Two brief biblical passages on Melchizedek generated a complex speculative tradition in Jewish and early Christian circles. In Genesis Melchizedek, the “king of Salem” and “priest of God Most High” (Gen 14:18), greets Abraham after his victory over the five kings who had taken captive Abraham’s nephew, Lot. Melchizedek blesses Abraham, who in turn gives him a tithe of his spoils (Gen 14:20). In Ps 110:1 (LXX 109) the psalmist tells of God addressing an Israelite king, telling him to take…