4. consider--not merely see, but weigh with attentive
contemplation, the fact.
even--"to whom (as his superior) Abraham even paid tithe
(went so far as to pay tithe) of (consisting of, literally, 'from')
the best of the spoils (literally, 'the top of the heap";
whether of corn, the first-fruits of which, taken from the top, used to
be consecrated to God; or of spoils, from the top of which the general
used to take some portion for consecration to God, or for his own
use)." He paid "tithes of ALL," and those tithes
were taken out of the topmost and best portion of the whole spoils.
the patriarch--in the Greek emphatically standing at the
end of the whole sentence: And this payer of tithe being no less a
personage than "the patriarch," the first forefather and head of our
Jewish race and nation See on
Heb 7:3,
on Melchisedec's superiority as specially consecrated
king-priest, above the other patriarch-priests.
JFB.
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