Following his victory against the kings, Abraham gave tithe to
Melchizedek. It was suggested that our story points to the virtues and privileges
of the priests of Jerusalem. The tithe that Abraham gave to Melchizedek attests
to the rights of the priests and what is displayed here is an etiological story
that comes to justify it. But an examination of the biblical text reveals that
what Abraham gave to Melchizedek is a one-time payment comparable to what we
read in Num 31:25-41, which speaks about the distribution of the spoils. It is
different from the later annual tithing that supported the religious
institutions (Deut 14:22-29; 26:12-15). The one-time payment that Abraham gave
to Melchizedek is related to the blessing that the king-priest bestowed on
Abraham: “Blessed be Abram of God Most High God, Creator of Heaven and earth”
(Gen 14:19). (Shaul Bar, Abraham: A Man Fearing God [Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf
and Stock, 2025], 53)
