Book of Melchizedek
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The Melchizedek Scroll (11Q13) is one of the notable Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in Cave 11 at Qumran. This scroll is significant because it provides insight into how Melchizedek was understood in the context of Second Temple Judaism and apocalyptic thought.
Melchizedek is a product of the Qumran community. This conclusion is virtually guaranteed by the text’s particular mode of exegesis, its use of the term pesher, and the appearance of the common sectarian themes of the battle between good and evil, the end-time salvation of the Sons of Light (a frequent designation in sectarian texts for the members of the Qumran community), and the punishment of Belial.
Paleographic analysis dates the single manuscript of Melchizedek to the middle of the 1st century bce or slightly later. A likely reference to the book of Daniel (11QMelch 2:18) sets the composition of the work after 164 bce. The text is written in Hebrew with the full orthography characteristic of many other Qumran scrolls. With the exception of spelling and a couple of variants, biblical citations follow the Masoretic Text (MT).
The lofty depiction of Melchizedek in this manuscript stands at a considerable distance from the scant information provided by the two allusions to this figure in the Hebrew Bible.
According to Gen. 14:18–20, Melchizedek is the king of Salem and “a priest of God Most High,” who blesses Abraham after his military victory over Chedorlaomer.
So renowned was Melchizedek, he would become the teacher of Abraham, and Abraham would tithe him 10% of all his wealth.
Interestingly the Sefer Yetzirah is a jewish book on the creation of the universe and advanced mysticism. The Sefer's appendix (6:15) declares that Abraham was the recipient of the divine revelation of mystic lore; so that the rabbis of the classical rabbinic era and philosophers such as Shabbethai Donnolo and Judah HaLevi never doubted that Abraham was the author of the book. That means that Abraham was taught all of this information about the fundamental basis of Jewish mysticism from Melchizedek.
In Ps. 110, an exalted king of Israel vanquishes and judges his enemies and is promised by God: “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek” (v. 4).
In Hebrew the word Melchizedek translates to King of Righteousness. So who, exactly, was Melchizedek? Salem means Peace. Melchizedek was a King and a high Priest who oversaw the Kingdom of Peace. Who is this mystery man of history?
The scroll’s portray Melchizedek as cosmic redeemer stands and it stands in line with broader roots than the Qumran movement that influenced later Jewish, Christian, and gnostic tradition. Already in the pre-Qumran Aramaic text Visions of Amram (4Q544; early 2nd century bce or earlier), Melchizedek likely appeared as one of the three names of the righteous angel embroiled in conflict with the wicked angel Melchiresha.
Davila suggests that Melchizedek may appear as a chief angelic priest, perhaps prosecuting the eschatological battle, in the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice, which may or may not have originated at Qumran.4 Further evidence of Jewish speculation on Melchizedek as a heavenly being appears (with Christian interpolations) in 2 Enoch. In one instance, New Testament tradition appears to have been influenced by related speculation. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, Jesus is pictured as the eternal cosmic high priest “according to the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 5:6; 6:20; 7:1, 10–11, 17), who redeemed mankind from the power of sin through his service in the celestial sanctuary (see Heb. 9–10).5
A further connection in New Testament tradition with 11QMelch may appear in Luke 4:16–21, where Jesus reads Isa. 61:1–2 publicly, and declares that “today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”6
As will be seen in the commentary below, the association of this passage from Isaiah with Melchizedek is integral to 11QMelch’s portrait of Melchizedek as cosmic redeemer of the end-time.
The Melchizedek legend also influenced gnostic thought, which identifies Melchizedek as eschatological redeemer, carrier of light particles (i.e., souls) to heaven, and identical with Jesus.7 Interestingly, Epiphanius (Pan. 55) reports on a heretical group called the Melchizedekians. Hippolytus (Haer. 7.36) relates that a group led by one Theodotus the banker (Rome, 2nd century ce) revered Melchizedek as a heavenly power superior to Christ.
