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Melchizedek represents the pastoral archetype who has "the law written on his heart" e.g. he is priest (wisdom) AND king (courage). He is an interpolation in Genesis necessary to complete the structure and theology of the Pentateuch whose template consists of lines 6-12 of the Vedic Hymn of Man which describe the development of social classes that occurs when pastoralists settle down and adopt agriculture, a process that features the Purusha (the Vedic Melchizedek) who like his biblical counterpart is dis-membered into priest and warrior classes.
Melchizedek is the archetype of the oral tradition in pastoral Genesis. He is in Genesis because of its pastoral (or diaspora) context e.g. there is no temple, priesthood or written law in pastoral Genesis only the ancient oral tradition which Melchizedek represents.
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We find a pattern in the sequence Genesis, Jeremiah, and Jesus: In a pastoral context, write the law on your heart. In a national context, maintain a national toolkit of temple, priesthood and written law.
Just as there are two establishment structures in the Torah, the diaspora and the nation, there are two theologies: the oral tradition for diaspora and the temple, priesthood and written law for the nation.
THE BIBLICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF MELCHIZEDEK
https://www.academia.edu/41175003/The_B ... elchizedek
Notes:
Emmanouela Grypeou of Stockholm University on Daniel Boyarin and the Jewish-Christian schism
Stephen M. Donnelly of Hebrew U. on Melchizedek and his deprecation in the Talmud.
THE TORAH LOOP AND THE TORAH'S PASTORAL AND NATIONAL THEOLOGIES
https://www.academia.edu/4738424/The_To ... Theologies
Re: the Biblical Utility of Melchizedek
THE FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURE AND SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY OF THE TORAH
https://www.academia.edu/3316631/The_Fu ... _the_Torah
The Torah's Vedic template is described, then build the Torah structure yourself by dis-membering pastoral Melchizedek, the divine king into national Melchi-Zedek, the classes of warriors and priests appointed by Moses (Joshua and Aaron).
The Torah is a LOOP.
Non-sedentary diaspora life is established by entering Egypt from Canaan.
Sedentary national life is established by entering Canaan from Egypt.
Some of that is interesting in itself, but some of it is confusing.
Does any of it relate to the view there was a 'Two Powers in Heaven' theology in the first century ad/ce?
I note
“The fundamental Torah structure is crafted into a loop, with nonsedentary diaspora life established by entering Egypt from Canaan and sedentary national life established by entering Canaan from Egypt.“
The quote is from The Fundamental Structure and Systematic Theology of the Torah which advanced the following propositions:
The first five books of the Bible describe two establishment structures.
- The diaspora established in Genesis.
- The nation established in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
- The theology of self sacrifice is practiced in a diaspora setting.
- The theology of temple sacrifice is practiced in a national setting.
Then,
The ancestors of the House of Israel and the House of Judah left Egypt to establish the nation of Israel but in the “Gospel before the Gospels” [what the New American Bible calls Jerimiah's New Covenant] the Lord specifically says that the new covenant will not be like the one that was made as they left Egypt ... the “new covenant” of nonsedentary diaspora life.
“I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts.”
“Writing the law on one’s heart” is the process of memorizing and actualizing the oral tradition (making learned behaviors intuitive).
The authorof Jeremiah, cognizant of the loss of the nation and its temple religion, offers the population forced into diaspora the embodied oral tradition of pastoralism in place of the now defunct written law.
“No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the Lord.”
The roles of priest and warrior are combined in a man who memorizes and actualizes the oral tradition. Genesis’s pastoral archetype Melchizedek is both priest and king (wisdom empowered by courage). With the Law written on a man’s heart,
he does not need a priest to teach him how to know the Lord or a warrior to protect him. The Lord, through Jeremiah, offers the population this new covenant consisting of Melchizedek’s self-sacrificial discipline of embodied oral tradition. The temple no longer stands in Jerusalem. In diaspora, the temple and the Law must be in their hearts.
The 'first' mention of Melchizedek in the 'modern' version of the Hebrew bible is Genesis 14.18-20:
17 After [Abram's] return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (ie. the King’s Valley). 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine (He was priest of God Most High). 19 And he blessed him and said,
....“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
......Possessor of heaven and earth;
.20 and blessed be God Most High [El Elyon],
......who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”
And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
This widely-viewed-as-an-interpolation passage portrays Melchizedek as a or even as the pastoral archetype (some see it as a precursor of the Eucharist).
The only other mention of Melchizedek in the Herew Bible is Psalm 110.2-4:
The scepter of your power, the LORD will stretch forth from Zion:
....“Rule in the midst of your enemies.
...... Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor,
......before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you.”
The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent:
....“You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”
[vv.5-6 parallel vv.2-3 in Yahweh's relationship with the Davidic king, and, with v.7, portray Yahweh as a protagonist Divine Warrior who helps the king defeat his enemies on individual, corporate, and cosmic levels (“among the nations,” “over the wide earth,” and so on).]
Melchizedek is an old Canaanite name meaning “My King Is [the god] Sedek” or “My King Is Righteousness” (the meaning of the similar Hebrew cognate). The god whom Melchizedek serves as priest, “El ʿElyon,” is also a name of Canaanite origin, probably designating the high god of their pantheon. Salem, of which he is said to be king, is often viewed as Jerusalem (Psalm 76:2 refers to Salem in a way that implies that it is synonymous with Jerusalem). [Also, Salem - “shalom” - means cosmic, harmonious peace].
For Abraham to recognize the authority and authenticity of a Canaanite priest-king is startling and has no parallel in biblical literature.
"Psalm 110, in referring to a future messiah of the Davidic line [perhaps Solomon], alludes to the priest-king Melchizedek as a prototype of this messiah. This allusion is thought to have led the author of the NT Letter to the Hebrews to translate the name Melchizedek as “king of righteousness” and Salem as “peace” so that Melchizedek is made to foreshadow Christ, stated to be the true king of righteousness and peace (Hebrews 7:2)." https://www.britannica.com/biography/Melchizedek
The author of the NT Letter to the Hebrews raises Melchizedek’s profile to that of a pre-incarnate Christ-like-figure: Melchizedek is eternal, having no “father or mother”, and “resembling the Son of God he continues as a priest forever” (Heb. 7:3). Abraham’s tithe to Melchizedek is said to confirm his greatness (Heb. 7:4).
Following Melchizedek, Jesus is portrayed as the true king of righteousness (“Melchizedek”) who lived the perfect life no human being could, and also as the true king of peace (Salem) who came to earth to bring peace through his sacrificial death and resurrection. Jesus is “a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek” (Heb. 7:17); and not through Levitical lineage (Heb. 7:14), making his priesthood superior (Heb. 7:11).
As a result, “This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant” (Heb. 7:22). Because “he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever” (Heb. 7:24), “he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25).
Thus, Jesus is the perfect King who rules with infinite power and justice. Believers are also to be comforted knowing Jesus is the perfect Priest who ministers with infinite mercy and sympathizes with his followers in their weaknesses (Heb. 4:15).
According to the analogy in Hebrews, just as Abraham, the ancestor of the Levites, paid a tithe to Melchizedek and was therefore his inferior, so the Melchizedek-like priesthood of Christ is superior to that of the Levites. Furthermore, just as the Old Testament assigns no birth or death date to Melchizedek, so the priesthood of Christ is eternal."
Statistics: Posted by MrMacSon — Sat Mar 16, 2024 6:02 pm