Melchizedek in Hebrews 7 195 However, in Heb 7,3 it seems that the author departs from the information offered by the OT sources he uses. The implication of this verse is that Melchizedek is no mere earthly figure. On the contrary, he appears as an immortal and perpetual priest (mevnei iJereu;" eij" to; dihnekev") with a semi-divine status (mhvte ajrch;n hmerwn mhvte zwh'" tevlo" e[cwn). The idea of Melchizedek’s immortality J ' reappears in Heb 7,8 — of Melchizedek it is “testified that he lives” (marturouvmeno" o{ti zh/'), contrasting the mortality of the descendants of Levi. Further, the assumption that Melchizedek is an immortal priest is crucial for the author’s argumentation concerning the immortality of Christ and his perpetual priesthood (e.g., cf. 7,24-25). 5. Hebrews 7,3.8 — Deduced from Extra-Biblical Sources or an Argument from Silence? From where does the author get the information evident in Heb 7,3? What made him refer to Melchizedek as without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life etc.? For a long time exegetes have struggled with this crucial question. In short, the proposals have typically been made along two different paths (17). On the one hand, it has frequently been pointed out that speculations about this shadowy figure of ancient past flourished in Jewish, Christian and Gnostic circles. Somehow, then, it is thought that the author is dependent on one — or several — of these speculations about Melchizedek (18). On the other hand it has been argued that the author of Hebrews, in accord with Jewish hermeneutical techniques, simply utilizes a potential in the OT texts which he unfolds. In other words, it is argued that the author has made an argument concerning Melchizedek from silence. First, I will focus on the assumption that Heb 7,3 reflects an already existing Melchizedek legend. From the second century BCE up till the medieval age, there are a number of sources which have in common the fact that they in one way or another are about Melchizedek (19). (17) See e.g. ATTRIDGE, Hebrews, 187, 189-192; KOESTER, Hebrews, 338-343 and MITCHELL, Hebrews, 141-144. (18) So e.g. HAY, Glory, 153. (19) For a survey of the references to Melchizedek, see F.L. HORTON, The Melchizedek Tradition. A Critical Examination of the Sources to the Fifth Century A.D. and in the Epistle to the Hebrews (SNTSMS 30; Cambridge 1976) and B.A. PEARSON, “Melchizedek in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Gnosticism”, Biblical