Salem, place

(peace).

The place of which Melchizedek was king. (Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:1,2) No satisfactory identification of it is perhaps possible. Two main opinions have been current from the earliest ages of interpretation:

(1) That of the Jewish commentators, who affirm that Salem is Jerusalem, on the ground that Jerusalem is so called in (Psalms 76:2) Nearly all Jewish commentators hold this opinion.

(2). Jerome, however, states that the Salem of Melchizedek was not Jerusalem, but a town eight Roman miles south of Scythopolis, and gives its then name as Salumias, and identifies it with Salem, where John baptized.

* See other occurrences of the same term: Salem.