Hebrews 7:1

For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
For	γὰρ gar	G1063	properly · conjunction
this	Οὗτος Houtos	G3778	the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
Melchisedec	Μελχισέδεκ, Melchisedek	G3198	Melchisedek (i.e. Malkitsedek) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
king	βασιλεὺς basileus	G935	a sovereign (abstractly · noun — nominative singular masculine
Salem	Σαλήμ, Salēm	G4532	Salem (i.e. Shalem) · noun — genitive singular feminine, a place
priest	ἱερεὺς hi'ereus	G2409	a priest (literally or figuratively) · noun — nominative singular masculine
the	θεοῦ theou	G2316	figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
high	ὑψίστου, hupsistou	G5310	highest · adjective — genitive singular masculine, superlative
God	θεός theós	G2316	figuratively
met	συναντήσας sunantēsas	G4876	to meet with · verb — aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
Abraham	Ἀβραὰμ Abraam	G11	Abraham · noun — dative singular masculine, a proper name
returning	ὑποστρέφοντι hupostrephonti	G5290	to turn under (behind) · verb — present active participle, dative singular masculine
from	ἀπὸ apo	G575	"off · preposition
slaughter	κοπῆς kopēs	G2871	cutting · noun — genitive singular feminine
kings	βασιλέων basileōn	G935	a sovereign (abstractly · noun — genitive plural masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
blessed	εὐλογήσας eulogēsas	G2127	to speak well of · verb — aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
him	αὐτόν, auton	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 14:18-20 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Psalms 57:2 I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.
Micah 6:6 Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a y…
Hebrews 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Genesis 16:14-16 Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Psalms 76:2 In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.
Psalms 78:35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.
Daniel 5:18 O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Hebrews 7:1-10

The foregoing chapter ended with a repetition of what had been cited once and again before out of Psa 110:4, Jesus, a high priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec. Now this chapter is as a sermon upon that text; here the apostle sets before them some of the strong meat he had spoken of before, hoping they would by greater diligence be better prepared to digest it. I. The great question that first offers itself is, Who was this Melchisedec? All the account we have of him in the Old Testament is in Gen 14:18, etc., and in Psa 110:4. Indeed we are much in the dark about him; God has thought fit to leave us so, that this Melchisedec might be a more lively type of him whose generation non…

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Adam Clarke on Hebrews 7:1

For this Melchisedec, king of Salem - See the whole of this history largely explained in the notes, See Gen 14:18 (note), etc., and the concluding observations at the end of that chapter. The name Melchisedec, מלכי צדק is thus expounded in Bereshith Rabba, sec. 43, fol. 42, מצדיק את יושביו matsdie eth Yoshebaiv, "The Justifier of those who dwell in him;" and this is sufficiently true of Christ, but false of Jerusalem, to which the rabbins apply it, who state that it was originally called Tsedek, and that it justified its inhabitants. Salem is generally understood to be Jerusalem; but some think that it was that city of Shechem mentioned Jos 20:7. St. Jerome was of this opinion.

John Gill on Hebrews 7:1

For this Melchisedec, king of Salem,.... Various have been the opinions of writers concerning Melchizedek; some have thought him to be more than a man; some, that he was an angel; others, that he was the Holy Ghost; and others, that he was a divine person superior to Christ, which needs no refutation; others have supposed that he was the Son of God himself: but he is expressly said to be like unto him, and Christ is said to be of his order; which manifestly distinguish the one from the other; besides, there is nothing said of Melchizedek which proves him to be more than a man: accordingly others take him to have been a mere man; but these are divided; some say that he was Shem, the son of No…

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The Church Fathers

For to such a degree, he says, is he better than Christ, that he is a0pa/twr (fatherless), a0mh/twr (motherless), a0genealoghtoj (without genealogy), of whom neither the beginning nor the end has been comprehended, nor can be comprehended.
— Tertullian, Pseudo-Tertullian Against All Heresies

And at that time there was a righteous king called Melchisedek, in the city of Salem, which now is Jerusalem. This was the first priest of all priests of the Most High God; and from him the above-named city Hierosolyma was called Jerusalem. And from his time priests were found in all the earth.
— Theophilus of Antioch, Theophilus to Autolycus, Book II, Chapter XXXI

It is for a reason that we are reminded how Melchizedek met with Abraham after his victory over the Assyrians and gave him one-tenth of all the spoils. This indicates that Melchizedek, the priest, was a forefather of the tribe of the Levites. However, the priesthood without the law is greater than that under the law.
— Severian of Gabala, FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 7.1-2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Melchisedec — (king of righteousness). (Hebrews 5:1; Hebrews 6:1; Hebrews 7:1) ... [Melchizedek]
Melchizedek — King of righteousness, the king of Salem (q.v.). All we know of him is recorded in Gen. 14:18-20. He is subsequently mentioned only once in the Old Testament, in Ps. 110:4. The typical significance…
Salem — Peace, commonly supposed to be another name of Jerusalem (Gen. 14:18; Ps. 76:2; Heb. 7:1, 2).
Abraham · General references — General references
Melchizedek · A priest and type of Christ — A priest and type of Christ
Priest · .Melchize — .Melchize
Succession · Of priests, irregularity in — Of priests, irregularity in
Types Of Christ · Melchizedek — Melchizedek

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrews 7:1

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Hebrews 7:1-10

Adam Clarke on Hebrews 7:1

John Gill on Hebrews 7:1

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Hebrews 7:1

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Hebrews 7:1-10

Adam Clarke on Hebrews 7:1

John Gill on Hebrews 7:1

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Hebrews 7:1-3

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Hebrews 7:1-28