Blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave him a tenth of all.
Parallel Translations
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Blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave him a tenth of all.
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And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
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and blessed be God the Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.' And he gave him a tenth of all.
Cross-references (25)
Passages linked to Genesis 14:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 28:22 then this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, will be God’s house. Of all that you will give me I will surely give a tenth to you.”
- Nehemiah 13:12 Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, the new wine, and the oil to the treasuries.
- Hebrews 7:4-9 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth out of the best plunder. They indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brothers, though these have come out of the body of Abraham, but he whose genealogy is not counted from them has accepted tithes from Abraham, and has blessed him who has the promises. But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater. Here people who die receive tithes, but there one receives tithes of whom it is testified that he lives. We can say that through Abraham even Levi, who receives tithes, has paid tithes,
- Deuteronomy 14:28 At the end of every three years you shall bring all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and shall store it within your gates.
- Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says Yahweh of Armies, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will not be room enough for.
- Genesis 24:27 He said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his loving kindness and his truth toward my master. As for me, Yahweh has led me on the way to the house of my master’s relatives.”
- Numbers 28:26 “ ‘Also in the day of the first fruits, when you offer a new meal offering to Yahweh in your feast of weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work;
- Deuteronomy 12:17 You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your free will offerings, nor the wave offering of your hand;
- Deuteronomy 14:23 You shall eat before Yahweh your God, in the place which he chooses to cause his name to dwell, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear Yahweh your God always.
- Leviticus 27:30-32 “ ‘All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is Yahweh’s. It is holy to Yahweh. If a man redeems anything of his tithe, he shall add a fifth part to it. All the tithe of the herds or the flocks, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth shall be holy to Yahweh.
- Joshua 10:42 Joshua took all these kings and their land at one time because Yahweh, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.
- 2 Chronicles 31:5-6 As soon as the commandment went out, the children of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, new wine, oil, honey, and of all the increase of the field; and they brought in the tithe of all things abundantly. The children of Israel and Judah, who lived in the cities of Judah, also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of dedicated things which were consecrated to Yahweh their God, and laid them in heaps.
- 2 Chronicles 31:12 They brought in the offerings, the tithes, and the dedicated things faithfully. Conaniah the Levite was ruler over them, and Shimei his brother was second.
- Nehemiah 10:37 and that we should bring the first fruits of our dough, our wave offerings, the fruit of all kinds of trees, and the new wine and the oil, to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites; for they, the Levites, take the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.
- Psalms 44:3 For they didn’t get the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, because you were favorable to them.
- Psalms 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens, even the God who is our salvation.
- Psalms 72:17-19 His name endures forever. His name continues as long as the sun. Men shall be blessed by him. All nations will call him blessed. Praise be to Yahweh God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds. Blessed be his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and amen.
- Psalms 144:1 Blessed be Yahweh, my rock, who teaches my hands to war, and my fingers to battle:
- Amos 4:4 “Go to Bethel, and sin; to Gilgal, and sin more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days,
- Malachi 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings.
- Luke 18:12 I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.’
- Romans 15:16 that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
- Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
- Genesis 9:26 He said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem. Let Canaan be his servant.
- 1 Peter 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 20. And he gave him tithes of all. There…
20. And he gave him tithes of all. There are those who understand that the tithes were given to Abram; but the Apostle speaks otherwise, in declaring that Levi had paid tithes in the loins of Abram, (Hebrews 7:9,) when Abram offered tithes to a more excellent Priest. And truly what the expositors above-mentioned mean, would be most absurd; because, if Melchizedek was the priest of God, it behaved him to receive tithes rather than to give them. Nor is it to be doubted but Abram offered the gift to God, in the person of Melchizedek, in order that, by such first-fruits, he might dedicate all his possessions to God. Abram therefore voluntarily gave tithes to Melchizedek, to do honor to his priesthood. Moreover, since it appears that this was not done wrongfully nor rashly, the Apostle properly infers, that, in this figure, the Levitical priesthood is subordinate to the priesthood of Christ. For other reasons, God afterwards commanded tithes to be given to Levi under the Law; but, in the age of Abram, they were only a holy offering, given as a pledge and proof of gratitude. It is however uncertain whether he offered the title of the spoils or of the goods which he possessed at home. But, since it is improbable that he should have been liberal with other persons’ goods, and should have given a very a tenth part of the prey, of which he had resolved not to touch even a thread, I rather conjecture, that these tithes were taken out of his own property. I do not, however, admit that they were paid annually, as some imagine, but rather, in my judgment, he dedicated this present to Melchizedek once, for the purpose of acknowledging him as the high priest of God: nor could he, at that time, (as we say,) hand it over; but there was a solemn stipulation, of which the effect shortly after followed.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 14:20 And blessed be the most high God,…
Gen 14:20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
Ver. 20. And he gave him tithes of all.] Not of the Sodomites’ goods, which he restored wholly, {Gen 14:23} but of the other lawful spoil he had taken from the four conquered kings; in testimony of his thankfulness to God, the giver of all victory.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Not Melchizedek gave to Abram, as some Jews foolishly…
Not Melchizedek gave to Abram, as some Jews foolishly understand it; for Abram swears that he would not keep nor take any of the recovered goods of the kings of Sodom, or his brethren, Gen 14:23. But Abram gave to Melchizedek, as appears both from Heb 4:7, and from the nature of the thing, for the tithes confessedly belong to the priest, such as Melchizedek, and not Abram, is here described to be.
