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Who is Melchizedek

ralliann

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But in Hebrews 7:3 it reads , Without father , without mother , without genealogy , having no beginning of days , nor end of

of life , means it is CHRIST !!

dan p
Unlike the Levitical priesthood, the priesthood of Melchizedek is not based upon genealogical descent of his mother and father...Nor like the levitical priesthood with a biological age limit for service, per the Mosaic law.
Even a priests daughter marrying a non Levite could not eat from her fathers table, her children could not eat from her fathers table either.
 
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Apple Sky

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But in Hebrews 7:3 it reads , Without father , without mother , without genealogy , having no beginning of days , nor end of

of life , means it is CHRIST !!

dan p

So he is as I thought all along. :praying:

Consider how great Melchizedek was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder. Hebrews 7:4
 
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Strong in Him

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But in Hebrews 7:3 it reads , Without father , without mother , without genealogy , having no beginning of days , nor end of

of life , means it is CHRIST !!
No, it doesn't.
Hebrews 7:1 says that Melchizedek was king of Salem - Jerusalem - and a priest of God. Verse 3 says that he resembles the Son of God, not that he WAS the Son of God. And the OT quote was, "you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek", Psalm 110:4.
 
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ralliann

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No, it doesn't.
Hebrews 7:1 says that Melchizedek was king of Salem - Jerusalem - and a priest of God. Verse 3 says that he resembles the Son of God, not that he WAS the Son of God. And the OT quote was, "you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek", Psalm 110:4.
I agree. Christ can simply mean anointed one. Priests, prophets and kings were anointed ones.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were anointed ones as well.
1 Chron 16:15 Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations;
16 Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac;
17 And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
18 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance; {the lot: Heb. the cord }
19 When ye were but few, even a few, and strangers in it. {few, even: Heb. men of number, etc }
20 And when they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people;
21 He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes,
22 Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

Ps 105
8 ¶ He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.
9 Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac;
10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:
11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance: {lot: Heb. cord }
12 When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it.
13 When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people;
14 He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes;
15 Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.
16 Moreover he called for a famine upon the land: he brake the whole staff of bread.
 
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Apple Sky

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No, it doesn't.
Hebrews 7:1 says that Melchizedek was king of Salem - Jerusalem - and a priest of God. Verse 3 says that he resembles the Son of God, not that he WAS the Son of God. And the OT quote was, "you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek", Psalm 110:4.

So he wasn't who I thought he was but he must have been someone very special in God's eyes.

But why this verse ?

Hebrews 7:3 Without father , without mother , without genealogy , having no beginning of days , nor end of
of life.

Was he an angel ?
 
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The Liturgist

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There are several books referenced in the Bible which no longer exist. Jasher is an example of an ancient work which has since been lost.

Indeed, and it is a shame; even the Ethiopians lack it. And if a manuscript of it popped up unexpectedly, it would, based on what we are taught in the New Testament, need to be evaluated against the Apostolic kerygma.
 
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Apple Sky

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Are you personally Ethiopian Orthodox?

No, I just bought the Ethiopian complete Bible as I like to read other related books to the KJV I also have the Book of Enoch & Jasher which i'm not sure about anymore.

Why do you ask, are you ?
 
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Jan001

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This strange miraculous birth story for Melchizedek is part of an interest in the King of Salem (Salem - Later to become known as Jerusalem) first mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 14:18.
I think Melchizedek is another name for Shem. I think he was still alive at the time of Abraham's meeting with Melchizedek.

Genesis 5:32 After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 9:18 The sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.

Genesis 9:26 He also said, “Blessed by the Lord my God be Shem; and let Canaan be his slave.

Genesis 11:10 These are the descendants of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old, he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood;

Genesis 11:11 and Shem lived after the birth of Arpachshad five hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.

Shem lived 600 years. He lived in Canaan which is where Salem/Jerusalem is located.


Genesis 14:18-20 And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him one-tenth of everything.

Genesis 25:7 This is the length of Abraham’s life, one hundred seventy-five years.
 
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ViaCrucis

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But in Hebrews 7:3 it reads , Without father , without mother , without genealogy , having no beginning of days , nor end of

of life , means it is CHRIST !!

dan p

No.

It means that we aren't given his genealogy. In the episode in Genesis he shows up out of no where without any explanation. In fact, it's almost a little awkward, because we have the king of Sodom coming out to meet Abraham, then suddenly we are reading about the Melchzedek the king of Salem, immediately then after we are reading about the king of Sodom and Abraham again. It is sudden, he shows up with no explanation, he is called the high priest of El Elyon, but from where did he have this priesthood? The only priesthood ordained by God we see is the priesthood given to Aaron and his sons. So Melchizedek has no priestly pedigree, there is no recorded origin of his priesthood, there is no lineage of priests he is a part of--he shows up out of no where, is called the high priest of El Elyon, and then just as suddenly as he gets brought up, he isn't mentioned again.

The author of Hebrews, like most other ancient readers of the Bible, picked up on how weird this is. And taking also the passage from the Psalms, sees in Melchizedek a type of Christ, a foreshadowing of Jesus. Jesus is also high priest, not on the basis of lineage, but like Melchizedek is a high priest outside of the lineage of Aaron; and indeed has a superior priesthood because the sacrifice He gives is once and for all.

Melchizedek is not Jesus. He is an otherwise unknown king of Salem, and the high priest of El Elyon. We don't know his lineage, he stands outside of the priestly lineage of Aaron. And Jesus is compared to him, and Melchizedek is treated as a foreshadowing and type of Christ, but is not Christ. Melchizedek is no more Christ than Moses is. Both Moses and Melchizedek foreshadow and are types of Christ, but neither are Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ did not become man until He assumed human nature in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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ViaCrucis

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I think Melchizedek is another name for Shem. I think he was still alive at the time of Abraham's meeting with Melchizedek.

