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Priesthood of Melchizedek
The priesthood of Melchizedek is a role in Abrahamic religions, modelled on Melchizedek, combining the dual position of king and priest.
Melchizedek is a king and priest appearing in the Book of Genesis. The name means "King of Righteousness" – a name echoing kingly and priestly functions. He is the first individual to be given the title Kohen (priest) in the Hebrew Bible.
In the King James Version the Book of Psalms 110:4 names Melchizedek as representative of the priestly line through which a future king of Israel's Davidic line was ordained. Alternatively, it is suggested this term was here intended to be treated as an agglutinated improper noun, and thus translated as rightful king rather than left as a proper name Melchizedek; this interpretation is taken by some modern translations, such as the New JPS Tanakh.[citation needed]
The Law of Moses stipulates that only the male descendants of Aaron be commissioned to serve as Kohenim priests before Yahweh and the Jewish nation. This commission is believed in Judaism to be "a covenant of everlasting priesthood" and not eligible for replacement by other tribes of Israel.
Judaic midrash (exegesis) identifies Melchizedek with Shem the son of Noah. Although the Book of Genesis affirms that Melchizedek was "priest of God Most High" (Genesis 14:18), the Midrash and Babylonian Talmud maintain that the priesthood held by Melchizedek, who pre-dated the patriarch Levi by five generations (Melchizedek pre-dates Aaron by six generations; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Kehoth, Amram, Aaron), was given in his stead to Abraham who, in turn, passed it on to his patrilineal descendants, Isaac and then to Jacob. Midrashic literature attributes this transition as a consequence due to Melchizedek preceding the name of Abraham to that of God, such as in the Midrash Rabbah to Genesis, while some Jewish commentators, such as Chaim ibn Attar, write that Melchizedek gave the priesthood to Abraham willingly.
Maimonides, in his Mishneh Torah, explains that Jacob separated his son Levi from his other sons and appointed him to instruct and teach the ways of "service to God", specifically the servicial methods used by his forefather Abraham, to his brothers. He also instructed his sons to perpetuate this status of Levi ("Shevet Levi") for eternity (Maimonides, Avodah Zorah 1:15). For the prelude of this choice see Targum Jonathan to Genesis 32:25, and/or Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer ch. 37. In midrash, it is written that Amram the son of Kohath the son of Levi was the spiritual leader of the sons of Jacob ("Israel") during their Egyptian Bondage.[citation needed] Following his death, his post was assumed by his son Aaron.
At the time of the erection of the Tabernacle, the bible says that God commanded Moses to appoint Aaron and his sons to the Jewish priestly service as a precondition to God revealing his Shekhinah amongst the nation of Israel:
And Aaron and his sons I will sanctify to serve me and I will dwell amidst the sons of Israel and I will be to them a God, and they will know that I (am) God their Master that took them out from the land of Egypt (in order that) I (will) dwell in their midst
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Priesthood of Melchizedek
The priesthood of Melchizedek is a role in Abrahamic religions, modelled on Melchizedek, combining the dual position of king and priest.
Melchizedek is a king and priest appearing in the Book of Genesis. The name means "King of Righteousness" – a name echoing kingly and priestly functions. He is the first individual to be given the title Kohen (priest) in the Hebrew Bible.
In the King James Version the Book of Psalms 110:4 names Melchizedek as representative of the priestly line through which a future king of Israel's Davidic line was ordained. Alternatively, it is suggested this term was here intended to be treated as an agglutinated improper noun, and thus translated as rightful king rather than left as a proper name Melchizedek; this interpretation is taken by some modern translations, such as the New JPS Tanakh.[citation needed]
The Law of Moses stipulates that only the male descendants of Aaron be commissioned to serve as Kohenim priests before Yahweh and the Jewish nation. This commission is believed in Judaism to be "a covenant of everlasting priesthood" and not eligible for replacement by other tribes of Israel.
Judaic midrash (exegesis) identifies Melchizedek with Shem the son of Noah. Although the Book of Genesis affirms that Melchizedek was "priest of God Most High" (Genesis 14:18), the Midrash and Babylonian Talmud maintain that the priesthood held by Melchizedek, who pre-dated the patriarch Levi by five generations (Melchizedek pre-dates Aaron by six generations; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Levi, Kehoth, Amram, Aaron), was given in his stead to Abraham who, in turn, passed it on to his patrilineal descendants, Isaac and then to Jacob. Midrashic literature attributes this transition as a consequence due to Melchizedek preceding the name of Abraham to that of God, such as in the Midrash Rabbah to Genesis, while some Jewish commentators, such as Chaim ibn Attar, write that Melchizedek gave the priesthood to Abraham willingly.
Maimonides, in his Mishneh Torah, explains that Jacob separated his son Levi from his other sons and appointed him to instruct and teach the ways of "service to God", specifically the servicial methods used by his forefather Abraham, to his brothers. He also instructed his sons to perpetuate this status of Levi ("Shevet Levi") for eternity (Maimonides, Avodah Zorah 1:15). For the prelude of this choice see Targum Jonathan to Genesis 32:25, and/or Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer ch. 37. In midrash, it is written that Amram the son of Kohath the son of Levi was the spiritual leader of the sons of Jacob ("Israel") during their Egyptian Bondage.[citation needed] Following his death, his post was assumed by his son Aaron.
At the time of the erection of the Tabernacle, the bible says that God commanded Moses to appoint Aaron and his sons to the Jewish priestly service as a precondition to God revealing his Shekhinah amongst the nation of Israel:
And Aaron and his sons I will sanctify to serve me and I will dwell amidst the sons of Israel and I will be to them a God, and they will know that I (am) God their Master that took them out from the land of Egypt (in order that) I (will) dwell in their midst