Saturday, May 13, 2023

Michael D. Goulder on Psalm 110:4

  

In v. 4 the ‘lord’ is given a second oracle under Yahweh’s oath: he is a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. It is widely noted that in early times David acts as both king and priest: he wears the priestly ephod, conducts the ark, offers the sacrifices, makes his sons priests, and so on. Only in later times does it come to be felt that sacrifice is for priests only, and Uzziah is stricken with leprosy when he offers incense in 2 Chronicles 26. Priests were under special divine protection, so the king was happy to have this additional guarantee. Further, appeal is made to Gen. 14:18–22, where Melchizedek was both king of Salem and also priest of אל עליון. The king of Jerusalem in Joshua 10 is called Adoni-zedek, and this led to the conclusion that the god worshipped in Canaanite Jebus was אל עליון, with an association to a god Zedek; and that Zadok had been priest-king of the place. The oracle would then be divine confirmation that David has succeeded to the joint authority in perpetuity. (Michael D. Goulder, The Psalms and the Return: Book V, Psalms 107-150 [Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 258; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998], 143-44)

 

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