Research Catalog

Title

Melchizedek, King of Sodom : how scribes invented the biblical priest-king / Robert R. Cargill.

Author

Cargill, Robert R., 1973-

Publication

• New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2019]
• ©2019

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xiii, 185 pages : map; 25 cm

Summary

The biblical figure Melchizedek appears just twice in the Hebrew Bible, and once more in the Christian New Testament. Cited as both the king of Shalem-understood by most scholars to be Jerusalem-and as an eternal priest without ancestry, Melchizedek's appearances become textual justification for tithing to the Levitical priests in Jerusalem and for the priesthood of Jesus Christ himself. But what if the text was manipulated? Robert R. Cargill explores the Hebrew and Greek texts concerning Melchizedek's encounter with Abraham in Genesis as a basis to unravel the biblical mystery of this character's origins. The textual evidence that Cargill presents shows that Melchizedek was originally known as the king of Sodom and that the later traditions about Sodom forced biblical scribes to invent a new location, Shalem, for Melchizedek's priesthood and reign. Cargill also identifies minor, strategic changes to the Hebrew Bible and the Samaritan Pentateuch that demonstrate an evolving, polemical, sectarian discourse between Jews and Samaritans competing for the superiority of their respective temples and holy mountains. The resulting literary evidence was used as the ideological motivation for identifying Shalem with Jerusalem in the Second Temple Jewish tradition. A brief study with far-reaching implications, Melchizedek, King of Sodom reopens discussion of not only this unusual character, but also the origins of both the priesthood of Christ and the role of early Israelite priest-kings.

Subject

• Melchizedek, King of Salem

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 167-174) and indexes.

Contents

History of interpretation of Melchizedek -- Melchizedek the man in the context of Gen. 14 -- From Sodom to Shalem: polishing the patriarch -- From ʼEl ʻElyon to YHWH: conflating deities and monotheistic apologetics -- Evidence of sectarian redaction in the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Masoretic text -- From Shalem to Jerusalem: sectarian relocation via redaction -- The tithes that blind: seeking precedent for tithing to the Jerusalem priesthood -- Psalm 110: from Davidic king to Melchizedek -- Conclusion.

Call Number

JFE 19-11427

ISBN

• 9780190946968
• 0190946962

OCLC

1088924596

Author

Cargill, Robert R., 1973- author.

Title

Melchizedek, King of Sodom : how scribes invented the biblical priest-king / Robert R. Cargill.

Publisher

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2019]

Copyright Date

©2019

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 167-174) and indexes.

Research Call Number

JFE 19-11427