Melchizedek

Melchizedek (meaning king of righteousness or king of justice) was the king of Salem and priest of God Most High who met Abraham returning from the defeat of the four kings, brought out bread and wine, blessed Abraham, and received tithes from him (Genesis 14:18–20). His dual role as king and priest was unique in the ancient world; his city, Salem, is most commonly identified with Jerusalem. Nothing is recorded of his parentage, genealogy, birth, or death — a silence that the author of Hebrews treats as typologically significant.

Psalm 110:4 declares that the messianic king will be "a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek" — a promise the Epistle to the Hebrews expounds at length (Hebrews 5–7). Hebrews argues that Melchizedek's lack of recorded genealogy and his reception of tithes from Abraham (in whose loins the Levitical priesthood was present) demonstrate that his priesthood is superior to the Levitical order. Jesus, as a descendant of Judah rather than Levi, fulfills this non-Levitical priestly order by oath rather than heredity, offering a permanent and perfect priesthood that supersedes the Mosaic system.