(peace)

1. 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.
2. It is agreed on all hands that Salem is in Psalms 76:2 employed for Jerusalem.