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

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cargill, Robert R., 1973- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Melchizedek, King of Salem.

Melchizedek.

Physical Description:

xiii, 185 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

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

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.

Contents:

1 History of Interpretation of Melchizedek p. 5

History of Scholarly Research p. 6

2 Melchizedek the Man in the Context of Gen. 14 p. 11

The Structure of the Narrative p. 11

The Name Malki-Sedeq (Melchizedek) p. 12

Was Sedeq Worshiped in Jerusalem and throughout: Canaan? p. 14

Examples of Priest-Kings in the Ancient Near East and Ancient Israel p. 16

3 From Sodom to Shalem: Polishing the Patriarch p. 19

The Text under Examination p. 19

Note on the Principle of Lectio Difficilior p. 21

Mechanics of the Literary Redaction p. 23

Gen. 14:10: The Fate of Bera', King of Sodom p. 24

Gen. 14:17: Melchizedek as Son of Bera' p. 27

Proposed Original Text of Gen. 14:17-24 p. 28

The Discontinuity in Narrative Caused by a Separate Appearance of Melchizedek p. 28

Grammatical Evidence for the Interruption of Continuity of Gen. 14:17-14 p. 29

Linguistic Evidence: The Play on in Gen. 14:10 and Abram's Oath in Gen. 14:23 p. 31

The Positive Perception of Sodom in Genesis 14 p. 32

The Significance of Shalem p. 33

4 From 'El 'Elyon to YHWH: Conflating Deities and Monotheistic Apologetics p. 36

Who is 'El 'Elyon? The Deity/Deities in Phoenician History p. 36

"Creator of Heaven and Earth" p. 38

From 'El 'Elyon to YHWH: The Gloss in Gen. 14:2.2 p. 40

5 Evidence of Sectarian Redaction in the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Masoretic Text p. 42

The Place YHWH "Will Choose" versus "Chose" p. 44

"In Every Place I Will Cause" versus "In the Place I Caused" My Name to Be Remembered p. 44

Lev. 16:31: A Single Sanctuary p. 45

Exod. 20 and Deut. 5: The Samaritan Tenth Commandment p. 45

Deut. 27:4: Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal p. 47

Gen. 22: From Moreh to Moriah to Jerusalem: The Jewish Polemical Counterclaim to Shechem p. 47

6 From Shalem to Jerusalem: Sectarian Relocation via Redaction p. 55

Shalem Was Never the Early Name of Jerusalem-Jerusalem's Name Was Always Lengthy p. 56

Shalem, a City in Samaria p. 58

Shalem in Ps. 76 p. 59

Making Shalem "Peacefully": Gen. 33:18-19 (Shalem, a City of Shechem) p. 61

Making Shalem Shiloh: Jeremiah 41:5 (Shechem, Shiloh/Shalem, and Samaria) p. 65

The Priestly Effort to Identify Shalem with Jerusalem p. 66

The "Valley of Shaveh" as Jerusalem p. 67

7 The Tithes That Bind: Seeking Precedent for Tithing to the Jerusalem Priesthood p. 72

On Tithes to Temples versus Taxes to Kings p. 72

The Problem of Tithing to a Canaanite Priest-King p. 73

Does מץשר in Gen. 14:10 Mean "Tithe" or "From the Wealth"? p. 74

"He Gave Him": Who Tithed What to Whom? p. 76

8 Psalm 110: From Davidic King to Melchizedek p. 81

Psalm 110:1 p. 82

Psalm 110:3 p. 84

Psalm 110:4 p. 89.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0190946962

9780190946968

OCLC:

1088924596