Deborah W. Rooke, «Jesus as Royal Priest: Reflections on the Interpretation of the Melchizedek Tradition in Heb 7», Vol. 81 (2000) 81-94

In Hebrews’ portrayal of Jesus as a high priest, not according to the line of Aaron but of Melchisedek, there is no reinterpretation of traditional messianic categories. Rather, inasmuch as Hebrews has shown Jesus to be an exalted figure of sacral monarchy, it has depicted him as a truly messianic figure, in whose person the lines of both priesthood and monarchy converge. This is, in turn, entirely consistent with the emphases in Hebrews on Sonship and priesthood, since taken together these are the two major elements of the royal ideology out of which messianism grew. There should, therefore, be allowed more room in Hebrews for royal ideology than traditionally seems to have been the case.

        The clauses in 7.1b-3c could be taken as purely descriptive, and their function interpreted as merely filling out the picture of Melchizedek who has by this point in the epistle been mentioned three times without any explication of his identity (5,6.10; 6,20). However, they could also be regarded as causal clauses which not only define who Melchizedek is but also give the grounds for Melchizedek’s perceived status as an eternal priest; their force would then be, ‘This Melchizedek, inasmuch as all these things are true of him, remains a priest for ever’. In other words, the features attributed to him in 7,1b-3c are not merely accidental characteristics, but they are the constituent elements of his identity as it is portrayed and expounded in the context of Heb 7; without them, he could not be an eternal priest, but with them he cannot fail to be. That this is a genuine interpretative possibility is indicated by the fact that the main-clause statement about Melchizedek remaining a priest for ever (7,3d) is clearly dependent upon facets of his identity which have previously been expressed in the list of subordinate clauses, namely, his identification as a priest (7,1c), and the view that he has no earthly beginning or end (7,3a-b). Additionally, the statement about Melchizedek blessing and receiving tithes from Abraham (7,1d-2a) is used in the subsequent verses as an argument that Melchizedek is greater than Abraham himself (7,4-8), so that in the context of Heb 7,1-3 this too can be seen as a contributory factor in his identity as priest for ever. Given, then, that these elements in the series of subordinate clauses clearly do have a causal relationship to the main statement of the sentence,