Joseph A. Fitzmyer, «Melchizedek in the MT, LXX, and the NT», Vol. 81 (2000) 63-69

Melchizedek is mentioned in the Hebrew Old Testament only in Gen 14,18-20 and Psalm 110,4. The details about this (originally Canaanite) priest-king in these passages were further read and understood in the Hellenistic and Roman periods of Jewish, and later Christian, history. This is seen in the translation or interpretation of the passages in the Septuagint, the writings of Flavius Josephus, the Epistle to the Hebrews, and in the Peshitta, where a process of allegorization was at work.

refresh the warriors in the Valley of the King (also mentioned in 2 Sam 18,18), at the confluence of the Kidron and Hinnom valleys south of Jerusalem.

        Melchizedek is likewise identified in v. 18 as Nwyl( l)l Nhk, which is usually translated as ‘priest of God Most High’. As these verses now stand in Gen 14, this is the correct meaning of the phrase, for the Jewish redactor(s) of the chapter would have understood Nwyl( l) as a title for YHWH, as it is used in v. 22 (Nwyl( l) hwhy). It has, however, long been suspected that hwhy in v. 22 is a late gloss, since it has no counterpart in the LXX, the Vetus Latina, or the Peshitta¹⁵. In the saga, to which these verses originally belonged, Nwyl( l) may have been the name of the Canaanite god whom Melchizedek served )El is the name of a well-known Canaanite deity of the second millennium B.C.¹⁶. Moreover, l) and Nwyl( appear on an eighth-century Aramaic inscription from Sefire in northern Syria as the names of a pair of Canaanite gods, )El and (Elyan, in the pantheon invoked there¹⁷. When these verses were taken over by Jewish redactor(s), )E"l (Elyon became an epithet for YHWH, as it is sometimes used elsewhere¹⁸.

        The same phrase Nwyl( l)l Nhk also gave rise to another problem, which is reflected in the Epistle to the Hebrews: How could Melchizedek be called ko4he4n, ‘a priest’, and a ‘priest of the Most High God’, when there was no record of his genealogy in the OT? Because these verses undoubtedly represent a unit inserted into the Abram story in Gen 14, there is no mention of Melchizedek’s origins or destiny. This silence of Genesis about Melchizedek the priest gave rise to Jewish speculation, because a priestly family normally depended on its genealogy or its ability to trace its descent from Levi via Aaron and Zadok. For instance, Aaron’s ancestry is given in the OT; he was descended from Levi, the son of Jacob the patriarch, via Kohath and Amram (Exod 6,16-20); his birth is mentioned explicitly in Exod 6,20, and his death is recorded in Num 20,24-28. Hence Aaron was scarcely a)pa/twr a)mh/twr a)genealo/ghtoj, ‘without father or mother or genealogy’, nor could he be said to be mh/te zwh=j te/loj e!xwn, ‘without an end to his life’ (Heb 7,3). Yet nothing like that can be found in the OT for Melchizedek, who nevertheless has been given the title Nhk¹⁹. Yet the Epistle to the Hebrews regards him as a)pa/twr a)mh/twr a)genealo/ghtoj, ‘without father or mother or genealogy’.

        A blessing of Abram is uttered by Melchizedek in his quality as ‘priest of the Most High God’. As such, he not only blesses Abram, but also praises God for having delivered Abram’s enemies into his hand.

        Immediately thereafter the Hebrew text of Gen 14,20c continues, ‘and he gave him a tithe of everything’. It is unclear, however, who gave the tithes to