Melchizedek in Hebrews 7 In the OT, the priest-king Melchizedek is only mentioned in Ps 110,4 — perhaps in the Hebrew text, definitely in the Greek text (LXX Ps 109,4) (1) — and briefly in a narrative about Abraham in the Pentateuch (Genesis 14). In the latter narrative, Melchizedek suddenly appears, before then equally suddenly disappearing from the OT narratives altogether. The letter to the Hebrews, however, has more to say about this priest-king Melchizedek. It offers information going beyond the literal meaning of the OT passages mentioning him. In the last century or so, several early texts, all having in common that they mention a figure with the name Melchizedek, have been either discovered or made available to a scholarly audience — above all the Melchizedek document from Qumran, the Nag Hammadi tractate with the name Melchizedek and the Melchizedek legend in 2 (Slavonic) Enoch. They all portray Melchizedek as a semi-divine figure—which also is the case with the presentation of Melchizedek in Hebrews. The question has therefore risen: How should one under- stand Hebrews in light of these discoveries? The letter to the Hebrews presents itself as a “word of exhortation” (Heb 13,22), written, probably with the purpose of being read aloud, by an anonymous author to an anonymous congregation. This lack of data makes it difficult for us to outline the historical and theological context into which the writing was originally written and read. Nevertheless, judging from the many quotations the author makes from the OT and from the words he addresses directly to the recipients of the letter, one can for a start draw two conclusions. Firstly, the author was well-versed in the Scriptures. As is evident in several places, he used a Scripture written in Greek — more or less identical with what (1) In my PhD thesis which was defended publicly in December 2008 I argue that qdxAyklm in Ps 110.4 originally probably was a nominal clause. See G. Granerød, “Abraham, Melchizedek and Chedorlamomer: An Attempt to Read Genesis 14 as the Work of Scribal Activity in Second Temple Times” (unpublished PhD thesis; MF Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo 2008) 205- 225.