This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (December 2014)

In rabbinic Jewish eschatology, the Righteous Priest or Priest of Righteousness is a figure identified with one of the Four Craftsmen in a vision mentioned in the Book of Zechariah. He is found in the Talmud and Midrash.

B. Sukkot 52b

According to Simeon Hasida, Zechariah's Four Craftsmen are Messiah ben David, Messiah ben Joseph, Elijah and the Righteous Priest. In the oldest full manuscript of the Talmud dating from 1342, known as the Munich Talmud,[1] the Righteous Priest is referred to as Melchizedek.[2]: 85  In his commentary on the Talmud, Rashi says the Shem/Melchizedek is called a craftsman because he helped his father build the ark and taught Abraham.[3]

In 1280, following the Disputation of Barcelona, the Roman Catholic Church forced Jews to censor parts of the Talmud that were theologically problematic.[4] The Talmud was censored again in 1564 following the invention of the printing press. Numerous times between 1239 and 1775, all copies of the Talmud were ordered destroyed; few survived.[5]

Shem

According to the Avot of Rabbi Natan on Gen. i 27, Adam was born circumcised because he was created in the image of God.[6] While they were in Egypt, the children of Israel were not circumcised because they wished to follow the customs of the Egyptians.[a][7] The Israelites lived in Egypt for 210 years.[8] According to Midrash Rabbah LVII. 4, Satan denounced Israel when they were in Egypt. Generally this is interpreted as happening after Joseph died and was because they stopped practicing circumcision.[9] However the priestly tribe of Levi practiced circumcision in Egypt.[b] Entry into the land of Israel required the circumcision of all the tribes.[c][7]

Noah, the second Adam, was also born circumcised.[d] Noah's son Shem likewise was born circumcised. Although Shem is unanimously declared by the Rabbis to have been the youngest son of Noah (a view most biblical scholars disagree with),[citation needed] he is always named first, being the most important of the three brothers. He was the ancestor of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; he was also a priest, a prophet, and one of the eight righteous mentioned twice in Genesis xi 10;[e] they were allotted a portion both in this world and in the world to come.[f] Shem is styled "the great one"[g] According to Genesis R. xxx. 6, it was Shem who offered the sacrifices on the altar after Noah came out of the ark, [h] because Noah, having been crippled by a lion, was unfit for the priestly office. Noah gave the priestly garments, which he had inherited from Adam, to Shem.[i] Shem is extolled by the Rabbis for his filial devotion in covering his father's nakedness.[j] Although his brother Japheth helped in this act, Shem suggested and began it; his brother did not arrive on the scene until Shem was already on his way with the garment. Noah, in blessing these two sons[k] said, "blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem", giving special significance to Shem because Shem would be the forefather of the Jewish people.[10]

Melchizedek as Shem

Melchizedek occupied an important place in ancient Judaism. In one of the Dead Sea scrolls 11Q13, he is presented as a semi-divine being. Josephus referred to Melchizedek as the first priest and as a Canaanite chief. Many scholars[who?] now believe that Israelite beliefs were an evolution of Canaanite beliefs.[citation needed] In Samaritan tradition, Melchizedek's city was near the temple on Mount Gerizim. Josephus followed the Jewish tradition and linked Salem with Jerusalem and Mount Zion.[11]

The name Melchizedek translates as "king of righteousness". He also had priestly duties. Based on biblical life spans in the Masoretic text, Shem would have still been alive during Abraham's lifetime. The identification of Shem as Melchizedek is found in the Talmud, Targumim and Midrashim.[11] Many Christian sources have said Shem was associated with Melchizedek for anti-Christian reasons[dubious – discuss][citation needed]. He was probably already associated with priesthood—if not Melchizedek—in pre-rabbinic times. Targums Targum Neofiti, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Targum Fragment P, Targum Fragment V all identify Shem as Melchizedek. The Book of Jubilees also says Shem was linked with priesthood. Similarly, Philo's writings exalt Shem. None of these documents contain antichristian polemics.[12][13]

It is not known when Shem became associated with Melchizedek.[14][15] By the fourth century CE, the identification of Shem with Melchizedek was well established. This was not limited to Jewish sources; Ephrem the Syrian also identifies Melchizedek as Shem.[16]

Early sources in chronological order

Later writings

In Judaism, Shem and Melchizedek are one and the same. Shem plays an important role throughout Jewish literature beyond the role of the Righteous Priest. He is especially prominent in Kabbalah.[20]

Kabbalah

See also: Jewish mysticism for a timeline

Ecstatic Kabbalah

Abraham Abulafia was the founder of Ecstatic Kabbalah. He identified Jesus as the Messiah ben Joseph, referring to him as "the sixth day" and as Satan.[21]: 123 [22]: 208 [23] Abulafia linked Jesus with the month of Tammuz, the month of the sin of the golden calf.[21]: 123 [22]: 206  Abulafia referred to himself as "the seventh day" and the true Messiah ben David. He claimed to be both the Messiah ben David and a Kohen like Melchizedek. He supported this by claiming his father was of Judah, his mother of Levi, and his wife of the Kohen.[21]: 94–96  He also identified himself as the priestly angel Metatron.[22]: 208 

Lurianic Kabbalah

In Lurianic Kabbalah, Adam incorporated all souls; it is possible for different soul-sections to be given to different people.[24] In addition, multiple people can share the same soul root.[25] In the Kabbalistic understanding, the Righteous Priest would be reincarnated as Abel, Seth, Noah, and Shem.[24][26] Moses like Adam also incorporated all souls.[24] Messiah ben Joseph was incarnated as Cain; he was also reincarnated as Jacob's son Joseph and Jeroboam. Messiah ben David was incarnated as Abel and David.[27]: 197 

