And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
Parallel translations
- WEB and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave him a tenth of all.
- BSB and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.
- NKJV And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” And he gave him a tithe of all.
- NASB And blessed be God Most High, Who has handed over your enemies to you.” And he gave him a tenth of everything.
- NLT And blessed be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Melchizedek blessed God for the victory, and Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Abram's tithe acknowledges that God, through His priest, is supreme.
Overview
The blessing turns Godward, crediting the Lord with delivering Abram's enemies, so the triumph is His gift, not merely human valor. Abram's voluntary tithe honors Melchizedek's priestly office and confesses dependence on God Most High. Hebrews 7 stresses that even Abraham paid tithes, showing Melchizedek's, and thus Christ's, priesthood surpasses Levi, who was still in Abraham's loins.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 25
- Gen 28:22And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God’s house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.
- Neh 13:12Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries.
- Heb 7:4–9Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
- Deut 14:28At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates:
- Mal 3:10Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
- Deut 14:23And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.
- Gen 24:27And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I being in the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren.
- Deut 12:17Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill offerings, or heave offering of thine hand:
- Num 28:26Also in the day of the firstfruits, when ye bring a new meat offering unto the LORD, after your weeks be out, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work:
- Josh 10:42And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.
- Lev 27:30–32And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’s: it is holy unto the LORD.
- Ps 44:3For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.
- Amos 4:4Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years:
- Mal 3:8Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
- Neh 10:37And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough, and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; and the tithes of our ground unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.
- Rom 15:16That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.
- Ps 72:17–19His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
- 2 Chr 31:12And brought in the offerings and the tithes and the dedicated things faithfully: over which Cononiah the Levite was ruler, and Shimei his brother was the next.
- Ps 144:1Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:
- Eph 1:3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
- Luke 18:12I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
- 2 Chr 31:5–6And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.
- Ps 68:19Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.
- Gen 9:26And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
- 1 Pet 1:3–4Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 14:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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