All, not of all the recovered goods, but of all the spoils taken from the enemies.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And blessed be the most high God,.... Let his…
And blessed be the most high God,.... Let his name be praised, and thanks be given to him for all mercies temporal and spiritual, since all flow from him, and particularly for the mercies Abram and others through him were now made partakers of; for whoever were the instruments, God was the efficient cause, and to him all the glory was to be given:
which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand; the four kings, who are called Abram's enemies, because the enemies of God and of true religion, and because they had been injurious to a relation of his; and especially they may be so called, if their intention was, as, say the Jewish writers (q) to slay him, beginning first with Lot: and those four kings, according to them, signify the four monarchies, the Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman (r) who in their turns distressed his posterity, but in the latter day shall fall into their hands, as those did into Abram's, and fall by them:
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and he gave him tithes of all; not Melchizedek to Abram, but Abram to Melchizedek, as appears from Heb 7:4; and these tithes were given not out of the goods that were recovered, for they were restored to the proprietors of them, but out of the spoils that were taken from the enemy, as is evident from the same place referred to; and these were given both as a return for the respect shown him by Melchizedek, and by way of thankfulness to God for the victory, whose priest he was; otherwise, as a king, he stood in no need of such a present; nor was it for his maintenance as a priest, or what Abram was obliged unto, but was a voluntary action, and not out of his own substance, but out of the spoils of the enemy, and to testify his gratitude to God: this was imitated by the Heathens in later times; so the Tarentines, having got a victory over the Peucetians, sent the tenth (of the spoil) to Delphos (s): the Jews (t) say Abraham was the first in the world that began to offer tithes; but they are mistaken, when they say in the same place, that he took all the tithes of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of Lot his brother's son, and gave them to Shem the son of Noah. Eupolemus (u) makes mention of this interview between Abram and Melchizedek by name; he says, Abram was hospitably entertained in the holy city Argarizin, which is by interpretation the mountain of the most High (but seems to be the Mount Gerizzim) and that he received gifts from Melchizedek, the priest of God, who reigned there.
(q) Pirke Eliezer, c. 27. (r) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 42. fol. 37. 1. (s) Pausan. Phocica, sive l. 10. p. 633. (t) Pirke Eliezer, c. 27. (u) Apud Euseb. Evang. Praepar. l. 9. c. 17. p. 419.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain And blessed be the most high God - Note,
And blessed be the most high God - Note,
1. In all our prayers we must praise God, and join hallelujahs with all our hosannas. These are the spiritual sacrifices we must offer up daily, and upon particular occasions.
