Melchizedek
biblical person; King of Salem and priest of the Most High (Gen. 14)
In the Hebrew Bible, Melchizedek was the king of Salem and priest of El Elyon (often translated as "God Most High"). He is mentioned in Genesis 14:18–20, where he brings out bread and wine and blesses Abram (Abraham), following the Battle of the Vale of Siddim and Abram's subsequent rescue of the captives and plunder taken in the battle, and in Psalm 110:4.
In Christianity, according to the Epistle to the Hebrews, Jesus Christ is identified as "High priest forever in the order of Melchizedek", and so Jesus assumes the role of High Priest once and for all. Chazalic literature – specifically Targum Jonathan, Targum Yerushalmi, and the Babylonian Talmud – presents his name (מלכי־צדק) as a nickname for Shem.
Joseph Blenkinsopp has suggested that the story of Melchizedek is an informal insertion into the Genesis narration, possibly inserted in order to give validity to the priesthood and titles connected with the Second Temple. It has also been conjectured that the suffix "-zedek" may have been or become a reference to a Canaanite deity worshipped in Jebusite Jerusalem.
Name
In the majority of Masoretic Hebrew texts the name is written as two words, Malki-ṣedeq מלכי־צדק, rendered in one word in both the Septuagint (Μελχισεδέκ) and Vulgate (Melchisedech). The Authorised King James Version of 1611 renders the name "Melchizedek" when translating from the Hebrew, and "Melchisedec" in the New Testament.
The name is composed from the two elements: melek(h), 'king', and ṣedeq, which means either 'righteousness' or the proper name Zedek. With the addition of the hiriq compaginis (-ī) indicating the archaic construct form, malk-ī means 'king of', so that the name literally translates to 'king of righteousness' or 'my king is Zedek', indicating that he worshipped Zedek, a Canaanite deity worshipped in pre-Israelite Jerusalem.
“Melchizedek” enters the record as biblical person; King of Salem and priest of the Most High (Gen. 14). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Melchizedek, biblical and person can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Melchizedek” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Melchizedek, biblical and person provides the most credible route into that argument.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q219395. VIAF identifies the subject as 283467894. The Library of Congress control number is n80163553. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 3 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1611.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Melchizedek” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.