אלהי השמים וגו'. ולא אלהי הארץ כי באותה שעה לא נודע אלהותו לבריות. ומטעם זה ליכא מלכות בברכה ראשונה של שמונה עשרה דלא שייך לומר אלהי אברהם כי בפרק שהתחיל להיות אלהי אברהם עדיין לא היה על כל העולם: אלוקי השמים, “the G–d in heaven, etc.;” we must note that Avraham did not, at this stage, describe G–d as also being the G–d acknowledged on earth. He described the situation as it was, i.e. that up until this time the G–d of Israel, or even the G–d of creation had not been acknowledged as such on earth. This fact is reflected in our central daily prayer the עמידה, consisting of 18 (+1) benedictions we do not refer to G–d as “King” in the opening benediction which describes Him as the G–d of Avraham and that of the other two patriarchs. [Whenever we recite a benediction before eating even a morsel or drinking a mouthful of water, we do add the fact that He is the King of the universe. Ed.] (Compare Sifrey on parshat Ha-azinu, section 313).