Melchizedek in Hebrews 7 199 the literature from Qumran. In 4Q401 (Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice), fragment 11, line 3 has been restored to read “[… Melchi]zedek, priest in the assem[bly of God …]”. Moreover, it is commonly assumed that Melchizedek is present in 4Q543-548 (4QVisions of Amrama-f) as the antithesis to Melchiresha”, “king of iniquity”, who appears as the spirit of darkness in these very fragmentary texts (cf. 4Q544 2,3-5) (30). Except for the Melchizedek references evidently found in 11QMelch and possibly also in the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice and 4QVisions of Amrama-f, no other pre-Christian references to a figure called Melchizedek are found — if we set aside Genesis 14 and Psalm 110, as well as the Genesis Apocryphon, from Qumran (1QapGen), which I do not comment upon here. Palaeographically, 11QMelch is datable to the early first century CE or more likely to the late first century BCE (31). The question therefore arises: is the author of Hebrews somehow dependent upon the Melchizedek document/ documents from Qumran? The fragmentary nature of the Melchizedek document and the other texts of course makes it difficult to analyse them. Nevertheless, in light of what actually is possible to say about them — and in particular 11QMelch — the most likely answer is in my view no. The notion found in Hebrews that Melchizedek is “without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life” (7,3) and that it is “testified that he lives” (7,8) does not contradict what is actually said about Melchizedek in 11QMelch. But although Melchizedek probably is a priest in the Qumran docu- ments(32), the function of the Melchizedek of 11QMelch is quite different from that of the Melchizedek found in Hebrews. In the Melchizedek document from Qumran he has an eschatological, clearly redemptive role. In contrast, in Hebrews he above all functions as the antitype of Christ. In the latter text he has no independent significance for salvation. Therefore, it does not seem that the author of Hebrews makes any clear allusions to the Melchizedek speculations evident in the Qumran (30) Dated to the second century BCE, cf. KOBELSKI, Melchizedek and Melchireπa¿, 25. — A figure called Mechiresha” also occurs in 4Q280 (Curses against Melchiresha) 1,2, dated to the first half of the first century BCE, cf. KOBELSKI, Melchizedek and Melchireπa¿, 37. (31) KOBELSKI, Melchizedek and Melchireπa¿, 3. (32) Despite the lack of such a characterization except for the restored one found in 4Q401 11,3.