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 וּמַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק מֶלֶךְ שָׁלֵם הוֹצִיא לֶחֶם וָיָיִן וְהוּא כֹהֵן לְאֵל עֶלְיוֹן׃ 19 וַיְבָרְכֵהוּ וַיֹּאמַר בָּרוּךְ אַבְרָם לְאֵל עֶלְיוֹן קֹנֵה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ׃ 20 וּבָרוּךְ אֵל עֶלְיוֹן אֲשֶׁר־מִגֵּן צָרֶיךָ בְּיָדֶךָ וַיִּתֶּן־לוֹ מַעֲשֵׂר מִכֹּל׃ 21 וַיֹּאמֶר מֶלֶךְ־סְדֹם אֶל־אַבְרָם תֶּן־לִי הַנֶּפֶשׁ וְהָרְכֻשׁ קַח־לָךְ׃ 22 וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָם אֶל־מֶלֶךְ סְדֹם הֲרִימֹתִי יָדִי אֶל־יְהוָה אֵל עֶלְיוֹן קֹנֵה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ׃ 23 אִם־מִחוּט וְעַד שְׂרוֹךְ־נַעַל וְאִם־אֶקַּח מִכָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לָךְ וְלֹא תֹאמַר אֲנִי הֶעֱשַׁרְתִּי אֶת־אַבְרָם׃ 24 בִּלְעָדַי רַק אֲשֶׁר אָכְלוּ הַנְּעָרִים וְחֵלֶק הָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר הָלְכוּ אִתִּי עָנֵר אֶשְׁכֹּל וּמַמְרֵא הֵם יִקְחוּ חֶלְקָם׃ ס  

Vocabulary

Verse 18

            מלכי־צדק  name: “Melchizedek”

Syntax & Miscellaneous

•  The phrase, מֶלֶךְ שָׁלֵם, is in apposition to the proper name, Melchizedek.

Vocabulary

Verse 19

            קנה  verb: “acquire, create” (BDB, 888)

Verse 20

            מגן  verb: “deliver” (BDB, 171)

            צר  “adversary, foe”

            מעשר  noun: “tithe, a tenth part” (BDB, 78)

Verse 21

            רכושׁ  “property” (BDB, 940)

Verse 22

            קנה  verb: “acquire, create” (BDB, 888)

Verse 23

            חוט  “thread, cord” (BDB, 296)

            שרוך  “thong” (BDB, 976)

נעל  “sandal” (BDB, 653)

עשׁר  verb (Hiphil): “make rich” (BDB, 799)

Verse 24

            בלעד  idiom (with 1cs suffix): “not at all” (BDB, 116)

            חלק  “portion, booty”

            עָנֵר  name: “Aner”

 אֶשְׁכֹּל name: “Eschol”

 וּמַמְרֵא name: “Mamre”

Syntax & Misc.

Verse 19

• The participle, קֹנֵה, is substantive and is in apposition to the previous phrase.
• The figure of speech, שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ, is a merismatic of every created thing (i.e. the entire universe).

Verse 20

• This verse is the first time that the word tithe is used in the MT.  It is not found again until Leviticus 27 with the giving of the Torah.

Verse 21

• The verbal forms of תֶּן and קַח are imperatives.  The verb, לקח, acts like a first yod ( י-פ) verb.
• The quotation, תֶּן־לִי הַנֶּפֶשׁ וְהָרְכֻשׁ קַח־לָךְ, is a chiasm of the form: A-B-B’-A’.

Verse 22

• The idiom, הֲרִימֹתִי יָדִי אֶל־יְהוָה, means to take an oath by lifting up one’s hand.

Verse 23

• The verb from the second clause, אֶקַּח, is gapped in the first clause,אִם־מִחוּט וְעַד שְׂרוֹךְ־נַעַל.

Verse 24

• The first word, בִּלְעָדַי, is a verbless clause, “I will take nothing at all.”
• After a negative, רק means “except” or “save.”
• The names of Abraham’s comrades, עָנֵר אֶשְׁכֹּל וּמַמְרֵא, are fronted in the last clause.  Notice also the sequence of three names with only the last with the conjunctive.

