This section records an important decision Abram had to make after he returned victoriously from his battle with the Mesopotamian kings.
14:17 The "valley of Shaveh"was near Jerusalem (the Salem of verse 18). It may have been the Kidron Valley immediately east of the city or some other valley not far away.
14:18 "Melchizedek"was probably a title rather than a proper name. It means "King of Righteousness."458However theophoric names were common in the ancient Near East, so his name may have meant "My king is Sedeq"or "Milku is righteous,"Sedeq and Milku presumably being the names of gods.459The names of both the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah (v. 2) are compounds of a Hebrew word translated "evil"(cf. 13:13).
Bread and wine were the royal food and drink of the day. Many writers have commented on their typical significance. Many ancient Near Easterners used them in making covenants.460Melchizedek, the first priest mentioned in the Bible, evidently gave a royal banquet in Abram's honor. In view of their characters and geographical proximity, Abram and Melchizedek may have been friends before this meeting. Melchizedek may have been Abram's king to whom the patriarch was paying an expected obligation.461
14:19 The God Melchizedek worshipped as a priest was the true God known to him as El Elyon, the possessor of heaven and earth. This title reveals the sovereign power of God. Melchizedek and Abram regarded Abram's recent victory in battle as due to the blessing of El Elyon.
14:20 People practiced tithing as an act of worship commonly in the ancient Near East at this time (cf. 28:22).462It was also a common tax.463However since Melchizedek gave Abram a priestly blessing, it is likely that Abram reciprocated by giving Melchizedek a gift with priestly connotations.464"All"probably refers to all that he took in the battle rather than all that was in Abram's possession (cf. vv. 23-24; Heb. 7:4).
14:21-24 Abram identified El Elyon with Yahweh (v. 22). His willingness to take no spoil from the battle for himself demonstrates Abram's desire that God would receive all the glory for his prosperity. He also appears not to have wanted to be indebted to the wicked king of Sodom. This man may have by his offer to Abram been setting him up for demands later (cf. 23:15).
"The gifts of the ungodly are often attached to deadly strings."465
Generally, the patriarchs believed that God would give them what He had promised without their having to take it from others.466Abram was content with what God had given him.
". . . just as in the previous episode where Abram allowed Lot the pick of the land, so here he allows the surly king of Sodom more than his due."467
"Christians are really so rich in their own inheritance that it ill becomes them to crave the possessions of others."468
This event is significant because it demonstrates Abram's trust in God to provide what He had promised, which God soon rewarded with another revelation and promise (15:1).
"Even without the explicit warning that he who disdains you I shall curse,' the narrative suggests that it is dangerous to despise those through whom God works.
"It is the demonstration of divine support for Abram that is the clearest thrust of this story. . . .
"Within Genesis, however, Melchizedek is primarily an example of a non-Jew who recognizes God's hand at work in Israel . . . They are those who have discovered that in Abram all the families of the earth find blessing."469
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews expounded the typical significance of Melchizedek and the events of this incident in Hebrews 7 (cf. Ps. 110:4).
Confidence that God will preserve and provide for His own as He has promised should encourage believers to decline worldly benefits and wait for God's blessings.