The archangel Michael, not Melchizedek, appears as celestial high priest (B. Hag. 12b; B. Zev. 62a; B. Men. 110a). This may reflect a reaction against Christian association of the superior priesthood of Jesus with that of Melchizedek.
Nevertheless, a positive portrayal of Melchizedek as an eschatological savior does occur in Song of Sol. Rab. 2.13 §4 (cf. B. Suk. 52b). Moreover, vestiges of his celestial high priestly status are preserved in medieval Jewish literature, which identifies Melchizedek with Michael.8
A common view is that he was the builder of Jerusalem’s first wall, as asserted in Rabbi Jehiel Heilprin’s Seder HaDoroth (1769). Chronologically, this fits rather remarkably with the dating of Jerusalem’s earliest fortifications around the Gihon Spring (i.e. the “Spring Tower” revealed in 2004 by Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron).
Rabbinic tradition identifies Melchizedek was the patriarch Shem, son of Noah, who, according to the Masoretic ages given in Genesis 11, would have still been alive during the time of Abraham. Certain medieval Jewish literature identifies Melchizedek with the archangel Michael. And the early Jewish philosopher Philo (circa 20 b.c.e.–50 c.e.) identified him in the Greek language as the Logos, the embodied “Word of God.”
A Christian view, building off of his secondary reference in Psalm 110, is that Melchizedek was the promised Messiah, the one also referred to in the New Testament as the divine “Word” (Logos; John 1:1), who became Jesus (John 1:14). This is further based on passages such as Paul’s description of Melchizedek in Hebrews 5-7. There is also a Genesis 14 connection implicit in Hebrews 11:10, which states that Abraham “looked for a city [Jerusalem] which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” and Jesus’s own statement in John 8:56 that “Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.”
One view in the Islamic world is to equate him with the otherwise-obscure “al-Khidr” alluded to in chapter 18 of the Qur’an (Surah Al-Kahf), a Jerusalem-connected individual variously identified as a prophet or angelic/divine/immortal being, who imparted wisdom to Moses and who will challenge the Dajjal (a false Messiah and satanic figure in Islam) in the latter days.
Now, thanks to the truly astounding discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls during the last century, we can probe back much further to see how Melchizedek was being identified within the Jewish Qumran community in the late first millennium b.c.e.
The Dead Sea Scrolls, or Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a trove of Second Temple Period manuscripts discovered in the Qumran Caves primarily between 1946–1956. The discovery of 15,000 scrolls and scroll fragments, dating variously between the third century b.c.e. to first century c.e., constituted one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time.
Among those scrolls was 11Q13—alternatively named 11QMelchizedek or 11QMelch—a fragmentary, three-column manuscript found in Cave 11 at Qumran. This text was dated to the first century b.c.e. It essentially constitutes a treatise on the battle between good and evil, played out between Melchizedek and Belial. (Melchi-zedek is interpreted to mean “King of Righteousness”; in other Qumran texts, his opponent “Belial” is sometimes given the contrasting name, Melchi-resha, or “King of Wickedness.”) 11QMelch quotes and expounds on numerous biblical passages in the context of this Melchizedek and Belial, as part of the ultimate fulfillment of the biblical “jubilee,” something far beyond simple property reimbursements and the like; rather, the overall triumph over sin itself through atonement and salvation.
While columns 1 and 3 of 11QMelch are quite fragmentary and nearly unreadable, much of column 2 has been preserved and is translatable. Though also fragmentary, column 2 quotes from several scriptures paralleling the Masoretic Hebrew, allowing translators to fill in much of the missing information. In his excellent commentary article on the subject, “11QMelchizedek,” Yeshiva University Prof. Joseph Angel provides the following translation, as derived from Prof. Florentino García-Martínez, E. J. C. Tigchelaar and A.S. van der Woude. (Pertinent sections relating to Melchizedek have here been bolded, and scriptural citations are added in parentheses, as noted by Dead Sea Scroll expert Professor García-Martínez.)
