Genesis 14:18
New International Version
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,

New Living Translation
And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine.

English Standard Version
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)

Berean Standard Bible
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine—since he was priest of God Most High—

King James Bible
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

New King James Version
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.

New American Standard Bible
And Melchizedek the king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.

NASB 1995
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.

NASB 1977
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.

Legacy Standard Bible
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.

Amplified Bible
Melchizedek king of Salem (ancient Jerusalem) brought out bread and wine [for them]; he was the priest of God Most High.

Christian Standard Bible
Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High.

American Standard Version
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Melkizedeq, King of Shalim, brought out bread and wine, and he was the Priest of God, Most High.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Melchisedec king of Salem brought forth loaves and wine, and he was the priest of the most high God.

Contemporary English Version
King Melchizedek of Salem was a priest of God Most High. He brought out some bread and wine

Douay-Rheims Bible
But Melchisedech the king of Salem, bringing forth bread and wine, for he was the priest of the most high God,

English Revised Version
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Then King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High.

Good News Translation
And Melchizedek, who was king of Salem and also a priest of the Most High God, brought bread and wine to Abram,

International Standard Version
King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine, since he was serving as the priest of God Most High.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was priest of God the Most High.

Literal Standard Version
And Melchizedek king of Salem has brought out bread and wine, and he [is] priest of God Most High;

Majority Standard Bible
Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine—since he was priest of God Most High—

New American Bible
Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High.

NET Bible
Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God.)

New Revised Standard Version
And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High.

New Heart English Bible
Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was priest of God Most High.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Melchisedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

World English Bible
Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High.

Young's Literal Translation
And Melchizedek king of Salem hath brought out bread and wine, and he is priest of God Most High;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Melchizedek Blesses Abram
17After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine— since he was priest of God Most High— 19and he blessed Abram and said: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,…

Cross References
Hebrews 5:6
And in another passage God says: "You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek."

Hebrews 5:10
and was designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 7:1
This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,

Psalm 76:2
His tent is in Salem, His dwelling place in Zion.

Psalm 104:15
wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart.

Psalm 110:4
The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind: "You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek."


Treasury of Scripture

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

king.

Psalm 76:2
In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.

Hebrews 7:1,2
For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; …

bread.

Matthew 26:26-29
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body…

Galatians 6:10
As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

the priest.

Psalm 110:4
The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 5:6,10
As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec…

Hebrews 6:20
Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

the most.

Ruth 3:10
And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.

2 Samuel 2:5
And David sent messengers unto the men of Jabeshgilead, and said unto them, Blessed be ye of the LORD, that ye have shewed this kindness unto your lord, even unto Saul, and have buried him.

Psalm 7:17
I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.

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Genesis 14
1. The battle of four kings against the king of Sodom and his allies.
12. Lot is taken prisoner.
14. Abram rescues him.
17. Melchizedek blesses Abram, who gives him tithes.
21. Abram restores the rest of the spoil to the king of Sodom.














(18) Melchizedek king of Salem.--There is a Salem near Scythopolis in the tribe of Ephraim, near to which John baptised (John 3:23, where it is called Salim), and Jerome mentions that some local ruins there were said to be the remains of Melchizedek's palace. But such traditions are of little value, and we may eel certain that the place was really Jerusalem (Psalm 76:2); for it lay on Abram's route homeward, and was within a reasonable distance of Sodom, which, as we have seen, lay in the Ciccar of Jericho, at the northern end of the Dead Sea. Salem is a common name for towns in Palestine (Conder, Tent-work, i. 91), and the village in Ephraim is too remote to have been the place of meeting.

In Melchizedek we have a type of Christ (Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 5:6; Hebrews 5:10; Hebrews 7:1-21), and so venerable is his character and aspect that Jewish tradition identified him with the patriarch Shem, thus reconciling also to themselves his superiority over their forefather Abraham. But this idea is contradicted by Hebrews 7:3. He was more probably the king of some Semitic race who still occupied Salem, but from whom it was at a subsequent period wrested by the Jebusites, who called it Jebus, after the name of their ancestor (Judges 19:10-11). Up to David's days it seems to have still had a titular king (2Samuel 24:23), and upon his conquest of it its old name reappears, but with a prefix, and henceforward it was known as Jeru-salem, that is (probably), the possession of Salem. . . .

