Long before the time of Moses and Aaron and the sons of Levi, the Genesis record notes the appearance of a mysterious yet compelling personality, Melchizedek. Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of the most high God. When Abraham returned from the rescue of Lot, his nephew, he was greeted and blessed by Melchizedek. And Abraham gave to Melchizedek the tithe of all the goods he had recovered (Genesis 14:17–20).
The Genesis appearance of Melchizedek is brief and without explanation in Old Testament history. More information is offered by the writer to the Hebrews. When he notes that Melchizedek was "without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life" (Hebrews 7:3), the writer simply was saying that Melchizedek had no "family tree," no genealogical records through which his origins could be traced. In short, we do not know where he came from.
Melchizedek is not mentioned again until Psalm 110. There he is referred to as the type of an eternal priest of God who would yet appear in Israel’s national development.
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