Melchizedek, King and Priest

Ecumenical Review, The, July, 2000 by T.K. Thomas

An Ecumenical Paradigm?

"Progenitor of all priesthood"

Melchizedek is one of the most mysterious figures in the Bible. His role is apocalyptic and intriguing. Little is known about him, and much is made of the little that is known. As, perhaps, in this article. He appears in person only once, and that briefly. He speaks only a few words, and they are words of blessing and, in one sense, words of greeting.

Melchizedek comes unannounced, and meets Abram as he returns from battle after defeating his enemies. He entertains Abram with bread and wine, and invokes upon him the blessings of God Most High, and blesses God Most High who has granted him victory over his enemies. Abram responds, instinctively, and obeisantly, by giving his unexpected visitor one-tenth of everything he has. That is all. Their encounter is over in three cryptic verses:

   And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine;
   he was priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said,
       "Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
       maker of heaven and earth;
       and blessed be God Most High,
       who has delivered your enemies into your hand!"
   And Abram gave him one tenth of everything.
                                                 Gen. 14:18-20

As far as we know, this was their first and last meeting. Had Abram heard of Melchizedek, king of Salem, later identified as pre-Israelite Jerusalem? He might have guessed that Melchizedek was "priest of God Most High" from the way he blessed him and blessed God. Etymologically, Melchizedek's name means king of uprightness or righteousness, and Salem means peace. He was king and priest, in fact the first priest we meet in the Bible, the "progenitor of all priesthood".(1)

Melchizedek disappears as abruptly as he appeared, and we are left wondering what it was all about -- and whether he took with him the considerable tithe, most probably booty from battle, he had received from Abram.

We come across him again, though not in person, a long time and a number of pages later, in Psalm 110:4: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, `You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.'" Melchizedek is presented again as king and priest. He is head, or founder, or prototype, of an order of priesthood that is obviously different from the Levitical or Aaronic order.

Psalm 110 celebrates "the assurance of victory for God's priest-king". It is one of the "royal" psalms, and was read perhaps at the coronation of the kings of Judah or to celebrate their victory in battle. It is a "messianic" psalm, like Psalm 2, in which "he who sits in the heavens laughs" at the pretensions of the kings of the earth, and says he will declare: "I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill" (vv.4,6). The only time the Lord laughs in the Psalms is when the kings of the earth and the rulers conspire against him and his anointed. It is a little disappointing that the divine laughter here is an expression of derision and not of humour.

But who is referred to by the second person pronoun in the declaration "You are a priest forever"? Is it a king, like David, who belongs to the house of Judah, or a priest in Levitical succession? Or is it Jesus Christ? Can it be claimed -- as indeed it was centuries later -- that Melchizedek is "like a primeval John the Baptist who testifies in effect: `After me comes one who ranks before me because he was before me'" (John 1:30),(2) and that he is made to appear as "a historical archetype pointing forward and backward towards Christ"?(3)

But we anticipate. All that we know now is that Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, that he brought bread and wine for Abram, that Abram gave him tithe even as his descendants were to give it later to the Levitical priests -- who were also Abram's descendants -- and that the Psalmist, with prophetic insight or poetic license, presents him as "a priest forever". That in turn means he cannot be dismissed as a shadowy figure from the distant past, but is part of a living tradition which has historical and theological significance.

The high-priestly ministry in Christ

It is precisely this significance, challengingly relevant for people who are now called Christians, that the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews tries to unfold and emphasize. We do not know who the writer was. The King James Version introduces the letter as "The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews". It is obviously addressed to Jewish converts to the Christian faith, but because of its differences from other letters in style and approach, most biblical scholars rule out Pauline authorship. Origen's conclusion -- "Who wrote the epistle, in truth, God alone knows"(4) -- is a fair one, though not very helpful.

The high-priestly ministry of Jesus Christ is one of the main themes of the letter, and in the exposition of it Melchizedek is given a crucial role.

In the Hebrew tradition one became high priest on the basis of law, and performed one's high-priestly duties in accordance with law. Melchizedek's priesthood was beyond and above law; it was bestowed before the law was given and the covenant made. In his approach to and his exposition of a christological priesthood, the writer of the letter quotes the Psalmist's words "a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek", or reproduces them with minor changes, no fewer than five times: