The Divine Rites and Rejection of the Priest-King: Melchizedek on the Margins of Early Jewish and Christian Interpretation

Scripture assigns to Melchizedek the distinguished title of royal priest (Gen. 14:18). Apart from this ascription and a few details related to his encounter with Abraham, the only two references to Melchizedek included in the Hebrew Bible (Gen. 14:18-20; Ps. 110) eventually furnished the source for a wide range of speculation about the mysterious priest-king.

From the Dead Sea Scrolls through the development of rabbinic midrashim, the relative silence of the Hebrew Bible about Melchizedek gave rise to an array of Melchizedekian roles and images ranging from that of a celestial-eschatological liberator-judge to a would-be priest whose failure to properly honor the most high God resulted in his dismissal from his unique post. The literary depiction of Melchizedek is unequivocally held in high regard prior to the rabbinic period. The combined king-priest office as witnessed during the Hasmonean period may account for the decline in respect shown toward Melchizedek. Further, the endorsement of Christ within the Epistle to the Hebrews as a priest after the pre-Aaronic order of Melchizedek conceivably introduced a challenge to rabbinic religious hegemony.

This thesis provides a concise review of all extant Jewish works of the Second Temple period (e.g. Genesis Apocryphon; Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice; 11Q13 [11QMelch]; Philo; Josephus; 2 Enoch; also the Pentateuchal Targums [recorded later]), early Christian writings (e.g. the Epistle to the Hebrews; Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho; Origen, Commentary to the Gospel of John), and rabbinic sources (b. Ned. 32b; Gen. Rab. 43.6; Lev. Rab. 25.6; Num. Rab. 4.8). The notion that Melchizedek lost his priestly role is first witnessed among rabbinic works. The decline in respect for Melchizedek’s priesthood appears to exhibit a response to the measure of dignity attributed to the priest-king in the Epistle to the Hebrews as well as the works of later Patristic writers (e.g. Justin; Origen).

According to Hebrews, Melchizedek’s seniority as a priest sustains preeminence over Levitical obligations which were crucial to the maintenance of halakhic obligations. The universality of an uncircumcised Canaanite priest most likely presented further challenges to rabbinic interests.

An additional point of contention between the two communities may be attested in the embrace of distinct scriptural renderings of Ps. 110:3. The vocalization of the Masoretic Text suggests a different reading of the verse than construals recorded in the earlier versions of both the Septuagint and the Syriac Peshitta. Additional rabbinic works (e.g. y. Berakhot 5; Gen. Rab. 59.9) and an excerpt from Justin’s Dialogue are considered in support of the theory. Thus, the marginalizing of Melchizedek appears to comprise a rabbinic response, perhaps initiated by R. Ishmael, to claims of a Christological priesthood linked to the Melchizedekian order (Ps. 110:4).