Melchizedek Blesses Abram (Gen 14.19-20)
“Blessed be Abram by the God Most High,
Genesis 14.19–20
The One who created the heavens and the earth.
And blessed by the God Most High,
Who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Background
We might assume that the Bible only contains prayers by Jews or Christians. Yet, there are prayers in the Bible by people who are neither. We might then think that these must be prayers to their pagan gods, and sometimes this is true. One example is in the book of Jonah, where a group of sailors pray to their gods to deliver them from a storm. But there are also instances of pagans offering prayers to the God of Israel. Today’s passage is one of those. Melchizedek, a priest-king of the Canaanite god El, offers a prayer of blessing for Abram.
This is the third prayer in the Bible and is the second blessing. Abram, a man chosen by God, has his nephew taken captive during a battle. When Abram hears of the capture, he gathers his forces and rescues his nephew. On his way back home, he passes by a town known as Salem (the city that would later become Jerusalem). Melchizedek comes out to meet Abram and his entourage. Though Salem is a pagan city at this time, and although Melchizedek is the High Priest to the pagan god El, he offers a blessing upon Abram, which Abram accepts.
Meaning
Does God hear the prayers of pagans? How can this story enhance our understanding of the practice of prayer?
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