Melchizedek

Genesis 14 records Melchizedek meeting Abram with bread and wine after Abram rescued Lot. As king of Salem and priest of God Most High, Melchizedek blessed Abram and praised God for delivering Abram's enemies into his hand. Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Scripture supplies no genealogy or narrative of his life beyond this encounter. Psalm 110 later speaks of a royal figure who is 'a priest forever' according to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews develops this text at length, using Melchizedek's combined kingship and priesthood and the Genesis narrative's silence about his ancestry to illuminate the superior and enduring priesthood of Christ.