Comentários de Citação sobre Gênesis 14:20

ברך את אברהם בכל, “He blessed Avraham in all respects.” This was due to the merit he had acquired when tithing the loot of the war against the Kings with Kedorleomer and giving it to the “priest,” who was the King of Shalem. (Genesis 14,20)

והעלהו שם לעולה, “and offer him up there as burnt offering.” When Avraham is supposed to have asked G-d: “how can I offer a burnt offering in the absence of the priest whose duty it is to perform such rites? G-d answered that Avraham had been appointed as a priest by Him already. (Bereshit Rabbah 55,7) This is how the sages explained Psalms 110,4: נשבע ה' ולא ינחם אתה כהן לעולם על דברתי מלכי צדק, “The Lord has sworn and will not retract that you are a priest forever as per My word to Malki Tzedek.” (compare Genesis 14,20 where the latter was deprived of that priesthood as he had blessed mortal Avraham before blessing the immortal Lord)

it is a duty to tithe -- it is written in the Shl"a and the book "Kenei Chachma", that this is not only for produce, but rather for all good a person receives, he is under duty to tithe it. And from all profit that G-d bestows on a man, he is obligated to give one tenth to the poor. Since, behold, the forefathers took on themselves to do this as written: "he (Abraham) gave him one tenth of everything" (Bereishis 14:20) and "of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you" (ibid 28:22), and "put Me to the test, says the L-ord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need" (Malachi 3:10). Since this mitzvah is lax in our times, it is proper to remind and make known its importance. Here is an excerpt from the book "Yesh Nochalim" (ch.2 ot 30) and the Sefer Chareidim siman 144: "woe to those who refrain from giving their maaser, for in the end nothing will remain in their hands except the one tenth. This is something tangibly visible for in the places where people were careful to take maaser properly, they became wealthy and their wealth stayed by them until they bequeathed it to their children. While in those places where people were not careful in this, they lost their wealth through some calamity and bequeath nothing to their children... see there and the book Kenei Chachma at length.

deliver you Heb. אֲמַגֶּנְךָ. Comp. (Gen. 14:20) “Who delivered (מִגֵן) your adversaries.”

[6] Each one aided his fellow This one [Shem] aided this one [Abraham] with blessings, “Blessed be Abram” (Gen. 14:19), and this one [Abraham] aided this one [Shem] with gifts, “And he gave him tithe from everything” (ibid. verse 20).

Break their hearts. A breaking of the heart, as [Scripture] says, “I will break you, O Yisroel,”⁴²Hosheia 11:8. [and as in,] “who broke your adversaries in your hand.”⁴³Bereishis 14:20. Another explanation of מְגִנַּת לֵב is ‘stopping up of the heart,’ trouble and sighing, which are like a shield against their heart. But he who explains it as an expression of grief is wrong, because there is no nun in this word, for the nun in יָגוֹן is not a radical, but it is like the nun of הָמוֹן from the [same] root as הָמוּ גוֹיִם, and like the nun of קָלוֹן from the root of נִקְלֶה, and like the nun of צִיּוֹן from the root of צִיָּה, and similarly the nun of שִׁבְרוֹן from the root of שֶׁבֶר. (and like the nun of שִׁמָּמוֹן and שִׁגָּעוֹן. It appears to me that this is the correct reading, and this is easy to understand.)