Who is Melchizedek?
A biblical analysis of Genesis 14 in Hebrews 7
In chapter 7, the author of Hebrews uses Melchesizdek from Genesis 14 as a typological image demonstrating how Jesus is the prophesied Priest-King, the guarantor of a better covenant, and the better and perfect Priest. First, we will consider both texts, Genesis 14 and Hebrews 7, and observe how the New Testament author uses the Old Testament text.
Genesis 14
In Genesis 14:18, we are introduced to a character named Melchizedek. In the previous verses, Abram won an epic battle to save his kinsman, including his nephew Lot. 5 kings rebelled and, in their rebellion, captured the people of Sodom, which included Lot and his family. At the swift conclusion of this conflict, Abram is approached by two kings who are opposites in their treatment of Abram. Only one King’s interactions with Abram are relevant to this particular analysis of Hebrews 7, so we will focus on the first king, Melchizedek.
An initial observation we can make about Melchizedek is that he is the King of Salem. This kingdom or town of Salem is only mentioned in two other biblical texts, Hebrews 7 and Psalm 72. This character does appear to come out of the blue and from obscurity. The fact that Salem is rarely mentioned throughout the Old Testament is quite notable and contributes to the mystery surrounding this Melchizedek. Melchizedek is also noted to bring wine and bread to Abram, which could appear to be a random, throw-away detail. Yet the biblical author intentionally records this detail. The term “wine and bread” appears several times throughout the Old Testament (Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 2 Kings, Isaiah, Nehemiah, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes). Yet, as a New Testament reader, this term calls to mind something we see in the gospels and epistles: the partaking of the bread and wine in the Lord’s supper. We will consider this and its implications for how Melchizedek relates to Jesus later.
We also observe that this Melchizedek is a King and a priest of God most high. Somehow and some way, even before the levitical priesthood was established (only the descendants of Levi could serve the Lord as priests under the Old Covenant), even before Israel was covenanted to God as His people, and even before God made Abram a covenant to fulfill the promises He made to him several chapters earlier, there was a man who served the one true living God, and he was both a King and a Priest. A final observation we can glean is that in response to Melchizedek’s blessing upon Abram, Abram apportioned a tenth of the spoils from the war to him. Upon reading of this mysterious figure, the alarms should be ringing! Who exactly is this Melchizedek, what is the kingdom of Salem, how does he know the one true God, what is his lineage, and how is he both a priest and King are only a few of the questions that come to mind from this puzzling passage. These questions (mostly) find their answers in Hebrews 7.
Hebrews 7
Hebrews 7 uses Genesis 14, specifically the person of Melchizedek, to draw a specific conclusion about Jesus. Hebrews 7 begins recapping all of the details outlined in Genesis 14: Melchizedek is the king of Salem, a priest of God, and Abraham gave him a tenth of the spoils of war. Then, the author offers a fascinating consideration of the translation of Melchizedek and the King of Salem. He notes that this man is known as both the King of righteousness and the King of peace. While Jesus is never explicitly referred to as the “King of righteousness” or the “King of peace” (He is prophesied to be the Prince of peace in Isaiah), the New Testament author has Jesus in mind. Jesus is both the King of righteousness and the King of peace in the truest and fullest sense of the title. This is the extent to which the author of Hebrews alludes regarding Melchizedek and Jesus using the terminology of kingship as he continues to spend the bulk of this chapter outlining the connection between them in terms of Priesthood.
On cue, in verse 3, the author verbalizes a question we had with Genesis 14: what was Melchizedek’s lineage? He states, “He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.” If verse two and the terminology of king of righteousness and king of peace was a subtle allusion to Jesus, this verse makes it entirely clear that Melchizedek indeed resembles Jesus.
In the following section, the author connects Melchizedek and the priesthood. Like Melchizedek, the priesthood also took tithes from the Israelites as commanded by God’s word. However, the author notes that Melchizedek precedes the levitical priesthood: "[Levi] was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.” Here, we slowly get an idea of why Melchizedek is being brought up here. There is a Priest-King, a king of righteousness and peace, who existed before the introduction of the Levitical law.
At the most pivotal point of this chapter, the author poses a hypothetical question:
Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek rather than one named after the order of Aaron?
This leading question aims to convince the audience that perfection could not be obtained through the Levitical priesthood or the Levitical law but through a better covenant and mediator. This is made more apparent later in Hebrews 9. The solution isn’t through the priests by order of Levi. The solution is through the priest by order of Melchizedek. Jesus, of course, is a descendant of Judah, who has no associate with the priesthood whatsoever. But Jesus is a priest, not by bodily descent from Levi, “but by the power of an indestructible life.” This is clarified through two citations, both from Psalm 110, which was also used in Hebrews 5. In that passage, the author plainly states that Jesus is “being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.” The priesthood office that Jesus occupies is not through Levi but through Melchizedek, and this oath is given to Jesus by God Himself.
But why does this matter?
The author offers a reason to conclude this chapter.
Jesus is the guarantor of a wholly different and new covenant.
The author of Hebrews notes that no one is made perfect through the law. We desperately need a new covenant; the old covenant, the law, was simply a caretaker until the new one came. And the guarantor of this New Covenant is the better great high priest by order of Melchizedek. This New Covenant, which Jesus Himself says in the installment of the communion, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” In Christ, we have a perfect guarantor, a perfect representative of this better covenant between us and God.
In Christ, we have a better Melchizedek!
While Meliczedek offered Abram wine and bread, Jesus offered us His own blood and body, which is the New Covenant given to us through the cross.
This Christ will not fail His priestly duties because “He always lives to make intercession for [us].”
Because this Christ is “holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.”
Because this Christ “has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once and for all when he offered up himself.”
This is why the author of Hebrews uses Melchizedek in this chapter. To use Melchizedek as a type that escalates and points to Christ, one who is a priest and king, apart from levitical law, to demonstrate that we needed a great high priest who is ordained a priest outside of the law so that we may have a perfect priest of a better and new covenant, in whom will never fail and will always keep this covenant.