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18 Melchizedek, king of Salem,[a] brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High. 19 He blessed Abram with these words:(A)

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
    the creator of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High,
    who delivered your foes into your hand.”

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the captives; the goods you may keep.” 22 But Abram replied to the king of Sodom: “I have sworn to the Lord, God Most High,[b] the creator of heaven and earth,

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Footnotes

  1. 14:18 Melchizedek, king of Salem (Jerusalem, cf. Ps 76:3), appears with majestic suddenness to recognize Abraham’s great victory, which the five local kings were unable to achieve. He prepares a feast in his honor and declares him blessed or made powerful by God Most High, evidently the highest God in the Canaanite pantheon. Abraham acknowledges the blessing by giving a tenth of the recaptured spoils as a tithe to Melchizedek. The episode is one of several allusions to David, king at Jerusalem, who also exercised priestly functions (2 Sm 6:17). Hb 7 interprets Melchizedek as a prefiguration of Christ. God Most High: in Heb. El Elyon, one of several “El names” for God in Genesis, others being El Olam (21:33), El the God of Israel (33:20), El Roi (16:13), El Bethel (35:7), and El Shaddai (the usual P designation for God in Genesis). All the sources except the Yahwist use El as the proper name for God used by the ancestors. The god El was well-known across the ancient Near East and in comparable religious literature. The ancestors recognized this God as their own when they encountered him in their journeys and in the shrines they found in Canaan.
  2. 14:22 In vv. 22–24, Abraham refuses to let anyone but God enrich him. Portrayed with the traits of a later Israelite judge or tribal hero, Abraham acknowledges that his victory is from God alone.

16 The oracle of one who hears what God says,
    and knows what the Most High knows,
Of one who sees what the Almighty sees,
    in rapture and with eyes unveiled.

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The Interview Between the Lord and the Satan. (A)One day, when the sons of God[a] came to present themselves before the Lord, the satan also came among them.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 1:6 Sons of God: members of the divine council; see Gn 6:1–4; Dt 32:8; Ps 82:1. The satan: lit., “adversary” (as in 1 Kgs 11:14). Here a member of the heavenly court, “the accuser” (Zec 3:1). In later biblical traditions this character will be developed as the devil (Gk. diabolos, “adversary”).

Chapter 2

The Second Interview. One day, when the sons of God(A) came to present themselves before the Lord, the satan also came with them.

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Psalm 29[a]

The Lord of Majesty Acclaimed as King of the World

A psalm of David.

I

Give to the Lord, you sons of God,[b]
    give to the Lord glory and might;

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 29 The hymn invites the members of the heavenly court to acknowledge God’s supremacy by ascribing glory and might to God alone (Ps 29:1–2a, 9b). Divine glory and might are dramatically visible in the storm (Ps 29:3–9a). The storm apparently comes from the Mediterranean onto the coast of Syria-Palestine and then moves inland. In Ps 29:10 the divine beings acclaim God’s eternal kingship. The Psalm concludes with a prayer that God will impart the power just displayed to the Israelite king and through the king to Israel.
  2. 29:1 Sons of God: members of the heavenly court who served Israel’s God in a variety of capacities.

I

All you peoples, clap your hands;
    shout to God with joyful cries.(A)

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I declare: “Gods though you be,[a](A)
    offspring of the Most High all of you,

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Footnotes

  1. 82:6 I declare: “Gods though you be”: in Jn 10:34 Jesus uses the verse to prove that those to whom the word of God is addressed can fittingly be called “gods.”

18 Let them be ashamed and terrified forever;
    let them perish in disgrace.

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I will make your dynasty stand forever
    and establish your throne through all ages.”(A)
Selah

II

The heavens praise your marvels, Lord,
    your loyalty in the assembly of the holy ones.(B)
Who in the skies ranks with the Lord?
    Who is like the Lord among the sons of the gods?[a](C)

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Footnotes

  1. 89:7 The sons of the gods: “the holy ones” and “courtiers” of Ps 89:6, 8. These heavenly spirits are members of God’s court.

14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
    I will be like the Most High!”(A)

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26 He made from one[a] the whole human race to dwell on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the ordered seasons and the boundaries of their regions,

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Footnotes

  1. 17:26 From one: many manuscripts read “from one blood.” Fixed…seasons: or “fixed limits to the epochs.”