Problem: “Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually” (Hebrews 7:3)
There are some who identify Melchizedek as the pre-incarnate Christ. That is, they believe that Christ Himself appeared to Abraham in Genesis 14. This seems to be based primarily on a misunderstanding of the verse cited above (Heb. 7:3).
Problem: There is a “Heavenly Prince of Light” described in the Dead Sea Scrolls by Qumran, particularly in the fragment 11Q13. In Geza Vermes’, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (7th ed., 1997), even Vermes somewhat equates Melchizedek in Hebrews with the one mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls (p.500). However, this comparison between Melchizedek in Hebrews 7 and Qumran is not very persuasive:
He first showed up in Genesis chapter 14. There had been a war between the king of Sodom (where Lot had chosen to live) and his alliance, and a stronger four king alliance. The stronger alliance, of course, won, and carried the people and goods of Sodom away. Abraham (then called Abram), would not have been concerned except for the fact that they had taken captive his nephew, Lot, and his family. He organized the men of his own household along with some men from Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Long story short, they conquered the stronger alliance of kings and got all the people and goods back.
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