Genesis 14:18-20

14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem ¹  brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God.) ²  14:19 He blessed Abram, saying,

“Blessed be Abram by ³  the Most High God,

Creator ⁴  of heaven and earth. ⁵ 

14:20 Worthy of praise is ⁶  the Most High God,

who delivered ⁷  your enemies into your hand.”

Abram gave Melchizedek ⁸  a tenth of everything.

Genesis 27:4

27:4 Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then ⁹  I will eat it so that I may bless you ¹⁰  before I die.”

Genesis 48:9

48:9 Joseph said to his father, “They are the ¹¹  sons God has given me in this place.” His father ¹²  said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.” ¹³ 

Genesis 49:28

49:28 These ¹⁴  are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He gave each of them an appropriate blessing. ¹⁵ 

Numbers 6:23-27

6:23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the way ¹⁶  you are to bless ¹⁷  the Israelites. Say ¹⁸  to them:

6:24 “The Lord bless you ¹⁹  and protect ²⁰  you;

6:25 The Lord make his face to shine upon you,

and be gracious to you; ²¹ 

6:26 The Lord lift up his countenance upon you ²² 

and give you peace.”’

6:27 So they will put my name ²³  on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Mark 10:16

10:16 After he took the children in his arms, he placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Hebrews 7:5-7

7:5 And those of the sons of Levi who receive the priestly office ²⁴  have authorization according to the law to collect a tithe from the people, that is, from their fellow countrymen, ²⁵  although they too are descendants of Abraham. ²⁶  7:6 But Melchizedek ²⁷  who does not share their ancestry ²⁸  collected a tithe ²⁹  from Abraham and blessed ³⁰  the one who possessed the promise. 7:7 Now without dispute the inferior is blessed by the superior,

[14:18]  ¹ sn Salem is traditionally identified as the Jebusite stronghold of old Jerusalem. Accordingly, there has been much speculation about its king. Though some have identified him with the preincarnate Christ or with Noah’s son Shem, it is far more likely that Melchizedek was a Canaanite royal priest whom God used to renew the promise of the blessing to Abram, perhaps because Abram considered Melchizedek his spiritual superior. But Melchizedek remains an enigma. In a book filled with genealogical records he appears on the scene without a genealogy and then disappears from the narrative. In Psalm 110 the Lord declares that the Davidic king is a royal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek.

[14:18]  ² tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause significantly identifies Melchizedek as a priest as well as a king.

[14:19]  ³ tn The preposition לְ (lamed) introduces the agent after the passive participle.

[14:19]  ⁴ 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.”

[14:19]  ⁵ tn The terms translated “heaven” and “earth” are both objective genitives after the participle in construct.

[14:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “blessed be.” For God to be “blessed” means that is praised. His reputation is enriched in the world as his name is praised.

[14:20]  ⁷ sn Who delivered. The Hebrew verb מִגֵּן (miggen, “delivered”) foreshadows the statement by God to Abram in Gen 15:1, “I am your shield” (מָגֵן, magen). Melchizedek provided a theological interpretation of Abram’s military victory.

[14:20]  ⁸ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Melchizedek) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[27:4]  ⁹ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative (with the prefixed conjunction) indicates purpose or result.

[27:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “so that my soul may bless you.” The use of נַפְשִׁי (nafshi, “my soul”) as the subject emphasizes that the blessing will be made with all Isaac’s desire and vitality. The conjunction “so that” closely relates the meal to the blessing, suggesting that this will be a ritual meal in conjunction with the giving of a formal blessing.

[48:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “my.”

[48:9]  ¹² tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:9]  ¹³ tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose after the imperative.

[49:28]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “All these.”

[49:28]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he blessed them, each of whom according to his blessing, he blessed them.”

[6:23]  ¹⁶ tn Or “thus.”

[6:23]  ¹⁷ tn The Piel imperfect has the nuance of instruction. The particle “thus” explains that the following oracle is the form to use.

[6:23]  ¹⁸ tn Here is the only use of the verb אָמַר (’amar) as an infinitive absolute; it functions as a verb form, an imperative or an imperfect of instruction. Several commentators have attempted to emend the text to get around the difficulty, but such emendations are unnecessary.

[6:24]  ¹⁹ tn The short blessing uses the jussive throughout, here the Piel jussive with a pronominal suffix. While the jussive has quite a range of nuances, including wish, desire, prayer, or greeting, the jussives here are stronger. The formal subject of the verb is the Lord, and the speaker pronouncing the blessing is the priest, notably after emerging from the holy of holies where atonement has been made. The Lord says in this passage that when the priest says this, then the Lord will bless them. The jussive then is an oracle, not a wish or a prayer. It is a declaration of what the Lord imparts. It is as binding and sure as a patriarchal blessing which once said officially could not be taken back. The priest here is then pronouncing the word of the Lord, declaring to the congregation the outcome of the atonement.

[6:24]  ²⁰ tn The verb “to keep” concerns the divine protection of the people; its basic meaning is “to exercise great care over,” “to guard,” or “to give attention to” (see TWOT 2:939). No doubt the priestly blessing informed the prayer and promise that makes up Ps 121, for the verb occurs six times in the eight verses. So in addition to the divine provision (“bless” basically means “enrich” in a number of ways) there is the assurance of divine protection.

[6:25]  ²¹ tn Whereas the first line of the blessing had three Hebrew words, the second has five, and the third has seven. In this second line and the following third, the blessing takes the form of an emblem followed by the truth. For the Lord to make his face shine on them would mean to be gracious to them. M. Noth rightly calls this image of the shining face “a figure of speech for benevolence and favour” (Numbers [OTL], 59); see, for example, Pss 4:7; 31:17; 44:4; 67:2; 80:4, 8, 20; 119:135; Dan 9:17). The image may have its inspiration in the theophanies. The picture is of divine favor – the beaming face of a parent for his beloved.

[6:26]  ²² tn The last line of the blessing also has first the image and then the parallel interpretation – for God to lift up his face is for God to give peace. The idea of the fallen face is one of anger (see Gen 4:6,7); and the idea of the hidden face is that of withholding support, favor, or peace (see Deut 31:18; Ps 30:8; Ps 44:25). If God lifts his face toward his people, it means he has given them peace – peace, prosperity, completeness, health, safety, general well-being, and the like.

[6:27]  ²³ tn The idea of their putting the name of Yahweh on the people is somewhat problematic. The pronouncing of the name of Yahweh in this context over the people was taken to be the effectual means of blessings. “Putting the name on them” is an expression that emphasizes the truth that he is their God and they are his people or that having his name is having his blessing.

[7:5]  ²⁴ tn Or “the priesthood.”

[7:5]  ²⁵ tn Grk “from their brothers.” See BDAG 18-19 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.b.

[7:5]  ²⁶ tn Grk “have come from the loins of Abraham.”

[7:6]  ²⁷ tn Grk “the one”; in the translation the referent (Melchizedek) has been specified for clarity.

[7:6]  ²⁸ tn Grk “is not descended from them.”

[7:6]  ²⁹ tn Or “a tenth part.”

[7:6]  ³⁰ sn The verbs “collected…and blessed” emphasize the continuing effect of the past actions, i.e., Melchizedek’s importance.