Genesis 14 · Verse 20

Genesis 14:20

And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
Genesis 14:20, King James Version

Genesis 14:20 in other translations

BSBand blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.
WEBBlessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave him a tenth of all.
ASVand blessed be God Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him a tenth of all.
YLTand blessed is God Most High, who hath delivered thine adversaries into thy hand;' and he giveth to him a tenth of all.
DARBYAnd blessed be the Most High God, who has delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him the tenth of all.
BBEAnd let the Most High God be praised, who has given into your hands those who were against you. Then Abram gave him a tenth of all the goods he had taken.
WebsterAnd blessed be the most high God, who hath delivered thy enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

What does Genesis 14:20 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
20. 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).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 20 And 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. The tithes were afterwards granted to the Levites for the use of the sanctuary, and the maintenance of themselves and their families, as they had no other inheritance in Israel.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 14:17-20

Melchizedek is spoken of as a king of Salem, supposed to be the place afterwards called Jerusalem, and it is generally thought that he was only a man. The words of the apostle, He 7:3, state only, that the sacred history has said nothing of his ancestors. The silence of the Scriptures on this, is to raise our thoughts to Him, whose generation cannot be declared. Bread and wine were suitable refreshment for the weary…

Read the full comment on Genesis 14:17-20 →

Genesis 14:20 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וּבָרוּךְ֙u.va.ruKhand [be] blessedH1288
אֵ֣ל'elGodH410
עֶלְי֔וֹןel.YonMost HighH5945
אֲשֶׁר\־'a.Sher-whoH834
מִגֵּ֥ןmi.Genhe has deliveredH4042
צָרֶ֖יךָtza.Rei.khaopponents yourH6862
בְּיָדֶ֑ךָbe.ya.De.khain hand yourH3027
וַיִּתֶּן\־vai.yi.ten-and he gaveH5414
ל֥וֹloto <the> him
מַעֲשֵׂ֖רma.'a.Sera tenthH4643
מִכֹּֽל\׃mi.Kolfrom everythingH3605

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 14:20

  • Genesis 28:22

    And 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.

  • Nehemiah 13:12

    Then brought all Judah the tithe of the corn and the new wine and the oil unto the treasuries.

  • Hebrews 7:4-9

    Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham: But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises. And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better. …

  • Malachi 3:10

    Bring 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.

  • Deuteronomy 14:28

    At 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:

  • Deuteronomy 12:17

    Thou 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:

  • Genesis 24:27

    And 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.

  • Numbers 28:26

    Also 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:

  • Deuteronomy 14:23

    And 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.

  • Leviticus 27:30-32

    And 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. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.

  • Malachi 3:8

    Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.

  • Nehemiah 10:37

    And 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.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
blessed.
9:26; 24:27; Ps 68:19; 72:17-19; 144:1; Eph 1:3; 1Pe 1:3,4
which.
Jos 10:42; Ps 44:3
tithes.
28:22; Le 27:30-32; Nu 28:26; De 12:17; 14:23,28; 2Ch 31:5,6,12
Ne 10:37; 13:12; Am 4:4; Mal 3:8,10; Lu 18:12; Ro 15:16; Heb 7:4-9

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 14:19

    And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

  • Genesis 14:20

    And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

  • Genesis 14:21

    And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.

Read all of Genesis 14

Genesis 14:20 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y bendito sea el Dios alto, que entregó tus enemigos en tu mano. Y dióle Abram los diezmos de todo.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et béni soit le ✶Dieu Très-haut, qui a livré tes ennemis entre tes mains! Et Abram lui donna la dîme de tout.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und gepriesen sei Gott, der Höchste, der deine Feinde in deine Hand geliefert hat! Und Abram gab ihm den Zehnten von allem.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		et benedictus Deus excelsus, quo protegente, hostes in manibus tuis sunt. Et dedit ei decimas ex omnibus.