Monday, March 20, 2023

Gwilym H. Jones on Melchizedek

  

Another deity whose name is also mentioned in discussions of the pre-Israelite Jerusalem is edeq. The argument is based on the following evidence: the divine name Sydyk, ‘The Just’, is found in the writings of Philo of Byblos and also appears as a theophoric element in personal names outside the Bible, for example at Tell el-Amarna and Ugarit, and corresponds to the Accadian Kittu, ‘Justice’; the name of some of the pre-Israelite kings in Jerusalem, such as Melchiṣedeq which means ‘My King is edeq’ (Gen. 14.18ff) and Adoniṣedeq (Josh. 10,1, 3), can be taken as theophoric names connected with the deity worshipped in the city; the name of Zadok, who became chief priest in the time of Solomon, was also theophoric, having the meaning ‘dedicated to edeq’ and denoting that he belonged to the pre-Davidic shrine in Jerusalem. Thus, it is claimed that Jerusalem, where Melchiṣedeq had been priest-king, and whose priesthood had eternal validity (according to Ps. 110.4), was a cultic centre for the local deity edeq. (Gwilym H. Jones, The Nathan Narratives [Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 80; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1990], 127-28)