacob built the altar El-Elohe-Israel; the scene of John’s baptism; and the region in which Christ first revealed Himself to the woman of Samaria as the Messiah.

ἱερεὺς τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου. The union of Royalty and Priesthood in the same person gave him peculiar sacredness (“He shall be a Priest upon His throne” (Zechariah 6:13). “Rex Anius, rex idem hominum, Phoebique sacerdos” (Virg. Aen. III. 80 and Servius ad loc.). The expression “God most high” in Genesis is El Elîôn, and this was also a title of God among the Phoenicians. It is however certain that Moses meant that Melchisedek was a Priest of God, for though this is the earliest occurrence of the name El Elîôn it is afterwards combined with “Jehovah” in Genesis 14:22, and in other parts of the Pentateuch and the Psalms. There is no difficulty in supposing that the worship of the One True God was not absolutely confined to the family of Abraham. The longevity of the early Patriarchs facilitated the preservation of Monotheism at least among some tribes of mankind, and this perhaps explains the existence of the name Eliôn among the Phoenicians (Philo Byblius ap. Euseb. Praep. Evang. I. 10).

ὁ συναντήσας κ.τ.λ. Amraphel king of Shinar, with three allies, had made war on Bera king of Sodom with four allies, and had carried away plunder and captives from the Cities of the Plain. Among the captives was Lot. Abraham therefore armed his 318 servants, and with the assistance of three Canaanite chiefs, Aner, Mamre, and Eshcol, pursued Amraphe’s army to the neighbourhood of Damascus, defeated them, rescued their prisoners, and recovered the spoil. The word here rendered “slaughter” (κοπὴ from κόπτω “cut”) may perhaps mean no more than “smiting,” i.e. defeat. On his return the king of Sodom going forth to greet and thank Abraham met him at “the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale,” a place of which nothing is known, but which was probably somewhere in the tribe of Ephraim near mount Gerizim. This seems to have been in the little domain of Melchisedek, for we are not told that “he went forth to meet” Abraham, but only that (being apparently at the place where Bera met Abraham) he humanely and hospitably brought out bread and wine for the weary victors, and blessed Abraham, and blessed God for granting him the victory. In acknowledgement of this friendly blessing, Abraham “gave him tithes of all,” i.e. of all the spoils.

εὐλογήσας. Evidently as a priestly act. Genesis 14:19-20.