In translating this passage it is often clearer to use the names “Abraham” and “Melchizedek” rather than the pronouns “he” and “him.” And at the beginning of this verse may be slightly emphatic; King James Version and Jerusalem Bible have “also.” As the writer shows in verses 6-8, the point is that there are two ways in which Melchizedek is seen to be more important than Abraham. First, Melchizedek blesses Abraham; and second, Abraham gives Melchizedek a tithe or tenth of all he got in the battle (verse 4). The word for gave means “gave a share of,” “shared out.” In most languages there is a relatively technical term for booty, that which is taken from the enemy after the enemy has been defeated.
Good News Translation‘s expansion of “everything” (Revised Standard Version) into all he had taken is based on verse 4. In some languages it may sound better to make the full statement one tenth of all he got in the battle in verse 2, and then to say simply “a tenth of everything” in verse 4. Such a small rearrangement need not involve any change of verse numbers (compare Gen 14.20 in Good News Bible). Where it is difficult to speak of one tenth, it may be possible to restructure the statement as “Abraham divided all that he had taken into ten different parts and gave Melchizedek one of the parts” or “of the ten parts of all that Abraham had taken he gave one part to Melchizedek.”
In the Greek, the two sentences which Good News Translation puts in parentheses (round brackets) are a rather awkward insertion. If the Greek sentence is broken up, there is no need for parentheses, since there is no specially close connection between verses 2a and 3. Other common language translations do not use parentheses here. In some languages it is better to follow the verse order: 1a, 2b, 3, 1b, 2a.
Good News Translation‘s The first meaning leads the reader to expect a second, possibly deeper, meaning of Melchizedek. In fact, what the writer does for the second meaning is to give a translation of king of Salem. A combination of Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch would give the simple meaning: “Melchizedek really means ‘king of righteousness.’ He was also king of Salem, which means ‘king of peace.’ ” The first indicates that the writer is beginning a systematic explanation of the Old Testament passage which he has summarized. An expanded paraphrase might read “The first thing to be said about this text (or, about Melchizedek) is that his name means ‘King of Righteousness.’ The next point is that he is also King of Salem, which means ‘King of Peace.’ ”
On Righteousness see 1.9; 5.13. King of Righteousness and King of Peace may be replaced by verbal expressions such as “king who does what is right” and “king who brings peace” The words rendered “righteousness” and “peace” in Hebrews have a wide range of meanings: for “righteousness,” see 1.8 (quoting Psa 45.6); 5.13; 11.7, 33; 12.11; for “peace,” see 11.31; 13.20.
There is no verb in the Greek text corresponding to Revised Standard Version‘s “is” before “first” and again before “also king.” Good News Translation supplies is in the first place and was in the second. From verse 26 onward, the author is less interested in what happened in Genesis 14 than in the permanent significance of Melchizedek; therefore “is” in both places is perhaps better (so New English Bible, Phillips).
Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .