Genesis 14:20

‘He has delivered your enemies to you.’ Melchizedek knew that God had given success to Abram.

‘Abram gave one thing out of every 10 things.’ Abram had brought back all the goods. (See verse 16.) It was not possible to return all the goods to their owners. Some of the goods had come from other cities. (See verses 5-7.) So Abram shared the goods in a fair manner. He gave a share to Melchizedek, although Melchizedek’s people had not helped in the fight. Many years after this time, God told Moses to do a similar thing. After a battle, they shared the goods. And the people who fought the battle did not take all the goods. The people who did not fight also had a share. (See Numbers 31:27.)

People sometimes call one thing out of every ten things a ‘tithe’.

Hebrews 7:1-25 refers to Genesis 14:18-20.

v21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give the people to me, but take the goods for yourself.’ v22 But Abram spoke to the king of Sodom. He said, ‘I have made a firm promise to the great *Lord God, who made the heaven and the earth. v23 I promised that I will not take anything from you. I will not take anything that belongs to you. I will not take the smallest thing. I will not even take the string of a shoe. Otherwise, you might say, “I have made Abram rich.” v24 I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten. And I will take the share of the men who went with me. And let Aner, Eshcol and Mamre take their share.’