(2 b, 3).
1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him ,
2 to whom also Abraham divided a tithe of allbeing first by interpretation king of Righteousness and then also king of Salem, which is king of Peace ,
3 without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like to the Son of God,abideth a priest perpetually.
7:1, 2a. The historical facts as to Melchizedek. 7:1. ou|to" gavr ] The particle is explanatory and not strictly argumentative. The writer purposes to lay open how much is included in the phrase kata; tavxin Melcisedevk , to which he has again returned.
The connexion is obvious if the sentence is at once completed:
ou|to"
(Heb. 6:20)
ga;r M......mevnei iJereu;" eij" to; dihnekev"
. Christ is spoken of as
High-priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek, for Melchizedek offers a figure of such an abiding office, inasmuch as
he abides a priest
without successor. The antitype however goes beyond the type (
ajrciereuv", eij" to;n aijw'na
, as compared with
iJereuv", eij" to; dihnekev"
). See
Additional Note.
basileu;" Salhvm ] : lev; , H8966, like : /lv; , H8934, is properly an adj.
sound, at peace , but is used (as : /lv; , H8934) here as a subst., peace. (So
Philo Leg. Alleg. 3.25; i. p. 102 M.)
The locality of the place does not in any way enter into the writer's argument. The Jewish tradition of the Apostolic age appears to have identified it with Jerusalem (Jos. Antt. 1.10, 2; B. J. 6.10; and so Targ. Onk. ; comp. Ps. 76:2).
In the time of Jerome Salem was identified with Salem, near Scythopolis, where the remains of Melchizedek's palace were shewn.
( iJereu;" ) tou' qeou' tou' uJyivstou ] Gen. 14:18 ( $ wyl[ la ), identified with
Jehovah Heb. 7:22. The epithet does not mark a relation to inferior deities, but the absolute elevation of the Lord. It occurs again Num. 24:16 (Balaam); Deut. 32:8 (Song of Moses); and in the Psalms. It is found also in Phoenician inscriptions, and (with the corresponding
fem.
) in the
Poenulus
of Plautus (v.
1. 1
Alonim valunoth
). The title occurs elsewhere in the N. T. Mark 5:7 (|| Lk. 8:28); Acts 16:17. Comp. Lk. 1:32, 35; Acts 7:48.
It is to be remarked that there are elsewhere traces of a primitive (monotheistic) worship of El in Phoenicia side by side with that of Baal, the centre of Phoenician polytheism. Comp. OEhler, Theol. of O. T. 1.90f. ( Eng. Tr. ).
oJ sunanthvsa"
...
uJpostrevfonti
]...
who met...as he was returning
, Latt.
qui obviavit...regresso
(Gen. 14:17, LXX.
meta; to; uJpostrevyai
as in Heb.). The time was that of the fulness of Abraham's disinterested victory. Probably the
pres. part.
is chosen to mark this thought, which is less clear in the original phrase. Compare Philo,
qeasavmeno" ejpaniovnta kai; tropaioforou'nta
(
de Abr.
§ 40).
In Gen. 14:17 f. it is said
The king of Sodom went out to meet him
...and Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine
.... Since the
latter detail is omitted here, the former, which is included in it, is rightly applied to Melchizedek. For
sunanta'/n
see Lk. 9:37; 22:10; Acts 10:25.
ajpo; th'" koph'"
] Gen. 14:17; Deut. 28:25; Josh. 10:20.
Kophv
(not