Genesis 14:18

14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem ¹  brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God.) ² 

Hebrews 7:1-2

The Nature of Melchizedek’s Priesthood

7:1 Now this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him. ³  7:2 To him ⁴  also Abraham apportioned a tithe ⁵  of everything. ⁶  His name first means ⁷  king of righteousness, then king of Salem, that is, king of peace.

[14:18]  ¹ sn Salem is traditionally identified as the Jebusite stronghold of old Jerusalem. Accordingly, there has been much speculation about its king. Though some have identified him with the preincarnate Christ or with Noah’s son Shem, it is far more likely that Melchizedek was a Canaanite royal priest whom God used to renew the promise of the blessing to Abram, perhaps because Abram considered Melchizedek his spiritual superior. But Melchizedek remains an enigma. In a book filled with genealogical records he appears on the scene without a genealogy and then disappears from the narrative. In Psalm 110 the Lord declares that the Davidic king is a royal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek.

[14:18]  ² tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause significantly identifies Melchizedek as a priest as well as a king.

[7:1]  ³ sn A series of quotations from Gen 14:17-19.

[7:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “to whom,” continuing the description of Melchizedek. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[7:2]  ⁵ tn Or “a tenth part.”

[7:2]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Gen 14:20.

[7:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “first being interpreted,” describing Melchizedek.