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that the Maccabees were called (Jos. Ant. xvi. 163; Ass. Mosis, 6$1$]). This title, the frequent recurrence of as a divine name in late Pss., the name Salem in one such Ps., and Melkiẓedeḳ in (probably) another, make a group of coincidences which go to show that the Melkiẓedeḳ legend was much in vogue about the time of the Maccabees.

17, 21-24. Abram and the king of Sodom.—The request of the king of Sodom presupposes as the usual custom of war that Abram was entitled to the whole of the booty. Abram's lofty reply is the climax to which the whole narrative leads up.—22. I lift up my hand] the gesture accompanying an oath (Ex. 6$8$, Nu. 14$30$, Dt. 32$40$, Ezk. 20$23$, Dn. 12$7$ etc.).—to Yahwe, 'El 'Elyôn] A recognition of religious affinity with Melkiẓedeḳ, as a fellow-worshipper of the one true God. The, however, is probably an addition to the text, wanting in G and S while [E] has .—23. lest thou shouldst say, etc.] An earlier writer (cf. 12$16$) would perhaps not have understood this scruple: he would have attributed the enrichment of Abram to God, even if the medium was a heathen king.—24. The condescending allowance for the weakness of inferior natures is mentioned to enhance the impression of Abram's generosity (Gu.).

''The Historic Value of Ch. 14.''—There are obvious reasons why this chapter should have come to be regarded in some quarters as a 'shibboleth' between two opposite schools of OT criticism (Homm. AHT, 165). The narrative is unique in this respect, that it sets the figure of Abraham in the framework of world-history. It is the case that certain features of this framework have been confirmed, or rendered credible, by recent Assyriological discoveries; and by those who look to archæological research to correct the aberrations of literary criticism, this fact is represented as not only demonstrating the historicity of the narrative as a whole, but as proving that the criticism which resolved it into a late Jewish romance must be vitiated

22. ] On the pf., G-K. § 106 i.—23. On the of negative asseveration, § 149 a, c. The second, which adds force to the negation, is not rendered by G or V.—24. lit. 'not unto me!' (in Hex. only 41$16. 44$ [E], Jos. 22$19$ [late]). GVST$O$ seem to have read as a compound prepositional phrase (= 'except').