Who was Melchizedek?
Melchizedek appears in Scripture for three verses and then vanishes — a king and a priest who blesses Abraham after a battle, receives a tenth of the spoil, and is never mentioned again in the history. Yet those few verses are taken up in Psalm 110 and expanded across a whole chapter of Hebrews, which raises the real question: why does God make so much of a man He tells us so little about?
A real man, holding two offices at once
He is not a symbol or a legend, but a historical person — and what makes him remarkable is that he held together two roles Israel kept strictly apart.
C E StuartHe was a real, not an ideal, person, a man like any one of us, but a king and a priest together. In the Levitical service and in Israel's history these two offices were quite distinct. The high priest was of the tribe of Levi. The king was of the tribe of Judah… Melchizedek was, however, priest of the Most High God, and is described that way in both Testaments. God owned him as a priest. He was also King of Salem, the city we believe was known later as Jerusalem, uniting in his person these two offices, true of no one else but of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What his names mean
Hebrews takes his name and his city as the first clue to his meaning, and links both to the particular title of God he served under.
J. N. DarbyMelchizedek was king of Salem, that is king of peace, and, by name, king of righteousness. Righteousness and peace characterise his reign. But above all he was priest of the Most High God. This is the name of God as supreme Governor of all things — Possessor, as is added in Genesis, of heaven and earth… Abraham, victorious over the kings of the earth, is blessed by Melchizedek, by the king of righteousness, in connection with God as Possessor of heaven and earth, the Most High. This looks onward to the royalty of Christ, a Priest upon His throne.
The silence about him is deliberate
People have long tried to fill the gaps in his story. One writer names the two most common guesses and rules out the bolder of them from the text itself.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinWho was Melchizedek? Some have said he was Shem and not a few maintain that he was the Lord Himself, one of the theophanies, a pre-incarnation appearance of the Son of God. The latter view is certainly wrong, for Scripture states that Melchizedek is "made like unto the Son of God" — that is, he is a pattern, a likeness of Him; Melchizedek was therefore not the Lord Himself. It is pointless to speculate about the identity of this King-Priest, because the Holy Spirit deliberately does not mention who he was.
That silence had a purpose. Aaron's line depended entirely on proven descent, so a priest with no recorded pedigree stands in a class of his own.
VariousWith them it was necessary to prove their descent, to have a priest for father, and a mother of a priestly family. But Melchizedek comes mysteriously onto the scene, and just as mysteriously leaves it, no one knowing what his parentage was, what his descent was, when he was born or when he died, so that he might be a type of our Lord.
Greater than Abraham — and so than Aaron
The argument of Hebrews turns on two small actions in Genesis, each pointing the same way.
William KellyAbram did not pay tithes to Melchizedek only; more than that, Melchizedek blessed him; and, as we are told, "without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better." The person who gives a blessing is greater than the person who receives it… There was an act on Abram's part which implied subjection to Melchizedek, and an act on Melchizedek's part which implied superiority to Abram, giving a double illustration and witness of surpassing dignity.
Because Levi and Aaron descended from Abraham, the whole later priesthood was included in that moment of homage.
Blessing, not sacrifice
What he did is as significant as what he was. He brought out bread and wine — and offered nothing on an altar.
Morrish Bible DictionaryNothing is said of any sacrifice being offered by Melchizedek to God: he rather brought out from God that which symbolises life and joy, and blessed the man who had the promises. So when Christ comes it will not be to put away sin by sacrifice, but to refresh and bless His people. Blessing characterises the Melchizedek priesthood of Christ.
When this priesthood is exercised
Commentators differ here. Some hold that Christ's active priestly work now follows Aaron's pattern, with the Melchizedek character still ahead:
William KellyWhen the exercise of priesthood is in question, the pattern of Aaron is used, not of Melchizedek. That is, there is a sanctuary, and intercession within the veil, founded on the shedding of blood, not the bringing out of bread and wine to the conqueror over the previously triumphant kings of the earth. The Melchizedek priesthood will be exercised in the millennium.
Others press the bread and wine toward the present:
Frederick W GrantThe bread and wine cannot fail to speak to our hearts of the memorial of that once-offered sacrifice, which has left us now no sacrifices except that of praise and thanksgiving. So in every way Melchizedek represents Christ in His relation to us now. That there is an application to millennial days, and to His relation to Israel, is surely true.
Summary
- Person — A real man, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, joining crown and priesthood in one person as no one else did except Christ.
- Name — His name means king of righteousness; his city means peace. Righteousness first, then peace, mark the reign he pictures.
- Silence — Genesis records no parentage, no birth, no death. The omission is God's design, making him a likeness of the Son of God, who was already there before him.
- Greatness — Abraham paid him tithes and received his blessing. Since the greater blesses the lesser, Levi and Aaron bowed in their forefather.
- Blessing — He offered no sacrifice; he brought out bread and wine and blessed. Commentators differ over whether that ministry belongs mainly to Christ's coming reign or to His people now.