Yigal Levin wrote: “Up until the 20th century, it was assumed that Gen. 14
meant to say that Melchizedek was a king-priest of God, the same God
worshipped by Abraham. This is certainly the interpretation picked up by the
Psalmist in 110, and in later Jewish and Christian literature. But now we know
that there's another possibility - that Gen. 10 meant to contrast
Melchizedek's "most high god" with Abraham's "YHWH el-'elyon" in verse 22.
Possible. But
which interpretation makes more sense in the context of Gen. 14. If you ask
me, I'd go for the "old" interpretation, that the whole point of the story
is to claim that (Jeru-)Salem was a place of "YHWH el-'elyon" worship even
in the days of Abraham. If the author had any knowledge of the Ugaritic (and
Canaanite) "el-'elyon", he was subverting the title for his own use.”
1. Jerusalem is never referred to in any ancient source, whether Biblical
or non-biblical, as “Salem” or anything similar. Melchizedek has nothing
to do with Jerusalem. The ruler of Jerusalem at the time was the “Perrizite”
, PRZY, namely the Hurrian princeling ruler IR-Heba. PR-Z-Y means “Blessed
Teshup (is) Lord” in Hurrian.
2. This is reinforced when we consider Melchizedek’s full name, a priestly
Canaanite name that is a sentence name:
MLK-Y-CDQ MLK $LM
The second MLK is a verb, as at Genesis 37: 7, where MLK means “to reign”.
The sentence name of this Canaanite priest means:
“(the) Righteous (divine) King Reigns (in) Peace”
The first MLK is a noun, meaning “king”. But in a priestly name, “king”
implies “divine king”, being a divine reference.
CDQ is an adjective (though it may be a noun functioning as an adjective),
meaning “righteous”.
The interior yod/Y clarifies that this is a noun-adjective [or noun-noun]
pattern, rather than the first MLK being a verb. So the meaning of the first
half of the name is “Righteous King” or “King of Righteousness” or more
literally, “King – Righteous”. Although that interior yod/Y has virtually
no meaning of its own, it’s nevertheless helpful here. It clarifies (for a
text that for well over a millennium had no pointing for guidance) that the
first MLK is a noun, while simultaneously implying that the second MLK, which
is not followed by a yod/Y, is being used here as a verb.
The second MLK is a verb, meaning “to reign”.
$LM is a noun meaning “peace” or “safety”. $LM, with no express
preposition, can mean “in peace” or “safely”.
This Canaanite priest is not stated in the text to be the king of
Jerusalem. $LM does not mean Jerusalem, and as to the MLK that precedes $LM,
it’s
being used here as a verb, and in any event it relates to a deity, referencing
a divine king. So instead of “Melchizedek, king of Jerusalem”, the actual
meaning of these Hebrew letters is a single Canaanite priestly sentence
name: “(the) Righteous (divine) King Reigns (in) Peace”.
On this analysis, Genesis 14: 18 says in its entirety [using the KJV except
for this name]:
“And [the Canaanite priest named] The-Righteous-Divine-King-Reigns-in-Peace
brought forth bread and wine: and he [was] the priest of the most high god.”
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
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