Genesis 15:7 | 35 in pur suit as far as Dan. 15 Dur ing the night Abram di vid ed his men to at tack them and he rout ed them, pur su ing them as far as Ho bah, north of Damas cus. 16 He re cov ered all the goods and brought back his rel a tive Lot and his pos ses sions, to geth er with the wom en and the oth er peo ple.
17
Af ter Abram re turned from de feat ing Kedor la o mer and the kings al lied with him, the king of Sod om came out to meet him in the Val ley of Sha veh( that is, the King’ s Val ley).
18
Then Mel chiz e dek king of Sa lem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,
19 and he blessed Abram, say ing,
“ Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.
20
And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave him a tenth of ev ery thing.
21
The king of Sod om said to Abram,“ Give me the peo ple and keep the goods for your self.”
22
But Abram said to the king of Sod om,“ With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Cre a tor of heav en and earth, 23 that I will ac cept noth ing be long ing to you, not even a thread or the strap of a san dal, so that you will nev er be able to say,‘ I made Abram rich.’ 24 I will ac cept noth ing but what my men have eat en and the share that be longs to the men who went with me— to Aner, Esh kol and Mam re. Let them have their share.”
The Lord’ s Covenant With Abram
Af ter this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vi sion:
15
“ Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, a your very great reward. b”
2
But Abram said,“ Sov er eign Lord, what can you give me since I re main child less and the one who will in her it c my es tate is El i e zer of Da mascus?” 3 And Abram said,“ You have giv en me no chil dren; so a ser vant in my house hold will be my heir.”
4
Then the word of the Lord came to him:“ This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him out side and said,“ Look up at the sky and count the stars— if in deed you can count them.” Then he said to him,“ So shall your off spring d be.”
6
Abram be lieved the Lord, and he cred it ed it to him as righ teous ness.
7
He also said to him,“ I am the Lord, who a
1 Or sovereign b
1 Or shield; / your reward will be very great c
2 The meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain. d
5 Or seed
14:17 – 24 On the way back from defeating the kings and recovering the captives, Abram is met by the king of Sodom, who is accompanied by Melchizedek, king of Salem( see note on v. 18). Melchizedek, identified as a priest of God Most High, immediately offers a blessing to Abram, giving God the glory for his success. The introduction of Melchizedek provides an opportunity for Abram to demonstrate that his military offensive was not motivated by personal gain. As an answer to Melchizedek’ s blessing, Abram gives Melchizedek a tenth of the spoil he had recovered( 14:16,20), recognizing God’ s role in his victory. The king of Sodom offers Abram all the plunder taken from Sodom as a reward for his successful venture, but Abram rejects the proposal because it implies dependence on someone or something other than God alone.
14:17 the Valley of Shaveh This site is also mentioned in 2Sa 18:18. 14:18 Melchizedek This name, which is malki-tsedeq in Hebrew, likely means“ my king is righ teous” or“ king of righ teous ness”( compare Heb 7:2). It could also mean“ Tsedeq is my king” with Tsedeq referring to a deity’ s name. Melchizedek is only mentioned once more in the OT, in Ps 110:4, but features prominently in the NT book of Hebrews. Salem This location may be, though not certainly, identified with Jerusalem. The name Salem is attested once in parallel with Zion in Ps 76:2, the location of the temple. priest Melchizedek was both a king and a priest. Some ancient Near Eastern civilizations combined the two offices, though most separated them. God Most High The Hebrew text here uses the phrase el elyon; this is the first Biblical occurrence of this phrase.
The word el is both the generic word for“ god” in Semitic languages and the name of the god El in the Canaanite pantheon( as seen in Ugaritic texts). Elyon could refer to the“ most high” deity or mean“ upper” or“ highest.” In Ge 14:22, the title is combined in the Hebrew text with the name Yahweh( yhwh), so it seems that the narrator identified Yahweh with el elyon. See the table“ Names of God in the Old Testament” on p. 917.
15:1 – 8 God speaks again to Abram to reassure him of his promises. Abram’ s reply to Yahweh demonstrates his frustration at Yahweh’ s delay in fulfilling what Abram views as the first necessary step in making him a great nation— providing him with a son and heir. Yahweh’ s answer to Abram addresses his concerns by clarifying that his heir will be his biological son and that his offspring will eventually be as numerous as the stars.
15:1 the word of the Lord came to Abram A phrase common to the prophetic books. Its use here places Abram among the prophets. See 15:4; 20:7. vision The Hebrew word used here, chazon, usually refers to a revelation received by a prophet. 15:3 a servant in my household will be my heir It was not uncommon in ancient Near Eastern culture for a trusted servant to become heir to a childless couple. 15:5 count the stars The reference to the stars( compare 22:17; 26:4) is similar to how the 12 tribes of Israel will later be described( 37:9). 15:6 believed the Lord A clear statement of faith. Paul uses this as an example of salvation by faith( Ro 4:1 – 8). as righteousness Abram’ s response of faith confirms Yahweh’ s choice of him for the covenant. An OT parallel to this episode occurs in Ne 9:7 – 8.