Bible Character Explorer
Patriarchs • Time of Abraham
Melchizedek
Priest and King of SalemThe mysterious king-priest of Salem who blessed Abraham and became a lasting picture of Christ's eternal priesthood.
"Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek."
Psalm 110:4 (KJV)
Overview
Melchizedek appears briefly in Genesis as king of Salem and 'priest of the most high God,' who brought out bread and wine to meet Abraham after his victory over the kings who had captured Lot, blessing Abraham and blessing God Most High for delivering his enemies into his hand. Abraham responded by giving Melchizedek a tithe of all the spoils, an act of remarkable honor toward this otherwise unknown figure. Though he appears in only a few verses of Genesis, Melchizedek becomes profoundly significant later in Scripture: Psalm 110 prophesies of a coming priest-king 'after the order of Melchizedek,' and the book of Hebrews develops this at length, arguing that Melchizedek's priesthood, without recorded genealogy, beginning, or end as the text presents him, and combining the offices of king and priest in one person, prefigures the eternal, unending priesthood of Jesus Christ, superior to the Levitical priesthood that came later through Abraham's own descendants.
Gospel Connection
The book of Hebrews presents Melchizedek's unique, unending priesthood as the divinely chosen pattern for Christ's own priesthood, one not inherited by human descent but held eternally and perfectly, meaning Jesus, as the true priest after the order of Melchizedek, is able to save completely and forever those who come to God through him, since, unlike the Levitical priests, he continues without end and ever lives to make intercession for his people.
Discover More
See how this life points to Christ in the Gospel Connection section above.