Verses 18-20 contain religious ideas that are otherwise foreign to the worship practice of the period of the patriarchs; for example, priest, tithes, formal religious blessing.
And Melchizedek king of Salem: the name Melchizedek is understood in various ways; it may mean, for example, “king of righteousness,” as in Heb 7.2, or “My king is righteous.” However, “Zedek” is the name of a Canaanite god, and just as Adonizedek, “my lord is Zedek,” is the name of a later Canaanite king of Jerusalem (Josh 10.1), Melchizedek would mean “My king [LORD] is Zedek.” Since the King of Sodom has just been mentioned in the previous verse, some translations introduce Melchizedek in this verse as “Another king, whose name was Melchizedek….”
King of Salem: the only other place in the Old Testament where Salem is found is Psa 76.2; there it is parallel to Zion, and so the reference here is taken to be what was later called Jerusalem. An ancient Aramaic translation, Targum Onkelos, translated Salem as “Jerusalem,” and this has been the view of most Jewish and Christian interpreters. There have been other identifications of Salem, but none has received widespread acceptance. Modern as well as ancient translations prefer “Salem” without identifying it in the text or in a footnote as Jerusalem. Although Jerusalem may be known to many readers, there is probably little to be gained by translating Salem in that way. Some may prefer to say, for example, “King of the place called Salem” or “… of the city called Salem.”
Brought out bread and wine: this is food to feed the hungry troops of Abram and not a symbolic representation of the New Testament “LORD’s Supper.” However, it is possible that this food was used in a covenant meal, in which Abram and Melchizedek showed their common opposition to the foreign invaders. In the light of the blessing that follows in verse 18, it is difficult to separate Melchizedek’s kingly and priestly functions at this point. The word translated bread is the same as used in 3.19. See there for comments. Bread may be taken as in New English Bible, Revised English Bible as “food.” Wine translates the same word as used in 9.21. See there for discussion.
He was priest of God Most High: the term priest occurs here for the first time in Genesis. A priest is a person who carries out the ritual and ceremonial features of religion. In societies that do not have an organized priesthood, there are often persons who attend to ritual matters such as healing, divining, and consulting the spirits or the ancestors. In some cases the term used for this office will serve to translate the word priest. If such terms are unsuitable, a descriptive term such as “the one who speaks to God and the people,” or “the one who shows the God way,” or “the one who makes sacrifices” may be used. If such descriptive terms are also unsatisfactory, it may be necessary to borrow the term from a major language, or to combine the borrowed word with a descriptive phrase.
God Most High translates Hebrew ʾel ʿelyon. The name ʾel is probably the oldest and most general designation for a god in ancient Semitic languages. ʾEl combined with ʿelyon is the name of a Canaanite god who was recognized as the highest or greatest god in opposition to lesser Canaanite gods. The expression ʾel ʿelyon occurs elsewhere in the Old Testament only in Psa 78.35. ʿElyon is parallel with ʾel in Num 24.16; Psa 73.11, and elsewhere with ʾelohim, shaddai, and yahweh.
According to Speiser ʾel and ʿelyon represent a combination of Ugaritic and Phoenician names for gods. He argues that, since chapter 14 is from an independent source, it is wrong to harmonize these names with the same names found in other parts of the Old Testament. In this view Melchizedek as a Canaanite priest is calling upon these names as his Canaanite gods. Therefore in order not to identify ʾel ʿelyon with the Israelite God, Speiser translates “He was priest of El-Elyon.” However, we must ask if the narrator’s purpose in selecting ʾel ʿelyon here was to call attention to the pagan gods of ancient Jerusalem or to provide Abram with a Canaanite designation that would be suitable in some way for both Melchizedek and Abram to use. Verse 22 makes clear that Abram comfortably identifies with ʾel ʿelyon when he prefixes Yahweh to this name. Accordingly all modern translations, aside from Speiser, translate with an expression equivalent to God Most High.
In translation there is little difficulty normally in using an expression such as God Most High, as God is so frequently associated with heights or with the sky. Thus we may often say “God who is above all others,” “God above all,” or “God who is the greatest.” The relation of priest to God Most High must often be expressed, for example, “He was a priest who served God Most High,” “He was the one who showed the people the way of God the highest,” or “He was the one who led the people in the worship of God who is above all others.”
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .