or hachaim

14:18

ומלכי צדק מלך שלם, And Malki Tzedek the king of Salem, etc. Our sages (Midrash Aggadah) claim that Malki Tzedek was identical with Noach's son Shem. The reason that the Torah interrupts the report of Lot's rescue by reporting Malki Tzedek's arrival is to contrast his behaviour with that of the king of Sodom. Whereas Malki Tzedek came with gifts and a blessing though Abraham had done nothing for him, the king of Sodom came empty-handed although he owed Abraham a great debt of gratitude for having saved both his life and his kingdom. The Torah merely shows the difference between the behaviour of the wicked and that of the just.

Another way of looking at this episode is based on our sages who credited Abraham with not only observing the commandments which would later on be legislated in the Torah ( Yuma 28), but even observing Rabbinic ordinances such as עירובי תבשילין. In view of Abraham's personal piety the king of Sodom was well aware that he would not eat food or drink wine presented to him by an idolator. In order to save himself such an embarassment the king chose Malki Tzedek to be the messenger who would present this gift to Abraham. [You will note that it does not say that Abraham partook of either bread or wine contrary to his custom when he prepared a meal for Avimelech, for instance. Ed.] According to all this the Torah teaches us here that Abraham would not even eat foods which are forbidden only by Rabbinic injunction.

The Torah also wants to teach us how it was that the king of Sodom offered the loot of the war (property previously owned by the four kings) to Abraham instead of demanding both the prisoners and the property. The king of Sodom had observed that Abraham tithed the loot to Malki Tzedek in the latter's capacity as G'd's priest. He understood that one does not tithe matters which do not belong to one. Inasmuch as Abraham apparently considered the loot as his own, the king of Sodom did not give away anything when he made the apparently generous offer for Abraham to keep the loot.

והוא כהן לאל עליון, and he was a priest of the Supreme G'd. The emphasis on the word הוא indicates that only he was a priest, not his descendants. The priesthood was conferred upon Abraham as we know from Psalms 110,4: אתה בהן לעולם, "You are a priest forever." The Psalmist refers to the blessing conferred upon Abraham by Malki Tzedek. I will still explain that Malki Tzedek conferred the priesthood upon Abraham willingly.

The words "of the Supreme G'd," are necessary as there were many priests of many deities. Our sages (Nedarim 32) claim that Malki Tzedek lost his priesthood because he blessed Abraham before he blessed G'd. Accordingly we would have to understand the words: "and he was a priest" to mean that his priesthood was something of the past. He forfeited it by slighting G'd. The fact that the Torah did not report the unfortunate wording of Malki Tzedek's blessing until after hinting that he had already forfeited the priesthood is irrelevant because the Torah was not written till after the event.

14:19

ויברכהו ויאמר. He blessed him and said, etc. We need to understand whether the blessing which the Torah mentions here, i.e. ברוך אבדם, is the gist of the blessing. If that were so, why did the Torah have to introduce it with the words ויברכהו, "he blessed him?" I believe that the words ברוך אברם allude to an additional blessing. Were this not so, the expression ויברכהו should have been followed by the word לאמר.

We must understand the matter as follows. First Malki Tzedek bestowed a blessing on Abraham which pertained to his personal wellbeing such as that his enemies should not be able to harm him, etc. Next he blessed him wishing him spiritual development a blessing directed to G'd who should allow Abraham to be His true servant. By being successful as a servant of the Lord, G'd Himself would be perceived by man as the owner of not only the heavens but also of the earth. He wished him that through him his descendants would acquire eternal life so that heaven and earth would endure forever. Our sages (compare Zohar 1,89) have expressed all this when they said that but for Abraham, G'd would not really have a true possession in either heaven or earth.

Even the closing words of Malki Tzedeks' blessing, i.e. אשר מגן צריך בידך which ostensibly seems to be a blessing conferred by G'd on Abraham, are a blessing conferred upon G'd. G'd considers Himself blessed through the existence of a human being such as Abraham.

14:20

וברוך אל עליון, "And blessed the Supreme G'd, etc." As already mentioned our sages say that Malki Tzedek was punished for putting G'd second in his list of blessings. He lost his priesthood because of this error. We must try and understand what prompted Malki Tzedek to commit such an error. Perhaps he thought that inasmuch as Abraham had come to recognise G'd without parental or anyone else's guidance, he deserved to receive a blessing first and foremost. Afterwards he blessed the Lord who had found pleasure in a human being such as Abraham. Malki Tzedek may have wanted to teach us that G'd only truly enjoys human beings who have first made it their business to please Him. He expressed this thought by saying: "Blessed Abraham to the Supreme G'd because he made himself be fit to be a servant of the Lord. As a result he is blessed by the Supreme G'd who has committed your enemies into your hands." [according to this Malki Tzedek's error consisted in using chronology as a guideline for the order in which he formulated his blessing. Ed.] Despite the good intention of Malki Tzedek, this was an improper way of blessing. The servant never takes precedence over his Master.