or MELCHIZEDEK, king of Salem, and priest of the Most High. The scripture tells us nothing either of his father, or of his mother, or of Melchis- dek's genealogy, or of his birth, or of his death. And in this sense he was a figure of Jesus Christ, as St Paul affirms, who is a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedec, and not according to the order of Aaron, whose original, life, and death, are known. When Abraham returned from pursuing the four confederate kings, who had defeated the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, and had taken away Lot, Abraham's nephew, along with them (Gen. xiv. 17, 18, 19, &c.) Melchisedec came to meet Abraham as far as the valley of Shaveh, which was afterwards named the King's valley, presented him with the refreshment of bread and wine (or he offered bread and wine in sacrifice to the Lord, for he was a priest of the most high God), and blessed him. Abraham, being desirous to acknowledge in him the quality of priest of the Lord, offered him the tythes of all he had taken from the enemy. After this time, there is no mention made of the person of Melchisedec; only the Psalmist (ex. 4.) speaking of the Messiah, says, "Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." St Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews, unfolds the mystery which is concealed in what is said of Melchisedec in the Old Testament. See Heb. v. 6—10. An infinite number of difficulties and scruples have been started upon the subject of Melchisedec.—St Jerome thought that Salem, of which Melchisedec was king, was not Jerusalem, but the city of Salem near Scythopolis, where they fill pretended to show the ruins of the palace of this prince. The greatness and extent of these ruins are a sufficient proof of the magnificence of this ancient building. He thinks it was at this city of Salem or Shalem, that Jacob arrived after his passage over Jordan, at his return from Mesopotamia (Gen. xxxiii. 18.). Some believe that Salem, where Melchisedec reigned, is the same as Salim spoken of in the gospel of St John, chap. iii. 23. From the time of Epiphanes, there were names invented for the father and mother of Melchisedec. To his father was given the name of Heracles or Heraclcs, and to his mother that of Alitathor or Aflaria. It is generally agreed on by the learned, that when the apostle says, he was "without father and without mother," no more is meant, than that he is introduced into the history of Abraham without acquainting us who he was, or whence he came, where he lived or when he died. Nevertheless, some have taken St Paul's words literally, and contended that he was not of human but divine nature. Origen and Didymus took him to be an angel; and the author of the Questions upon the Old and New Testaments pretends, that he was the Holy Ghost, who appeared to Abraham in a human form. The Arabic Catena upon the ninth chapter of Genesis, makes Melchisedec to be descended from Shem by his father, and from Japheth by his mother. Heracles or Heraclim his father, was they say, son or grandson of Phaleg, and son of Heber; and his mother, named Salathiel, was daughter of Gomer son of Japheth. Cedrenus and others derive Melchisedec from an Egyptian stock. They say his father was called Sidon or Sida, and was the founder of the city of Sidon, the capital of Phenicia. Suidas says he was of the cursed race of Canaan; for which reason the scripture does not mention his genealogy. The Jews and Samaritans believed Melchisedec to be the fame fame with the patriarch Shem; which opinion has been followed by a great number of modern writers. M. Jurieu has undertaken to prove that he is the same as Cham or Ham. It would be endless to set down all the opinions upon this matter: therefore we shall only add, that Peter Cunaeus and Peter du Moulin have asserted, that Melchisedec who appeared to Abraham was the Son of God, and that the patriarch worshipped him and acknowledged him for the Messiah.

About the beginning of the third century arose the heresy of the Melchisedecians, who affirmed that Melchisedec was not a man, but a heavenly power, superior to Jesus Christ: for Melchisedec, they said, was the intercessor and mediator of the angels, but Jesus Christ was so only for men, and his priesthood only a copy of that of Melchisedec, who was the Holy Ghost.

We shall only beg leave to add here one opinion more concerning Melchisedec, which is that of the learned Heidegger, who, as the author of the Hist. Patriar. thinks, has taken the right method of explaining the accounts of Moses and the apostle Paul relating to this extraordinary person. He supposes a twofold Melchisedec; the one historical, whereof Moses gives an account in the 14th chapter of Genesis, as that he was king as well as high priest of Jerusalem; the other allegorical, whom St Paul describes, and this allegorical person is Jesus Christ.

As the history of this prince and priest is so little known, it is no wonder, as Selden observes, that many fabulous accounts have been invented of him; of which the following may suffice as a specimen. Eutychus patriarch of Alexandria relates, that the body of Adam having been embalmed according to his order, was deposited in a cave under a mountain of the children of Seth; but that Adam before his death had commanded that they should take away his remains from that place, and transport them to the middle of the earth: that Noah, to follow the orders of his ancestors, had preserved the bodies of Adam and all the patriarchs with him in the ark: that finding himself near his death, he ordered his son Shem to take the body of Adam, to furnish himself with bread and wine for his journey, to take with him Melchisedec the son of Phaleg, and to go to the place in which an angel would show them where to bury the first man: that Noah added this order, "Command Melchisedec to fix his residence in that place, and to live unmarried all his lifetime, because God has chosen him to do service in his presence; command him, that he build no temple, nor shed the blood of birds, nor four-footed beasts, or any other animal; and 'that he offer no other oblations to God but bread and wine.'" This is the reason, according to this author, why Melchisedec, when he met Abraham, brought forth only bread and wine.

A Greek author, under the name of Athanasius, relates, that Melchisedec was the son of an idolatrous king called Melchi and of a queen called Salem.—Melchi, having resolved to offer a sacrifice to the gods, sent his son Melchisedec to fetch him seven calves. In the way the young prince was enlightened by God, and immediately returned to his father, to demonstrate to him the vanity of his idols. Melchi, in wrath, sent him back to fetch the victims. While he was absent, the king sacrificed his eldest son, and a great many Melchisedec's other children, to his gods. Melchisedec returning, and conceiving great horror at this butchery, retired to Mount Tabor, where he lived seven years, without clothes, and fed only on wild fruits. At the end of seven years, God appeared to Abraham, bid him go up to Mount Tabor, where he should find Melchisedec. He ordered him to clothe him, and to ask his blessing; which Abraham having done, Melchisedec anointed him with oil, and they came down together from the mountain.