Genesis 14 commentary

The wars of nations make great figure in history, but we should not have had the record of this war if Abram and Lot had not been concerned. Out of covetousness, Lot had settled in fruitful, but wicked Sodom. Its inhabitants were the most ripe for vengeance of all the descendants of Canaan. The invaders were from Chaldea and Persia, then only small kingdoms. They took Lot among the rest, and his goods. Though he was righteous, and Abram's brother's son, yet he was with the rest in this trouble. Neither our own piety, nor our relation to the favourites of Heaven, will be our security when God's judgments are abroad. Many an honest man fares the worse for his wicked neighbours: it is our wisdom to separate, or at least to distinguish ourselves from them, 2Co 6:17. So near a relation of Abram should have been a companion and a disciple of Abram. If he chose to dwell in Sodom, he must thank himself if he share in Sodom's losses. When we go out of the way of our duty, we put ourselves from under God's protection, and cannot expect that the choice made by our lusts, should end to our comfort. They took Lot's goods; it is just with God to deprive us of enjoyments, by which we suffer ourselves to be deprived of the enjoyment of him.

Abram takes this opportunity to give a real proof of his being truly friendly to Lot. We ought to be ready to succour those in distress, especially relations and friends. And though others may have been wanting in their duty to us, yet we must not neglect our duty to them. Abram rescued the captives. As we have opportunity, we must do good to all.

Melchizedek is spoken of as a king of Salem, supposed to be the place afterwards called Jerusalem, and it is generally thought that he was only a man. The words of the apostle, Heb 7:3, state only, that the sacred history has said nothing of his ancestors. The silence of the Scriptures on this, is to raise our thoughts to Him, whose generation cannot be declared. Bread and wine were suitable refreshment for the weary followers of Abram; and it is remarkable that Christ appointed the same as the memorials of his body and blood, which are meat and drink indeed to the soul. Melchizedek blessed Abram from God. He blessed God from Abram. We ought to give thanks for other's mercies as for our own. Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, is the Mediator both of our prayers and praises, and not only offers up ours, but his own for us. Abram gave him the tenth of the spoils, Heb 7:4. When we have received some great mercy from God, it is very fit we should express our thankfulness by some special act of pious charity. Jesus Christ, our great Melchisedek, is to have homage done him, and to be humbly acknowledged as our King and Priest; not only the tithe of all, but all we have, must be given up to him.

Observe the king of Sodom's grateful offer to Abram, Give me the souls, and take thou the substance. Gratitude teaches us to recompense to the utmost of our power, those that have undergone fatigues, run hazards, and been at expense for our service and benefit. Abram generously refused this offer. He accompanies his refusal with a good reason, Lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: which would reflect upon the promise promise and covenant of God, as if He would not have enriched Abraham without the spoils of Sodom. The people of God must, for their credit's sake, take heed of doing any thing that looks mean or mercenary, or that savors of covetousness and self-seeking. Abraham can trust the Possessor of Heaven and earth to provide for him.

1. And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel . The history related in this chapter is chiefly worthy of remembrance, for three reasons: first, because Lot, with a gentle reproof, exhorted the men of Sodom to repentance; they had, however, become altogether unteachable, and desperately perverse in their wickedness. But Lot was beaten with these scourges, because, having been allured and deceived by the richness of the soil, he had mixed himself with unholy and wicked men. Secondly, because God, out of compassion to him, raised up Abram as his avenger and liberator, to rescue him, when a captive, from the hand of the enemy; in which act the incredible goodness and benevolence of God towards his own people, is rendered conspicuous; since, for the sake of one man, he preserves, for a time, many who were utterly unworthy. Thirdly, because Abram was divinely honored with a signal victory, and was blessed by the mouth of Melchizedek, in whose person, as appears from other passages of Scripture, the kingdom and priesthood of Christ was shadowed forth. As it respects the sum of the history, it is a horrible picture both of the avarice and pride of man.

The human race had yet their three progenitors, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, living among them; by the very sight of whom they were admonished, that they all sprung from one family, and one ark. Moreover, the memory of their common origin was a sacred pledge of fraternal connection, which should have bound them to assist each other, by mutual good offices. Nevertheless, ambition so prevailed, that they assailed one another on all sides, with sword and armor, and each attempted to subdue the rest. Wherefore, while we see, at the present day, princes raging furiously, and shaking the earth to the utmost of their power; let us remember that the evil is of ancient date; since the lust of dominion has, in all ages, been too prevalent among men. Let us, however, also remark, that no fault is worse than that loftiness of mind, which many deem a most heroical disposition. The ambition of Chedorlaomer was the torch of the whole war: for he, inflamed with the desire of triumphing, drew three others into a hostile confederacy. And pride compelled the men of Sodom and their allies to take arms, for the purpose of shaking off the yoke.

That Moses, however, records the names of so many kings, while Shem was yet living, (although derided by profane men as fabulous,) will not appear absurd, if we only reflect that this great propagation of the human race, was a remarkable miracle of God. For when the Lord said to Noah himself, and to his sons, Increase and multiply, he intended to raise them to the hope of a far more excellent restoration than would have taken place, in the ordinary course of nature. This benediction is indeed perpetual, and shall flourish even to the end of the world: but it was necessary that its extraordinary efficacy should then appear; in order that these earliest fathers might know, that a new world had been divinely inclosed within the ark. By the Poets, Deucalion with his wife, is feigned to have sown the race of men after the deluge, by throwing stones behind him. See Ovid’s Metamorphosis 1. But it followed of necessity, that the miserable minds of men should be deluded with such trifles, when they departed from the pure truth of God; and Satan has made use of this artifice, for the purpose at discrediting the veracity of the miracles of God. For since the memory of the deluge, and the unwonted propagation of a new world, could not be speedily obliterated, he scattered abroad clouds and smoke; introducing puerile conceits, in order that what had before been held for certain truth, might now be regarded as a fable. It is however to be observed, that all are called kings by Moses, who held the priority in any town, or in any considerable assembly of men. It is asked, whether those kings who followed Chedorlaomer dwelt at a great distance; because Tidal is called the king of nations? There are those who imagine that he reigned over different nations far and wide; as if he was a king of kings. The ancient interpreter fetches Arioch from Pontus; “Arioch rex Ponti.” — Vulgate which is most absurd. I rather think the true reason of the name was, that he had a band composed of deserters and vagrants, who, having left their own country, had resorted to him. Therefore, since they were not one body — natives of his own country — but gathered together from a promiscuous multitude, he was properly called king of nations. In saying that the battle was fought in the vale of Siddim, or in the open plain, which, when Moses wrote, had become the Salt Sea, it is not to be doubted that the Dead Sea, or the lake Asphaltites, is meant. For he knew whom he was appointed to instruct, and therefore he always accommodated his words to the rude capacity of the people; and this is his common custom in reference to the names of places, as I have previously intimated. Before, however, the battle was fought, Moses declares that the inhabitants of the region were partially beaten. It is probable that all had been scattered, because they had no leader, under whose auspices they might fight, until five kings advanced to meet them with a disciplined army. Now, though Chedorlaomer had rendered so many people tributary to him by tyranny rather than by lawful authority, and on that account his ambition is to be condemned; yet his subjects are justly punished for having rashly rebelled. For although liberty is by no means to be despised, yet the subjection which is once imposed upon us cannot, without implied rebellion against God, be shaken off; because ‘every power is ordained by God,’ notwithstanding, in its commencement, it may have flowed from the lust of dominion, (Romans 13:1.) Therefore some of the rebels are slaughtered like cattle; and others, though they have clothed themselves in armor, and are prepared to resist, are yet driven to flight; thus, unhappily to all concerned, terminates the contumacious refusal to pay tribute. And such narratives are to be noticed that we may learn from them, that all who strive to produce anarchy, fight against God.

10. And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled . Some expound that they had fallen into pits: but this is not probable, since they were by no means ignorant of the neighboring places: such an event would rather have happened to foreign enemies. Others say, that they went down into them for the sake of preserving their lives. I, however, understand them to have exchanged one kind of death for another, as is common in the moment of desperation; as if Moses had said, the swords of the enemy were so formidable to them, that, without hesitation, they threw themselves headlong into the pits. For he immediately afterwards subjoins, that they who escaped fled to the mountains. Whence we infer, that they who had rushed into the pits had perished. Only let us know, that they fell, not so much deceived through ignorance of the place, as disheartened by fear.

12. And they took Lot . It is doubtful whether Lot remained at home while others went to the battle, and was there captured by the enemy; or whether he had been compelled to take arms with the rest of the people. As, however, Moses does not mention him till he speaks of the plundering of the city, the conjecture is probable, that at the conclusion of the battle, he was taken at home, unarmed. We here see, first, that sufferings are common to the good and the evil; then, that the more closely we are connected with the wicked and the ungodly, when God pours down his vengeance on them, the more quickly does the scourge come upon us.

13. And there came one that had escaped . This is the second part of the chapter, in which Moses shows, that when God had respect to his servant Lot, he gave him Abram as his deliverer, to rescue him from the hands of the enemy. But here various questions arise; as, whether it was lawful for Abram, a private person, to arm his family against kings, and to undertake a public war. I do not, however, doubt, that as he went to the war endued with the power of the Spirit, so also he was guarded by a heavenly command, that he did not transgress the bounds of his vocation. And this ought not to be regarded as a new thing, but as his special calling; for he had already been created king of that land. And although the possession of it was deferred to a future time; yet God would give some remarkable proof of the power which he had granted him, and which was hitherto unknown to men. “Dieu a voulu donner un patron singulier de la puissance qu’il luy avoit bailee, laquelle estoit encore incognue aux hommes.” — French Tr A similar prelude of what was to follow, we read in the case of Moses, when he slew the Egyptian, before he openly presented himself as the avenger and deliverer of his nation. And for this reason the subject ought to be noticed, that they who wish to defend themselves by armed force, whenever any force is used against them, may note from this fact, frame a rule for themselves. We shall hereafter see this same Abram bearing patiently and with a submissive mind, injuries which had at least, an equal tendency to provoke his spirit. Moreover, that Abram attempted nothing rashly, but rather, that his design was approved by God, will appear presently, from the commendation of Melchizedek. We may therefore conclude, that this war was undertaken by him, under the special direction of the Spirit. If any one should take exception, that he proceeded further than was lawful, when he spoiled the victors of their prey and captives, and restored them wholly to the men of Sodom, who had, by no means been committed to his protection; I answer, since it appears that God was his Guide and Ruler in this affair, — as we infer from His approbation, — it is not for us to dispute respecting His secret judgment. God had destined the inhabitants of Sodom, when their neighbors were ruined and destroyed, to a still more severe judgment; because they were themselves the worst of all. He, therefore, raised up his servant Abram, after they had been admonished by a chastisement sufficiently severe, to deliver them, in order that they might be rendered the more inexcusable. Therefore, this peculiar suggestion of the Holy Spirit ought no more to be drawn into a precedent, than the whole war which Abram had carried on. With respect to the messenger who had related to Abram the slaughter at Sodom, I do not accept what some suppose, that he was a pious man. We may rather conjecture that, as a fugitive from home, who had been deprived of all his goods, he came to Abram to elicit something from his humanity. That Abram is called a Hebrew, I do not explain from the fact of his having passed over the river, as is the opinion of some; but from his being of the progeny of Eber. For it is a name of descent. And the Holy Spirit here again honorably announces that race as blessed by God.

And these were confederate with Abram . It appears, that in the course of time, Abram was freely permitted to enter into covenant and friendship with the princes of the land: for the heroical virtues of the man, caused them to regard him as one who was not, by any means, to be despised. Nay, as he had so great a family, he might also have been numbered among kings, if he had not been a stranger and a sojourner. But God purposed thus to provide for his peace, by a covenant relating to temporal things in order that he never might be mingled with those nations. Moreover, that this whole transaction was divinely ordered we may readily conjecture from the fact, that his associates did not hesitate, at great risk, to assail four kings, who (according to the state of the times) were sufficiently strong, and were flushed with the confidence of victory. Surely they would scarcely ever have been thus favorable to a stranger, except by a secret impulse of God.

14. When Abram heard that his brother was taken captive . Moses briefly explains the cause of the war which was undertaken; namely, that Abram might rescue his relation from captivity. Meanwhile, what I have before said is to be remembered, that he did not rashly fly to arms; but took them as from the hand of God, who had constituted him lord of that land. With reference to the words themselves, I know not why the ancient interpreter has rendered them, ‘Abram numbered his trained servants.’ For the word ריק ( rik ) signifies to unsheathe, or to draw out. “Comme s’il disoit, Il tira hors de sa maison trois cens dixhuit serviteurs.” — “As if he had said, He drew out of his house three hundred and eighteen servants.” — French Tr Now Moses calls these servants חניכים ( chanichim ,) not as having been educated and trained for military service, as many suppose; but rather (in my opinion) as having been brought up under his own authority, and imbued from childhood with his discipline; so that they fought the more courageously, being stimulated by his faith, and going forth under his auspices; “Animosius sub fide et auspiciis ejus bellarent.” and were ready to undergo every kind of danger for his sake. But in this great household troop, we must notice, not only the diligence of the holy patriarch, but the special blessing of God, by which it had been increased beyond the common and usual manner.

15. And he divided himself against them . Some explain the words to mean that Abram alone, with his domestic troops, rushed upon the enemy. Others, that he and his three confederates divided their bands, in order to strike greater terror into the foe. A third class suppose the phrase to be a Hebraism, for making an irruption into the midst of the enemy. I rather embrace the second exposition; namely, that he invaded the enemy on different sides, and suddenly inspired them with terror. For the circumstance of time favors this view, because he attacked them by night. And although examples of similar bravery occur in profane history; yet it ought to be ascribed to the faith of Abram, that with a small band, he dared to assail a numerous army elated with victory. But that he came off conqueror with little trouble, and with intrepidity pursued those who far exceeded him in number, we must ascribe to the favor of God.

17. And the king of Sodom went out . Although the king of Sodom knew that Abram had taken arms only on account of his nephew, yet he went to meet him with due honor, in order to show his gratitude. For it is a natural duty to acknowledge benefits conferred upon us, even when not intentionally rendered, but only from unexpected circumstances and occasions, or (as we say) by accident. Moreover, the whole affair yields greater glory to God, because the victory of Abram was celebrated in this manner. He also marks the place where the king of Sodom met Abram, namely, “the king’s dale,” which I think was so called, rather after some particular king, than because those kings met there for their pleasure. “Quan quod animi causa reges illuc convenirent.”

18. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth . This is the last of the three principal points of this history, that Melchizedek, the chief father of the Church, having entertained Abram at a feast, blessed him, in virtue of his priesthood, and received tithes from him. There is no doubt that by the coming of this king to meet him, God also designed to render the victory of Abram famous and memorable to posterity. But a more exalted and excellent mystery was, at the same time, adumbrated: for seeing that the holy patriarch, whom God had raised to the highest rank of honor, submitted himself to Melchizedek, it is not to be doubted that God had constituted him the only head of the whole Church; “Non dubium est quin illum constituerit unicum totius ecclesiae caput.” — “Il ne faut pas douter que Dieu ne l’ait constitue chef unique de toute l’Egilise.” — French Tr for, without controversy, the solemn act of benediction, which Melchizedek assumed to himself, was a symbol of preeminent dignity. If any one replies, that he did this as a priest; I ask, was not Abram also a priest? Therefore God here commends to us something peculiar in Melchizedek, in preferring him before the father of all the faithful. But it will be more satisfactory to examine the passage word by word, in regular order, that we may thence better gather the import of the whole. That he received Abram and his companions as guests belonged to his royalty ; but the benediction pertained especially to his sacerdotal office . Therefore, the words of Moses ought to be thus connected: Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and seeing he was the priest of God, he blessed Abram; thus to each character is distinctly attributed what is its own. He refreshed a wearied and famishing army with royal liberality; but because he was a priest, he blessed, by the rite of solemn prayer, the firstborn son of God, and the father of the Church. Moreover, although I do not deny that it was the most ancient custom, for those who were kings to fulfill also the office of the priesthood; yet this appears to have been, even in that age, extraordinary in Melchizedek. And truly he is honored with no common eulogy, when the Spirit ratifies his priesthood. We know how, at that time, religion was everywhere corrupted since Abram himself, who was descended from the sacred race of Shem and Eber, had been plunged in the profound vortex of superstitions with his father and grandfather. Therefore many imagine Melchizedek to have been Shem; to whose opinion I am, for many reasons, hindered from subscribing. For the Lord would not have designated a man, worthy of eternal memory, by a name so new and obscure, that he must remain unknown. Secondly, it is not probable that Shem had migrated from the east into Judea; and nothing of the kind is to be gathered from Moses. Thirdly, if Shem had dwelt in the land of Canaan, Abram would not have wandered by such winding courses, as Moses has previously related, before he went to salute his ancestor. But the declaration of the Apostle is of the greatest weight; that this Melchizedek, whoever he was, is presented before us, without any origin, as if he had dropped from the clouds, and that his name is buried without any mention of his death. (Hebrews 7:3.) But the admirable grace of God shines more clearly in a person unknown; because, amid the corruptions of the world, he alone, in that land, was an upright and sincere cultivator and guardian of religion. I omit the absurdities which Jerome, in his Epistle to Evagrius, heaps together; lest, without any advantage, I should become troublesome, and even offensive to the reader. I readily believe that Salem is to be taken for Jerusalem; and this is the generally received interpretation. If, however, any one chooses rather to embrace a contrary opinion, seeing that the town was situated in a plain, I do not oppose it. On this point Jerome thinks differently: nevertheless, what he elsewhere relates, that in his own times some vestiges of the palace of Melchizedek were still extant in the ancient ruins, appears to me improbable.

It now remains to be seen how Melchizedek bore the image of Christ, and became, as it were, his representative, ἀντίτυπος ( avtitupos. “Il faut voir comment Melchisedech a cu la figure de Christ engravee ea soy, et est comme la representation et correspondance.” — French Tr ) These are the words of David,

“The Lord sware, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek,” (Psalm 110:4.)

First, he had placed him on a royal throne, and now he gives him the honor of the priesthood. But under the Law, these two offices were so distinct, that it was unlawful for kings to usurp the office of the priesthood. If, therefore, we concede as true, what Plato declares, and what occasionally occurs in the poets, that it was formerly received, by the common custom of nations, that the same person should be both king and priest; this was by no means the case with David and his posterity, whom the Law peremptorily forbade to intrude on the priestly office. It was therefore right, that what was divinely appointed under the old law, should be abrogated in the person of this priest. And the Apostle does not contend without reason, that a more excellent priesthood than that old and shadowy one, was here pointed out; which priesthood is confirmed by an oath. Moreover, we never find that king and priest, who is to be preeminent over all, till we come to Christ. And as no one has arisen except Christ, who equalled Melchizedek in dignity, still less who excelled him; we hence infer that the image of Christ was presented to the fathers, in his person. David, indeed, does not propose a similitude framed by himself; but declares the reason for which the kingdom of Christ was divinely ordained, and even confirmed with an oath; and it is not to be doubted that the same truth had previously been traditionally handed down by the fathers. The sum of the whole is, that Christ would thus be the king next to God, and also that he should be anointed priest, and that for ever; which it is very useful for us to know, in order that we may learn that the royal power of Christ is combined with the office of priest. The same Person, therefore who was constituted the only and eternal Priest, in order that he might reconcile us to God, and who, having made expiation, might intercede for us, is also a King of infinite power to secure our salvation, and to protect us by his guardian care. Hence it follows, that relying on his advocacy, we may stand boldly in the presence of God, who will, we are assured, be propitious to us; and that trusting in his invincible arm, we may securely triumph over enemies of every kind. But they who separate one office from the other, rend Christ asunder, and subvert their own faith, which is deprived of half its support. It is also to be observed, that Christ is called an eternal King, like Melchizedek. For since the Scripture, by assigning no end to his life, leaves him as if he were to survive through all ages; it certainly represents or shadows forth to us, in his person, a figure, not of a temporal, but of an eternal kingdom. But whereas Christ, by his death, has accomplished the office of Priest, it follows that God was, by that one sacrifice, once appeased in such a manner, that now reconciliation is to be sought in Christ alone. Therefore, they do him grievous wrong, and wrest from him by abominable sacrilege, the honor divinely conferred upon him by an oaths who either institute other sacrifices for the expiation of sins, or who make other priests. “Ceux qui dressent d’autres sacrifices pour nettoyer les pechez, on forgent d’autres sacrificateurs.” Those who prepare other sacrifices to cleanse from sins, or make others sacrificing priests. — French Tr And I wish this had been prudently weighed by the ancient writers of the Church. For then would they not so coolly, and even so ignorantly, have transferred to the bread and wine the similitude between Christ and Melchizedek, which consists in things very different. They have supposed that Melchizedek is the image of Christ, because he offered bread and wine. For they add, that Christ offered his body, which is life-giving bread, and his blood, which is spiritual drink. But the Apostle, while in his Epistle to the Hebrews, he most accurately collects, and specifically prosecutes, every point of similarity between Christ and Melchizedek, says not a word concerning the bread and wine. If the subtleties of Tertullian, and of others like him, were true, it would have been a culpable negligence, not to bestow a single syllable upon the principal point, while discussing the separate parts, which were of comparatively trivial importance. And seeing the Apostle disputes at so great length, and with such minuteness, concerning the priesthood; how gross an instance of forgetfulness would it have been, not to touch upon that memorable sacrifice, in which the whole force of the priesthood was comprehended? He proves the honor of Melchizedek from the benediction given, and tithes received: how much better would it have suited this argument to have said, that he offered not lambs or calves, but the life of the world, (that is, the body and blood of Christ,) in a figure? By these arguments the fictions of the ancients are abundantly refuted. Nevertheless, from the very words of Moses a sufficiently lucid refutation may be taken. For we do not there read that anything was offered to God; but in one continued discourse it is stated, ‘He offered bread and wine; and seeing he was priest of the Most High God, he blessed him.’ Who does not see that the same relative pronoun is common to both verbs; and therefore that Abram was both refreshed with the wine, and honored with the benediction? Utterly ridiculous truly are the Papists, who distort the offering Oblationem; yet the word ought not to be rendered oblation, because this term in English always implies that the offering is made to God; whereas Calvin speaks of the bread and wine simply as being presented by Melchizedek to Abram. — Ed. of bread and wine to the sacrifice of their mass. For in order to bring Melchizedek into agreement with themselves, it will be necessary for them to concede that bread and wine are offered in the mass. Where, then, is transubstantiation, which leaves nothing except the bare species of the elements? Then, with what audacity do they declare that the body of Christ is immolated in their sacrifices? Under what pretext, since the Son of God is called the only successor of Melchizedek, do they substitute innumerable successors for him? We see, then, how foolishly they not only deprave this passage, but babble without the color of reason.

19. And he blessed him . Unless these two members of the sentence, ‘He was the priest of God,’ and ‘He blessed,’ cohere together, Moses here relates nothing uncommon. For men mutually bless each other; that is, they wish well to each other. But here the priest of God is described, who, according to the right of his office, sanctifies one inferior and subject to himself. For he would never have dared to bless Abram, unless he had known, that in this respect he excelled him. In this manner the Levitical priests are commanded to bless the people; and God promises that the blessing should be efficacious and ratified, (Numbers 6:23.) So Christ, when about to ascend up to heaven, having lifted up his hands, blessed the Apostles, as a minister of the grace of God, (Luke 24:51;) and then was exhibited the truth of this figure. For he testifies that the office of blessing the Church, which had been adumbrated in Melchizedek, was assigned him by his Father.

Blessed be Abram of the most high God . The design of Melchizedek is to confirm and ratify the grace of the Divine vocation to holy Abram; for he points out the honor with which God had peculiarly dignified him by separating him from all others, and adopting him as his own son. And he calls God, by whom Abram had been chosen, the Possessor of heaven and earth, to distinguish him from the fictitious idols of the Gentiles. Afterwards, indeed, God invests himself with other titles; that, by some peculiar mark, he may render himself more clearly known to men, who, because of the vanity of their mind, when they simply hear of God as the Framer of heaven and earth, never cease to wander, till at length they are lost in their own speculations. But because God was already known to Abram, and his faith was founded upon many miracles, Melchizedek deems it sufficient to declare that, by the title of Creator, “Creationis elogio testari,” etc. — “De donner a Dieu ce titre de Possesseur du ciel et de la terre.” To give to God this title of Possessor of heaven and earth. — French Tr He whom Abram worshipped, is the true and only God. And although Melchizedek himself maintained the sincere worship of the true God, he yet calls Abram blessed of God, in respect of the eternal covenant: as if he would say, that, by a kind of hereditary right, the grace of God resided in one family and nation, because Abram alone had been chosen out of the whole world. Then is added a special congratulation on the victory obtained; not such as is wont to pass between profane men, who puff each other up with inflated encomiums; but Melchizedek gives thanks unto God, and regards the victory which the holy man had gained as a seal of his gratuitous calling.

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; “Nec tunc potuit de manu (quod aiunt) in manum tradere.” — “Ne luy a peu lors builler de main a main, comme on dit.” Nor was he then able to commit it to him, from hand to hand, as they say. — French Tr but there was a solemn stipulation, of which the effect shortly after followed.

21. And the king of Sodom said . Moses having, by the way, interrupted the course of his narrative concerning the king of Sodom, by the mention of the king of Salem, now returns to it again; and says that the king of Sodom came to meet Abram, not only for the sake of congratulating him, but of giving him a due reward. He therefore makes over to him the whole prey, except the men; as if he would says ‘It is a great thing that I recover the men; let all the rest be given to thee as a reward for this benefit.’ And thus to have shown himself grateful to man, would truly have been worthy of commendation; had he not been ungrateful to God, by whose severity and clemency he remained alike unprofited. It was even possible that this man, when poor and deprived of all his goods, might, with a servile affectation of modesty, try to gain the favor of Abram, by asking to have nothing but the captives and the empty city for himself. Certainly we shall afterwards see that the men of Sodom were unmindful of the benefit received, when they proudly and contemptuously vexed righteous Lot.

22. And Abram said to the king of Sodom , I have lift up mine hand , etc A portion of the 22d verse, which is commented upon without being given in the original, is here inserted, in order to make the whole more clear to the reader; it also appears in the French Translation. — Ed. This ancient ceremony was very appropriate to give expression to the force and nature of an oath. For by raising the hand towards heaven, we show that we appeal to God as a witness, and also as an avenger, if we fail to keep our oath. Formerly, indeed, they raised their hands in giving votes; whence the Greeks derive the word (χειροτονεῖν,) Literally, to stretch forth the hand. which signifies to decree: but in the rite of swearing, the reason for doing so was different. For men hereby declared, that they regarded themselves as in the presence of God, and called upon him to be both the Guardian of truth, and the Avenger of perjury. Yet it may seem strange that Abram should so easily have put himself forward to swear; for he knew that a degree of reverence was due to the name of God, which should constrain us to use it but sparingly, and only from necessity. I answer, there were two reasons for his swearing. First, since inconstant men are wont to measure others by their own standard, they seldom place confidence in bare assertions. The king of Sodom, therefore, would have thought that Abram did not seriously remit his right, unless the name of God had been interposed. And, secondly, it was of great consequence, to make it manifest to all, that he had not carried on a mercenary war. The histories of all times sufficiently declare, that even they who have had just causes of war have, nevertheless, been invited to it by the thirst of private gain. And as men are acute in devising pretexts, they are never at a loss to find plausible reasons for war, even though covetousness may be their only real stimulant. Therefore, unless Abram had resolutely refused the spoils of war, the rumor would immediately have spread, that, under the pretense of rescuing his nephew, he had been intent upon grasping the prey. Against which it was necessary for him carefully to guard, not so much for his own sakes as for the glory of God, which would otherwise have received some mark of disparagement. Besides, Abram wished to arm himself with the name of God, as with a shield, against all the allurements of avarice. For the king of Sodom would not have desisted from tempting his mind by various methods, if the occasion for using bland insinuations had not been promptly cut off.

23. That I will not take from a thread even to a shoe - latchet . The Hebrews have an elliptical form of making oath, in which the imprecation of punishment is understood. In some places, the full expression of it occurs in the Scriptures, “The Lord do so to me and more also,” (1 Samuel 14:44.) Since however, it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, in order that the obligation of oaths may be the more binding, this abrupt form of speech admonishes men to reflect on what they are doing; for it is just as if they should put a restraint upon themselves, and should stop suddenly in the midst of their discourse. This indeed is most certain, that men never rashly swear, but they provoke the vengeance of God against them, and make Him their adversary.

Lest thou shouldst say . Although these words seem to denote a mind elated, and too much addicted to fame, yet since Abram is on this point commended by the Spirit, we conclude that this was a truly holy magnanimity. But an exception is added namely that he will not allow his own liberality to be injurious to his allies, nor make them subject to his laws. For this also is not the least part of virtue, to act rightly, yet in such a manner, that we do not bind others to our example, as to a rule. Let every one therefore regard what his own vocation demands, and what pertains to his own duty, in order that men may not prejudge one another according to their own will. For it is a moroseness too imperious, to wish that what we ourselves follow as right, and consonant with our duty, should be prescribed as a law to others.

CHAPTER 15.

Genesis 15:1-21

1. After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

1. Post haec fuit verbum Jehovae ad Abram in visione, dicendo, Ne timeas Abram, ego scutum ero tibi, merces tua multa valde.

2. And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?

2. Et dixit Abram, Dominator Jehova, quid dabis mihi? Et ego incedo orbus, et filius derelictionis domus meae erit iste Dammescenus Elihezer.

3. And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

3. Et dixit Abram, Ecce, mihi non dedisti semen: et ecce, filius domus meae haeres meus est.

4. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.

4. Et ecce verbum Jehovae ad eum, dicendo, Non erit haeres tuus iste, sed qui egredietur de visceribus tuis, ipse haeres tuus erit.

5. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

5. Et eduxit eum foras, et dixit, Suspice nunc coelum, et numera stellas, si poteris numerare eas. Et dixit ei, Sic erit semen tuum.

6. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

6. Et credidit Jehovae, et reputavit illud ei ad justitiam.

7. And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

7. Et dixit ad eum, Ego Jehova qui eduxi to de Ur Chaldeae, ut darem tibi terram istam, ut haeredites eam.

8. And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

8. Et dixit, Dominator Jehova, in quo cognoscam quod haereditabo eam?

9. And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

9. Et dixit ad eum, Tolle mihi vitulam triennem, et capram triennem, et arietem triennem, et turturem, et pullum columbarum.

10. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

10. Et tulit sibi omnia ista, et divisit ea per medium, et posuit quamlibet partem divisionis suae e regione sociae suae; sed aves non divisit.

11. And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

11. Et descenderunt aves super cadavera, et abigebat eas Abram.

12. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

12. Et fuit, sole occumbente sopor cecidit super Abram: et ecce, terror tenebrosus et magnus cadens super eum.

13. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

13. Et dixit ad Abram, Cognoscendo cognosce quod peregrinum erit semen tuum in terra non sua: et servient eis, affligentque eos per quadringentos annos.

14. And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

14. Sed etiam gentem cui servierint, ego judicabo, et postea egredientur cum substantia magna.

15. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

15. Et tu ingredieris ad patres tuos in pace, sepelieris in canitie bona.

16. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

16. Et generatione quarta revertentur huc: quia nondum est completa iniquitas Emoraei.

17. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

17. Et fuit, sole occumbente caligo erat, et ecce furnus fumans, et lampas ignis quae transibat inter divisiones ipsas.

18. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

18. In die ipso pepigit, Jehova cum Abram foedus dicendo, Semini tuo dabo terram hanc a flumine Aegypti, usque ad flumen magnum, flumen Euphratem:

19. The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

19. Cenaeum, et Cenizaeum, et Cadmonaeum,

20. And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

20. Et Hitthaeum, et Perizaeum, et Rephaim,

21. And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

21. Et Emoraeum, et Chenaanaeum, et Girgasaeum, et Jebusaeum.

CHAPTER 14

Ge 14:1-24. War.

1. And it came to pass--This chapter presents Abram in the unexpected character of a warrior. The occasion was this: The king of Sodom and the kings of the adjoining cities, after having been tributaries for twelve years to the king of Elam, combined to throw off his yoke. To chastise their rebellion, as he deemed it, Chedorlaomer, with the aid of three allies, invaded the territories of the refractory princes, defeated them in a pitched battle where the nature of the ground favored his army (Ge 14:10), and hastened in triumph on his homeward march, with a large amount of captives and booty, though merely a stranger.

12. they took Lot ... and his goods, and departed--How would the conscience of that young man now upbraid him for his selfish folly and ingratitude in withdrawing from his kind and pious relative! Whenever we go out of the path of duty, we put ourselves away from God's protection, and cannot expect that the choice we make will be for our lasting good.

13. there came one that had escaped--Abram might have excused himself from taking any active concern in his "brother," that is, nephew, who little deserved that he should incur trouble or danger on his account. But Abram, far from rendering evil for evil, resolved to take immediate measures for the rescue of Lot.

14. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants--domestic slaves, such as are common in Eastern countries still and are considered and treated as members of the family. If Abram could spare three hundred and eighteen slaves and leave a sufficient number to take care of the flocks, what a large establishment he must have had.

15-16. he divided himself ... by night--This war between the petty princes of ancient Canaan is exactly the same as the frays and skirmishes between Arab chiefs in the present day. When a defeated party resolves to pursue the enemy, they wait till they are fast asleep; then, as they have no idea of posting sentinels, they rush upon them from different directions, strike down the tent poles--if there is any fight at all, it is the fray of a tumultuous mob--a panic commonly ensues, and the whole contest is ended with little or no loss on either side.

18. Melchizedek--This victory conferred a public benefit on that part of the country; and Abram, on his return, was treated with high respect and consideration, particularly by the king of Sodom and Melchizedek, who seems to have been one of the few native princes, if not the only one, who knew and worshipped, "the most high God," whom Abram served. This king who was a type of the Saviour (He 7:1), came to bless God for the victory which had been won, and in the name of God to bless Abram, by whose arms it had been achieved--a pious acknowledgment which we should imitate on succeeding in any lawful enterprise.

20. 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 (Pr 3:9).

21. the king of Sodom said ... Give me the persons--According to the war customs still existing among the Arab tribes, Abram might have retained the recovered goods, and his right was acknowledged by the king of Sodom. But with honest pride, and a generosity unknown in that part of the world, he replied with strong phraseology common to the East, "I have lifted up mine hand" [that is, I have sworn] unto the Lord that I will not take from a thread even to a sandal-thong, and that that I will not take any thing that [is] thine, lest thou shouldst say, I have made Abram rich" [Ge 14:22, 23].

In the days of Amraphel - Who this king was is not known; and yet, from the manner in which he is spoken of in the text, it would seem that he was a person well known, even when Moses wrote this account. But the Vulgate gives a different turn to the place, by rendering the passage thus: Factum est in illo tempore, ut Amraphel, etc. "It came to pass in that time that Amraphel, etc." The Chaldee Targum of Onkelos makes Amraphel king of Babylon, others make him king of Assyria; some make him the same as Nimrod, and others, one of his descendants.

Arioch king of Ellasar - Some think Syria is meant; but conjecture is endless where facts cannot be ascertained. Chedorlaomer king of Elam - Dr. Shuckford thinks that this was the same as Ninyas, the son of Ninus and Semiramis; and some think him to be the same with Keeumras, son of Doolaved, son of Arphaxad, son of Shem, son of Noah; and that Elam means Persia; see Gen 10:22. The Persian historians unanimously allow that Keeumras, whose name bears some affinity to Chedorlaomer, was the first king of the Peeshdadian dynasty.

Tidal king of nations - גוים goyim, different peoples or clans. Probably some adventurous person, whose subjects were composed of refugees from different countries.

These made war with Bera, etc. - It appears, from Gen 14:4, that these five Canaanitish kings had been subdued by Chedorlaomer, and were obliged to pay him tribute; and that, having been enslaved by him twelve years, wishing to recover their liberty, they revolted in the thirteenth; in consequence of which Chedorlaomer, the following year, summoned to his assistance three of his vassals, invaded Canaan, fought with and discomfited the kings of the Pentapolis or five cities - Sodom, Gomorrah, Zeboiim, Zoar, and Admab, which were situated in the fruitful plain of Siddim, having previously overrun the whole land.

Rephaims - A people of Canaan: Gen 15:20.

Ashteroth - A city of Basan, where Og afterwards reigned; Jos 13:31.

Zuzims - Nowhere else spoken of, unless they were the same with the Zamzummims, Deu 2:20, as some imagine.

Emims - A people great and many in the days of Moses, and tall as the Anakim. They dwelt among the Moabites, by whom they were reputed giants; Deu 2:10, Deu 2:11.

Shaveh Kiriathaim - Rather, as the margin, the plain of Kiriathaim, which was a city afterwards belonging to Sihon king of Heshbon; Jos 13:19.

The Horites - A people that dwelt in Mount Seir, till Esau and his sons drove them thence; Deu 2:22.

El-paran - The plain or oak of Paran, which was a city in the wilderness of Paran; Gen 21:21.

En-mishpat - The well of judgment; probably so called from the judgment pronounced by God on Moses and Aaron for their rebellion at that place; Num 20:1-10.

Amalekites - So called afterwards, from Amalek, son of Esau; Gen 36:12.

Hazezon-tamar - Called, in the Chaldee, Engaddi; a city in the land of Canaan, which fell to the lot of Judah; Jos 15:62. See also 2Chr 20:2. It appears, from Sol 1:14, to have been a very fruitful place.

Bela, the same is Zoar - That is, it was called Zoar after the destruction of Sodom, etc., mentioned in Genesis 19.

Slime-pits - Places where asphaltus or bitumen sprang out of the ground; this substance abounded in that country.

Fell there - It either signifies they were defeated on this spot, and many of them slain, or that multitudes of them had perished in the bitumen-pits which abounded there; that the place was full of pits we learn from the Hebrew, which reads here בארת בארת beeroth beeroth, pits, pits, i.e., multitudes of pits. A bad place to maintain a fight on, or to be obliged to run through in order to escape.

They took all the goods, etc. - This was a predatory war, such as the Arabs carry on to the present day; they pillage a city, town, or caravan; and then escape with the booty to the wilderness, where it would ever be unsafe, and often impossible, to pursue them.

They took Lot, etc. - The people, being exceedingly wicked, had provoked God to afflict them by means of those marauding kings; and Lot also suffered, being found in company with the workers of iniquity. Every child remembers the fable of the Geese and Cranes; the former, being found feeding where the latter were destroying the grain, were all taken in the same net. Let him that readeth understand.

Abram the Hebrew - See note on Gen 10:21. It is very likely that Abram had this appellation from his coming from beyond the river Euphrates to enter Canaan; for העברי haibri, which we render the Hebrew, comes from עבר abar, to pass over, or come from beyond. It is supposed by many that he got this name from Eber or Heber, son of Salah; see Gen 11:15. But why he should get a name from Heber, rather than from his own father, or some other of his progenitors, no person has yet been able to discover. We may, therefore, safely conclude that he bears the appellation of Hebrew or Ibrite from the above circumstance, and not from one of his progenitors, of whom we know nothing but the name, and who preceded Abram not less than six generations; and during the whole of that time till the time marked here, none of his descendants were ever called Hebrews; this is a demonstration that Abram was not called the Hebrew from Heber; see Gen 11:15-27.

These were confederate with Abram - It seems that a kind of convention was made between Abram and the three brothers, Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner, who were probably all chieftains in the vicinity of Abram's dwelling: all petty princes, similar to the nine kings before mentioned.

He armed his trained servants - These amounted to three hundred and eighteen in number: and how many were in the divisions of Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner, we know not; but they and their men certainly accompanied him in this expedition. See Gen 14:24.

And he divided himself against them - It required both considerable courage and address in Abram to lead him to attack the victorious armies of these four kings with so small a number of troops, and on this occasion both his skill and his courage are exercised. His affection for Lot appears to have been his chief motive; he cheerfully risks his life for that nephew who had lately chosen the best part of the land, and left his uncle to live as he might, on what he did not think worthy his own acceptance. But it is the property of a great and generous mind, not only to forgive, but to forget offenses; and at all times to repay evil with good.

And he brought back - the women also - This is brought in by the sacred historian with peculiar interest and tenderness. All who read the account must be in pain for the fate of wives and daughters fallen into the hands of a ferocious, licentious, and victorious soldiery. Other spoils the routed confederates might have left behind; and yet on their swift asses, camels, and dromedaries, have carried off the female captives. However, Abram had disposed his attack so judiciously, and so promptly executed his measures, that not only all the baggage, but all the females also, were recovered.

The king of Sodom went out to meet him - This could not have been Bera, mentioned Gen 14:2, for it seems pretty evident, from Gen 14:10, that both he and Birsha, king of Gomorrah, were slain at the bitumen-pits in the vale of Siddim; but another person in the meantime might have succeeded to the government.

And Melchizedek, king of Salem - A thousand idle stories have been told about this man, and a thousand idle conjectures spent on the subject of his short history given here and in Heb. vii. At present it is only necessary to state that he appears to have been as real a personage as Bera, Birsha, or Shinab, though we have no more of his genealogy than we have of theirs.

Brought forth bread and wine - Certainly to refresh Abram and his men, exhausted with the late battle and fatigues of the journey; not in the way of sacrifice, etc.; this is an idle conjecture.

He was the priest of the most high God - He had preserved in his family and among his subjects the worship of the true God, and the primitive patriarchal institutions; by these the father of every family was both king and priest, so Melchizedek, being a worshipper of the true God, was priest among the people, as well as king over them.

Melchizedek is called here king of Salem, and the most judicious interpreters allow that by Salem, Jerusalem is meant. That it bore this name anciently is evident from Psa 76:1, Psa 76:2 : "In Judah is God known; his name is great in Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion." From the use made of this part of the sacred history by David, Psa 110:4, and by St. Paul, Heb 7:1-10, we learn that there was something very mysterious, and at the same time typical, in the person, name, office, residence, and government of this Canaanitish prince. 1. In his person he was a representative and type of Christ; see the scriptures above referred to. 2. His name, מלכי צדק malki tsedek, signifies my righteous king, or king of righteousness. This name he probably had from the pure and righteous administration of his government; and this is one of the characters of our blessed Lord, a character which can be applied to him only, as he alone is essentially righteous, and the only Potentate; but a holy man, such as Melchizedek, might bear this name as his type or representative. 3. Office; he was a priest of the most high God. The word כהן cohen, which signifies both prince and priest, because the patriarchs sustained this double office, has both its root and proper signification in the Arabic; kahana signifies to approach, draw near, have intimate access to; and from hence to officiate as priest before God, and thus have intimate access to the Divine presence: and by means of the sacrifices which he offered he received counsel and information relative to what was yet to take place, and hence another acceptation of the word, to foretell, predict future events, unfold hidden things or mysteries; so the lips of the priests preserved knowledge, and they were often the interpreters of the will of God to the people. Thus we find that Melchizedek, being a priest of the most high God, represented Christ in his sacerdotal character, the word priest being understood as before explained. 4. His residence; he was king of Salem. שלם shalam signifies to make whole, complete, or perfect; and hence it means peace, which implies the making whole the breaches made in the political and domestic union of kingdoms, states, families, etc., making an end of discord, and establishing friendship. Christ is called the Prince of peace, because, by his incarnation, sacrifice, and mediation, he procures and establishes peace between God and man; heals the breaches and dissensions between heaven and earth, reconciling both; and produces glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and good will among men. His residence is peace and quietness and assurance for ever, in every believing upright heart. He governs as the Prince and Priest of the most high God, ruling in righteousness, mighty to save; and he ever lives to make intercession for, and save to the uttermost all who come unto the Father by him. See the notes on Hebrews 7 (note).

And he blessed him - This was a part of the priest's office, to bless in the name of the Lord, for ever. See the form of this blessing, Num 6:23-26; and for the meaning of the word to bless, see Gen 2:3 (note).

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 favors, 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.

I have lift up mine hand - The primitive mode of appealing to God, and calling him to witness a particular transaction; this no doubt generally obtained among the faithful till circumcision, the sign of the covenant, was established. After this, in swearing, the hand was often placed on the circumcised part; see Gen 24:2, Gen 24:9.

From a thread even to a shoelatchet - This was certainly a proverbial mode of expression, the full meaning of which is perhaps not known. Among the rabbinical writers חוט chut, or חוטי chuti, signifies a fillet worn by young women to tie up their hair; taken in this sense it will give a good meaning here. As Abram had rescued both the men and women carried off by the confederate kings, and the king of Sodom had offered him all the goods, claiming only the persons, he answers by protesting against the accepting any of their property: "I have vowed unto the Lord, the proprietor of heaven and earth, that I will not receive the smallest portion of the property either of the women or men, from a girl's fillet to a man's shoe-tie."

Save only that which the young men have eaten - His own servants had partaken of the victuals which the confederate kings had carried away; see Gen 14:11. This was unavoidable, and this is all he claims; but as he had no right to prescribe the same liberal conduct to his assistants, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, he left them to claim the share that by right of conquest belonged to them of the recaptured booty. Whether they were as generous as Abram we are not told.

