"And it came to pass in the days of" - this is the connecting phrase. Here and elsewhere it is used to introduce different periods of time. "And it came to pass in the days of the judges." "And it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus," etc. This expression is used in the Midrash to indicate that all of these periods were times of distress.

"And on the fourteenth" - in one verse here and in another verse in 2 Kings 18:13 "And in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up." This is to teach you that just as the nations came against Hezekiah and fell into his hand, so did they come against Abraham and fall into his hand.

"And the survivor came" - In the Midrash of Rabbi Eliezer, at the time when the Holy One, blessed be He, cast Samael [the Head Satan, i.e. head of fallen] out of his place, he held onto the wings of Michael to try and bring him down with him. However, the Holy One, blessed be He, rescued him and saved him from his hand. Similarly, in the book of Ezekiel, the survivor came to me from Jerusalem, saying that the city has been struck.

Translation: "To Damascus" - twice in tradition. Here and also, "And I will exile you beyond Damascus" (Amos 5:27). They were exiled to Damascus because of the sin they committed in Damascus, and this is an obligation that extends to the left of Damascus.

"מלך שלם" ("King of Salem") The initial letters of these words spell the name Shem. This teaches that Malchizedek was Shem, the son of Noah

"Blessed be Abram by God Most High" - There are seven verses in the Torah in which blessings are written to the Holy One Blessed Be He. "Blessed be the Lord God Most High" and "Blessed be God Most High" are two of them. "And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham" is another one. "And I will make mention of the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us" is another one. "And Jethro said, Blessed be the Lord" is another one. "And thou shalt eat and be satisfied, and bless the Lord thy God" is another one. "And Gad said, Blessed be" is another one. In these verses, there are 10 words corresponding to the 10 blessings recited every day, and seven verses corresponding to the seven blessings recited on Shabbat and festivals. And in five of them, the Name is mentioned before the word "Blessed" corresponding to the Five Books of the Torah for which we must bless first. If you add "Blessed be God Most High" to them, they become six, corresponding to the six orders of the Mishnah.

"HaRimoti" - In both versions, it means "for I have raised." As our sages said (may their memory be a blessing): This is similar to the intention of Potiphar's wife, which was for good, just as Abraham's intention was for the sake of Heaven.