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Exod Rabbah 1
  2. ^ Exod Rabbah 19
  3. ^ Gen. Rabbah 46
  4. ^ Midr. Agadah on Gen. vi. 9; Tan., Noaḥ, 6
  5. ^ Gen. xi. 10
  6. ^ Sanh. 69b; Tan., Yelammedenu, Noaḥ; Midr. ha-Gadol on Gen. ix. 18, xi. 10, ed. Schechter, cols. 142, 186
  7. ^ "Shem rabba"; Sanh. 108b
  8. ^ comp. Gen. viii. 20
  9. ^ Num. R. iv. 6
  10. ^ Gen. ix. 23
  11. ^ Gen. ix. 26

References

  1. ^ a b Adele Berlin (2011). The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion. Oxford University Press. p. 609. ISBN 978-0-19-973004-9. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Alan J. Avery-Peck, ed. (2005). The Review of Rabbinic Judaism: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 90-04-14484-6. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Joel Lurie Grishaver (2007). Talmud with Training Wheels: Meet the Evil Urge: Sukkah 51b-53b. Torah Aura Productions. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-891662-58-4. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
  4. ^ Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred, eds. (2007). "Barcelona, Disputation of". Encyclopaedia Judaica. Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-02-866097-4.
  5. ^ Jonathon Green; Nicholas J. Karolides (2009). Encyclopedia of Censorship. Infobase Publishing. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-4381-1001-1. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  6. ^ Thiessen, M. (2011). Contesting Conversion: Genealogy, Circumcision, and Identity in Ancient Judaism and Christianity. Oxford University Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-19-979367-9. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
  7. ^ a b Abraham P. Bloch (1980). The Biblical and Historical Background of Jewish Customs and Ceremonies. KTAV Publishing House, Inc. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-87068-658-0. Retrieved 10 September 2014. circumcision jewish priesthood.
  8. ^ Chani Benjaminson. "How many years did the Jews spend in Egypt?". Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  9. ^ Rabbi Dr. H. Freedman and Maurice Simon (1939). Midrash Rabbah. The Soncino Press. p. 506. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  10. ^ Israel Drazin; Stanley M. Wagner, eds. (2006). Onkelos on the Torah: Be-reshit. Gefen Publishing House Ltd. p. 53. ISBN 978-965-229-342-8. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  11. ^ a b Michael E. Stone; Theodore A. Bergren, eds. (2002). Biblical Figures Outside the Bible. Continuum. pp. 182–185. ISBN 978-1-56338-411-0. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  12. ^ Robert Hayward (2010). Targums and the Transmission of Scripture Into Judaism and Christianity. Brill. pp. 6–16. ISBN 978-90-04-17956-1. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  13. ^ Kevin J. Cathcart; Michael Maher; Martin McNamara, eds. (1996). Targumic and Cognate Studies: Essays in Honour of Martin McNamara. Continuum. pp. 72–80. ISBN 978-0-567-64694-1. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  14. ^ Emmanouela Grypeou; Helen Spurling (2013). The Book of Genesis in Late Antiquity: Encounters between Jewish and Christian Exegesis. Brill. pp. 200–205. ISBN 978-90-04-24555-6. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  15. ^ Joseph A. Fitzmyer (2004). The Genesis Apocryphon of Qumran Cave 1 (1Q20): A Commentary. Gregorian Biblical BookShop. p. 45. ISBN 978-88-7653-318-1. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  16. ^ Scott Hahn; Leon J. Suprenant, eds. (1998). Catholic for a Reason: Scripture and the Mystery of the Family of God. Emmaus Road Publishing. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-9663223-0-9. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  17. ^ Anthony Hilhorst; Émile Puech; Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar, eds. (2007). Flores Florentino: Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Early Jewish Studies in Honour of Florentino García Martínez. Brill. p. 212. ISBN 978-90-04-16292-1. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  18. ^ James H. Charlesworth (1994). The Dead Sea Scrolls, Volume 1. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 53. ISBN 978-3-16-146199-6. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  19. ^ a b Raʻanan S. Boustan (2005). From Martyr to Mystic: Rabbinic Martyrology and the Making of Merkavah Mysticism. Mohr Siebeck. p. 138. ISBN 978-3-16-148753-8. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  20. ^ Jonathan Dauber (2012). Knowledge of God and the Development of Early Kabbalah. Brill. p. 158. ISBN 978-90-04-23427-7. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  21. ^ a b c Moshe Idel (2000). Messianic Mystics. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08288-6. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  22. ^ a b c Robert Sagerman (2011). The Serpent Kills Or the Serpent Gives Life: The Kabbalist Abraham Abulafia's Response to Christianity. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-19446-5. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  23. ^ Robert Sagerman (2008). Ambivalence Toward Christianity in the Kabbalah of Abraham Abulafia. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-549-74928-8. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  24. ^ a b c Yitzchak Luria. "Moses our Teacher: Gate of Reincarnations: Gate of Reincarnations: Chapter Thirty-four, Section 1". Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  25. ^ Yitzchak Luria. "Soul Splits: Gate of Reincarnations - Chapter Fourteen". Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  26. ^ Yitzchak Luria. "Abel's Nefesh, Ruach, and Neshama: Gate of Reincarnations: Chapter Twenty-Nine, Section 2b". Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  27. ^ Arthur Green (1979). Tormented Master: A Life of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-8173-6907-1. Retrieved 20 February 2014.

Bibliography

Categories