וַיֵּצֵ֣א מֶֽלֶךְ־סְדֹם֮ לִקְרָאתוֹ֒ אַחֲרֵ֣י שׁוּב֗וֹ מֵֽהַכּוֹת֙ אֶת־כְּדָרלָעֹ֔מֶר וְאֶת־הַמְּלָכִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִתּ֑וֹ אֶל־עֵ֣מֶק שָׁוֵ֔ה ה֖וּא עֵ֥מֶק הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃ וּמַלְכִּי־צֶ֙דֶק֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ שָׁלֵ֔ם הוֹצִ֖יא לֶ֣חֶם וָיָ֑יִן וְה֥וּא כֹהֵ֖ן לְאֵ֥ל עֶלְיֽוֹן׃ וַֽיְבָרְכֵ֖הוּ וַיֹּאמַ֑ר בָּר֤וּךְ אַבְרָם֙ לְאֵ֣ל עֶלְי֔וֹן קֹנֵ֖ה שָׁמַ֥יִם וָאָֽרֶץ׃ וּבָרוּךְ֙ אֵ֣ל עֶלְי֔וֹן אֲשֶׁר־מִגֵּ֥ן צָרֶ֖יךָ בְּיָדֶ֑ךָ וַיִּתֶּן־ל֥וֹ מַעֲשֵׂ֖ר מִכֹּֽל׃ וַיֹּ֥אמֶר מֶֽלֶךְ־סְדֹ֖ם אֶל־אַבְרָ֑ם תֶּן־לִ֣י הַנֶּ֔פֶשׁ וְהָרְכֻ֖שׁ קַֽח־לָֽךְ׃ וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אַבְרָ֖ם אֶל־מֶ֣לֶךְ סְדֹ֑ם הֲרִימֹ֨תִי יָדִ֤י אֶל־ה' אֵ֣ל עֶלְי֔וֹן קֹנֵ֖ה שָׁמַ֥יִם וָאָֽרֶץ׃ אִם־מִחוּט֙ וְעַ֣ד שְׂרֽוֹךְ־נַ֔עַל וְאִם־אֶקַּ֖ח מִכָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לָ֑ךְ וְלֹ֣א תֹאמַ֔ר אֲנִ֖י הֶעֱשַׁ֥רְתִּי אֶת־אַבְרָֽם׃ בִּלְעָדַ֗י רַ֚ק אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָֽכְל֣וּ הַנְּעָרִ֔ים וְחֵ֙לֶק֙ הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָלְכ֖וּ אִתִּ֑י עָנֵר֙ אֶשְׁכֹּ֣ל וּמַמְרֵ֔א הֵ֖ם יִקְח֥וּ חֶלְקָֽם׃ (ס)
When he returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh, which is the Valley of the King. And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him, saying, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your foes into your hand.” And [Abram] gave him a tenth of everything. Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the possessions for yourself.” But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I swear to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth: I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap of what is yours; you shall not say, ‘It is I who made Abram rich.’ For me, nothing but what my servants have used up; as for the share of the men who went with me—Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre—let them take their share.”
Anchor Bible translation of Genesis 14:19:
- He blessed him, saying "Blessed be Abram by El-Elyon, Creator of heaven and earth."
El-Elyon. Both elements ('el and 'elyon) occur as names of specific deities, the first in Ugaritic (Pope, El in the Ugaritic texts) and the second in Phoenecian; the Aramaic inscription from Sujin combines the two into a compound (ibid., 54ff.). Though appelatives at first ("god" and "supreme" respectively), both are thus attested also as personal names of deities. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, 'el is used as a literary or poetic synonym for Elohim; and 'elyon occurs either separately (Isaiah 14:14; Psalms 9:3), or as a divine epithet (Psalms 7:18, 47:3, 57:3, 78:56). But these are relatively late passages which conceivably could hark back to the instances before us. The question, then, is how to interpret the latter.
Now that this chapter is amply attested as a source unto itself, it is not only unnecessary but fallacious to harmonize its contents with other portions of the Old Testament. As a Canaanite priest, Melchizedek would invoke his deity or deities by name; and this is what the above translation has sought to reproduce. Abraham, on the other hand would just as naturally turn to Yahweh, especially in an oath (verse 22).
- Anchor Bible on Genesis 14:19 (pp. 100, 104)
(יז) וַיְהִ֤י הַשֶּׁ֙מֶשׁ֙ בָּ֔אָה וַעֲלָטָ֖ה הָיָ֑ה וְהִנֵּ֨ה תַנּ֤וּר עָשָׁן֙ וְלַפִּ֣יד אֵ֔שׁ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָבַ֔ר בֵּ֖ין הַגְּזָרִ֥ים הָאֵֽלֶּה׃
(17) When the sun set and it was very dark, there appeared a smoking oven, and a flaming torch which passed between those pieces.
The smoking fire pot (literally "oven") and flaming torch (to keep the fire going in the brazier) were not just fanciful inventions by the author or his immediate source. Both these details are recorded in the Akkadian texts pertaining to magic. They are listed together in an incantation against witches: "I sent out against you repeatedly a 'going' (i.e., lighted) oven (aliku tinuru), a fire that has caught"; cf. Maqlu II lines 190f. and W. von Soden, Orientalia 26 (1957), lines 127f. The combination is almost exactly the same as the present instance. It was evidently believed to be highly efficacious, which may explain the archaic use of "oven" in the sense of "brazier," since no detail of an occult practice, or of the wording that goes with it, must be disturbed; actual ovens would not have the required mobility. Very likely, therefore, Hebrew tannur (תנור) in this particular context was due to similar considerations, if not directly to the use of tinuru in Akkadian. And a combination that worked so well against witches would be no less impressive as an ominous feature in a covenant.
- Anchor Bible on Genesis 15:17, pp. 113-114
The Scientific Study of the Bible
In earlier centuries, when the Bible was almost solely used to provide underpinning for Jewish and Christian religious communities, there were decided limits on the ways the text was studied. In recent centuries, owing to the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, major social changes, and the steady expansion of scientific method over most areas of human experience, the Bible has been freed from an exclusively doctrinal (confessional) and church-centered (ecclesiastical) religious approach. It has now become approachable in scientific ways according to the many possibilities of inquiry that the various sciences have opened up.
"Scientific" is here intended in the broad sense of a systematic method of study necessary for the intelligible analysis and explanation of any subject matter. Science, in relation to biblical studies, includes not only natural, social, and psychological sciences, but also efforts at greater precision of method in the humanities, as in the study of language, literature, and history, and in the exercise of philosophy as a kind of overarching reflection on scientific methods and results as they relate to other kinds of knowledge.
- The Hebrew Bible: A Socio-Literary Introduction by Norman K. Gottwald (pp. 6-7)