2:1. […]
2:2. […] and as for what he said (Leviticus 25:13): ‘In [this] year of jubilee [each of you shall return to his ancestral land holding,’ concerning it he said (Deuteronomy 15:2): ‘And th]is is
2:3. [the manner of the remission:] every creditor shall remit what he has lent [his neighbor or his brother, for it has been proclaimed] a remission
2:4. of Go[d.’ Its interpretation] for the final days concerns the captives, who […] and whose
2:5. teachers have been hidden and kept secret, and from the inheritance of Melchizedek, fo[r …] and they are the inheritan[ce of Melchize]dek, who
2:6. will make them return. And liberty shall be proclaimed to them, to free them from [the debt of] all their iniquities. And this [wil]l [happen]
2:7. in the first week of the jubilee (that occurs) after [the] ni[ne] jubilees. And the D[ay of Atone]ment i[s] the e[nd of] the tenth [ju]bilee,
2:8. in which atonement shall be made for all the Sons of [Light and for] the men [of] the lot of Mel[chi]zedek […] over [th]em […] accor[ding to] a[ll] their [doing]s, for
2:9. it is the time for the year of grace of Melchizedek and of [his] arm[ies, the nati]on [of] the holy ones of God, of the administration of justice, as is written
2:10. about him in the songs of David, who said (Psalm 82:1): ‘Elohim shall [st]and in the ass[embly of God]; in the midst of the gods he shall judge.’ And about him he sa[id (Psalm 7:8-9):’And] above [it,]
2:11. to the heights, return: God shall judge the nations.’ And as for what he s[aid (Psalm 82:2): ‘How long will you] judge unjustly, and be par[tial] to the wick[e]d. [Se]lah,’
2:12. the interpretation of it concerns Belial and the spirits of his lot wh[o …], in [the]ir tur[ning] away from God’s commandments to [commit evil].
2:13. And Melchizedek will carry out the vengeance of Go[d]’s judgments, [and on that day he will f]r[ee them from the hand of] Belial and from the hand of all the s[pirits of his lot.]
2:14. And all the gods [of justice] are in his assistance; [and h]e is (the one) wh[o …] all the sons of God, and he will [….
2:15. This …] is the day of the [peace ab]out which he said [through Isa]iah the prophet who said (Isaiah 52:7): [‘How] beautiful
2:16. upon (the) mountains are the feet [of] the messen[ger who an]nounces peace, the mes[senger of good who announces salvati]on, [sa]ying to Zion: your God [is king’].
2:17. Its interpretation: ‘the mountains’ [are] the prophet[s]; they […] every [….]
2:18. And ‘the messenger’ i[s] the anointed of the spir[it], as Dan[iel] said [about him (Daniel 9:25-26): ‘Until an anointed, a prince, it is seven weeks.’ And ‘the messenger of]
2:19. good who announ[ces salvation]’ is the one about whom it is written (Isaiah 61:2-3), [ …
2:20. ‘To comfort] the [afflicted,’ its interpretation]: to [in]struct them in all the ages of the w[orld
2:21. in truth …
2:22. …] has turned away from Belial and shall retu[rn to …
2:23. …] in the judgment[s of] God, as is written about him (Isaiah 52:7): [‘saying to Zi]on: your God is king.’ [‘Zi]on’ i[s
2:24. the congregation of all the sons of justice, who] establish the covenant, who avoid walking [on the p]ath of the people. And ‘your G[o]d’ is
2:25. [Melchizedek who will fr]ee [them from the han]d of Belial. And as for what he said (Leviticus 25:9): ‘And you shall blow the ho[rn in] all the [l]and (of) ….
It’s quite astonishing how closely this first-century b.c.e. document aligns with the first-century c.e. New Testament assessment of Melchizedek. This is aptly summed up in The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation (1996):
The author [of 11QMelch] … understands the jubilee year remission of debts as referring not merely to prosaic matters of money, but to the forgiveness of sin. The author declares that the agent of this salvation is to be none other than Melchizedek, a mysterious figure mentioned only twice in the [Hebrew] Bible, in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110. For our author Melchizedek is an enormously exalted divine being, to whom are applied names that are generally reserved for God alone, the Hebrew names El and Elohim.
In the author’s citation of Isaiah 61:2, which speaks of ‘the year of the Lord’s favor,’ ‘Melchizedek’ is substituted even for the most holy name of Israel’s God, Yahweh. Yet more remarkably, Melchizedek is said to atone for the sins of the righteous and to execute judgment upon the wicked—actions usually associated with God himself. By the power of Melchizedek, dominion on earth shall pass from Satan (here called Belial) to the righteous Sons of Light. …
The figure of Melchizedek as portrayed here is strikingly reminiscent of the New Testament reference …. Clearly Melchizedek was a focus of powerful salvific imagery among various Jewish groups in the period of the scrolls.
And again, not only do we see remarkable first century b.c.e. parallels in 11QMelch, we also see the same in the early first century c.e. writings of the Jewish philosopher Philo, in his equating of Melchizedek to the Logos, the embodied “Word” of God.
Yeshiva University’s Professor Angel wrote that later, negative rabbinic opinions on the identity of Melchizedek may well have been in reaction against the Christian association of Melchizedek with Jesus. “Rabbinic tradition identifies Melchizedek with Noah’s son Shem (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan; Gen. 14:18; B. Ned. 32b) and claims that his priesthood was taken away from him …. [Further, t]he archangel Michael, not Melchizedek, appears as celestial high priest (B. Hag. 12b; B. Zev. 62a; B. Men. 110a). This may reflect a reaction against Christian association of the superior priesthood of Jesus with that of Melchizedek.”
He summarized further “the scroll’s portrait of Melchizedek as cosmic redeemer” of “supernatural status,” writing:
In the epistle to the Hebrews, Jesus is pictured as the eternal cosmic high priest “according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:6; 6:2o; 7:1, 1o-11, 17), who redeemed mankind from the power of sin …. A further connection in New Testament tradition with 11QMelch may appear in Luke 4:16-21, where Jesus reads Isaiah 61:1-2 publicly and declares that “today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” … [T]he association of this passage from Isaiah with Melchizedek is integral to 11QMelch’s portrait of Melchizedek as cosmic redeemer.
11QMelch, therefore, gives us a remarkable snapshot into a first-century b.c.e. view of the identity of Melchizedek among the Jewish community of Qumran—not only as a static figure of the past, but a dynamic one of the future, one whose potential would be realized to its fullest extent in the following century—the first century c.e., New Testament period.
The claim that Melchizedek was an incarnation of Jesus Christ is associated with some interpretations within the Mormon faith, particularly as taught in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). According to LDS doctrine, Melchizedek is viewed as a significant figure who held a high priesthood and was a type of Christ.
In the Book of Mormon and other LDS scriptures, Melchizedek is considered a prefiguration or foreshadowing of Jesus Christ rather than a literal incarnation of Him. Melchizedek is seen as a righteous king and priest who held the Melchizedek Priesthood, which is believed to have been passed down to Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
This view is distinct from traditional Christian interpretations, where Melchizedek is often seen as a historical figure without direct association with Jesus Christ. In traditional Christian theology, Melchizedek is considered a type of Christ, in the sense that he foreshadows Christ's role as a priest and king, but not as an incarnation.
The Seal of Melchizedek is an 8-pointed star.
The Seal of Melchizedek is an 8-pointed star. The 8 pointed star is a sacred symbol in Indigenous cultures. It is also the “Symbol of the Divine” Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence, universal infinite and eternal.”
Even outside Christianity, the symbol points to God. In Islam, for example, almost every mosque tower has the 8-point star shape or is also octagonal, the mosque not only a holy place but the tower, like a spire, points to heaven. In text it is called the Rub al Hizb, a quarter mark in scripture, yet may also be interpreted as “leader of the people”. Perhaps more interesting it is known in Arabic tradition as Khatim sulaymon, or “the seal of the prophets.” The eight-pointed star, also known as the Ashtalakshmi, is associated with the Hindu goddess Lakshmi.