The great variety of striking incidents in this chapter the attentive reader has already carefully noted. To read and not understand is the property of the foolish and the inconsiderate. 1. We have already seen the danger to which Lot exposed himself in preferring a fertile region, though peopled with the workers of iniquity. His sorrows commence in the captivity of himself and family, and the loss of all his property, though by the good providence of God he and they were rescued. 2. Long observation has proved that the company a man keeps is not an indifferent thing; it will either be the means of his salvation or destruction. 3. A generous man cannot be contented with mere personal safety while others are in danger, nor with his own prosperity while others are in distress. Abram, hearing of the captivity of his nephew, determines to attempt his rescue; he puts himself at the head of his own servants, three hundred and eighteen in number, and the few assistants with which his neighbors, Mamre, Aner, and Eshcol, could furnish him; and, trusting in God and the goodness of his cause, marches off to attack four confederate kings! 4. Though it is not very likely that the armies of those petty kings could have amounted to many thousands, yet they were numerous enough to subdue almost the whole land of Canaan; and consequently, humanly speaking, Abram must know that by numbers he could not prevail, and that in this case particularly the battle was the Lord's. 5. While depending on the Divine blessing and succor he knew he must use the means he had in his power; he therefore divided his troops skilfully that he might attack the enemy at different points at the same time, and he chooses the night season to commence his attack, that the smallness of his force might not be discovered. God requires a man to use all the faculties he has given him in every lawful enterprise, and only in the conscientious use of them can he expect the Divine blessing; when this is done the event may be safely trusted in the hands of God. 6. Here is a war undertaken by Abram on motives the most honorable and conscientious; it was to repel aggression, and to rescue the innocent from the heaviest of sufferings and the worst of slavery, not for the purpose of plunder nor the extension of his territories; therefore he takes no spoils, and returns peaceably to his own possessions. How happy would the world be were every sovereign actuated by the same spirit! 7. We have already noticed the appearance, person, office, etc., of Melchizedek; and, without indulging in the wild theories of either ancient or modern visionaries, have considered him as the Scriptures do, a type of Christ. All that has been already spoken on this head may be recapitulated in a few words. 1. The Redeemer of the world is the King of righteousness; he creates it, maintains it, and rules by it. 2. His empire is the empire of peace; this he proclaims to them who are afar off, and to them that are nigh; to the Jew and to the Gentile. 3. He is Priest of the most high God, and has laid down his life for the sin of the world; and through this sacrifice the blessing of God is derived on them that believe. Reader, take him for thy King as well as thy Priest; he saves those only who submit to his authority and take his Spirit for the regulator of their heart, and his word for the director of their conduct. How many do we find, among those who would be sorry to be rated so low as to rank only with nominal Christians, talking of Christ as their Prophet, Priest, and King, who are not taught by his word and Spirit, who apply not for redemption in his blood, and who submit not to his authority! Reader, learn this deep and important truth: "Where I am there also shall my servant be; and he that serveth me, him shall my Father honor."

We have here an account of the first war that ever we read of in scripture, in which we may observe. [1.] The parties engaged in it. The invaders were four kings; two of them no less than kings of Shinar and Elam - That is, Chaldea and Persia; yet probably not the sovereign princes of those great kingdoms, but rather the heads of some colonies which came out thence, and settled themselves near Sodom, but retained the names of the countries from which they had their original. The invaded were the kings of five cities that lay near together in the plain of Jordan, Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar. [2.] The occasion of this war was, the revolt of the five kings from under the government of Chedorlaomer.

Twelve years they served him - The Sodomites were the posterity of Canaan, whom Noah had pronounced a servant to Shem, from whom Elam descended. Thus soon did that prophecy begin to be fulfilled. In the thirteenth year, beginning to be weary of their subjection, they rebelled - Denied their tribute, and attempted to shake off the yoke.

In the fourteenth year - After some pause and preparation, Chedorlaomer, in conjunction with his allies, set himself to reduce the revolters. [3.] The progress of the war. The four kings laid the neighbouring countries waste, and enriched themselves with the spoil of them, Ge 14:5,6,7. Upon the alarm of which, the king of Sodom and his allies went out and were routed.

We have here an account of the only military action we ever find Abram engaged in; and this he was not prompted to by avarice or ambition, but purely by a principle of charity.

He armed his trained servants, born in his house - To the number of three hundred and eighteen: a great family, but a small army; about as many as Gideon's that routed the Midianites, Jud 7:7. He drew out his trained servants, or his catechized servants; not only instructed in the art of war, but instructed in the principles of religion; for Abram commanded his household to keep the way of the Lord.

His brother Lot - That is, his kinsman.

The Rabbins say, that Melchizedek was Shem the son of Noah, who was king and priest to those that descended from him, according to the patriarchal model. Many Christian writers have thought that this was an appearance of the Son of God himself, our Lord Jesus, known to Abram at this time by this name. But as nothing is expressly revealed concerning it, we can determine nothing. He brought forth bread and wine - For the refreshment of Abram and his soldiers, and in congratulation of their victory. This he did as a king. As priest of the most high God he blessed Abram, which we may suppose a greater refreshment to Abram than his bread and wine were.

Blessed be Abram, of the most high God - Observe the titles he here gives to God, which are very glorious. The most high God, which speaks his absolute perfections in himself, and his sovereign dominion over all the creatures. Possessor of heaven and earth - That is, rightful owner and sovereign Lord of all the creatures; because he made them.

And blessed be the most high God - Note, 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. 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 7:4. This may be looked upon, As a gratuity presented to Melchizedek, by way of return for his respects. 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.

Give me the souls, and take thou the substance - So the Hebrew reads it. Here he fairly begs the persons, but as freely bestows the goods on Abram. Gratitude teaches us to recompense to the utmost of our power those that have undergone fatigues, or been at expence for our service.

I have lift up mine hand to the Lord that I will not take anything - Here Observe, The titles he gives to God, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth - The same that Melchizedek had just now used. It is good to learn of others how to order our speech concerning God, and to imitate those who speak well in divine things. The ceremony used in this oath; I have lift up my hand - In religious swearing we appeal to God's knowledge of our truth and sincerity, and imprecate his wrath if we swear falsely; and the lifting up of the hands is expressive of both. Lest thou shouldst say, I have made Abram rich - Probably, Abram knew the king of Sodom to be a proud and scornful man, and one that would be apt to turn such a thing as this to his reproach afterwards, and when we have to do with such men, we have need to act with particular caution.

From a thread to a shoe - latchet - Not the least thing that had ever belonged to the king of Sodom.

1. AND it came to pass in the days of Amraphel King of Shinar, Arioch King of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer King of Elam, and Tidal King of Nations .

i. e. Of a People which came to him out of several Nations, being allured possibly by his Fame or by Promises and Priviledges granted to them, and put themselves under his Government. Or Goii[illegible: 1+ letters] is the name of a certain place, or Countrey so called from the confluence of divers People or Nations thither, as Tyrus is called the M[illegible: 1+ letters]t of Nations, [illegible: 1 word] ▪ 23. 3. upon the same account.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1+ letters]osh. 12. 23.

2. That these made War with Bera King of Sodom, and with Birsha King of Gomorrah, Shinab King of Admah, and Shemeber King of Zeboiim, and the King of Bela which is Zoar.

Once for all observe that the name of Kings is here and elsewhere given by Moses to the Chief Governours of Cities or little Provinces. Compare I[illegible: 1+ letters]. 12.

Marginal references: Chap. 1[illegible: 1+ letters]. [illegible: 1 word].

3. All these were joyned together in the Vale of Siddim, which is the salt Sea.

Which now is, though when this Battle was fought it was not so.

4. Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer , and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

Who was their Lord either 1. By Inheritance, as the issue of Elam, S[illegible: 1+ letters]ms Son, Gen. 10. 22. Or, 2. By Conquest, having subdued those People in a former War, which Iosephus speaks of.

5. And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the Kings that were with him , and smote the Rephaims in Ashtaroth-Karnaim , and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims , in Shaveh-Kiriathaim .

(i. e.) Confederate with him for the recovery of his right, expecting the same assistance from him upon the like occasion.

A fierce and warlike People of Ca[illegible: 1+ letters]an. See G[illegible: 1+ letters]n. 15. 20. Or the Giants, as this word is taken, Deut. 2. 11.

A place in B[illegible: 1+ letters]san called [illegible: 1 word], Deut. 1. 4. Ios. 9. 10. and 13. 31. It is surnamed Ca[illegible: 1+ letters]aim, q. d. Two hor[illegible: 1+ letters]d, like a half Moon, either from the situation and form of the place, or from the Goddess Diana or the Moon, which usually was painted with two horns, whom they Worshipped.

A People in [illegible: 1 word] of Giant-like stature, Deut. 2 10, 11.

Kiriathaim is a noted City in Gilead, and Shav[illegible: 1+ letters] may be either the antient name of that City, or the present name of the Country adjoyning and belonging to it.

Marginal references: Or, the plain of Kiriathaim.

6. And the Horites in the Mount Seir, unto El-paran , which is by the wilderness.

The antient Inhabitants of Seir, of whom see Gen. 36. 20. and Deut. 2. 12.

El signi[illegible: 1+ letters]ies a Plain, and Paran is the name of a known City and Mountain. See N[illegible: 1+ letters]. 13. 3. Deut. 33. 2. 1 Sam. 25. 1. &c.

Marginal references: Or, the plain of Paran.

7. And they returned and came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh , and smote all the Countrey of the Amalekites , and also the Amorites that dwelt in Hazezon-tamar.

(i. e.) Which after that time was called Kades[illegible: 1+ letters], of which see Num. 20. 1, 14. &c.

(i. e.) Which afterwards was possessed by the Amalekites, Gen. 26. 12. A known figure called Prolepsis.

10. And the Vale of Siddim was full of slimepits : And the Kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell there: And they that remained, fled to the Mountain.

And therefore chosen by those five Kings for the place of Battle, that their Adver[illegible: 1+ letters]ries being ignorant of the place might unawares fall into those pits, which they by their knowledge of it, thought to escape.

(i. e.) Their Armies: a figurative speech frequent in Scripture and other Authours: For their persons escaped, see ver. 17.

Either 1. Fell into the pits which they designed for others. Or rather 2. Were slain; as this word is oft used, as Ios. 8. 24, 25. Iudg. 8. 10. and 12. 6. and here too, for those that fell are here opposed to those that remained.

Marginal references: Heb. pits pits.

12 And they took Lot , Abrams brothers Son (who dwelt in Sodom) and his Goods, and departed.

Who now suffered for his co-habitation with bad Neighbours.

13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew , for he dwelt in the Plain of Mamre the Amorite, Brother of Eshcol, and Brother of Aner: And these were confederate with Abram .

So called, either, 1. From his great and good Predecessour Eber, Gen. 10. 24. and 11. 14. in and by whom the primitive Language and true Religion were preserved, and therefore, though Abram had five other Progenitors between Eber and him, which were persons of less note, he is rightly denominated from Eber, the Hebrew, because he was the first that revived the memory and the work of Eber, that kept up the same Language, and eminently propagated the same true Religion. Or 2. As others think from his passing over the River Euphrates, from beyond which he came into Canaan.

i. e. Had entred into a League for their mutual defence against common Enemies. Whence we learn that it is not simply and universally unlawful to make a League, with persons of a false Religion.

14 And when Abram heard that his Brother was taken Captive; he armed his trained Servants born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan .

(i. e.) Whom he had disciplined and instructed both in Religion and in the Military Art too, both which were necessary to make them good Souldiers, that they might both fight with skill and courage, and also rely upon God and engage his assistance; which was now especially necessary, when so small a party were to engage against so numerous an Army.

This is commonly thought to be a Town then called Leshem, Ios. 19. 47. or Laish, Iudg. 18. 7. and afterwards Dan. See Iudg. 18. 7, 29. So it is an anticipation. But it may be doubted whether this was a City, or if it were, whether it were not another Town called by the same name, which was frequent in those parts. And some think this is not a Town, but the very Fountain of Dan, whence Iordan had its Name.

Marginal references: Or, led forth.; Or, instructed.

15 And he divided himself against them, he and his Servants by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hoba, which is on the left hand of Damascus:

(i. e.) His forces into several parties, that coming upon them from several quarters he might strike them with greater terrour, whilst they thought his Army far more numerous than it was.

16 And he brought back all the goods , and also brought again his Brother Lot, and his goods, and the Women also, and the People.

Which the victorious Kings had taken from the Princes and People mentioned before in this Chapter.

17 And the King of Sodom went out to meet him (after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the Kings that were with him) at the Valley of Shaveh, which is the Kings dale .

So called either upon this occasion of the meeting of divers Kings here: Or because King Melchizedek either had his Habitation, or was much delighted with it, and conversant in it. See 2 Sam. 18. 18.

Marginal references: 2 Sam. 18. 18.

18 And Melchizedek King of Salem brought forth Bread and Wine . And he was the Priest of the most High God .

Quest. Who was this? Answ. 1. Sem, as the Jews and many others think, who probably was alive at this time, and, no doubt, a great Prince. But neither is it probable that Sem should be a King among the cursed race of Ham; nor will this agree with the Apostles description of Melchizedek▪ Heb. 7. 3. Without Father and Mother, &c. Whereas Sems Parents and the beginning and end of his days are as expresly mentioned by Moses as any other. 2, A Canaanitish King by the Divine Providence made both a King over men, and Priest unto the true God, brought in here in this unusual manner, without any mention of his Parents Birth or Death, for this end, that he might be an illustrious Type of Christ. Of this matter see more upon Heb. 7. 3.

(i. e.) Of Ierusalem, called elsewhere Iebus, and Salem, Psal. 76. 2.

Not for Sacrifice to God; for then he had brought forth Beasts to be slain, which were the usual and best Sacrifices: But partly to shew the respect which he bore to Abram, and principally to refresh his weary and hungry Army, according to the manner of those times. See Deut. 23. 3, 4. and 25. 18. Iudg. 8. 5, 6, 15. 1 Sam. 17. 17.

Thus in succeeding Ages the same perso[illegible: 1+ letters]s were often both Kings and Priests, as the learned note out of Virgil and other Authours. And this clause is here added as the cause and reason, not for his bringing forth or offering Bread and Wine, as some would have it, (for that is ascribed to him as a King, as an act of Royal munificence) but of the following benediction and decimation.

For in those times God had his remnant scattered here and there even in the worst Places and Nations.

Marginal references: Heb, 7. 1.

19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessour of Heaven and Earth.

Or, Therefore (as the particle is oft taken, (i. e.) because he was a Priest of God) he (i. e.) Melchizedek) blessed him, (Abraham) which was one act of the Priestly Office. See on Heb. 7. 6, 7.

So it is a prayer for him that God would confirm and increase the blessing which he had given him. Or, Blessea is: So it is an acknowledgement of Gods blessing conferred upon Abraham both formerly and in this late and great victory. Or, blessed shall be: So it is a prediction concerning his future and further blessedness, whereof this was only an earnest.

20 And blessed be the Most High God, which hath delivered thine Enemies into thy hand: And he gave him Tithes of all .

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, ver. 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, as is here described to be.

Not of all the recovered Goods, but of all the spoils taken from the Enemies.

