Genesis 14:18

Summary

The verse introduces Melchi-tzedek ("Melchi-zedek", H4442), king of Shalem ("Salem", H8004), who brings out bread and wine, and states that he was a priest of El ("God", H0410J) 'Elyon ("Most High", H5945H). The sentence combines a narrative action (the bringing of provisions) with a descriptive clause about his priestly status.

Key words

• hotzi' ("he brought out", H3318H) — hiphil perfect, third person masculine singular. The hiphil stem is causative, indicating that the subject caused the bread and wine to go out/be brought forth, rather than simply "having" or "giving" them.
• hu' ("he", H1931) — independent personal pronoun placed before the noun khohen. Since Hebrew verbal/nominal clauses do not require a separate pronoun when the subject is already clear from context, its explicit use here gives emphasis to the identity of the subject in the clause "he was a priest."
• khohen ("priest", H3548) — masculine singular noun, functioning as a predicate nominative in a verbless clause with hu'. There is no finite verb "to be" in the Hebrew; the clause is nominal, meaning "and he [is/was] a priest."
• le-El 'Elyon ("of God Most High", H0410J + H5945H) — a construct-like prepositional phrase with le ("of", H9005) marking the noun El as the one to whom the priesthood belongs; 'Elyon functions as an adjective modifying El.
• Melekh Shalem ("king of Salem", H4428G + H8004) — construct chain: Melekh ("king of") governs Shalem ("Salem"), the place name, forming the title "king of Salem."

What the text says

The verse divides into two parts joined by ve- ("and", H9002). The first part is a verbal clause: u-Malki-tzedek Melekh Shalem hotzi' lechem va-yayin — "and Malki-tzedek, king of Shalem, brought out bread and wine." The subject (Malki-tzedek Melekh Shalem) precedes the verb hotzi', and the verb itself is hiphil, marking a causative action of bringing something forth.

The second part, ve-hu' khohen le-El 'Elyon, is a nominal (verbless) clause. Hebrew allows statements of identity or state without a copula verb; here the independent pronoun hu' stands in for "was," while khohen functions as predicate. The phrase le-El 'Elyon specifies whose priest he is, using the preposition le to indicate association or belonging, followed by the divine designation El 'Elyon.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the nominal clause with an explicit verb, ēn de hiereus ("he was, moreover, a priest"), supplying the copula that the Hebrew leaves implicit. The Vulgate similarly adds erat enim ("for he was"), making the causal/explanatory nuance explicit, whereas the Hebrew conjunction ve- is more neutrally "and." The SBLIBRE Spanish translation restructures the verse by placing "and priest of God Most High" as a descriptor of Melchizedek earlier in the sentence, differing from the Hebrew's sequential clause order.