And he blessed him and said: he refers to Melchizedek. Blessed is discussed in 1.22, 28; 9.1. Translators should review the comments on those passages dealing with reproduction as a blessing, and also the material in 2.3 and 12.2-3.

The words that follow are in the form of a poetic priestly blessing, something outside the experience of the religion of the patriarchs. Because of the poetic structure of this blessing, most translations use poetic line indentation.

Blessed be Abram by God Most High: Blessed is a passive form that is used here in the form of a plea, request, or petition addressed to God or the god to grant or give his favor to the one being blessed. The formula of the blessing itself serves as conferring some benefit for the one receiving it. In some languages the closest equivalent to Blessed be is “I pray God to…,” “I ask God that he…,” or “May it please God to….” The content of the blessing is that God will give good things, or act with favor toward Abram. Therefore we may sometimes translate “I ask God Most High that he grant good things to Abram,” “May God the Most High look with favor on you, Abram,” or “God the Most High, give to Abram that which is good.”

Maker of heaven and earth is a formula commonly used in Canaanite religion and found in other ancient Middle Eastern languages. The expression does not occur elsewhere in the patriarchal period but is thought to have been borrowed much later from Canaanite religion. Maker refers to the one who made the universe, and so “creator.” It may be more natural to translate “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, who created the heaven and the earth” or “I ask that God Most High, who created the heaven and the earth, bless Abram.” The word translated maker also means owner or possessor as in 4.1, but “creator” seems to be more suitable in this context. However, the idea of God as the ruler or owner of the universe is also strongly held in many areas, and so some translations find it natural to say here “May God Most High bless Abram. The heaven and the earth belong to him.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .