Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Bryant J. Williams III" <bjwvmw AT com-pair.net>]

Dear Jim,

The name is Melchizedek, King of Salem, Hebrew is UMaLKiZeDeK MeLeK SHALEM, 
וּמַלְכִּיצֶ֙דֶק֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ שָׁלֵם, even with the consonants only. 
The phrase MeLeK SHALEM is a noun = title with geographic location. You are 
also making the mistake that just because one is a priest, then one cannot be 
a king. In this instance the text clearly shows that Melchizedek was not only 
King of Salem, but also a priest of the Most High God (El-Elyon). Abram would 
know of this. Giving tithes to Melchizedek, a priest of the Most High God, is 
in response to the providence of God (EL). Does it fit into your scheme of 
things? No, it does not. Move on.

Rev. Bryant J. Williams III



----- Original Message ----- 
  From: jimstinehart AT aol.com 
  To: bjwvmw AT com-pair.net ; uhurwitz AT yahoo.com ; b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org 
  Sent: Sunday, February 06, 2011 5:07 PM
  Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Jerusalem - spelling, in historical perspective


Rev. Bryant J. Williams III: 1.  You wrote:  “The text of Genesis 14:18 
clearly states that Melchizedek is a king:  Hebrew: Genesis 14:18”    
וּמַלְכִּי־צֶ֙דֶק֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ שָׁלֵ֔ם הֹוצִ֖יא לֶ֣חֶם וָיָ֑יִן וְה֥וּא 
כֹהֵ֖ןלְאֵ֥ל עֶלְיֹֽון׃ The dashes in the Hebrew text that you cite were put 
there by a modern editor, and were not in the original text.  I see the 
dashes differently.  In my prior post, I quoted the leading analyst of Bronze 
Age names [Richard Hess] as follows:  “slm.  This root, ‘to be well, at 
peace’, appears in many West Semitic names of all periods.”  Thus we should 
not be surprised to see $LM in a priest’s name.  Here is how I see the 
dashes, under which Melchizedek has a double name, with the second part of 
his name being MLK-$LM, and with Melchizedek not being stated to be, and not 
being, a king of Jerusalem or Salem or a king at all: MLK-Y-CDQ MLK-$LM 
Supporting my theory of the case is the fact that Melchizedek never takes any 
“kingly” actions at all.  Melchizedek takes no part in the fighting, and 
rather as a priest receives tithes from the fighters. The issue I am raising 
is whether MLK-$LM is the second half of Melchizedek’s long double name, as 
opposed to being a statement that Melchizedek was the king of Jerusalem (or 
the king of an unknown Salem). 2.  Now consider that there are more long 
names in chapter 14 of Genesis than virtually any other part of the Bible: 
(i) Ashteroth-karnaim, even though no other source has more than Ashteroth 
(ii)  XCC-N TMR/xa-tsi-tsi-ni tam-ri, even though no other source has more 
than Hasi [Xasi] (iii)  (YN M$P+ HW) QD$, even though no other source (except 
the Thutmose III list) has more than QD$ [or the equivalent in another 
language] (iv)  KDRL(MR, which is a rare 7-letter name [with no dashes] So we 
should not expect “Jerusalem” to be abbreviated as “$LM” in chapter 14 of 
Genesis.  Nor should we be unduly surprised by a high priest having a double 
name:  MLK-Y-CDQ MLK-$LM. The whole issue, Rev. Bryant J. Williams III,  is 
whether MLK-$LM is the second half of Melchizedek’s long double name, as 
opposed to being a statement that Melchizedek was the king of Jerusalem (or 
of an unknown Salem). Jim StinehartEvanston, Illinois 

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