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  • From: "Jonathan D. Safren" <yonsaf AT beitberl.beitberl.ac.il>
  • To: Ian Hutchesson <mc2499 AT mclink.it>
  • Cc: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Why Not? (Jonathan)
  • Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 21:25:50 +0200

Ian Hutchesson wrote:
I can't see how it could possibly be a true Davidic psalm, given the role
given to the king of priest after the order of Melchizedek, and obviously
negating the Aaronid priesthood role. Ps110 seems to me a better fit as the
enthronement of the Hasmonean king.
According to 2 Sam. 8, David's sons were priests. In Israel, as in Ugarit and elsewhere in the ANE, the king could assume priestly functions.
 

>making the whole Melchitzedek tradition in Gen. 14 quite early. Abraham, as
>eponymic ancestor of the later United Kingdom of Israel under the Davidic
dynasty,
>receives the blessing of the king of Jerusalem, David's future capital.

Doesn't that all seem artificial to you though? There is no opaque reason
for a necessary blessing from a person who is never heard of before or
after. Perhaps I'm missing out on something.
 

Melchizedek, a Jebusite Jerusalem priest king, is mentioned twice in the Bible in two entirely different and independent contexts. That in itself is worthy of note. Add to this the fact the conquest of Jerusalem is attributed to David, who did not exterminate or expel the native Jebusite population, but lived with them on amicably, even, according to 2 Sam. 24, purchasing the Temple Mount from the Jebusite ewir, probably the former ruler, probably of the Melchizedek/Adonizedek dynasty, perhaps even Melchizedek himself. The narrative of 2 Sam. 24 may be unhistorical, but the almost inadvertent historical notice of the purchase of nothing less than the Temple Mount from the local Jebusite, polytheistic ewir is something that should be given serious consideration.
  Can you imagine a Second Temple, Hasmonean Period writer putting something like that in the Bible? The connection between the Davidic dynasty and the Melchizedek line is thus given further support from the Biblical narrative.
Yours,
Jonathan D. Safren
Dept. of Biblical Studies
Beit Berl College
Beit Berl Post Office 44905
Israel
.

 
 


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