Texts in Conversation
Genesis 14 describes Melchizedek bringing bread and wine to Abraham. Philo interprets the wine as a drink for souls that produces divine intoxication, which he describes as more sober than sobriety itself.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 14:18
Hebrew Bible
17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram in the Valley of Shaveh (known as the King’s Valley). 18 Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God.) 19 He blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 Worthy of praise is the Most High God, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.
Philo Allegorical Interpretation 3.82
Classical
But let Melchizedek instead of water offer wine, and give to souls strong drink, that they may be seized by a divine intoxication, more sober than sobriety itself. For he is a priest even Reason, having as his portion Him that is, and all his thoughts of God are high and vast and sublime: for he is priest of the Most High (Gen. xiv. 18), not that there is any other not Most High—for God being One “is in heaven above and on earth beneath, and there is none beside Him ”’ (Deut. iv. 39)—but to conceive of God not in low earthbound ways but in lofty terms, such as transcend all other greatness and all else that is free from matter, calls up in us a picture of the Most High. XXVII.
Date: 20-50 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
“... Instead of the water required of the Moabites and Am-
monites, Melchizedek gives souls wine in order to intoxicate
them with a divine intoxication [...] which, at the same
time, is a sobriety of the highest order. [...] It is obvious that Philo has no interest in satisfying our modern
curiosity about Melchizedek. In the first two passages cited,
Philo discusses Melchizedek as though he were a historical
character; in the last, Melchizedek is a representation of the
Logos. ...”
Horton, Fred L., Jr.
The Melchizedek Tradition: A Critical Examination of the Sources to the Fifth Century A.D. and in the Epistle to the Hebrews
(p. 57) Cambridge University Press, 1976
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,