Marginal references: Heb. 7. 4.

22 And Abram said to the King of Sodom, I have lift up my hand unto the LORD, the Most High God, the possessour of Heaven and Earth.

(i. e.) Swore; for this was the antient manner of swearing. See Exod. 6. 8. Numb. 14. 30. Deut. 32. 40. Ezek. 20. 5, 6.

23 That I will not take from a thred even to a shoe-latchet , and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldst say, I have made Abram rich .

Heb. If I shall take. Understand, God do so and so to me, which is expressed 1 Sam. 14. 44. A defective manner of Swearing used amongst the Hebrews, either to maintain the reverence of Oaths and the dread of Perjury, seeing they were afraid so much as to mention the Curse which they meant; or to shew that they were willing to submit to any punishment which God should inflict upon them without exception, if they violated their Oaths.

(i. e.) Any thing though never so small or mean.

(i. e.) Lest thou shouldst claim a share with God in the honour due to him, to whose blessing alone I do, and I will owe my riches. Or, lest thou shouldst say, Abraham is enriched with my spoiles, and however he pretended kindness and charity, yet indeed it was his covetousness that put him upon this work.

24 Save onely that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me , Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre: Let them take their portion.

For as Abram had a right to spoils, so had they, whether they joyned with him in the Battle, as it is conceived they did, or, onely abode by the stuffe, 1 Sam. 30. 24. and therefore though he might and did give away his own right, he could not give away other mens.

Gen 14:1-2

In Gen 14:1-3 the account is introduced by a list of the parties engaged in war. The kings named here are not mentioned again. On Shinar, see Gen 10:10; and on Elam, Gen 10:22. It cannot be determined with certainty where Ellasar was. Knobel supposes it to be Artemita, which was also called Χαλάσαρ, in southern Assyria, to the north of Babylon. Goyim is not used here for nations generally, but is the name of one particular nation or country. In Delitzsch's opinion it is an older name for Galilee, though probably with different boundaries (cf. Jos 12:23; Jdg 4:2; and Isa 9:1). - The verb עשׂוּ (made), in Gen 14:2, is governed by the kings mentioned in Gen 14:1. To Bela, whose king is not mentioned by name, the later name Zoar (vid., Gen 19:22) is added as being better known.

Gen 14:3

“All these (five kings) allied themselves together, (and came with their forces) into the vale of Siddim (השׂדּים, prob. fields of plains), which is the Salt Sea;” that is to say, which was changed into the Salt Sea on the destruction of its cities (Gen 19:24-25). That there should be five kings in the five cities (πεντάπολις, Wis. 10:6) of this valley, was quite in harmony with the condition of Canaan, where even at a later period every city had its king.

Gen 14:4-6

The occasion of the war was the revolt of the kings of the vale of Siddim from Chedorlaomer. They had been subject to him for twelve years, “and the thirteenth year they rebelled.” In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came with his allies to punish them for their rebellion, and attacked on his way several other cities to the east of the Arabah, as far as the Elanitic Gulf, no doubt because they also had withdrawn from his dominion. The army moved along the great military road from inner Asia, past Damascus, through Peraea, where they smote the Rephaims, Zuzims, Emims, and Horites. “The Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim:” all that is known with certainty of the Rephaim is, that they were a tribe of gigantic stature, and in the time of Abram had spread over the whole of Peraea, and held not only Bashan, but the country afterwards possessed by the Moabites; from which possessions they were subsequently expelled by the descendants of Lot and the Amorites, and so nearly exterminated, that Og, king of Bashan, is described as the remnant of the Rephaim (Deu 2:20; Deu 3:11, Deu 3:13; Jos 12:4; Jos 13:12). Beside this, there were Rephaim on this side of the Jordan among the Canaanitish tribes (Gen 15:20), some to the west of Jerusalem, in the valley which was called after them the valley of the Rephaim (Jos 15:8; Jos 18:16; 2Sa 5:18, etc.), others on the mountains of Ephraim (Jos 17:15); while the last remains of them were also to be found among the Philistines (2Sa 21:16.; 1Ch 20:4.). The current explanation of the name, viz., “the long-stretched,” or giants (Ewald), does not prevent our regarding רפא as the personal name of their forefather, though no intimation is given of their origin. That they were not Canaanites may be inferred from the fact, that on the eastern side of the Jordan they were subjugated and exterminated by the Canaanitish branch of the Amorites. Notwithstanding this, they may have been descendants of Ham, though the fact that the Canaanites spoke a Semitic tongue rather favours the conclusion that the oldest population of Canaan, and therefore the Rephaim, were of Semitic descent. At any rate, the opinion of J. G. Müller, that they belonged to the aborigines, who were not related to Shem, Ham, and Japhet, is perfectly arbitrary. - Ashteroth Karnaim, or briefly Ashtaroth, the capital afterwards of Og of Bashan, was situated in Hauran; and ruins of it are said to be still seen in Tell Ashtereh, two hours and a half from Nowah, and one and three-quarters from the ancient Edrei, somewhere between Nowah and Mezareib (see Ritter, Erdkunde).J. G. Wetztein, however, has lately denied the identity of Ashteroth Karnaim, which he interprets as meaning Ashtaroth near Karnaim, with Ashtaroth the capital of Og (see Reiseber. üb. Hauran, etc. 1860, p. 107). But he does so without sufficient reason. He disputes most strongly the fact that Ashtaroth was situated on the hill Ashtere, because the Arabs now in Hauran assured him, that the ruins of this Tell (or hill) suggested rather a monastery or watch-tower than a large city, and associates it with the Bostra of the Greeks and Romans, the modern Bozra, partly on account of the central situation of this town, and its consequent importance to Hauran and Peraea generally, and partly also on account of the similarity in the name, as Bostra is the latinized form of Beeshterah, which we find in Jos 21:27 in the place of the Ashtaroth of 1Ch 6:56; and that form is composed of Beth Ashtaroth, to which there are as many analogies as there are instances of the omission of Beth before the names of towns, which is a sufficient explanation of Ashtaroth (cf. Ges. thes., p. 175 and 193).

“The Zuzims in Ham” were probably the people whom the Ammonites called Zam zummim, and who were also reckoned among the Rephaim (Deu 2:20). Ham was possibly the ancient name of Rabba of the Ammonites (Deu 3:11), the remains being still preserved in the ruins of Ammân. - “The Emim in the plain of Kiryathaim:” the אימים or אמים (i.e., fearful, terrible), were the earlier inhabitants of the country of the Moabites, who gave them the name; and, like the Anakim, they were also reckoned among the Rephaim (Deu 2:11). Kiryathaim is certainly not to be found where Eusebius and Jerome supposed, viz., in Καριάδα, Coraiatha, the modern Koerriath or Kereyat, ten miles to the west of Medabah; for this is not situated in the plain, and corresponds to Kerioth (Jer 48:24), with which Eusebius and Jerome have confounded Kiryathaim. It is probably still to be seen in the ruins of el Teym or et Tueme, about a mile to the west of Medabah. “The Horites (from חרי, dwellers in caves), in the mountains of Seir,” were the earlier inhabitants of the land between the Dead Sea and the Elanitic Gulf, who were conquered and exterminated by the Edomites (Gen 36:20.). - “To El-paran, which is by the wilderness:” i.e., on the eastern side of the desert of Paran (see Gen 21:21), probably the same as Elath (Deu 2:8) or Eloth (1Ki 9:26), the important harbour of Aila on the northern extremity of the so-called Elanitic Gulf, near the modern fortress of Akaba, where extensive heaps of rubbish show the site of the former town, which received its name El or Elath (terebinth, or rather wood) probably from the palm-groves in the vicinity.

Gen 14:7

From Aila the conquerors turned round, and marched (not through the Arabah, but on the desert plateau which they ascended from Aila) to En-mishpat (well of judgment), the older name of Kadesh, the situation of which, indeed, cannot be proved with certainty, but which is most probably to be sought for in the neighbourhood of the spring Ain Kades, discovered by Rowland, to the south of Bir Seba and Khalasa (Elusa), twelve miles E.S.E. of Moyle, the halting-place for caravans, near Hagar’s well (Gen 16:14), on the heights of Jebel Halal (see Ritter, Erdkunde, and Num 13). “And they smote all the country of the Amalekites,” i.e., the country afterwards possessed by the Amalekites (vid., Gen 26:12),The circumstance that in the midst of a list of tribes who were defeated, we find not the tribe but only the fields (שׂדה) of the Amalekites mentioned, can only be explained on the supposition that the nation of the Amalekites was not then in existence, and the country was designated proleptically by the name of its future and well-known inhabitants (Hengstenberg, Diss. ii. p. 249, translation). to the west of Edomitis on the southern border of the mountains of Judah (Num 13:29), “and also the Amorites, who dwelt in Hazazon-Thamar,” i.e., Engedi, on the western side of the Dead Sea (2Ch 20:2).

Gen 14:8-12

After conquering all these tribes to the east and west of the Arabah, they gave battle to the kings of the Pentapolis in the vale of Siddim, and put them to flight. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fell there, the valley being full of asphalt-pits, and the ground therefore unfavourable for flight; but the others escaped to the mountains (הרה for ההרה), that is, to the Moabitish highlands with their numerous defiles. The conquerors thereupon plundered the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and carried off Lot, who dwelt in Sodom, and all his possessions, along with the rest of the captives, probably taking the route through the valley of the Jordan up to Damascus.

Gen 14:13-16

A fugitive (lit., the fugitive; the article denotes the genus, Ewald, §277) brought intelligence of this to Abram the Hebrew (העברי, an immigrant from beyond the Euphrates). Abram is so called in distinction from Mamre and his two brothers, who were Amorites, and had made a defensive treaty with him. To rescue Lot, Abram ordered his trained slaves (חניכיו, i.e., practised in arms) born in the house (cf. Gen 17:12), 318 men, to turn out (lit., to pour themselves out); and with these, and (as the supplementary remark in Gen 14:24 shows) with his allies, he pursued the enemy as far as Dan, where “he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night,” - i.e., he divided his men into companies, who fell upon the enemy by night from different sides - “smote them, and pursued them to Hobah, to the left (or north) of Damascus.” Hobah has probably been preserved in the village of Noba, mentioned by Troilo, a quarter of a mile to the north of Damascus. So far as the situation of Dan is concerned, this passage proves that it cannot have been identical with Leshem or Laish in the valley of Beth Rehob, which the Danites conquered and named Dan (Jdg 18:28-29; Jos 19:47); for this Laish-Dan was on the central source of the Jordan, el Leddan in Tell el Kady, which does not lie in either of the two roads, leading from the vale of Siddim or of the Jordan to Damascus.One runs below the Sea of Galilee past Fik and Nowa, almost in a straight line to Damascus; the other from Jacob’s Bridge, below Lake Merom. But if the enemy, instead of returning with their booty to Thapsacus, on the Euphrates, by one of the direct roads leading from the Jordan past Damascus and Palmyra, had gone through the land of Canaan to the sources of the Jordan, they would undoubtedly, when defeated at Laish-Dan, have fled through the Wady et Teim and the Bekaa to Hamath, and not by Damascus at all (vid., Robinson, Bibl. Researches).

This Dan belonged to Gilead (Deu 34:1), and is no doubt the same as the Dan-Jaan mentioned in 2Sa 24:6 in connection with Gilead, and to be sought for in northern Peraea to the south-west of Damascus.

Gen 14:17-24

As Abram returned with the booty which he had taken from the enemy, the king of Sodom (of course, the successor to the one who fell in the battle) and Melchizedek, king of Salem, came to meet him to congratulate him on his victory; the former probably also with the intention of asking for the prisoners who had been rescued. They met him in “the valley of Shaveh, which is (what was afterwards called) the King’s dale.” This valley, in which Absalom erected a monument for himself (2Sa 18:18), was, according to Josephus, two stadia from Jerusalem, probably by the brook Kidron therefore, although Absalom’s pillar, which tradition places there, was of the Grecian style rather than the early Hebrew. The name King’s dale was given to it undoubtedly with reference to the event referred to here, which points to the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. For the Salem of Melchizedek cannot have been the Salem near to which John baptized (Joh 3:23), or Aenon, which was eight Roman miles south of Scythopolis, as a march of about forty hours for the purpose of meeting Abraham, if not romantic, would, at least be at variance with the text of Scripture, where the kings are said to have gone out to Abram after his return. It must be Jerusalem, therefore, which is called by the old name Salem in Psa 76:2, out of which the name Jerusalem (founding of peace, or possession of peace) was formed by the addition of the prefix ירוּ = ירוּי “founding,” or ירוּשׁ “possession.” Melchizedek brings bread and wine from Salem “to supply the exhausted warriors with food and drink, but more especially as a mark of gratitude to Abram, who had conquered for them peace, freedom, and prosperity” (Delitzsch). This gratitude he expresses, as a priest of the supreme God, in the words, “Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, the founder of heaven and earth; and blessed be God, the Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.” The form of the blessing is poetical, two parallel members with words peculiar to poetry, צריך for איביך, and מגּן. - עליון אל without the article is a proper name for the supreme God, the God over all (cf. Exo 18:11), who is pointed out as the only true God by the additional clause, “founder of the heaven and the earth.” On the construction of בּרוּך with ל, vid., Gen 31:15; Exo 12:16, and Ges. §143, 2. קנה, founder and possessor: קנה combines the meanings of κτίζειν and κτᾶσθαι. This priestly reception Abram reciprocated by giving him the tenth of all, i.e., of the whole of the booty taken from the enemy. Giving the tenth was a practical acknowledgment of the divine priesthood of Melchizedek; for the tenth was, according to the general custom, the offering presented to the Deity. Abram also acknowledged the God of Melchizedek as the true God; for when the king of Sodom asked for his people only, and would have left the rest of the booty to Abram, he lifted up his hand as a solemn oath “to Jehovah, the Most High God, the founder of heaven and earth,” - acknowledging himself as the servant of this God by calling Him by the name Jehovah, - and swore that he would not take “from a thread to a shoe-string,” i.e., the smallest or most worthless thing belonging to the king of Sodom, that he might not be able to say, he had made Abram rich. אם, as the sign of an oath, is negative, and in an earnest address is repeated before the verb. “Except (בּלעדי, lit., not to me, nothing for me) only what the young men (Abram’s men) have eaten, and the portion of my allies...let them take their portion:” i.e., his followers should receive what had been consumed as their share, and the allies should have the remainder of the booty.

