Genesis 14

This happened in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations.

1And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;

NoteShinar is southern Mesopotamia, the region later called Babylonia; Elam lay east of it, in what is now southwestern Iran; Ellasar has not been securely identified. "King of nations" translates the Hebrew word goyim, meaning peoples or nations generally; it may be a place name here rather than a description, and translators differ.

2These kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (Bela is also called Zoar).

2That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.

NoteSodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Bela were small city-states, each with its own king, towns with a ruler rather than kingdoms in the modern sense. The parenthesis is the writer telling readers that the town they know as Zoar is the Bela of the story.

3All of these joined together in the Valley of Siddim, which is the Salt Sea.

3All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.

NoteThe Salt Sea is the body of water now called the Dead Sea. It is so salty that nothing lives in it. The writer is identifying an old battlefield name with a landmark his readers would recognize.

4For twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled against him.

4Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

Note"Served" here means they were subject states: they kept their own kings but paid yearly tribute to Chedorlaomer and owed him military support. Rebelling meant refusing to pay, which is why an army came.

5In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

5And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

NoteRephaim, Zuzim and Emim are names for older peoples of the region. Elsewhere the Hebrew Bible remembers the Rephaim and Emim as unusually tall, and it uses these names for populations that had already largely disappeared by the time the story was written down.

6and the Horites in their own mountain country of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is beside the wilderness.

6And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness.

NoteThe Horites were the earlier inhabitants of the hill country of Seir, southeast of the Dead Sea, the territory later held by Edom. The "wilderness" is dry, uninhabited grazing land, not forest.

7Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat, which is Kadesh, and they struck down the whole country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who lived in Hazezon Tamar.

7And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar.

NoteEn Mishpat means "spring of judgment" in Hebrew, a desert water source where disputes were settled; Kadesh is the name it was known by later. Naming the territory after the Amalekites is the writer using the label current in his own day for land the Amalekites had not yet settled at the time of the events.

8Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and lined up for battle against them in the Valley of Siddim.

8And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;

9They fought against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar: four kings against five.

9With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.

Note"Four kings with five" is the storyteller's summary of the odds, the way one might say "four against five."

10Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah ran away, and they fell there, and the ones who were left ran to the mountain.

10And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.

NoteThe King James "slimepits" means pits of bitumen, natural asphalt, a thick black tar that seeps to the surface in this region. It was collected and used as mortar and waterproofing. Men and animals could sink into it.

11The four kings took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went on their way.

11And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.

12They also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who was living in Sodom, and they took his goods, and left.

12And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

NoteThe King James "Abram's brother's son" is exact: Lot was Abram's nephew, the son of Abram's dead brother Haran. Under the customs of the time this made Abram responsible for him.

13One man who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite. Mamre was the brother of Eshcol and the brother of Aner, and these men were allies of Abram.

13And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.

Note"Hebrew" appears here for the first time in the Bible; it is what outsiders call Abram, not what he calls himself. The "oaks" (King James "plain") are large trees, probably terebinths, that marked a known spot, landmarks people camped beside and named. "Confederate with Abram" means bound to him by a sworn treaty of mutual defense, which is why their men fight alongside him.

14When Abram heard that his relative had been taken away as a prisoner, he armed the trained men of his household, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen of them, and chased the raiders as far as Dan.

14And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.

NoteHebrew uses "brother" for any close male relative, so the King James "his brother" and the rendering's "his relative" mean the same thing: Lot, his nephew. The men "born in his own house" were slaves born into Abram's household rather than bought, a group considered the most loyal and here trained as fighters. Dan is the name the northern site carried in the writer's day, long after Abram.

15At night he divided his forces against them, he and his servants, and attacked them, and chased them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.

15And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

NoteThe King James "on the left hand of Damascus" reflects the Hebrew habit of orienting by facing east: ahead is east, behind is west, right is south, left is north. So it means north of Damascus.

16He brought back all the goods, and he also brought back his relative Lot and Lot's goods, and the women as well, and the people.

16And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

17After Abram came back from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh, which is the King's Valley.

17And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.

NoteThe King's Valley was a known spot near Jerusalem; the writer gives both the older name, Shaveh, and the familiar one. Going out to meet a returning army was the formal way a ruler greeted a victor and opened negotiations.

18And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine, for he was the priest of God Most High.

18And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

NoteSalem is generally understood as the older name for Jerusalem. Melchizedek's name means something like "my king is righteousness" or "king of righteousness." A priest was the man authorized to offer sacrifices and pronounce blessings for a community. "God Most High" translates El Elyon, a title for the highest god used in that region; the story does not explain how Melchizedek came to serve him. Bread and wine were the ordinary provisions offered to an army coming off a march.

19He blessed Abram and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, who owns heaven and earth.

19And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

NoteThe King James "possessor of heaven and earth" translates a Hebrew word that can mean either "the one who acquired or owns" or "the one who made." Both senses are live in the phrase and translators split between them.

20And blessed be God Most High, who has handed your enemies over to you." And he gave him a tenth of everything.

20And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

Note"Delivered thine enemies into thy hand" is standard battle language: handed them over, gave you the victory. Giving a tenth of captured goods to a temple or its priest was a recognized practice in the ancient Near East. The Hebrew does not name the giver or the receiver, "he gave him a tenth of everything", and although the usual reading is that Abram gave to Melchizedek, the sentence itself leaves it open.

21The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, and keep the goods for yourself."

21And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.

NoteThe "persons" are his own captured citizens, taken as prisoners and about to be sold or kept as slaves. By the war customs of the time the recaptured people and goods now belonged to Abram, so the king is asking a favor, not stating a right.

22But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand in an oath to the LORD, God Most High, who owns heaven and earth,

22And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,

NoteRaising the hand was the physical gesture that accompanied swearing an oath, the way a raised hand accompanies swearing in a court today. Abram is saying he has already bound himself by oath, so the matter is closed.

23that I will not take from you so much as a thread or a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that belongs to you, so that you can never say, 'I made Abram rich.'

23That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:

NoteA thread and a sandal strap are proverbially the most worthless things a person carries, the equivalent of saying "not a scrap, not a shoelace."

24I will take nothing except what the young men have already eaten, and the share of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their share."

24Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

Note"The young men" are Abram's fighting men; the word can mean servants or retainers as well as men of a certain age. Dividing captured goods among those who fought was the normal expectation, so Abram is refusing his own share while protecting his allies' claim to theirs.