Yiliang Chee, Student ID: 26321084 1 The reception of Salem in Genesis Rabbah and Jerome’s Hebrew Questions in Genesis Introduction 1 As he was returning victorious from a battle to rescue his nephew Lot (Genesis 14:12–17), Abram was met by a man named Melchizedek:  הְ ן וּ י ׁ יׁ ם וֶ חֶ ֶ יא לִּ ם הוצֵ  לׁ ך שֶ לֶ ֶ מ֙ קֶ דֶ ֶ י־צּ כְ לַ ומ וןֽ יְ לֶ ל ע אְ ן לִ הֹ וא כֶ אְ ל֙ םׁ רְ בַ וך א֤ רׁ ר בַ אמֹ יַ ו הוִ כְ רׁ בְ יַֽ וֵ יְ לֶ ל ע ון ץֶ רֽׁ אׁ ם וּ יַ מׁ ה שִ נֹ ק לֽ ֹ כּ ר מִ שֲ עַֽ ו מ ן־לֶ תּ יַ ך וֶ דׁ יְ יך בִֶ רׁ ן צ גּ ר־מֶ שֲ ון אֵ יְ לֶ ל עֶ א֙ רוךׁ וב And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. And he was a priest to El Elyon. And he blessed him and said, ‘Blessed is Abram by El Elyon, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed is El Elyon, who delivers your enemies into your hand.’ And he gave to him a tenth of all. (MT Genesis 14:18– 20) Melchizedek is an enigmatic figure; he appears abruptly in the narrative, and disappears after three verses, not to be seen again in the Pentateuch. Much ink has been spilled regarding the person of Melchizedek; who is he, and why is he significant? Of equal significance is the city over which Melchizedek is king—‘Salem’. Several historical sources think that Salem is in fact the biblical city of Jerusalem, while several others beg to differ, 2 but what difference does it really make? This paper will analyse the reception of Salem in two sources; one Jewish and one Christian: Genesis Rabbah and Jerome’s Hebrew Questions in Genesis. We shall see that the discussion on Salem is set in the larger context of Melchizedek, which in turn plays a role in the interaction between Jewish and Christian thought. Source Analysis Genesis Rabbah (GenR) Genesis Rabbah (Hebrew: הׁ בַ ית רּ אש רְ ב) is a compilation of interpretational commentaries on the Book of Genesis, formed by stringing together exegetical insights from multiple sources—some are attributed, while others are anonymous. The result is a comprehensive verse-by-verse (often, even word-by-word) commentary on the entire Book of Genesis. GenR addressed the situations of its day and sought to respond to them by homiletical means. It was typical of midrash literature like GenR to view the situations and events presented in the Bible in light of contemporaneous events. 3 Because of its relevance, GenR provides us a window to understand the context and setting in which the redactor and his primary audience found themselves. As midrash literature, GenR would have most certainly been circulated and used by Jewish communities and influenced their theology. Thus, GenR may very well reflect the Rabbinic Jewish exegesis and thought which Jerome would have learned and interacted with. 1 Unless otherwise stated, all translations of originally Hebrew and Greek texts in this paper are mine. 2 For other historical identifications of Salem, see John Adney Emerton, ‘The Site of Salem, the City of Melchizedek (Genesis XIV 18)’, in Studies in the Pentateuch (Leiden: Brill, 1990), pp. 45–71. 3 Moshe Herr and Stephen G. Wald, ‘Genesis Rabbah’, in Encyclopaedia Judaica (Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, 2007), pp. 448–49.