Genesis 14:18

Melchizedek king of Salem The name Melchizedek was considered by the Jews to mean "the king of righteousness" (Hebrews 7:2), or "my king" (malchi) "is righteousness" (zedek). The name should be compared with that of Adoni-zedek (Joshua 10:1). It appears most probable that Zedek was the name of a Canaanite deity, and that the names Adoni-zedek, Melchizedek, meant "my Lord is Zedek," "my king is Zedek," just as Adonijah, Malchijah, meant "my Lord is Jah" and "my king is Jah."

Salem In all probability to be identified with Jerusalem, as evidently by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Hebrews 7:1-2). The objection, that Jerusalem was too far south for the present incident, is of no value. The objection that in Judges 19:10 the ancient name of Jerusalem was "Jebus" is not conclusive. "Jebus," as a name, seems only to have been inferred from the Jebusites. See Driver, H.D.B., s.v."Jebus"; G. A. Smith, Jerusalem, i. 266. The following points deserve consideration: (a) In the Tel-el-Amarna tablets Jerusalem appears with the name Uru-salim. (b) Salem is the poetical, or archaic, name for Jerusalem, in Psalms 76:2. (c) Melchizedek is compared to the king of Zion in Psalms 110:4. (d) Abram's paying of tithe to Melchizedek gains greatly in symbolical significance, if Salem is the same as Jerusalem. (e) The tradition of this identification is favoured by Josephus (Ant. i. 10, 1) and the Targums.

The alternative suggestion, made by Jerome, that Salem is the place mentioned in John 3:23, in the Jordan Valley, seems very improbable. On the other hand, if Salem be Jerusalem, it is the only mention of Jerusalem in the Pentateuch.

brought forth bread and wine As a friendly king, Melchizedek provides food and drink for the returning victor, and, as a priest, gives to him his blessing. In the mention of bread and wine there is no idea of religious offerings. It is the gift of food to weary and famished soldiers. Jewish commentators have regarded these gifts as symbolizing the shew-bread and the drink-offering: Christian exegesis has often associated them with the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist. But the bread and wine are not offered to God; they are given to Abram as a token of good-will and as a means of refreshment. There is nothing sacrificial in the gift.

he was priest of God Most High Melchizedek was not only king (melek) of Salem, but also a priest (ḳohen). The combination of the priestly with the kingly functions was common in the East; though amongst the Israelites it is not found until the Maccabean period.

This is the first mention of a priest in Holy Scripture. It is clearly intended that Melchizedek should impersonate pure Monotheism.

Melchizedek is a, not thepriest of "God Most High" (Heb. El Elyon). Some have thought that El Elyondenotes here the name of an ancient Canaanite deity, and quote, in favour of this view, the statement of Philo of Byblus (Euseb. Prep. Ev.i. 10) that there was a Phoenician divinity Ἐλιοῦν καλούμενος Ὕψιστος = "Elyon called Most High." But Elin the O.T. is one of the most common names of God, especially frequent in poetical and archaic usage. It is often combined with some qualifying epithet denoting an attribute, e.g. Genesis 17:1, "God Almighty" = El Shaddai: Genesis 21:33, "the Everlasting God" = El -olâm: Exodus 20:5, "a jealous God" = El ḳanna. Again Elyon, "Most High," is an epithet often applied to Jehovah, e.g. Numbers 24:16; and combined with El, Psalms 78:35. Melchizedek seems, therefore, to be regarded by the writer as a priest of God Almighty, the God of the Universe. The fuller knowledge of God as Jehovah, the God of Revelation, was the privilege of Abram and his descendants. The conception of Melchizedek as the representative of a primitive phase of Natural Religion, in the Canaan of 2000 b.c., idealizes his figure. Very probably, in the scene before us, his interposition will best be interpreted symbolically. Josephus (Ant. xv. 6, 2) mentions that the Maccabee princes assumed the title of High Priest "of God Most High." Cf. Assumption of Moses, Genesis 6:1, "There shall be raised up unto them kings bearing rule, and they shall call themselves priests of the Most High God."