“Blessed be Abram by 1 the Most High God,
Creator 2 of heaven and earth. 3
9:22 Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them and descended from making the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering. 9:23 Moses and Aaron then entered into the Meeting Tent. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people.
7:1 Now this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him. 7 7:2 To him 8 also Abraham apportioned a tithe 9 of everything. 10 His name first means 11 king of righteousness, then king of Salem, that is, king of peace. 7:3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, he has neither beginning of days nor end of life but is like the son of God, and he remains a priest for all time. 7:4 But see how great he must be, if 12 Abraham the patriarch gave him a tithe 13 of his plunder. 7:5 And those of the sons of Levi who receive the priestly office 14 have authorization according to the law to collect a tithe from the people, that is, from their fellow countrymen, 15 although they too are descendants of Abraham. 16 7:6 But Melchizedek 17 who does not share their ancestry 18 collected a tithe 19 from Abraham and blessed 20 the one who possessed the promise. 7:7 Now without dispute the inferior is blessed by the superior,
1 tn The preposition לְ (lamed) introduces the agent after the passive participle.
2 tn Some translate “possessor of heaven and earth” (cf. NASB). But cognate evidence from Ugaritic indicates that there were two homonymic roots ָקנָה (qanah), one meaning “to create” (as in Gen 4:1) and the other “to obtain, to acquire, to possess.” While “possessor” would fit here, “creator” is the more likely due to the collocation with “heaven and earth.”
3 tn The terms translated “heaven” and “earth” are both objective genitives after the participle in construct.
4 tn Or “examined” (NASB, TEV); NCV “looked closely at.”
5 tn The deictic particle draws attention to what he saw in such a way as to give the reader Moses’ point of view and a sense of his pleasure: “and behold, they…”
6 sn The situation and wording in Exod 39:43 are reminiscent of Gen 1:28 and 31, with the motifs of blessing people and inspecting what has been made.
7 sn A series of quotations from Gen 14:17-19.
8 tn Grk “to whom,” continuing the description of Melchizedek. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
9 tn Or “a tenth part.”
10 sn A quotation from Gen 14:20.
11 tn Grk “first being interpreted,” describing Melchizedek.
12 tn Grk “to whom.”
13 tn Or “a tenth part.”
14 tn Or “the priesthood.”
15 tn Grk “from their brothers.” See BDAG 18-19 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.b.
16 tn Grk “have come from the loins of Abraham.”
17 tn Grk “the one”; in the translation the referent (Melchizedek) has been specified for clarity.
18 tn Grk “is not descended from them.”
19 tn Or “a tenth part.”
20 sn The verbs “collected…and blessed” emphasize the continuing effect of the past actions, i.e., Melchizedek’s importance.