(Gen. 14:18-24). WHO IS
THAT MELCHISEDECH KING OF SALEM, WHO THE APOSTLE SAYS IS WITHOUT FATHER AND
WITHOUT MOTHER?—Answer. The reason why the apostle said Melchisedech was
without father and without mother is that the holy Scripture does not tell his
genealogy. The Hebrews say that this Melchisedech is Sem, Noah’s son, under a
different name, and, reckoning the days of his life, they show that he lived
until the time of Isaac. They also say that all firstborns used to be priests
and immolate sacrifices to God until the time of Aaron and the rites of the
law, and that this was the birthright that Esau sold his brother Jacob. It was
also right, they say, for Melchisedech to receive tithes from the triumphs of his
descendent. Moreover, they affirm that Salem is the same city that was later
called Jerusalem. This city, according to them, was even first called Jebus,
then Salem, then Jerusalem. This Melchisedech , according to the apostle,
symbolically represents Christ, because Christ is without mother in heaven and
without father on earth, offering to God, for us, on earth, the bread of his
body and the wine of his blood; to whom it is said, “Thou art a priest for
ever, according to the order of Melchisedech” (Heb. 5:6; Ps. 109:4) (Alcuin of
York, “Questions and Answers on Genesis,” trans. Sarah Van Der Pas, in Questions
and Answers on Genesis by Augustine, Ambrosiaster, and Alcuin, ed. John Litteral
[2018], 186)
