I don't quite remember where I first got this from, but it's about how Salem -where Melchizedec was from- wasn't actually an older name for Jerusalem. Has anyone else read about it?
I've checked a few commentaries, and the only one I have that gives such an interpretation is from the French literal commentary from the 17th century that I'm working on:
"Petrus Cunaeus in
De Republica Hebraeorum (The Hebrew Republic) has revived an opinion held by some ancient thinkers, who believed that Melchizedek was not a man, but the Son of God appearing to Abraham. He argues that the names "Melchizedek" and "King of Salem" should be understood in a generic sense, as titles describing the qualities of the Son of God, who is a King of Justice and a King of Peace, as the Apostle notes in the Epistle to the Hebrews (7:2).
Cunaeus proposes that in this passage, "Salem" is no more a city's name than "Zedec" is a man's name, since the Apostle interprets both names literally as 'peace' and 'justice'. He suggests that the Son of God appeared to Abraham in human form with the adornments of both a High Priest and a King, which is why he was given those titles. He adds that whenever the second person of the Trinity appeared to Abraham, He did so in the same form that Jesus Christ had during his mortal life. This, Cunaeus claims, is what the Apostle meant by the words
Assimilatus Filio Dei (made like unto the Son of God; Heb 7:3), and what the Savior himself indicated when he said that Abraham longed to see his day, that he saw it, and rejoiced (John 8:56).
He continues that this was a special favor granted to Abraham and to no other Patriarch, as Jesus insinuates with these words (Matthew 13:17):
"Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it." Therefore, the words from the Psalm (109:4),
"You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek," mean nothing other than, "You are a Priest and King of Justice," or, "You are the King of Justice and Peace, who lives eternally, who has blessed Abraham."
However, the novelty and peculiarity of this opinion are enough for it to be rejected by anyone who, in interpreting the Holy Scriptures, follows only the teachings of the early Church Fathers accepted by the Catholic Church.
REX SALEM. King of Salem.
Saint Jerome seems to believe that this city of Salem is the one mentioned in the New Testament (John 3:23) as Salim, near Scythopolis. He asserts that the ruins of Melchizedek's palace were still pointed out there. Ussher proposes that Salem is the same as Shiloh, which was well-known for being the repository of the Ark under the Judges until its capture by the Philistines.
But the prevailing view, held by Josephus, all the Church Fathers, and the Commentators, is that Melchizedek was the king of Jerusalem, which is called Salem in Psalm 75:2. Saint Epiphanius says that some place Salem in the territory of Shechem, across from Nablus. Eusebius appears to share this view; it even seems he believed that Shechem and Salem were the same city."
