Shem was alive during the time Genesis 14 took place when Abraham had this mysterious visit with Melchizedek. It is unknown how long Shem's brothers lived but Shem was the oldest of the 3 brothers so regardless if his brothers were alive or not Shem would be the oldest person alive at the time of Abraham and was among the 3 possible surviving members of the Ark and quite possibly the last one remaining that knew the old world. Shem knew people who were alive when Adam was alive. Certainly those sort of credentials, aside being the oldest living relative of Abraham, would have made Shem a very important individual and put him at a high place of respect and in the right place for a title of a high priest.
When Abraham met Melchizedek it was after the war of the kings in the valley of Siddim (Gen 14). In this war there are 9 Kings involved. We will call "team red" Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim and "team blue" Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim and Zoar king of Bela. Team blue lost and team red pillaged Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot was residing at that time and end up taking Lot. This is where Abraham comes in. He gets upset and chases these kings (team red) down and rescues Lot and from the result of this Melchizedek king of Salem blesses him.
Now Melchizedek was not involved in this war he seems to be only involved in the after effects of the war. It is unclear how much Melchizedek supported the war but it seems that in the end his support went to team blue and there seems to be a final interaction between Abraham, the king of Sodom and Melchizedek. If he was Shem he would have been an old man and probably not in physical condition to go to war so it would make sense that perhaps he would have stayed home.
Melchizedek is said to mean the king of righteousness and it seems more of a title then a actual name. It seems a little odd to name your child "king of righteousness" without them actually being a king. But how he got this name is unclear and it is possible he had some noble linage which would of course allow a name like that. Now Shem died shortly before Jacob was born. Melchizedek was this sort of priest of God during this time and it makes a lot of sense having Shem as the role of High Priest from Noah to Abraham sort of passing the torch as it were to Abraham living long enough to see the promise of God fulfilled through Abraham.
Now of course all of this assumes a more literal translation of the bible especially in terms of how long people lived and of the flood which I know not everyone has the same approach. But given the information presented in the Bible I think Shem is a good candidate for Melchizedek. Is this so far fetched?
When Abraham met Melchizedek it was after the war of the kings in the valley of Siddim (Gen 14). In this war there are 9 Kings involved. We will call "team red" Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim and "team blue" Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim and Zoar king of Bela. Team blue lost and team red pillaged Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot was residing at that time and end up taking Lot. This is where Abraham comes in. He gets upset and chases these kings (team red) down and rescues Lot and from the result of this Melchizedek king of Salem blesses him.
Now Melchizedek was not involved in this war he seems to be only involved in the after effects of the war. It is unclear how much Melchizedek supported the war but it seems that in the end his support went to team blue and there seems to be a final interaction between Abraham, the king of Sodom and Melchizedek. If he was Shem he would have been an old man and probably not in physical condition to go to war so it would make sense that perhaps he would have stayed home.
Melchizedek is said to mean the king of righteousness and it seems more of a title then a actual name. It seems a little odd to name your child "king of righteousness" without them actually being a king. But how he got this name is unclear and it is possible he had some noble linage which would of course allow a name like that. Now Shem died shortly before Jacob was born. Melchizedek was this sort of priest of God during this time and it makes a lot of sense having Shem as the role of High Priest from Noah to Abraham sort of passing the torch as it were to Abraham living long enough to see the promise of God fulfilled through Abraham.
Now of course all of this assumes a more literal translation of the bible especially in terms of how long people lived and of the flood which I know not everyone has the same approach. But given the information presented in the Bible I think Shem is a good candidate for Melchizedek. Is this so far fetched?