On Column 2 of the scroll it says on the Day of Atonement at the time of God’s final judgment, he will rescue God’s people, the Sons of Light, from Belial, the demonic leader of the forces of darkness. Column 1 contains barely any legible material. The sparse remains of column 3 speak of the final extermination of Belial and perhaps allude to the structures of a new Jerusalem.
19 But in the last days it shall come to pass that I and my people shall return again with the Messiah, full in the Priesthood of the Son of God, requiring for YHVH an account of those who were left behind.
20 ¶ And before that day shall I come to stir the healing waters and distribute here upon the earth once again the keys of the Priesthood to organize mankind in the name of YHVH once again,
21 And then shall men and women be baptized in water and fire, that Aviad shall fulfill through the Messiaha Jesus Christb the destiny of Adam, of mankind—the very hope and endowment of all.
22 ¶ And I shall descend with the Son of Man in that day from the City of Enoch:
23 What went from the earth into the sky shall descend again to the earth, and recognize that the things above and of things below are one, for they do belong to YHVH;
A big question judaism must face is why the story of Melchizedek, the teacher of Abraham, and original founder of Jerusalem was left out of their sacred book the Tanakh?
Chapter 1 An introduction and brief history of Melchizedek.
1 Melchizedek was a man of faith who wrought righteousness;
2 And when he was but a child, he feared Ha’Elohim, and stopped the mouths of lions, and quenched the violence of fire.
3 And thus, having been approved of YHVH, he was ordained Kohen Gadol after the order of the covenant which YHVH made with Enoch,
4 It being after the order of the Son of God, which order came not by man, nor the will of man, neither by father nor mother, neither by beginning of days nor end of years, but of YHVH Elohim.
5 And it was delivered unto men by the calling of the voice of Ruach Elohim, according to His own will, unto as many as believed on HaShem(The Name);
6 For YHVH, having sworn unto Enoch and unto his seed with an oath by Himself that everyone being ordained after this order and calling should have power, by faith, to break mountains,
7 To divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course,
8 To put at defiance the armies of nations, to divide the earth, to break every band,
9 To stand in the presence of YHVH, to do all things according to His will, according to His command, and to subdue principalities and powers;
10 And this by the will of the Son of God which was from before the foundation of the world.
11 And men and women having this faith, coming up unto this order of God, were translated and taken up into heaven.
12 ¶ And now, Melchizedek was a High Priest of this order; therefore, he obtained peace in Salem and was called the king of peace.
13 And his people wrought righteousness, and obtained heaven, and sought for the city of Enoch which Elohim had before taken, separating it from the earth, having reserved it unto the latter days, or the end of the world.
14 And YHVH hath said, and sworn with an oath: That the heavens and the earth should come together, and the sons of Elohim should be tried so as by fire.
15 ¶ And this Melchizedek, having thus established righteousness, was called the king of heaven by his people, or, in other words, the king of peace;
16 Him who lifted up his voice, and blessed Abram, being the High Priest and the keeper of the storehouse of El Elyon;
17 Him whom El Elyon had appointed to receive tithes for the poor.
18 Wherefore, even Abram, who was born again unto YHVH Elohim as Abraham, the father of all of covenant peoples of YHVH, paid unto him tithes of all that he had, of all the 2 riches which he possessed, which Ha Elohim had given him more than that which he did need.
19 And because of his humility, YHVH blessed Abram and gave unto him riches, and honor, and lands for an everlasting possession, according to the covenant which he had made and according to the blessing wherewith Melchizedek had blessed him.
20 ¶ And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine; and he broke bread and blessed it; and he blessed the wine, he being the great High Priest of the most high God.
21 And he gave to Abram, after he blessed him, saying: Blessed Abram, thou art a man of the most high of Elohim, possessor of heaven and of earth;
22 And blessed is the name of the most high Elohim, which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand.
23 ¶ And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, lifted up his voice and blessed Abram with secret wisdoms, and taught him to guard them until they come forth unto the world, by the will of God, at the last days.
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