| Sa'lem. (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. Smith's Bible Dictionary or |