Melchizedek the King-Priest

who has handed over your enemies to you.

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. (Gen 14:17-20)

After his victory over these kings, Abram, accompanied by Lot and his men of war, meets Melchizedek. Genesis tells us that the king of Sodom came out to negotiate with Abram, but that Melchizedek, king of Salem, came out to bless him with bread and wine.

Melchizedek’s blessing of the patriarch is critical to the connection the author finds between Melchizedek and Christ. The coming verses teach that the greater one always blesses the lesser one. Thus, the fact that Melchizedek blesses Abraham, the head of the old covenant, is astounding. Is there a name in the Old Testament more exalted than Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel? Surely not! Yet Genesis 14 and the author of Hebrews show Melchizedek, a non-Israelite king, as a superior blessing an “inferior.” During this triumphant moment of military victory in which Abram has functioned as the kinsman redeemer for Lot, this king of Salem blesses him. The situation presents Melchizedek, as the one doing the blessing, as the greater of the two figures.

In response to the blessing, Abram offers Melchizedek “a tenth of everything.” Such a response is loaded with meaning, but the writer of Hebrews does not fully unpack the idea until later. What the author does tell us is the meaning of Melchizedek’s name: “king of righteousness.” The meaning of names meant more in Melchizedek’s day than in our own. Although Melchizedek may seem like a strange name to us, those familiar with the Semitic language could hear the word for king (mlk) and the word for righteousness (zdk) as the constituent parts of his name. Thus, Melchizedek’s name points to the fact that he is a righteous king. The writer of Hebrews also indicates that to say Melchizedek was the king of Salem was to say Melchizedek was the king of peace. In other words, Melchizedek’s kingdom aligns with the realm of peace.

It is possible to conclude from verse 3 that Melchizedek was somehow immortal. A closer reading of this text, however, reveals that the eternality of Melchizedek’s personhood is not the subject of this verse. At issue is Melchizedek’s priesthood. Melchizedek was not a priest because his father was a priest, nor was he a priest who had successors. By providing this familial background, the author is trying to communicate the unprecedented nature of Melchizedek’s priesthood. Melchizedek is a priest of God Most High by divine ordination. Melchizedek enters into the Genesis story as if he has no mother, no father, and no sons. This kind of priesthood stands in stark contrast with the priesthood of Israel, which was entirely based on Levitical familial descent. The contrast will be highlighted for us in a later verse, but the author is using this verse to enforce that Melchizedek’s priesthood had nothing to do with ancestry or descent. Divine designation predicates his appointment as priest. Thus it continues forever.

In verse 4 the author of Hebrews leads the reader back to Abram’s response to Melchizedek’s blessing and gives more details about the tithe that the great patriarch gave to him. Abram gave Melchizedek “a tenth of the plunder.” This is no small gift. Abram had just defeated a large number of kings and taken all of their possessions. One does not give a tithe to another without it being an obligation. Abram feels, as a matter of obligation to God Most High, that he should give this priest a tenth of everything he had obtained. This tithe would not have been a small tip but a large payment made by one of Israel’s most important figures. Abram’s tithe is one of the most unexpected and one of the most fascinating parts of the whole Old Testament.

Furthermore, that Abraham is addressed as a “patriarch” is another important detail in this verse. In the New Testament, the word patriarch does not appear many times, but it is a word of unique importance in the history of Israel. Patriarch denotes the highest level of honor in Jewish life. Men like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are considered some of Israel’s most significant patriarchs. They were the foundation of Israel’s identity. These patriarchs are recognized as figures through whom God acted in salvation history in order to set the stage for what he accomplished in Christ. Abraham is almost never specifically referred to as a patriarch, but he is in this passage because the writer of Hebrews is trying to emphasize his main point. By attaching this title of respect to Abraham, the author demonstrates the superiority of Melchizedek, even when compared to Abraham, the great patriarch. In other words, even Abraham, the great patriarch, pales in comparison to Melchizedek since he is the one that is blessed by this priest and is also the one who gives this priest a tenth of all his spoils.

Hebrews 7:5-10

In verse 5 the author reminds his audience that the Levites, who descend from Abraham, receive tithes from the other sons of Abraham on account of their priestly service. If Levi and his sons were to receive tithes, what is Abraham doing giving tithes to Melchizedek? This demonstrates that the priestly order of Melchizedek supersedes the priestly order of Levi because Abraham—the progenitor of the Levitical line—paid the tithe to Melchizedek. Since the Levitical priests descend from Abraham and Melchizedek surpasses Abraham, the Melchizedekian priesthood must be superior to the Levitical priesthood.

The author uses verse 6 to emphasize a second significant reality: Abraham “had the promises.” These promises likely refer to the promises God made to him in Genesis 12:1-3. Yet Hebrews highlights the fact that Melchizedek gave a blessing even to the one who had the promises. This again testifies to the greatness of Melchizedek. He is of such importance that he can bless Abraham, even when Abraham appears to be the most blessed human being on the planet. Who can possibly bless Abraham? Abraham is the one who gives blessings! Yet in Genesis 14, Abraham pays tribute to Melchizedek and receives a blessing from him, and in so doing, demonstrates his own inferiority.

An understandable question confronts the reader about the greatness of Melchizedek: Why does the writer of Hebrews emphasize this point with such technical care? He wants the Hebrews to see that the Old Testament itself showed that the Levitical priesthood was always meant to give way to something greater. Thus the author, under the inspiration and authority of the Holy Spirit, weaves together a biblical-theological argument to convince his audience of this fact on the basis of Scripture.

Now we might think some parts of this argument are a bit strange, particularly the notion that Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek through his ancestor Abraham. But this kind of argumentation (principally seen in vv. 8-9) is not unprecedented in Jewish logic or in the Old Testament. In Deuteronomy 4 Moses is speaking to the children of Israel and essentially says, “You were there at Horeb when God spoke from the mountain and when I went up to the mountain and when I came down with the two tablets.” But the Israelites Moses is speaking to in Deuteronomy 4 were not the same Israelites who were at Horeb! So how were they there? They were there biologically, in the loins of their fathers. This kind of corporate identity is not natural to our thinking, but it is essential to the Old Testament. Thus, the author of Hebrews closes his argument by using the concept of corporate identity to illustrate that Levi was biologically present when Abraham encountered Melchizedek. This is precisely why one might even say that Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham because he was in the loins of his ancestor Abraham when Melchizedek met him.

This section of Hebrews can seem biblically and theologically dense. But don’t let that discourage you. As we continue on in Hebrews we will see how Jesus, the priest according to the order of Melchizedek, has done what the Levites never could do: he accomplished our salvation. Melchizedek may seem obscure to us, but by investing ourselves in passages like Genesis 14, Psalm 110, and Hebrews 7 we will find that we will develop a much richer appreciation for what Christ has done for us as our great high priest.