Of the property belonging to the king of Sodom, which he had taken from the enemy, Abram would not keep the smallest part, because he would not have anything in common with Sodom. On the other hand, he accepted from Salem’s priest and king, Melchizedek, not only bread and wine for the invigoration of the exhausted warriors, but a priestly blessing also, and gave him in return the tenth of all his booty, as a sign that he acknowledged this king as a priest of the living God, and submitted to his royal priesthood. In this self-subordination of Abram to Melchizedek there was the practical prediction of a royal priesthood which is higher than the priesthood entrusted to Abram’s descendants, the sons of Levi, and foreshadowed in the noble form of Melchizedek, who blessed as king and priest the patriarch whom God had called to be a blessing to all the families of the earth. The name of this royal priest is full of meaning: Melchizedek, i.e., King of Righteousness. Even though, judging from Jos 10:1, Jos 10:3, where a much later king is called Adonizedek, i.e., Lord of Righteousness, this name may have been a standing title of the ancient kings of Salem, it no doubt originated with a king who ruled his people in righteousness, and was perfectly appropriate in the case of the Melchizedek mentioned here. There is no less significance in the name of the seat of his government, Salem, the peaceful or peace, since it shows that the capital of its kings was a citadel of peace, not only as a natural stronghold, but through the righteousness of its sovereign; for which reason David chose it as the seat of royalty in Israel; and Moriah, which formed part of it, was pointed out to Abraham by Jehovah as the place of sacrifice for the kingdom of God which was afterwards to be established. And, lastly, there was something very significant in the appearance in the midst of the degenerate tribes of Canaan of this king of righteousness, and priest of the true God of heaven and earth, without any account of his descent, or of the beginning and end of his life; so that he stands forth in the Scriptures, “without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life.” Although it by no means follows from this, however, that Melchizedek was a celestial being (the Logos, or an angel), or one of the primeval patriarchs (Enoch or Shem), as Church fathers, Rabbins, and others have conjectured, and we can see in him nothing more than one, perhaps the last, of the witnesses and confessors of the early revelation of God, coming out into the light of history from the dark night of heathenism; yet this appearance does point to a priesthood of universal significance, and to a higher order of things, which existed at the commencement of the world, and is one day to be restored again. In all these respects, the noble form of this king of Salem and priest of the Most High God was a type of the God-King and eternal High Priest Jesus Christ; a thought which is expanded in Heb 7 on the basis of this account, and of the divine utterance revealed to David in the Spirit, that the King of Zion sitting at the right hand of Jehovah should be a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek (Psa 110:4). The Covenant - Genesis 15

With the formula “after these things” there is introduced a new revelation of the Lord to Abram, which differs from the previous ones in form and substance, and constitutes a new turning point in his life. The “word of Jehovah” came to him “in a vision;” i.e., neither by a direct internal address, nor by such a manifestation of Himself as fell upon the outward senses, nor in a dream of the night, but in a state of ecstasy by an inward spiritual intuition, and that not in a nocturnal vision, as in Gen 46:2, but in the day-time. The expression “in a vision” applies to the whole chapter. There is no pause anywhere, nor any sign that the vision ceased, or that the action was transferred to the sphere of the senses and of external reality. Consequently the whole process is to be regarded as an internal one. The vision embraces not only Gen 15:1-4 and Gen 15:8, but the entire chapter, with this difference merely, that from Gen 15:12 onwards the ecstasy assumed the form of a prophetic sleep produced by God. It is true that the bringing Abram out, his seeing the stars (Gen 15:5), and still more especially his taking the sacrificial animals and dividing them (Gen 15:9, Gen 15:10), have been supposed by some to belong to the sphere of external reality, on the ground that these purely external acts would not necessarily presuppose a cessation of ecstasy, since the vision was no catalepsy, and did not preclude the full (?) use of the outward senses. But however true this may be, not only is every mark wanting, which would warrant us in assuming a transition from the purely inward and spiritual sphere, to the outward sphere of the senses, but the entire revelation culminates in a prophetic sleep, which also bears the character of a vision. As it was in a deep sleep that Abram saw the passing of the divine appearance through the carefully arranged portions of the sacrifice, and no reference is made either to the burning of them, as in Jdg 6:21, or to any other removal, the arrangement of the sacrificial animals must also have been a purely internal process. To regard this as an outward act, we must break up the continuity of the narrative in a most arbitrary way, and not only transfer the commencement of the vision into the night, and suppose it to have lasted from twelve to eighteen hours, but we must interpolate the burning of the sacrifices, etc., in a still more arbitrary manner, merely for the sake of supporting the erroneous assumption, that visionary procedures had no objective reality, or, at all events, less evidence of reality than outward acts, and things perceived by the senses. A vision wrought by God was not a mere fancy, or a subjective play of the thoughts, but a spiritual fact, which was not only in all respects as real as things discernible by the senses, but which surpassed in its lasting significance the acts and events that strike the eye. The covenant which Jehovah made with Abram was not intended to give force to a mere agreement respecting mutual rights and obligations-a thing which could have been accomplished by an external sacrificial transaction, and by God passing through the divided animals in an assumed human form-but it was designed to establish the purely spiritual relation of a living fellowship between God and Abram, of the deep inward meaning of which, nothing but a spiritual intuition and experience could give to Abram an effective and permanent hold.

Lot Taken Captive. (b. c. 1913.)

1 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; 2 That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. 3 All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. 4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 6 And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto El-paran, which is by the wilderness. 7 And they returned, and came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar. 8 And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; 9 With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five. 10 And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. 11 And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. 12 And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

We have here an account of the first war that ever we read of in scripture, which (though the wars of the nations make the greatest figure in history) we should not have had the history of if Abram and Lot had not been concerned in it. Now, concerning this war, we may observe,

I. The parties engaged in it. The invaders were four kings, two of them no less than kings of Shinar and Elam (that is, Chaldea and Persia), yet probably not the sovereign princes of those great kingdoms in their own persons, but either officers under them, or rather the heads and leaders of some colonies which came out of those great nations, and settled themselves near Sodom, but retained the names of the countries from which they had their origin. The invaded were the kings of five cities that lay near together in the plain of Jordan, namely, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar. Four of them are named, but not the fifth, the king of Zoar or Bela, either because he was much more mean and inconsiderable or because he was much more wicked and inglorious than the rest, and worthy to be forgotten.

II. The occasion of this war was the revolt of the five kings from under the government of Chedorlaomer. Twelve years they served him. Small joy they had of their fruitful land, while thus they were tributaries to a foreign power, and could not call what they had their own. Rich countries are a desirable prey, and idle luxurious countries are an easy prey, to growing greatness. The Sodomites were the posterity of Canaan whom Noah had pronounced a servant to Shem, from whom Elam descended; thus soon did that prophecy begin to be fulfilled. In the thirteenth year, beginning to be weary of their subjection, they rebelled, denied their tribute, and attempted to shake off the yoke and retrieve their ancient liberties. In the fourteenth year, after some pause and preparation, Chedorlaomer, in conjunction with his allies, set himself to chastise and reduce the rebels, and, since he could not have it otherwise, to fetch his tribute from them on the point of his sword. Note, Pride, covetousness, and ambition, are the lusts from which wars and fightings come. To these insatiable idols the blood of thousands has been sacrificed.

III. The progress and success of the war. The four kings laid the neighbouring countries waste and enriched themselves with the spoil of them (v. 5-7), upon the alarm of which it had been the wisdom of the king of Sodom to submit, and desire conditions of peace; for how could he grapple with an enemy thus flushed with victory? But he would rather venture the utmost extremity than yield, and it sped accordingly. Quos Deus destruet eos dementat—Those whom God means to destroy he delivers up to infatuation. 1. The forces of the king of Sodom and his allies were routed; and, it should seem, many of them perished in the slime-pits who had escaped the sword, v. 10. In all places we are surrounded with deaths of various kinds, especially in the field of battle. 2. The cities were plundered, v. 11. All the goods of Sodom, and particularly their stores and provisions of victuals, were carried off by the conquerors. Note, When men abuse the gifts of a bountiful providence to gluttony and excess, it is just with God, and his usual way, by some judgment or other to strip them of that which they have so abused, Hos. ii. 8, 9. 3. Lot was carried captive, v. 12. They took Lot among the rest, and his goods. Now Lot may here be considered, (1.) As sharing with his neighbours in this common calamity. Though he was himself a righteous man, and (which is here expressly noticed) Abram's brother's son, yet he was involved with the rest in all this trouble. Note, All things come alike to all, Eccl. ix. 2. The best of men cannot promise themselves an exemption from the greatest troubles in this life; neither from our own piety nor our relation to those that are the favourites of heaven will be our security, when God's judgments are abroad. Note, further, Many an honest man fares the worse for his wicked neighbours. It is therefore our wisdom to separate ourselves, or at least to distinguish ourselves, from them (2 Cor. vi. 17), and so deliver ourselves, Rev. xviii. 4. (2.) As smarting for the foolish choice he made of a settlement here. This is plainly intimated when it is said, They took Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom. So near a relation of Abram should have been a companion and disciple of Abram, and should have abode by his tents; but, if he choose to dwell in Sodom, he must thank himself if he share in Sodom's calamities. Note, When we go out of the way of our duty we put ourselves from under God's protection, and cannot expect that the choices which are made by our lusts should issue to our comfort. Particular mention is made of their taking Lot's goods, those goods which had occasioned his contest with Abram and his separation from him. Note, It is just with God to deprive us of those enjoyments by which we have suffered ourselves to be deprived of our enjoyment of him.

Lot Taken Captive, and Rescued. (b. c. 1913.)

13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram. 14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. 15 And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. 16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

We have here an account of the only military action we ever find Abram engaged in, and this he was prompted to, not by his avarice or ambition, but purely by a principle of charity; it was not to enrich himself, but to help his friend. Never was any military expedition undertaken, prosecuted, and finished, more honourably than this of Abram's. Here we have,

I. The tidings brought him of his kinsman's distress. Providence so ordered it that he now sojourned not far off, that he might be a very present help. 1. He is here called Abram the Hebrew, that is, the son and follower of Heber, in whose family the profession of the true religion was kept up in that degenerate age. Abram herein acted like a Hebrew—in a manner not unworthy of the name and character of a religious professor. 2. The tidings were brought by one that had escaped with his life for a prey. Probably he was a Sodomite, and as bad as the worst of them; yet knowing Abram's relation to Lot, and concern for him, he implores his help, and hopes to speed for Lot's sake. Note, The worst of men, in the day of their trouble, will be glad to claim acquaintance with those that are wise and good, and so get an interest in them. The rich man in hell called Abram Father; and the foolish virgins made court to the wise for a share of their oil.

II. The preparations he made for this expedition. The cause was plainly good, his call to engage in it was clear, and therefore, with all speed, he armed his trained servants, born in his house, to the number of three hundred and eighteen—a great family, but a small army, about as many as Gideon's that routed the Midianites, Judg. vii. 7. He drew out his trained servants, or his catechised servants, not only instructed in the art of war, which was then far short of the perfection which later and worse ages have improved it to, but instructed in the principles of religion; for Abram commanded his household to keep the way of the Lord. This shows that Abram was, 1. A great man, who had so many servants depending upon him, and employed by him, which was not only his strength and honour, but gave him a great opportunity of doing good, which is all that is truly valuable and desirable in great places and great estates. 2. A good man, who not only served God himself, but instructed all about him in the service of God. Note, Those that have great families have not only many bodies, but many souls besides their own, to take care of and provide for. Those that would be found the followers of Abram must see that their servants be catechised servants. 3. A wise man for, though he was a man of peace, yet he disciplined his servants for war, not knowing what occasion he might have, some time or other, so to employ them. Note, Though our holy religion teaches us to be for peace, yet it does not forbid us to provide for war.

III. His allies and confederates in this expedition. He prevailed with his neighbours, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre (with whom he kept up a fair correspondence) to go along with him. It was his prudence thus to strengthen his own troops with their auxiliary forces; and probably they saw themselves concerned, in interest, to act, as they could, against this formidable power, lest their own turn should be next. Note, 1. It is our wisdom and duty to behave ourselves so respectfully and obligingly towards all men as that, whenever there is occasion, they may be willing and ready to do us a kindness. 2. Those who depend on God's help, yet, in times of distress, ought to make use of men's help, as Providence offers it; else they tempt God.

IV. His courage and conduct were very remarkable. 1. There was a great deal of bravery in the enterprise itself, considering the disadvantages he lay under. What could one family of husbandmen and shepherds do against the armies of four princes, who now came fresh from blood and victory? It was not a vanquished, but a victorious army, that he was to pursue; nor was he constrained by necessity to this daring attempt, but moved to it by generosity; so that, all things considered, it was, for aught I know, as great an instance of true courage as ever Alexander or Caesar was celebrated for. Note, Religion tends to make men, not cowardly, but truly valiant. The righteous is bold as a lion. The true Christian is the true hero. 2. There was a great deal of policy in the management of it. Abram was no stranger to the stratagems of war: He divided himself, as Gideon did his little army (Judg. vii. 16), that he might come upon the enemy from several quarters at once, and so make his few seem a great many; he made his attack by night, that he might surprise them. Note, Honest policy is a good friend both to our safety and to our usefulness. The serpent's head (provided it be nothing akin to the old serpent) may well become a good Christian's body, especially if it have a dove's eye in it, Matt. x. 16.

V. His success was very considerable, v. 15, 16. He defeated his enemies, and rescued his friends; and we do not find that he sustained any loss. Note, Those that venture in a good cause, with a good heart, are under the special protection of a good God, and have reason to hope for a good issue. Again, It is all one with the Lord to save by many or by few, 1 Sam. xiv. 6. Observe,

1. He rescued his kinsman; twice here he is called his brother Lot. The remembrance of the relation that was between them, both by nature and grace, made him forget the little quarrel that had been between them, in which Lot had by no means acted well towards Abram. Justly might Abram have upbraided Lot with his folly in quarrelling with him and removing from him, and have told him that he was well enough served, he might have known when he was well off; but, in the charitable breast of pious Abram, it is all forgiven and forgotten, and he takes this opportunity to give a real proof of the sincerity of his reconciliation. Note, (1.) We ought to be ready, whenever it is in the power of our hands, to succour and relieve those that are in distress, especially our relations and friends. A brother is born for adversity, Prov. xvii. 17. A friend in need is a friend indeed. (2.) Though others have been wanting in their duty to us, yet we must not therefore deny our duty to them. Some have said that they can more easily forgive their enemies than their friends; but we shall see ourselves obliged to forgive both if we consider, not only that our God, when we were enemies, reconciled us, but also that he passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage, Mic. vii. 18.

2. He rescued the rest of the captives, for Lot's sake, though they were strangers to him and such as he was under no obligation to at all; nay, though they were Sodomites, sinners before the Lord exceedingly, and though, probably, he might have recovered Lot alone by ransom, yet he brought back all the women, and the people, and their goods, v. 16. Note, As we have opportunity we must do good to all men. Our charity must be extensive, as opportunity offers itself. Wherever God gives life, we must not grudge the help we can give to support it. God does good to the just and unjust, and so must we, Matt. v. 45. This victory which Abram obtained over the kings the prophet seems to refer to, Isa. xli. 2, Who raised up the righteous man from the east, and made him rule over kings? And some suggest that, as before he had a title to this land by grant, so now by conquest.

Abram's Interview with Melchizedek. (b. c. 1913.)

