Who is Melchizedek in the Bible?

Melchizedek in Genesis is a historical priest-king of Salem who worshiped the same God as Abraham. Yet his unusual combination of kingship and priesthood, his lack of genealogy, and his blessing of Abraham became the seedbed for later theological reflection. Psalm 110 develops that figure into a royal-priestly model tied to Israel’s kingship, and the New Testament, especially Hebrews, draws on that tradition typologically to explain the superiority and permanence of Christ’s priesthood over the Levitical system. Early Jewish and Christian interpretations took Melchizedek’s significance in different directions. Second Temple sources, including material associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls, sometimes portray him as an exalted heavenly or eschatological figure associated with judgment, atonement, and final deliverance, whereas early Christian writers treat him as a type pointing forward to Christ rather than as a divine manifestation. Taken together, the biblical and Second Temple material portray Melchizedek as a historical figure whose literary presentation and later interpretation provided a conceptual way of articulating Christ’s unique priestly and royal authority.