for whom generally we possess careful documentation, in the case of Melchizedek, we have no record of his genealogy, birth, or death. It is important here to understand that in the Jewish interpretation of Scripture, much can be made of what Scripture does not say at any particular point. (Philo uses the same Greek word for “without mother” in referring to Sarah, whose mother was unknown [On Drunkenness 59–62].) The effect of all the information available about Melchizedek is to give the impression