וְאַתָּה קַח־לְךָ חִטִּין וּשְׂעֹרִים וּפוֹל וַעֲדָשִׁים וְדֹחַן וְכֻסְּמִים וְנָתַתָּה אוֹתָם בִּכְלִי אֶחָד וְעָשִׂיתָ אוֹתָם לְךָ לְלָחֶם מִסְפַּר הַיָּמִים אֲשֶׁר־אַתָּה שׁוֹכֵב עַל־צִדְּךָ שְׁלֹשׁ־מֵאוֹת וְתִשְׁעִים יוֹם תֹּאכֲלֶנּוּ׃ 10 וּמַאֲכָלְךָ אֲשֶׁר תֹּאכֲלֶנּוּ בְּמִשְׁקוֹל עֶשְׂרִים שֶׁקֶל לַיּוֹם מֵעֵת עַד־עֵת תֹּאכֲלֶנּוּ׃ 11 וּמַיִם בִּמְשׂוּרָה תִשְׁתֶּה שִׁשִּׁית הַהִין מֵעֵת עַד־עֵת תִּשְׁתֶּה׃ 12 וְעֻגַת שְׂעֹרִים תֹּאכֲלֶנָּה וְהִיא בְּגֶלְלֵי צֵאַת הָאָדָם תְּעֻגֶנָה לְעֵינֵיהֶם׃ ס

Vocabulary

Verse 9

            חטין  noun: “wheat” (BDB, 334)

            שערה  “barley” (BDB, 972)

            פול  “beans” (BDB, 806)

            עדשׁה  “lentils” (BDB, 727)

            דתן  “millet” (BDB, 191)

            כסמת  “spelt” (BDB, 493)

            שׁכב  verb (Qal participle): “lay”

            צד  “side” (BDB, 841)

Syntax & Miscellaneous

•  The sequencing of elements in biblical Hebrew is varied.  Options include: listing of elements each with a waw (e.g. Genesis 1:14, 8:22, 10:2, 12:16), listing elements in pairs i.e. waw with the second word of the pair (e.g. Genesis 1:30, 5:30, 14:16, 22:24), listing with a waw associated only with the final element (Genesis 5:32), and listing elements in various combinations of the previous sequence types.

Vocabulary

Verse 10

            מאכל  “food” (BDB, 38)

            משׁקול  “weight” (BDB, 1054)

            שׁקל  “shekel, measurement of weight”

Verse 11

            משורה  “measure” (BDB, 601)

            הין  “liquid measurement” (BDB, 228)

Verse 12

            עגה  “cake of bread” (BDB, 728)

            שערה  “barley” (BDB, 972)

            גל  “dung” (BDB, 165)

            צאה  “filth, excrement” (BDB, 844)

            עוג  verb: “bake” (BDB, 728)

Syntax & Misc.

Verse 10

• The idiom, מֵעֵת עַד־עֵת, could be understood as “from time to time” i.e. “occasionally,” or it may mean “daily.”

Verse 11

• Some suggest that a hin is approximately 6 liters. 

Verse 12

• Cooking food with excrement was a violation of the purity laws.  See Deuteronomy 23:14 (English 23:13) for further rules governing excrement.

וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִים מִי אָנֹכִי כִּי אֵלֵךְ אֶל־פַּרְעֹה וְכִי אוֹצִיא אֶת־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָיִם׃ 12 וַיֹּאמֶר כִּי־אֶהְיֶה עִמָּךְ וְזֶה־לְּךָ הָאוֹת כִּי אָנֹכִי שְׁלַחְתִּיךָ בְּהוֹצִיאֲךָ אֶת־הָעָם מִמִּצְרַיִם תַּעַבְדוּן אֶת־הָאֱלֹהִים עַל הָהָר הַזֶּה׃ 13 וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל־הָאֱלֹהִים הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי בָא אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתִּי לָהֶם אֱלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵיכֶם שְׁלָחַנִי אֲלֵיכֶם וְאָמְרוּ־לִי מַה־שְּׁמוֹ מָה אֹמַר אֲלֵהֶם׃ 14 וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל־מֹשֶׁה אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה וַיֹּאמֶר כֹּה תֹאמַר לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶהְיֶה שְׁלָחַנִי אֲלֵיכֶם׃

Vocabulary

Verse 11

            מצרים  name: “Egypt”

Syntax & Miscellaneous

• Notice the two clauses joined by waw and marked by כי elaborating on the main question, מִי אָנֹכִי.
• The imperfect can indicate modality (particularly in first position in the sentence).  In this instance it expresses potential action or possibility (“who am I that I could go”).  See also Exodus 16:7 (תַלִּינוּ) and Numbers 11:12 (תֹאמַר).
• The Hiphil stem can be understood as causative; therefore, נצא “go out” in Qal becomes “bring out” in Hiphil.

Vocabulary

Verse 12

            אות  noun: “sign, pledge”

Verse 14

            אהיה  verb (Qal imperfect 1cs): “I am” or “I will be”

Syntax & Misc.

Verse 12

• The clause, וְזֶה־לְּךָ הָאוֹת, is verbless.
• The beth preposition is temporal, “when.”
• The 2ms suffix is functioning as the “subject” of the infinitive, בְּהוֹצִיאֲךָ.
• Paragogic nun: תַּעַבְדוּן.

Verse 13

• As in many Greek verbs of movement, the Hebrew word בוא can refer to coming or going.
• The phrase, אָנֹכִי בָא, is a periphrastic construction without the “to be” verb.
• See the DH post about the name of God.

Verse 14

• The final usage of אֶהְיֶה is as a nominative (proper name?).

At the time of Ezekiel’s birth (ca. 622 B.C.), the situation in Israel was quite favorable to Yahwehistic worship and veneration. King Josiah was leading a grand religious reformation, having destroyed the alters high places in the land of Judah and reinstated the Torah as the center of Israelite religion, but this restoration would not last. Soon Josiah would be killed in a pitched battle with Nebo, the king of Egypt, and a litany of wicked kings would ascend the throne of Judah, each leading the people further and further from true Israelite religion. At the age of twenty-five, Ezekiel witnessed Yahweh’s judgment firsthand both in Nebuchadnezzar’s first invasion and exile of Judah (597 B.C.). Turning thirty while in the foreign land of Babylon, his ministry began not with the assumption of priestly duties in the temple but with a prophetic vision of the glory of Yahweh by the Chebar canal (Ezekiel 1).

His prophetic ministry, unlike that of his contemporary Jeremiah, was entirely to a people in exile. For six years while the exiles hoped for a speedy return to the land, Ezekiel proclaimed the upcoming destruction of the exile’s homeland. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., Ezekiel’s message shifted to one of hope and future restoration of the exiled Israelites to the land and a new temple in which God would reside.

Commentaries

Allen, Leslie. Ezekiel 1-19. WBC

Allen, Leslie. Ezekiel 20-48. WBC

Blenkinsopp, Joseph. Ezekiel. Interpretation

*Block, Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 1-24. NICOT

*Block, Daniel I. The Book of Ezekiel Chapters 25-48. NICOT

Eichrodt, Walther. Ezekiel: A Commentary. OTL

Greenberg, Moshe. Ezekiel 1-20: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. AB

Greenberg, Moshe. Ezekiel 21-48: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. AB

*Highly Recommended

DH Posts

Thursday’s blog post is taken from the Book of Ezekiel. The past posts are categorized below. Click the reference for the blog post, select “Print” for a printer friendly version of the post, and choose “Download” for the .pdf version of the post. Download the all the posts by right-clicking the heading of each chapter (i.e. Chapter 2, Chapter 3, etc.).

*Get Adobe Reader Free*

Hebrew Text

View the entire Hebrew text of Ezekiel here.

…is the story of God’s ordination of births. Plagued with childlessness, Hannah pleads with God for seed. God answers, and Samuel, the prophet, was born (1 Samuel 1). The people beg for a ruler, a king, like the nations. God answers, and the kingdom of Israel is born (1 Samuel 8-9). With the ascendancy of David to the throne of Israel, God initiates the beginning of a new and lasting covenant (2 Samuel 7). Finally, the heir to the Davidic throne is born from mourning (2 Samuel 12). The birth of Solomon marks the birth of the Davidic dynasty and Israel’s national identity.

Commentaries

Klein, Ralph. 1 Samuel. WBC

Anderson, A.A. 2 Samuel. WBC

Arnold, Bill T. 1 & 2 Samuel. NIVAC

Baldwin, Joyce. 1 & 2 Samuel. TOTC

Bergen, Robert. 1, 2 Samuel. NAC

Gordon, Robert. 1 & 2 Samuel. Library of Biblical Interpretation

*McCarter, P. Kyle. I Samuel. AB

*McCarter, P. Kyle. II Samuel. AB

*Highly Recommended

DH Posts

Tuesday’s blog post is taken from the Book of Samuel. The past posts are categorized below. Click the reference for the blog post, select “Print” for a printer friendly version of the post, and choose “Download” for the .pdf version of the post. Download the all the posts by right-clicking the heading of each chapter (i.e. Chapter 2, Chapter 3, etc.).

*Get Adobe Reader Free*

Hebrew Text

View the entire Hebrew text of Samuel here.