King Melchizedek (Malkitzedek) of Salem bringing Bread and Wine to Avram

And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High.

(18) And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High.*God Most High Heb. El ‘Elyon.(19) He blessed him, saying,
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
(20) And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your foes into your hand.” And [Abram] gave him a tenth of everything.

...Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman and the Rabbis,

Rabbi Shmuel said: He revealed to him the laws of the High Priesthood. “Bread” – this alludes to the showbread; “and wine” – this alludes to the libations.

The Rabbis say: He revealed Torah [precepts] to him, as it is stated: “Come, partake of my bread, and drink of the wine that I have mixed” (Proverbs 9:5).

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לחם ויין BREAD AND WINE — Thus is done for those wearied through battle. He showed him (Abraham) that he bore him no malice for killing his descendants. The Midrashic explanation is that he (Melchizedek) thereby gave an intimation to him (Abraham) of the meal-offerings and libations which his descendants would offer there (in Salem which is Jeru-salem) (Genesis Rabbah 43:6).

הוציא לחם ויין, to all those returning from battle who were tired.

הוציא לחם ויין, seeing that these people came back from battle tired, he brought them bread and wine to strengthen and refresh them.

It seems to me that a question for Rashi is if he did this for Avraham's honor or if he was passing by on his return from war that he would be bringing it to his house and they would make a drinking party. Therefore, Rashi wrote "this is what they do for those wearied from battle", that they would be tired, wearied, and famished, so he provided for them dry bread and wine that was better than any other delicacies that they could not wait until the food would be cooked because of hunger, and he passed by suddenly and it is possible that it was not Avram's path to pass there, so Malkitzedek would not have known beforehand; therefore, he brought it close to his city.

And then he made it difficult for him to go outside and not to test until he came to the city. It is not the manner to eat on the field, even for those who are battle-wearied until they arrive to a city. And it is inferable from the language that “he brought out” to greet him outside of the city. Therefore, Rashi says that “he showed him that there wasn’t in his heart…”, which is to say that Malkitzedek thought that if he were to wait for Avraham in the city, Avraham would think that Malkitzedek was doing so out of fear, lest he slay him, as Avraham had slain the kings, some of which were Kedarleomer, who was the king of Elam, Shem’s son. And it seems that all his people were from his sons. Therefore, he gave to him to eat, also out of fearing him and not to advance peace to him, since it was not in his heart…. Therefore, he brought it out to him outside of the city to show to him that there was not in his heart…, which is to say that now Avraham thought, “Why did he bring it out to outside of the city? His city is not on my way to go there, rather he is showing me that it is not in his heart….”After which, Rashi says “The Midrashic explanation is of the meal-offerings, etc.”, which is to say that the meaning of the midrash is that he certainly brought them to his house and honored them, and made a huge drinking party. And his bringing out of the bread and wine was to greet them outside of the city in the manner of gift-giving. “The Midrashic explanation is of the meal-offerings, etc.” is that they were in the form of a gift to God, since the language of meal-offerings is a gift. And the reason that he did not bring meat out to him is meant to hint at the animal-sacrifices, since they are brought for expiation, such as a sin-offering, as well as a guilt-offering, which are not provided in a manner of gifts, which is why he did not want to mention the sin of his sons, but the meal-offerings only come about on account of the donation-offerings and elevation-offerings, which are in the manner of a gift, even though there is also amongst the meal-offerings the meal-offering of the suspected adultress, which is expiatory. That meal-offering derives from barley, which he did not bring out, rather wheat semolina and wine for libations, which also accompany libations for elevation-offerings.

ומלכי צדק מלך שלם הוציא לחם ויין, “and Malki Tzedek, King of Shalem, produced bread and wine, etc.” This was the custom in which soldiers returning from battle would be welcomed. They were naturally tired and worn out, and needed to replace spent energy by imbibing drink and consuming food. An alternate explanation: the reference to bread and wine, specifically, is a hint that just as that King was a priest, so priests of the Jewish people would perform temple service offering libations of wine and the showbreads to the Almighty on a regular basis. In this instance Malki Tzedek, up to now a priest of the supreme G–d, forfeited that honour when he blessed Avraham before first blessing the Almighty, Who had enabled Avraham to become the victor. When David, in Psalms 110,4 said: נשבע יהוה ולא ינחם אתה כהן לעולם על דברתי מלכי צדק, “the Lord has sworn and will not relent, ’you are a priest forever, a rightful priest by My decree,’” he referred to the incident in our verse which cost Malki Tzedek his priesthood. [All the people killed in that battle were actually killed by G–d, as a priest who has killed a human being is forthwith denied the right to perform service in the Temple. Abraham certainly had represented the priesthood in his age. He was “officially” appointed as such after this incident. Ed.] According to the Talmud in Nedarim 32, quoted earlier, this is all derived from the word כהן, “a priest,” which our sages understand to mean that his offspring were not priests.