17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale. 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

This paragraph begins with the mention of the respect which the king of Sodom paid to Abram at his return from the slaughter of the kings; but, before a particular account is given of this, the story of Melchizedek is briefly related, concerning whom observe,

I. Who he was. He was king of Salem and priest of the most high God; and other glorious things are said of him, Heb. vii. 1, &c. 1. The rabbin, and most of our rabbinical writers, conclude that Melchizedek was Shem the son of Noah, who was king and priest to those that descended from him, according to the patriarchal model. But this is not at all probable; for why should his name be changed? And how came he to settle in Canaan? 2. Many Christian writers have thought that this was an appearance of the Son of God himself, our Lord Jesus, known to Abram, at this time, by this name, as, afterwards, Hagar called him by another name, ch. xvi. 13. He appeared to him as a righteous king, owning a righteous cause, and giving peace. It is difficult to imagine that any mere man should be said to be without father, without mother, and without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, Heb. vii. 3. It is witnessed of Melchizedek that he liveth, and that he abideth a priest continually (v. 3, 8); nay (v. 13, 14), the apostle makes him of whom these things are spoken to be our Lord who sprang out of Judah. It is likewise difficult to think that any mere man should, at this time, be greater than Abram in the things of God, that Christ should be a priest after the order of any mere man, and that any human priesthood should so far excel that of Aaron as it is certain that Melchizedek's did. 3. The most commonly received opinion is that Melchizedek was a Canaanitish prince, that reigned in Salem, and kept up the true religion there; but, if so, why his name should occur here only in all the story of Abram, and why Abram should have altars of his own and not attend the altars of his neighbour Melchizedek who was greater than he, seem unaccountable. Mr. Gregory of Oxford tells us that the Arabic Catena, which he builds much upon the authority of, gives this account of Melchizedek, That he was the son of Heraclim, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, and that his mother's name was Salathiel, the daughter of Gomer, the son of Japheth, the son of Noah.

II. What he did. 1. He brought forth bread and wine, for the refreshment of Abram and his soldiers, and in congratulation of their victory. This he did as a king, teaching us to do good and to communicate, and to be given to hospitality, according to our ability; and representing the spiritual provisions of strength and comfort which Christ has laid up for us in the covenant of grace for our refreshment, when we are wearied with our spiritual conflicts. 2. As priest of the most high God, he blessed Abram, which we may suppose a greater refreshment to Abram than his bread and wine were. Thus God, having raised up his Son Jesus, has sent him to bless us, as one having authority; and those whom he blesses are blessed indeed. Christ went to heaven when he was blessing his disciples (Luke xxiv. 51); for this is what he ever lives to do.

III. What he said, v. 19, 20. Two things were said by him:—1. He blessed Abram from God: Blessed be Abram, blessed of the most high God, v. 19. Observe the titles he here gives to God, which are very glorious. (1.) The most high God, which bespeaks his absolute perfections in himself and his sovereign dominion over all the creatures; he is King of kings. Note, It will greatly help both our faith and our reverence in prayer to eye God as the most high God, and to call him so. (2.) Possessor of heaven and earth, that is, rightful owner, and sovereign Lord, of all the creatures, because he made them. This bespeaks him a great God, and greatly to be praised (Ps. xxiv. 1), and those a happy people who have an interest in his favour and love. 2. He blessed God for Abram (v. 20): and blessed be the most high God. Note, (1.) In all our prayers, we must praise God, and join hallelujahs with all our hosannahs. These are the spiritual sacrifices we must offer up daily, and upon particular occasions. (2.) God, as the most high God, must have the glory of all our victories, Exod. xvii. 15; 1 Sam. vii. 10, 12; Judg. v. 1, 2; 2 Chron. xx. 21. In them he shows himself higher than our enemies (Exod. xviii. 11), and higher than we; for without him we could do nothing. (3.) We ought to give thanks for others' mercies as for our own, triumphing with those that triumph. (4.) Jesus Christ, our great high priest, is the Mediator both of our prayers and praises, and not only offers up ours, but his own for us. See Luke x. 21.

IV. What was done to him: Abram 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 tokens of respect. Note, Those that receive kindness should show kindness. Gratitude is one of nature's laws. 2. As an offering vowed and dedicated to the most high God, and therefore put into the hands of Melchizedek his priest. Note, (1.) When we have received some signal mercy from God, it is very fit that we should express our thankfulness by some special act of pious charity. God must always have his dues out of our substance, especially when, by any particular providence, he has either preserved or increased it to us. (2.) That the tenth of our increase is a very fit proportion to be set apart for the honour of God and the service of his sanctuary. (3.) That Jesus Christ, our great Melchizedek, is to have homage done him, and 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 surrendered and given up to him.

Abram's Disinterestedness. (b. c. 1913.)

21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. 22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord , the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: 24 Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

We have here an account of what passed between Abram and the king of Sodom, who succeeded him that fell in the battle (v. 10), and thought himself obliged to do this honour to Abram, in return for the good services he had done him. Here is,

I. The king of Sodom's grateful offer to Abram (v. 21): Give me the soul, and take thou the substance; so the Hebrew reads it. Here he fairly begs the persons, but as freely bestows the goods on Abram. Note, 1. Where a right is dubious and divided, it is wisdom to compound the matter by mutual concessions rather than to contend. The king of Sodom had an original right both to the persons and to the goods, and it would bear a debate whether Abram's acquired right by rescue would supersede his title and extinguish it; but, to prevent all quarrels, the king of Sodom makes this fair proposal. 2. Gratitude teaches us to recompense to the utmost of our power those that have undergone fatigues, run hazards, and been at expense for our service and benefit. Who goes a warfare at his own charges? 1 Cor. ix. 7. Soldiers purchase their pay dearer than any labourers, and are well worthy of it, because they expose their lives.

II. Abram's generous refusal of this offer. He not only resigned the persons to him, who, being delivered out of the hand of their enemies, ought to have served Abram, but he restored all the goods too. He would not take from a thread to a shoe-latchet, not the least thing that had ever belonged to the king of Sodom or any of his. Note, A lively faith enables a man to look upon the wealth of this world with a holy contempt, 1 John v. 4. What are all the ornaments and delights of sense to one that has God and heaven ever in his eye? He resolves even to a thread and a shoe-latchet; for a tender conscience fears offending in a small matter. Now,

1. Abram ratifies this resolution with a solemn oath: I have lifted up my hand to the Lord that I will not take any thing, v. 22. Here observe, (1.) The titles he gives to God, The most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, the same that Melchizedek had just now used, v. 19. Note, It is good to learn of others how to order our speech concerning God, and to imitate those who speak well in divine things. This improvement we are to make of the conversation of devout good men, we must learn to speak after them. (2.) The ceremony used in this oath: I have lifted up my hand. In religious swearing we appeal to God's knowledge of our truth and sincerity and imprecate his wrath if we swear falsely, and the lifting up of the hand is very significant and expressive of both. (3.) The matter of the oath, namely, that he would not take any reward from the king of Sodom, was lawful, but what he was not antecedently obliged to. [1.] Probably Abram vowed, before he went to the battle, that, if God would give him success, he would, for the glory of God and the credit of his profession, so far deny himself and his own right as to take nothing of the spoils to himself. Note, the vows we have made when we are in pursuit of a mercy must be carefully and conscientiously kept when we have obtained the mercy, though they were made against our interest. A citizen of Zion, if he has sworn, whether it be to God or man, though it prove to his own hurt, yet he changeth not, Ps. xv. 4. Or, [2.] Perhaps Abram, now when he saw cause to refuse the offer made him, at the same time confirmed his refusal with this oath, to prevent further importunity. Note, First, There may be good reason sometimes why we should debar ourselves of that which is our undoubted right, as St. Paul, 1 Cor. viii. 13; ix. 12. Secondly, That strong resolutions are of good use to put by the force of temptations.

2. He backs his refusal with a good reason: Lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich, which would reflect reproach, (1.) Upon the promise and covenant of God, as if they would not have enriched Abram without the spoils of Sodom. And, (2.) Upon the piety and charity of Abram, as if all he had in his eye, when he undertook that hazardous expedition, was to enrich himself. Note, [1.] We must be very careful that we give no occasion to others to say things which they ought not. [2.] The people of God must, for their credit's sake, take heed of doing any thing that looks mean or mercenary, or that savours of covetousness and self-seeking. Probably Abram knew the king of Sodom to be a proud and scornful man, and one that would be apt to turn such a thing as this to his reproach afterwards, though most unreasonably. When we have to do with such men, we have need to act with particular caution.

3. He limits his refusal with a double proviso, v. 24. In making vows, we ought carefully to insert the necessary exceptions, that we may not afterwards say before the angel, It was an error, Eccl. v. 6. Abram here excepts, (1.) The food of his soldiers; they were worthy of their meat while they trod out the corn. This would give no colour to the king of Sodom to say that he had enriched Abram. (2.) The shares of his allies and confederates: Let them take their portion. Note, Those who are strict in restraining their own liberty yet ought not to impose those restraints upon the liberties of others, nor to judge of them accordingly. We must not make ourselves the standard to measure others by. A good man will deny himself that liberty which he will not deny another, contrary to the practice of the Pharisees, Matt. xxiii. 4. There was not the same reason why Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, should quit their right, that there was why Abram should. They did not make the profession that he made, nor were they, as he was, under the obligation of a vow. They had not the hopes that Abram had of a portion in the other world, and therefore, by all means, let them take their portion of this.

CHAP. XIV.

ANd it was, in the dayes of Amraphel King of Shinar; Arjoch, king of Ellasar; Chedor-laomer, king of Elam; and Thidal, king of nations. They made warre with Bera, king of Sodom; and with Birsha, king of Gomorrha: Shinab, king of Admah; and Shemeber, king of Zebojim; and the king of Bela, that is Zoar. All these were joyned together, in the valley of Siddim: that is the sea of salt. Twelve yeeres they served Chedor-laomer: and the thirteenth yeere they rebelled. And in the fourteenth yeere came Chedor-laomer, and the kings which were with him; and they smote the Rephaims, in Ashteroth Karnaim; and the Zuzims, in Ham: and the Emims in Shaveh Kirjathaim. And the Chorites in their mount-Seir: unto El-pharan, which is by the wildernesse. And they returned, and came to En-mishpat, that is Kadesh; and they smote all the field of the Amalekite: and also the Amorite, that dwelt in Hazezonthamar. And there went out the King of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zebojim, and the king of Belah, that is Zoar: and they joyned battell with them, in the valley of Siddim. With Chedor-laomer, king of Elam; and Thidal, king of nations: and Amraphel, king of Shinar; and Arjoch, king of Ellasar: foure Kings, with five. And the valley of Siddim, had many pits of slime; and the King of Sodom and of Gomorrha, they fled, and fell there: and the residue fled to the mountaine. And they tooke all the substance of Sodom and Gomorrha, and al their victuals, and went away. And they tooke Lot, the sonne of Abrams brother, and his substance, and they went away: and hee dwelt in Sodom. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew: and he dwelt in the Okes of Mamree the Amorite, the brother of Escol, and brother of Aner, and they were confederates with Abram. And Abram heard that his brother was taken captive: and he armed his trained servants, the children of his house, three hundred, and eighteene, and hee pursued them unto Dan. And hee divided himselfe against them by night, he and his servants, and he smote them: and pursued them unto Chobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought againe all the substance: and also brought-againe his brother Lot, and his substance; and the women also, and the people. And the King of Sodom went out to meet him; after his returne from smiting Chedor-laomer, and the kings which were with him: unto the valley of Shaveh, that is the valley of the King. And Melchisedek, king of Salem; brought-forth bread and wine: and he a Priest of God most-hye. And he blessed him, and said; Blessed be Abram, of God most-hie; possessor of heavens and earth. And blessed be God most-hye; who hath delivered thy enemies into thy hand: and he gave him the tenth of all. And the King of Sodom said unto Abram: give me the soules; and the substance take thou. And Abram said unto the King of Sodom: I have lift-up my hand unto Iehovah, God most hie; the possessor of heavens and earth. If (I take) from a threed even to a shoe latchet, and if I take of any thing that is thine: that thou say not, I have made Abram rich. Save onely that which the young-men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me: Aner, Eshchol and Mamree; let them take their portion.

