A fantastic (in both senses of the word) literature) has arisen concerning the origin of Dhu 1-Kifl (Koran XXI.85; XXXVIII.48). In all this vastness, however, no one, to the best of my knowledge, has suggested2 that Dhu 1-Kifl is Muhammad's laqab (cognomen) for Melchizedeq. Common sense tells us that since Dhu 1-Kifl is linked first with Ismac V and Idris (Enoch of Genesis 5.18, etc.) and then with Ismail and Elisha, he is an important biblical personage.
Melchizedeq is mentioned, in passing, as it were, at Gen. 14.16. The locus of his meeting Abraham is Melchizedeq's valley, named the valley of Shaveh. One is tempted to connect this name (cognate to the Arabic/ musaw in /= "equal [portion]" with /kifl un / (= "one of two equal3 parts"). At Ps. 110.44 Melchizedeq has been made the Israelite king, the legitimate ruler of Israel by the Lord God's covenant. In the Dead Sea Scrolls Melchizedeq is the heavenly high priest; possibly by now this reflects common Jewish and Christian traditions.5
Philo of Alexandria, a contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth, noted6 Melchizedeq "was entitled to a share" of Abraham's booty at Gen. 14.16.
Melchizedeq's stature developed from the original traditum to the point that in early Christianity at Heb. 5:6-11, he has become the very paragon of priesthood and an exemplar for Jesus himself. And in the same Epistle (Heb. 11:5), Enoch is mentioned as an immortal.
The plain sense of the name Dhu 1-Kifl is "the one who got his share."
At Gen. 14:16, Melchizedeq receives one-tenth of Abraham's spoils. At Heb. 5:4 ff., Melchizedeq is considered to be ranked above the Levites, whose primary function under the Law (according to this author) was to collect tithes from the other tribes of Israel. Melchizedeq is thus a fortiori / Dhu I-Kifl /.
In the Fatiha (Koran 1.4) God is called / mdlik yawm i d-din / that is, "Possessor on the Day of Judgment." / sadaga / is the Arabic term for "a portion given as propitiation to God." Thus mdlik s-sadaga could easily serve as a synonym for / Dhu 1-Kifl /. Cf. the (possibly intermediary) biblical Aramaic original of Dan. 4.24: / malkd milki ... be- sidgdh ... / = 0 King, my King ... in righteousness...." Note also that the El to whom Melchizedeq is chief priest has the special appellation "Possessor of heaven and earth" (Gen. 14:19 and 22). (... he [Melchizedek], together with the celestial powers, will vindicate the judgments of God so that the righteous would become his LOT [emphasis Michael Schub's] and heritage" David Flusser, Judaism and the Origins of Christianity [Jerusalem, 1988], p. 192.)
In sum, Muhammad saw Melchizedeq as he viewed numerous other biblical figures, through a Judeo-Christian filter of traditio; his Original- itat7 in this case consists in his conflating and condensing the various strains and in assigning Melchizedeq an appropriate Arabic name.
NOTES
1. Cf. art. E12 for extensive bibliography.
2. Cf. L.Wittgenstein, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (London, 1961), author's preface: ". . . it is a matter of indifference to me whether the thoughts I have had have been anticipated by someone else ..." p. 3.
3. sic. s.v. ZAL 16 (1987): 119-20.
4. Ps. 110:4: The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent. Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedeq.
5. G. W. E. Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature between the Bible and the Midrash (Philadelphia, 1981), p. 188, in medio. See also G. Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (Harmondsworth, 1998), pp. 85, 429, 500-502, 576, 618.
6. J. R. Harris, ed. Fragments of Philo. p. 72 on Gen. 14:18; and C. D. Yonge, The Works of Philo Judaeus (London, 1854), vol. 2, p. 444.
7. J. Fuck, "Die Originalitat des arabischen Propheten," ZDMG 90, n.f. 15 (1936): 509-25.