Melchizedek, Abraham, and a Priest-King without Recorded Genealogy

Hebrews retells Genesis 14: Melchizedek is king of Salem, priest of God Most High, blesses Abraham, and receives a tenth from him. The writer also reflects on the meaning of his titles—king of righteousness and king of peace—and on what Genesis does not record: no genealogy, birth, or death for Melchizedek appears in that narrative. Hebrews uses that literary silence to describe him as resembling the Son of God and remaining a priest in the scriptural portrait. The text does not say Melchizedek literally had no parents or never died; the argument depends on the way Genesis presents him. Abraham’s tithe and reception of blessing show Melchizedek’s greatness in relation to Levi’s later priestly line.