Melchizedek

In Achaemenid royal ideology, the Persian kings saw themselves as heirs to the ancient Elamite rulers, even adopting the old Elamite title “King of Anshan.” Thus, the unusual story of Abram the warrior (Genesis 14) defeating the four kings from the east led by Chedorlaomer of Elam reflects the author’s veiled hope for Israel’s triumph over its Persian overlords: if it happened in the past, it can happen again.

Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham’s servant, Laban, and Jethro all bless YHWH, but, as Rabbi Pappias notes in the Mekhilta, the Israelites don’t. Only later in the Bible do we find David and Solomon blessing YHWH, but so do Hiram King of Tyre and the Queen of Sheba.

In Leviticus and Numbers, ma’aser (tithing) refers to a Temple tax; in Deuteronomy, however, it refers either to what must be brought and consumed on a pilgrimage festival or to charity. This dichotomy led the rabbis to design the cumbersome system of the first and second tithes (maaser rishon and maaser sheni).

Why Melchizedek, a minor biblical character, became so significant in Jewish and Christian interpretation.