Genesis 14:20
in Genesis 14and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and blessed be God Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him a tenth of all.
KJV
And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
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This verse in Genesis 14
Commentary
10 notes on this verseAnd 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.
This site's exposition
Blessed be Abram by God Most High
on Genesis 14:19-20
The blessing runs both ways, over Abram first and then back to God Most High. Abram answers with a tithe, and it is the first tithe in Scripture, given centuries before any law asked for one. Hebrews 7:7 presses the order, that the lesser is blessed by the greater.
This site's exposition
blessed be God Most High
The second blessing credits God Most High with the victory, since He gave Abram his enemies. Ambrose reads Abram's tithe as the answer of a man made humble by victory. Clarke counts the tenth from the spoils.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
He not only blessed him but also praised God. In the words "blessed be Abraham by God the most high, who created heaven and earth," he also highlighted to us God's power as distinguished from his creatures. If he in fact is God, Creator of heaven and earth, those worshiped by human beings would not be gods; Scripture says, remember, "Let those gods perish who did not make heaven and earth." The text reads, "Blessed be God, who delivered your enemies into your hands." Notice, I ask you, how he not only celebrates the just man but also acknowledges God's assistance. After all, without grace from above he could not have prevailed over the might of those besetting him. "Who delivered your enemies," the text says, namely, he it is who caused everything, he it is who rendered the strong powerless, he it is who brought down the armed hordes through those unarmed. From that source is the grace coming forth that provides you with such power.
The Medieval Church1 voice
But Melchizedek, king of Salem, bringing forth bread and wine (for he was priest of the most high God), blessed him, and said: Blessed be Abram by the most high God, creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be the most high God, by whose …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
(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. What was done to him: Abram gave him tithes of all, that is, of the spoils, Heb. vii.
And blessed be the most high God,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
What a splendid type is Abram, in the narrative before us, of our Lord Jesus Christ! Let us read this story of Abram in connection with our Savior and see how full of meaning it is. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the abundance of His love, had taken us to be His brothers. But we, through our sin, had gone into the land of Sodom and Jesus Christ dwelt alone in His safety and His happiness, enjoying the Presence of God. The hosts of our enemies, with terrible force and cruel fury, carried us away captives.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
What a splendid type is Abram, in the narrative before us, of our Lord Jesus Christ! Let us read this story of Abram in connection with our Savior and see how full of meaning it is. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the abundance of His love, had taken us to be His brothers. But we, through our sin, had gone into the land of Sodom and Jesus Christ dwelt alone in His safety and His happiness, enjoying the Presence of God. The hosts of our enemies, with terrible force and cruel fury, carried us away captives. We were violently borne away, with all the goods which we possessed, into a land of forgetful-ness and captivity forever. Christ, who had lost nothing by this, nevertheless being a "brother born for adversity," pursued our haughty foes. He overtook them. He struck them with His mighty hand—He took their spoil and returned with crimsoned vesture, leading captivity captive. He restored that which He took not away. I think, as I see Abram returning from the slaughter of the four kings, I see in him a picture of a greater than Abram, returning "from Edom, with dyed garments from Boz-rah, traveling in the greatness of His strength" who answers to my inquiry of who is he? "I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save." Abram was that righteous man raised in the East, to whom God gave his enemies as driven stubble to his bow. And so the Lord Jesus has driven our enemies like chaff over to the wind, for they fled at the Presence of Jehovah Jesus, and by the valor of the atoning Lamb they have been utterly broken in pieces forever. Let that thought dwell with you—it may furnish you with matter for meditation at your leisure. We shall this morning rather consider Abram as the type and picture of all the faithful. He was the father of the faithful. And in his history you have condensed—as I think— history of all faithful men.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּבָרוּךְ֙ | uvarukh | and [be] blessed | H1288 → | 330 times |
| אֵ֣ל | ʾel | God | H410 → | 241 times |
| עֶלְי֔וֹן | elyon | Most High | H5945 → | 53 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| מִגֵּ֥ן | migen | he has delivered | H4042 → | |
| צָרֶ֖יךָ | tzareikha | opponents your | H6862 → | |
| בְּיָדֶ֑ךָ | beyadekha | in hand your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וַיִּתֶּן־ | vaiyiten- | and he gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| ל֥וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| מַעֲשֵׂ֖ר | maaser | a tenth | H4643 → | |
| מִכֹּֽל׃ | mikol | from everything | H3605 → | 5413 times |
וּבָרוּךְ֙and [be] blessed
uvarukhH1288 →330 times
אֵ֣לGod
ʾelH410 →241 times
עֶלְי֔וֹןMost High
elyonH5945 →53 times
אֲשֶׁר־who
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
מִגֵּ֥ןhe has delivered
migenH4042 →
צָרֶ֖יךָopponents your
tzareikhaH6862 →
בְּיָדֶ֑ךָin hand your
beyadekhaH3027 →1618 times
וַיִּתֶּן־and he gave
vaiyiten-H5414 →2011 times
ל֥וֹto <the> him
lo
מַעֲשֵׂ֖רa tenth
maaserH4643 →
מִכֹּֽל׃from everything
mikolH3605 →5413 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Malachi 3:10Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the LORD of Hosts. “See if I will not open the windows of…
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 9:6–8
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
- Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
- Proverbs 3:9–10
Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;
- Psalms 37:3
Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
- Deuteronomy 28:12
The LORD will open the heavens, His abundant storehouse, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but borrow…
- 2 Corinthians 9:6–8
Through
Genesis 28:22And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth.”
it leads to
- Genesis 35:7
There Jacob built an altar, and he called that place El-bethel, because it was there that God had revealed Himself to Jacob as he fled from his brother.
- Deuteronomy 14:22–23
You must be sure to set aside a tenth of all the produce brought forth each year from your fields.
- Leviticus 27:30–33
Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.
- Genesis 35:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies14
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On Abraham; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 589: “Jesus Meeting His Warriors” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 35.17; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.