הוציא לחם ויין, “he produced (from his satchel) bread and wine;” the rules of syntax would have demanded that the verses 1718 should have been written in the following sequence: “The king of Sodom came out of hiding to meet Avram after he had defeated the 4 most powerful kings, and he said to Avram: “hand me over the human beings and keep the chattels for yourself.” (verse 22). Instead, the Torah interrupted with the arrival of Malki Tzedek and his blessing Avram. The reason that the Torah interrupted with verses 1821 was that it wanted to put Avraham’s refusing any offer from the King of Sodom into proper context. If the Torah had inserted the words of Avram, saying that he would not even accept a shoelace so that the King of Sodom could not say that he had personally contributed to Avram’s material wealth, the world would have wondered how Avram could have paid the wages of his soldiers. After reading that Avram had first given ten per cent of all the loot to Malki Tzedek who represented the only G-d, they would not ask such questions. They had also learned that Avram did not mind accepting bread and wine from Malki Tzedek who had acquired all which he possessed by morally acceptable means. They realised that Avram shied away not from material possessions as such, but only from material possessions not acquired by morally and ethically acceptable means. An alternate exegesis: Malki Tzedek produced bread and wine which had not been tithed in order to give Avram an opportunity to perform that commandment, as we will explain on verse 20.

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He only needed to mention the bread, since that is the behavior of people everywhere: "And let me fetch a morsel of bread" (Gen. 18:5) and "And Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat bread" (Ex. 18:12). If you were to say that wine was necessary for those coming from battle, but not because he did not take out meat and fowl and fish and the like according to the way of the kings. There is to say that bread and wine contains all foods and beverages, such as the words of the Rabbis that the blessing of bread and the blessing of wine can encompass the consumption of consumables.

“Malkitzedek king of Salem took out bread and wine, and he was a priest of God, the Most High” (Genesis 14:18).
“Malkitzedek king of Salem…” – that is what is written: “Daughter of Tzor, the wealthiest of the people will seek your favor with gifts” (Psalms 45:13).
“Malkitzedek king of Salem” – this place renders its inhabitants righteous, [and this is why he was called] Malkitzedek, [and we find as well] “Adoni Tzedek [king of Jerusalem]” (Joshua 10:1). Jerusalem itself is called righteousness [tzedek], as it is stated: “Justice [tzedek] abided in it” (Isaiah 1:21).
“King of Salem [Shalem]” – Rabbi Yitzḥak the Babylonian says: He was born circumcised.
“[He] took out bread and wine, and he was a priest of God, the Most High” – Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman and the Rabbis, Rabbi Shmuel said: He revealed to him the laws of the High Priesthood. “Bread” – this alludes to the showbread; “and wine” – this alludes to the libations. The Rabbis say: He revealed Torah [precepts] to him, as it is stated: “Come, partake of my bread, and drink of the wine that I have mixed” (Proverbs 9:5).
“And he was a priest of God, the Most High” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana and Rabbi Levi, Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Any time wine is written in the Torah it connotes a [negative] impact, except for this one. Rabbi Levi said: We cannot except this one either, as it was immediately after this that He decreed upon him: “They will be enslaved to them and they will oppress them” (Genesis 15:13).

He bore him no resentment for his having killed his descendants. For it says, “After his return from defeating Kedorlaomer” — and Kedorlaomer was the king of Ailam, one of Sheim’s descendants. Assumedly, his people also were from Sheim. Rashi explains, “This is done for those who are battle-weary,” because if he meant to feed them as [honored] guests, why did he not bring out cattle and sheep to slaughter for them? But Re’m explains that if [he meant to feed them as guests], why does it say he brought out bread and wine? Scripture always mentions bread alone, such as (18:5): “I will get bread,” and (Shemos 18:12): “Aharon and all the elders of Yisrael came to eat bread.” Here, why does it mention wine too? Perforce, because they were battle-weary.

With Noaḥ, with the daughters of Lot, and with the sons of Aaron — all of them encountered something involving misfortune related to drinking, except for this one instance, when Malkitzedek gave wine to Abraham.