Verse 18. - And Melchisedeck. "King of righteousness" (Hebrews 7:2); an indication that the Canaanitish language was Shemitie, having been probably 'adopted from the original Shemite inhabitants of the country. Not a titular designation, like Augustus, Pharaoh, or Malek-ol-adel (rexjustus) of the Mohammedan kings (Cajetan), but the name of a person; neither an angel (Origen), nor the Holy Ghost (Hieracas), nor some great Divine power (the Melchisedecians), all of which interpretations are baseless conjectures; nor Christ (Ambrose), which is contrary to Hebrews 6:20; Norghem (Targums, Lyre, Willet, Luther, Ainsworth), which Hebrews 7:3 sufficiently negatives; but most probably a Canaanitish prince by whom the true faith was retained amid the gloom of surrounding heathenism (Josephus, Irenaeus, Eusebius, Calvin, A Lapide, Delitzsch, Keil, Rosenmüller, Candlish, Bush), though it has been suggested that "the enlightenment of the king of Salem was but a ray of the sun of Abram's faith" (Kalisch), an opinion difficult to harmonize with Hebrews 7:4. King of Salem = "king of peace (Hebrews 7:1). The capital of Melchisedeck was either Jerusalem, of which the ancient name was Salem, as in Psalm 76:2 (Josephus, Onkelos, Aben Ezra, Kimchi, Knobel, Delitzsch, Keil, Kalisch, Murphy, Bush); or a city on the other side Jordan en route from Damascus to Sodom (Ewald); or, though less likely, as being too remote from Sodom and the king's dale, Salem in the tribe of Ephraim, a city near Scythopolis, where the ruins of Melchisedeck's palace were said to exist (Jerome), and near to which John baptized (Bochart). Brought forth bread and wine. As a refreshment to the patriarch and his soldiers (Josephus, Calvin, Clarke, Rosenmüller), which, however, was the less necessary since the spoils of the conquered foe were in possession of Abram and his men (Kalisch); hence mainly as a symbol, not of his transference of the soil of Canaan to the patriarch, bread and wine being the chief productions of the ground (Lightfoot), or of his gratitude to Abram, who had recovered for the land peace, freedom, and prosperity (Delitzsch), or of the institution of the Supper by the Lord Jesus Christ (Bush); but of the priestly benediction which followed and of the spiritual refreshment which it conferred upon the soul of Abram (Kalisch, Murphy). The Romish idea, that the act of Melchisedeck was sacrificial, is precluded by the statement that he brought forth the bread and wine before the people, and not before God. And he was the priest. Cohen; one who undertakes another's cause, hence one who acts as mediator between God and man, though the primary signification of the root is doubtful and disputed. The necessity for this office has its ground in the sinfulness of man, which disqualifies him for direct intercourse with a holy Being (cf. Kurtz, 'Sacrificial Worship,' ch. 1. b.). The occurrence of this term, here mentioned for the flint time, implies the existence of a regularly-constituted form of worship by means of priests and sacrifice. Hence the Mosaic cultus afterwards instituted may only have been a resuscitation and further development of what had existed from the beginning. Of the most high God. Literally, El-Ellen, a proper name for the Supreme Deity (occurring only here, in the narrative of Abram's interview with the kings); of which the first term, El, from the same root as Elohim (Genesis 1:1, q.v.), signifies the Strong One, and is seldom applied to God without some qualifying attribute or cognomen, as El-Shaddai, or El, the God of Israel; and the second, 'Elion (occurring frequently afterwards, as in Numbers 24:16; Deuteronomy 32:8; Psalm 7:18 [Psalm 7:17]; Psalms 9:2), describes God as the High, the Highest, the Exalted, the Supreme, and is sometimes used in conjunction with Jehovah (Psalm. 7:18 [Psalm 7:17]), and with Elohim (Psalm 57:3 [Psalm 57:2]), while sometimes it stands alone (Psalm 21:8 [Psalm 21:7]). Most probably the designation here describes the name under which the Supreme Deity was worshipped by Melchisedeck and the king of Sodom, whom Abram recognizes as followers of the true God by identifying, as in Ver. 22, El-Elion with Jehovah (cf. Quarry, p. 426).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then Melchizedek
צֶ֙דֶק֙ (ṣe·ḏeq)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 4442: Melchizedek -- 'my king is right', an early king of Salem

king
מֶ֣לֶךְ (me·leḵ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4428: A king

of Salem
שָׁלֵ֔ם (šā·lêm)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 8004: Salem -- 'peaceful', an early name of Jerusalem

brought out
הוֹצִ֖יא (hō·w·ṣî)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3318: To go, bring, out, direct and proxim

bread
לֶ֣חֶם (le·ḥem)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3899: Food, bread, grain

and wine—
וָיָ֑יִן (wā·yā·yin)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3196: Wine, intoxication

since he
וְה֥וּא (wə·hū)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

was priest
כֹהֵ֖ן (ḵō·hên)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3548: Priest

of God
לְאֵ֥ל (lə·’êl)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 410: Strength -- as adjective, mighty, the Almighty

Most High—
עֶלְיֽוֹן׃ (‘el·yō·wn)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 5945: An elevation, lofty, as title, the Supreme


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OT Law: Genesis 14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread (Gen. Ge Gn)
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