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2. God as the most high God must have the glory of all our victories. In them he shews himself higher than our enemies, and higher than we, for without him we could do nothing. And he gave him tithes of all - That is, of the spoils, Heb. vii, 4. This may be looked upon, (1.) As a gratuity presented to Melchizedek, by way of return for his respects. (2.) As an offering dedicated to the most high God, and therefore put into the hands of Melchizedek his priest. Jesus Christ, our great Melchizedek, is to be humbly acknowledged by every one of us as our king and priest, and not only the tithe of all, but all we have, must be given up to him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. And he gave him tithes] A tenth…
Verse 20. And he gave him tithes] A tenth part of all the spoils he had taken from the confederate kings. These Abram gave as a tribute to the most high God, who, being the possessor of heaven and earth, dispenses all spiritual and temporal favours, and demands the gratitude, and submissive, loving obedience, of all his subjects. Almost all nations of the earth have agreed in giving a tenth part of their property to be employed in religious uses. The tithes were afterwards granted to the Levites for the use of the sanctuary, and the maintenance of themselves and their families, as they had no other inheritance in Israel.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 14:20. And blessed be the most high God…
Gen 14:20. And blessed be the most high God — Observe, 1st, In all our prayers we must praise God, and join hallelujahs with all our hosannas. These are the spiritual sacrifices we must offer up daily, and upon particular occasions. 2d, God, as the most high God, must have the glory of all our victories. In them he shows himself higher than our enemies, and higher than we, for without him we could do nothing. And he gave him tithes of all — That is, of the spoils, Heb 7:4. This may be looked upon, 1st, As a gratuity presented to Melchizedek, by way of return for his respects. 2d, As an offering dedicated to the most high God, and therefore put into the hands of Melchizedek his priest. Jesus Christ, our great Melchizedek, is to be humbly acknowledged by every one of us as our King and Priest, and not only the tithe of all, but all we have, must be given up to him.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain he gave him tithes of all--Here is an evidence…
he gave him tithes of all--Here is an evidence of Abram's piety, as well as of his valor; for it was to a priest or official mediator between God and him that Abram gave a tenth of the spoil--a token of his gratitude and in honor of a divine ordinance (Pro 3:9).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20. blessed be God Most High]—“praised be El Elyon.”…
20. blessed be God Most High]—“praised be El Elyon.” The verb has a different sense when applied to the Deity from what it has when applied to man. To “bless God” means devoutly to acknowledge, that He has been the source of goodness which demands man’s thankfulness and praise. Melchizedek blesses the God, whose priest he is, for the great victory which his God has granted Abram.
And he gave him a tenth of all] Note once more a change of subject. It is Abram who gives Melchizedek a tenth part “of all,” i.e. the spoil; not of his own property, as he was at a distance from home, and was only in light marching order. The custom of paying a tithe, or tenth part, to the priesthood, or to the sanctuary, was very general in ancient times. Traces of it are found in Assyria and Babylonia. It prevailed among the Greeks. For the custom in Israel, see note on Gen_28:22. Abram, the father of the Israelite people, performs symbolically an action which recognizes for future time their obligation to the sanctuary of Jerusalem.
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The two statements that Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, (1) blessed Abram, (2) received tithes from Abram, led to the figurative employment of Melchizedek in Psa_110:4 as the ideal of a priest-king appointed by God to rule over the kingdom of Judah; and in Heb_5:9; Heb_7:4, as the type of the great kingly High Priest, raised above the Aaronic priesthood, at once king and priest receiving tithe from Abram, who impersonated the people and religion of Israel. See Special Note in the chapter comments for Genesis 14
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (20) He gave him tithes.—Abram thus consecrated the war…
(20) He gave him tithes.—Abram thus consecrated the war by a thank-offering to God, Who had given him the victory. But he also, by paying tithes, acknowledged the priesthood of Melchizedek, and that the God Whom he served was the true God. See Heb_7:4-11.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And blessed be the most high God, (cf. Gen_9:5-6)…
And blessed be the most high God, (cf. Gen_9:5-6) who hath deliveredmiggen, a word peculiar to poetrynathan (cf. Pro_4:9; Hos_11:8) thine enemies tsarecha, also a poetical expressionoyeb (cf. Deu_32:27; Job_16:9; Psa_81:15) into thy hand. And he not Melchisedeck (Jewish interpreters), but Abram (Josephus, LXX, Jonathan, Heb_7:6) gave him (not Abram, but Melchisedeck) tithes "tenths." These, being the customary offering to the Deity, were an acknowledgment of the Divine priesthood of Melchisedeck. The practice of paying tithes, primarily a voluntary tax for the servants of the sanctuary, appears to have obtained among different nations from the remotest antiquity (vide Dr. Ginsburg in "Kitto"s Cyclopedia," art. Tithes). The tithal law was afterwards incorporated among the Mosaic statutes (Lev_27:30-33; Num_18:31-32) of all the spoils which he had taken (Heb_7:4)
HOMILIES BY W. ROBERTS Ver. 20.
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The Church militant.
I THE ENEMIES OF THE CHURCH. Like Abram"s
1. Numerous.
2. Formidable.
3. Exulting.
II THE TRIUMPH OF THE CHURCH. Like Abram"s
1. Certain.
2. Complete.
3. Final.
III THE THANKSGIVING OF THE CHURCH. Like Abram"s
1. Due to God most high.
2. Offered through the priest of the most high God.
3. Expressed in self-consecration to the service of God. W.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.