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