Annotations. IN the dayes] the Greeke saith, in the reigne. of Shinar] that is, Chaldea: or (as the Chaldee turneth it) Babylon: see Gen. 10. 10. Thargum Ierusalemy interpreteth it, Pontus. Ellasar] this is thought to be Syria. Chedor-laomer] written in Greeke, Chodollogomor. Elam] that is, the Elamites or Persians, named of Elam sonne of Sem: Gen. 10. 22. Thidal] or Thidgnal; which the Greek writeth Thargal, d changed into r: see Gen. 10. 3. of nations] Hebr. Gojim, which may bee kept unchanged: but the Greeke and Chaldee translate it nations, or peoples. It seemeth they were of sundry families, or populous: as Galilee of the nations, Es. 9. 1. Their country is thought to be after named Pamphilia. Vers. 2. Zebojim] in Greeke Seboeim: it is written by the letters in the line Zebiim, of Zebi, which signifieth glory, pleasantnesse, and a Roe; by which name the pleasant and glorious land of Israel is called, in Ezek. 20. 6. but by the vowels, and in the margine noted to bee read Zebojim, as being unworthy the pleasant name. So in vers. 8. that is Zoar] or Zogar, so called after, upon Lots request, Gen. 19. 20. 22. These five Cities stood neere together in the land of Canaan, in the plaine of Iordan, and were all (except Zoar) butned with fire and brimstone from heaven, Gen. 19. Deut. 29. 23. Here they are fore-chastned of God by warres. sea of salt] or salt sea: so Ios. 3. 16. meaning, that this goodly valley, after it was burnt from heaven, became a salt sea; and so barren and fruitlesse, that no living thing, fish or other, was found therein. For so all histories testifie of that salt and dead sea, as it was also called. And the holy Scripture useth saltnesse for barrennesse, Deut. 29. 23. Psal. 107. 34. This judgement of God brought upon one of the goodliest places in all Canaany; signifying, how that land and inhabitants should for their sinnes be deprived and made barren of all spirituall graces. But by the Gospell and spirit of Christ, graces are restored: as was figured in a vision of waters issuing out of Gods house, running into this sea, healing the waters of it, storing it with live fishes, &c. Ezek. 47. 1.—8. 9. 11. Vers. 4. served Chedor. laomer] herein God shewed the truth of Noes prophesie, that Canaan should be Sems servant, Gen. 9. 26. Chedorlaomer of Sems progeny, was chiefe of all these Kings, and Lord of the Canaanites. Vers. 5. smote] that is, killed: see vers. 17. Rephaims] or Raphaeans, called of the Greeke and Chaldee paraphrast, Giants: and the Hebrew word is after used for such, Deut. 2. 11. and Rapha was the name of a Giant that had foure sonnes Giants, in Davids dayes, 2 Sam. 21. 16. 22. But these Rephaims were now a people in Canaan, Gen. 15. 20. Ashteroth] a City in Basan, where Og after reigned, Ios. 13. 31. Zuzims] these the Greeks call, strong nations; and the Chaldee, Mighties. Of them we reade not else-where: unlesse their name was after changed by the Ammonites into Zamzummims. Deut. 2. 20. Emims▪] or according to the Greeke Ommeans, these the Caldee calleth Terrible ones: and so the Hebrue name signifieth. They were a people great and many, and tall as the Anakims, accounted Giants; and by the Moabites were called (Terrible) Emims, Deut. 2. 10. 11. Shaveh] or, the plaine (as the word signifieth) of Kirjathaim, which was a citie in the Land of Sihon, afterwards King of Hesbon; see Ios. 13. 19. Vers. 6. Chorites] or Chorreans, or Chorims, a people that dwelt in Seir, till Esau and his sonns drove them thence, Deut. 2. 22. Gen. 36. 20. &c. El-pharan] by interpretation, the Oke (or plaine) of Pharan, (or Paran;) which was a City by the wildernesse of that name; see Gen. 21. 21. Vers. 7. En-mishpat] that is by interpretation the Well of judgement; and so the Greeke here calleth it: the Chaldee nameth it, the plaine of the division of judgement. So called, as it seemeth, of Gods judgement or sentence given against Moses and Aaron, for sinning at that place; see Num. 20. 1. 10. 12. 13. the field] that is, the country or region: so the field of Edom, Gen. 32. 3. the field of Moab, Gen. 36. 35. the field of Soan, Psal. 78. 12. the field of Syria, Hos. 12. 12. wherby those countries are meant. the Amalekite] so called afterward, of Amalek son of Esau, Gen. 36. 12. Hazezon▪thamar] which the Chaldee calleth Engedi, as it is also named in 2 Chron. 20. 2. a Citie in the Land of Canaan, which fell to the tribe of Iudah, Ios. 15. 62. a fruitfull place of vines: Song 1. 13. Vers. 10. had many pits] Hebr. pits pits, which meaneth many, or diuers pits: so heapet heapes, is many heapes, Exod. 8. 14. rankes rankes, Mar. 5. 40. for, by many rankes. fell] that is, were slaine there; as the word also signifieth in Ios. 8. 24. 25. Iudg. 8. 10. and 12. 6. and many other places: So, there fell of Israel, 1 Chron. 21. 14. for which in 2 Sam. 24. 15. is written, there dyed. See after, Gen. 25. 18. Vers. 11. the substance] or the goods, cattell, mony, &c. see Gen. 12. 5. their victuals] or, their meat; the fruits of the land; which were both sweet and plentifull, made now a prey to the hungry souldiers. The like judgements God threatned to the Israelites, when they entred this land to possesse it, if they brake his covenant, Deuteron. 28. 30. 31. 33. 51. Vers. 12. dwelt] or, was dwelling: and so became partaker of their calamitie: God thus chastening Lots former affectation of this pleasant country, Gen. 13. 10. 11. Vers. 13. the Hebrew] so named of his father Heber, Gen. 11. 16. and hee and his children were commonly knowne by this title, as in Gen. 39. 14. Numb. 24. 24. Ier. 34. 9. Some thinke hee was so called of passing over the River, when God called him from Chaldea, Ios. 24. 2. but by Gen. 10. 21. it appeareth rather to bee of Heber the Patriarch: and as this name of Hebrewes was the first title given to Abram and his seed: so it indureth one of the last, 2 Cor. 11. 22. Phil. 3. 5. the Okes] or plaines: see Gen. 13. 18. confederates] Hebr. men (or masters) of league, or covenant: sworn-friends, as the Greeke importeth. Vers. 14. brother] that is, his kinsman: see Gen. 13. 8. armed] or drew out, that is, ledforth of his house. Greeke, numbred, mustered. trained] or instructed: we may understand it both of civill affaires, and religion, wherein hee had trained them: the Chaldee calleth them young men: and so doth Moses, in vers. 24. children] that is, servants borne in his house, and to it belonging. See after in Gen. 15. 3. pursued] to weet, after them, as the Greeke saith: meaning those kings fore-mentioned. Dan] a place in the north parts of Canaan, called of old Leshem, and being won by the Danites, it was named Dan, Ios. 19. 47. After, it was called Caesarea: so the Ierusalemy paraphrase calleth it, Dan de Kasarjon. Vers. 15. the left hand of Damascus] called in Hebrew Dammesek. (and sometime Darmesek, as 1 Chron. 18. 5.) which was the head of Aram, (or Syria) Es. 7. 8. and for the left hand, both the Chaldee paraphrasts say, north of Damascus; and that rightly: for the east is counted the formost part of the world, and the west the hindmost; Esay 9. 12. and the South is called the rightside, opposed to the North, Psal. 89. 13. Thus Abram pursued them, passed in peace, by a way that hee had not gone with his feet, Esay 41. 3. Vers. 16. the substance] or, goods, to weet, of the S[illegible: 1 letter]do[illegible: 1 letter]ites, as the Greeke version addeth. Thus God gave the nations before Abram, and made him rule ever Kings: gave them as dust to his sword, as driven stubble to his bow, Esay 41. 2. A like victory God gave to David over the Amalekites, 1 Sam. 30. 18. 19. &c. And as the Hebrew have a saying, that whatsoever befell unto the fathers, is asigne unto the children; so of this victory they write, that it befell unto Abraham, to teach, that foure kingdomes should stand up to rule over the world, and that in the end, his children should rule over them, and they should all fall by their hand, and they should bring againe all their captives, and all their substance. Which are the foure kingdomes spoken of in Daniel. R. Menachem, on Gen. 14. Vers. 17. from smiting] or from the slaughter, as the Greeke turneth it, and the Apostle hath the same word in Hebr. 7. 1. So in the Hebrew where one Prophet saith, he smote, 2 King. 14. 5. another saith, he killed, 2 Chron. 25. 3. of the King] a valley not farre from Ierusalem, there Absolom set up his pillar, 2 Sam. 18. 18. Vers. 18. Melchisedek] the Ierusalemy Thargum saith, hu Shem rabba, this was Sem the great: and in Breshith rabba upon this place, it is said, this Melchisedek was Sem the sonne of Noe. Hee was called Melchisedek, that is by interpretation, King of justice, Heb. 7. 2. and therein, was a figure of Christ, the King that reigneth in justice, Esay 32. 1. (as all Kings should be, 2 Sam. 23. 3. Psalm. 72. 1. 2. &c.) Other the best and most ancient Hebrew Doctors, doe also hold Melchisedek to bee Sem: so Pirke R. Eliezer, chapt. 8. and Thalmud Babyl. in Treatise of vowes, at the end of Chap. 3. and Ben Syraoh saith, Sem and Seth were glorious among men, Ecclus. 49. 16. of Salem] both the Chaldee paraphrasts say, of Ierusalem: which is also called Salem, in Psalm. 76. 3. and it signifieth Peace, Heb. 7. 2 which was the summe and end of Christs administration; (whom Melchisedek figured) Ephes. 2. 14 15. 17. So in him, justice and peace have kissed, Psal. 85. 11. for the worke of justice is peace, Esay 32. 17. and he is called the Prince of Peace, Esay 9. 6. And the Hebrew Doctors in Echah rabbethi (or Comment on the Lamentations) say from Esay 9. 6 the name of the Messias is called Salom, (Peace.) And Melchisedek his figure, here hath nothing to doe with the warres of the nine Kings, but governed his realme in peace. brought forth bread, &c.] comming to meet Abram that returned from the slaughter of the Kings, Heb. 7. 1. so that the bread and wine, was to refresh Abram and his men after their travell; as David and his people were refreshed in the wildernesse, by good men that brought them victuals: 2 Sam. 17. 27. 28. 29. and as on the contrary, the Ammonites and Moabites might not enter into the congregation of the Lord for ever, because they met not Israel with bread and water in the way, when they came out of Aegypt, Deut. 23. 3. 4. that is, because they refreshed them not when they were faint and weary, Deut. 25. 18. Melchisedek doing this as he was King, the Apostle being to treat of Christs Priesthood in speciall, therefore passeth it over, Heb. 7. 1. Albeit even in this action, Melchisedek may be minded as a figure of Christ, who taketh away the hunger and thirst of all that beleeve in him, Ioh: 6. 35. [illegible: 1 word] he a Priest] or as the Greeke addeth, he was a Priest: but the word he, sometime signifieth a continuance in the same estate, as in Psal. 102. 2[illegible: 1 letter]. thou he, that is, thou art the same, Heb. 1. 12. and of Melchisedek it is said; that being made like to the Sonne of God, he abideth a Priest continually, Heb. 7. 3. And the Iew Doctors (in Thalmud. treat. of vowes, chap. 3.) scan the text thus, He a Priest, and not his seed. A Priest or Sacrificer, in Hebrew, Cohen, hath the name of Ministration; Esay 61. 6. 10. and so the Chaldee paraphrast calleth him here (Meshamesh, that is) a Minister before God most-hye) but a principall minister or officer next under God: as in 2 Sam. 8. 18. Davids sonnes are called Cohens, for which is written in 1. Chron. 18. 17. that they were the first at the Kings hand, that is, the chiefe about the King. The Greek word Hiercus (which the Apostle useth in Heb. 7.) hath the name of sacrificing, or doing sacred (that is, holy) workes. This Priesthood of Melchisedek, was a figure of Christs, as David saith, Psal. 110. 4. Iehovah sware, and will not repent; thou art a Priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedek. Which words of David, are applyed unto Christ, both by our Apostle, in Heb. 7. and by the Hebrew Doctors; as in Breshith rabba, upon Gen. 14. alledging that in Psal. 110. 4. it is said, Who is he? He is the King Christ, of whom it is written, (Zach. 9. 9.) behold thy King commeth unto thee, he is just, and having salvation. It was also the ancient manner in other nations, for Kings to be sacrificers, as Aristotle sheweth, in Polit. b. 3. c. 10. & b. 7. c. 9. and Plutarch in Quest. Rom. of God] le Ael eljon, to the Mighty the High: which the Apostle (following the Greeke version) translateth, of God most high, Heb. 7. 1. And here the name Ael, the mighty God, is first used in the history of Abrams victory: see Gen. 1. 1. By this title the true God is distinguished from the false gods of the nations, who then were worshipped, Esay 41. 5. 7. 29. The Hebrewes observe, that this word Ael, in many places signifieth the property of mercy, as Eli, Eli, &c. (Psal. 22. 2.) The Lord is Ael (God) and hath given light unto us, (Psal. 118. 27.) and the like: R. Menachem on Gen. 14. Vers. 19. he blessed] this was a worke of the Priests office, to blesse in the name of God for ever: 1 Chron. 23. 13. Num. 6. 23. 27. and being done with authority in that name, without all contradiction, the lesse is blessed of the better, though Abram had the promises, Heb. 7. 6. 7. and herein he figured Christ, sent of God to blesse us, in turning every one of us from our iniquities, Act. 3. 26. Luke 24. 50. Blessed be, &c.] This manner of blessing, though uttered prayer wise, implyeth an assured promise, as being done by an holy person in the name of God. To teach this, where one Prophet expresseth Davids words thus, bee thou pleased and blesse; and, let the house of thy servant be blessed, 2 Sam. 7. 29. another recordeth them thus, it hath pleased thee to blesse, &c. 1 Chron. 17. 2. of God] or, to God, as also the Greek saith: but the Chaldee translateth it, before God: it meaneth, great, spirituall and heavenly blessings, from God, and making us acceptable to God in Christ, Ephes. 1. 3. 6. Alike blessing is on all Gods people, Psal. 115. 15. See also Gen. 1. 22. and 2. 3. and 12. 2. Vers. 20. blessed be God] that is, thanked, or praised: for blessing upon men from God, signifieth good things powerfully bestowed on them, Deut. 28. 2. 3. 4. but blessing of God from men is reverend thankesgiving: so where one Evangelist saith, that Iesus blessed, Mat. 26. 26. another saith, hee gave thankes, Luke 22. 19. enemies] or, distressers. Melchisedek (or Sem) respected the injury done to Abram the blessed of the Lord, and was not offended at the slaughter of his owne children the Elamites, that had captived Lot; vers. 1. 14. 17. he gave] that is, Abram gave: whereupon the Apostle biddeth us consider how great [Melchisedek] was, to whom even the Patriarch Abram gave the tenth, Heb. 7. 4. Hee being partaker of Melchisedeks spirituall things, his duty was also to minister unto him in carnall things, Rom. 15. 27. tenth] or tithe, one of ten, saith the Chaldee paraphrast. This was a signe of homage and thankfulnesse to God: for as tribute is payed to Kings for their attendance to the affaires of the commonwealth, Rom. 13. 6. 7. so tithes in the law are called body, and an heave-offering to the Lord, Levit. 27. 30. Numb 18. 24. and before the law, Iaakob payed them to the Lord, Gen. 28. 22. and hee appointed his tithes to the Priests, Num. 28. 8. 21. And Abram the tenth generation from Sem, here payeth to the Priest Melchisedek, (who is generally thought to be Sem) the tenth of all. The Priests also and Levites of the Law, who now were in Abrams Ioines, did in him pay tithes to Melchisedek: wherefore his Priesthood was greater then theirs, Heb. 7. 9. 10. 11. This service was also kept among the heathens: Pisistratus tyrant of Athens, writeth to Solon thus; All the Athenians doe separate the tithe of their fruits, not to be spent unto our use, but for publicke sacrifices, and common profits, &c. D. Laert. in vita Solonis. So among the Latines, they were wont to pay tithes to their god Hercules, Pomp. L[illegible: 1 letter]tus de Sacerdot. Macrob. Saturn. l. 3. c. 12. of all] the Apostle saith, the tithe of the spoyles: and so it was a speciall thankfulnesse for the victory God had given him. So of the spoyles which Israel got from Madian, a tribute was levied unto the Lord, and given to the Priest, Num. 31. 28. 29. 41. A like custome continued among the Gentiles, for King Cyrus his souldiers, (by the advice of Crasas) were stayed from spoyling the Lydians City, that the tithes might first be payed to Iupiter, Herodot. inClio. And here endeth the History of Melchisedek, who is spoken of, and left, (as the Apostle observeth) without father, without mother, without rehearsall of genealogie, having neither beginning of dayes, nor end of life; but made like unto the sonne of God, abideth a Priest perpetually, Heb 7. 3. Vers. 21. the soules] Hebr. soule: one put for many; and soules, for persons, the men and women of Sodom, whom Abram had brought backe from the enemy. See Gen. 12. 5. and 3. 2. So the Greek translateth, the men. Vers. 22. lift up my hand] So they were wont, when they did sweare, Dan. 12. 7. Rev. 10. 5. 6. The Chaldee expoundeth it of lifting up in prayer: it seemeth to be a vow that Abram made when he went to the warre, wherein hee both prayed for victorie, and sware this oath: for these are joyned together, Psal. 132. 2. Iudg. 11. 30. &c. Vers. 23. If from a threed] An unperfect speech, used in othes: for, If I take from a threed, that is, I will not take so much as a threed, or a shoe-latchet. So God sware, if they shall enter into my rest, Psal. 95. 11. which is expounded by the Apostle, that they should not enter, Heb. 3 11. 18. and Christ saith, if a signe be given to this generation, Mark 8. 12. which another Evangelist explaineth thus, a signe shall not be given, Mat. 16. 4. See after in Gen. 21. 23. and thou shalt not] or, as the Greek translateth, that thou maist not say. Vers. 24. Save,] or, Except; So the Greeke and Chaldee also translateth. Some expound it: It shall not be with me; or, Far be it from me. young men] those trained souldiers, vers. 14. This word is not alwayes meant of age, but often of service and ministery, though they be men of ripe yeares: as Est. 2. 2. Exod. 24. 5. and 33. 11. So such as one Evangelist calleth young men and young maids, Luke 12. 45. another calleth fellow-servants, Mat. 24. 49.