Genesis 5:32 After Noah was five hundred years old, Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 9:18 The sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.

Genesis 9:26 He also said, “Blessed by the Lord my God be Shem; and let Canaan be his slave.

Genesis 11:10 These are the descendants of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old, he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood;

Genesis 11:11 and Shem lived after the birth of Arpachshad five hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.

Shem lived 600 years. He lived in Canaan which is where Salem/Jerusalem is located.

Genesis 14:18-20 And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him one-tenth of everything.

Genesis 25:7 This is the length of Abraham’s life, one hundred seventy-five years.

This is an old rabbinic opinion actually. A number of ancient rabbis believed that Melchizedek was merely a title, and that he was Shem, Noah's son. Though, of course, if this were the case, then the passage in Hebrews about Melchizedek's lack of lineage makes a lot less sense. It is precisely that we don't know his lineage that he is said to have no lineage, neither mother nor father; but we do have the lineage of Shem spelled out explicitly for us in the Bible. And we have Shem's descendants spelled out for us, as Abraham is called a direct descendant of Shem through his father Terah.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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Strong in Him

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I think Melchizedek is another name for Shem. I think he was still alive at the time of Abraham's meeting with Melchizedek.
I doubt that.
a) we are told that Melchizedek had no lineage, or beginning - but we know who Shem was and when he was born.
b) Shem's son was Arphaxad, who had Shelah when he was 35 then lived another 403 years. Shelah was 30 years old when his son, Eber, was born, then lived another 403 years. Eber lived for 464 years, his son, Peleg, lived for 239 years and so on - all the way down to Abraham, Genesis 11:10-26. Shem lived for 500 years after Arphaxad was born.
 
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Jan001

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This is an old rabbinic opinion actually. A number of ancient rabbis believed that Melchizedek was merely a title, and that he was Shem, Noah's son. Though, of course, if this were the case, then the passage in Hebrews about Melchizedek's lack of lineage makes a lot less sense. It is precisely that we don't know his lineage that he is said to have no lineage, neither mother nor father; but we do have the lineage of Shem spelled out explicitly for us in the Bible. And we have Shem's descendants spelled out for us, as Abraham is called a direct descendant of Shem through his father Terah.

-CryptoLutheran
It could simply mean that the author of Hebrews did not personally know Melchizedek's lineage.
The author of Genesis did know the precise lineage.

A Semite sometimes used a lot of words to explain his point: James 2:14-26
 
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ViaCrucis

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It could simply mean that the author of Hebrews did not personally know Melchizedek's lineage.
The author of Genesis did know the precise lineage.

A Semite sometimes used a lot of words to explain his point: James 2:14-26

But the author of Genesis, if they did know, doesn't tell us.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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Jan001

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I doubt that.
a) we are told that Melchizedek had no lineage, or beginning - but we know who Shem was and when he was born.
b) Shem's son was Arphaxad, who had Shelah when he was 35 then lived another 403 years. Shelah was 30 years old when his son, Eber, was born, then lived another 403 years. Eber lived for 464 years, his son, Peleg, lived for 239 years and so on - all the way down to Abraham, Genesis 11:10-26. Shem lived for 500 years after Arphaxad was born.
It can also mean that this was a Semite manner of speaking to show that the author of Hebrews did not personally know Melchizedek's lineage.

How many years are between Shem's and Abraham's births?
 
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Jan001

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But the author of Genesis, if they did know, doesn't tell us.

-CryptoLutheran
We can find out the truth after we die. I don't believe Melchizedek was Jesus. I think Melchizedek was a prototype of Jesus because he was both priest and king and he offered bread and wine.
 
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Strong in Him

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How many years are between Shem's and Abraham's births?
Genesis 11:10-26. I'm sorry; I'm not adding it all up.
Shem fathered Arphaxad, who fathered Shelah, who fathered Eber, who fathered Peleg, who fathered Reu, who fathered Serug, who fathered Nahor, who fathered Terah, who fathered Abram. Abram was 75 before he was even called by God, never mind when he met Melchizedek.

I'm pretty sure all that adds up to more than 500.
 
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Strong in Him

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I don't believe Melchizedek was Jesus. I think Melchizedek was an prototype of Jesus because he was both priest and king and he offered bread and wine.
Agreed.
But it wasn't Shem.
 
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ViaCrucis

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We can find out the truth after we die.

Sure. But right now we only have the information available to us.

That Melchizedek was actually Shem is certainly a fun speculation. But it's only a speculation; and one which I don't think makes sense given what the author of Hebrews says.

It's obvious that Melchizedek did have a biological mom and dad, he has an ancestry of some kind. But we don't know what it is, and that's the significance of what the author of Hebrews is telling us: This guy, Melchizedek, shows up out of no where, and yet he's the high priest of God, and then we don't hear anything about him again. The mystery of Melchizedek in Genesis contributes to his significance as a type and foreshadow of Christ. If he were, in fact Shem, that would undermine the mysteriousness of Melchizedek. Which is why I don't think the Shem hypothesis can be anything more than mere speculation--it's certainly an interesting speculation, but can't be anything more than that.

I don't believe Melchizedek was Jesus. I think Melchizedek was an prototype of Jesus because he was both priest and king and he offered bread and wine.

I agree.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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Jan001

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Genesis 11:10-26. I'm sorry; I'm not adding it all up.
Shem fathered Arphaxad, who fathered Shelah, who fathered Eber, who fathered Peleg, who fathered Reu, who fathered Serug, who fathered Nahor, who fathered Terah, who fathered Abram. Abram was 75 before he was even called by God, never mind when he met Melchizedek.

I'm pretty sure all that adds up to more than 500.
Maybe.
 
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