Genesis 14

Chapter context

What is happening in Genesis 14?

creationfallcovenantpromise

Genesis 14 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as the call and testing of Abraham. Genesis opens the whole Bible with creation, fall, flood, Babel, and the long patriarchal story that carries the reader from Eden to Egypt. Read this chapter with the wider themes of creation, fall, and covenant in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

¹ And 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; ² That 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. ³ All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. ⁴ Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. ⁵ And 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, ⁶ And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness. ⁷ And 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. ⁸ And 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; ⁹ With 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. ¹⁰ And 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. ¹¹ And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. ¹² And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. ¹³ And 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. ¹⁴ And 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. ¹⁵ And 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. ¹⁶ And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. ¹⁷ And 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. ¹⁸ And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. ¹⁹ And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: ²⁰ And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. ²¹ And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. ²² And 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, ²³ That 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: ²⁴ Save 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.

Study helps

Glossary

Arioch Person v. 1, 9: Lion-like, venerable. (1. ) A king of Ellasar who was confederate with Chedorlamer ( Gen. 14:1 , 9). The tablets recently discovered by Mr. Pinches (see CHALDEA ) show the true reading is Eri-Aku of Larsa.
Elam Place v. 1, 9: Biblical region. Modern identification: Shush.
Ellasar Place v. 1, 9: Biblical region. Modern identification: Assur.
Goiim Place v. 1, 9: Biblical region. Modern identification: Damascus.
Shinar Place v. 1, 9: Biblical region. Modern identification: Babylon.
Admah Place v. 2, 8: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: south of the Lisan.
Bera Person v. 2: Gift, or son of evil, king of Sodom at the time of the invasion of the four kings under Chedorlaomer ( Gen. 14:2 , 8, 17, 21).
Birsha Person v. 2: Son of wickedness, a king of Gomorrah whom Abraham succoured in the invasion of Chedorlaomer ( Gen. 14:2 ).
Gomorrah Place v. 2, 8, 10-11: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: south of the Lisan.
Sodom Place v. 2, 8, 10-12, 17, 21-22: Burning; the walled, a city in the vale of Siddim ( Gen. 13:10 ; 14:1-16 ). The wickedness of its inhabitants brought down upon it fire from heaven, by which it was destroyed (18:16-33; 19:1-29; Deut. 23:17 ). Modern identification: south of the Lisan.
Zeboiim Place v. 2, 8: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: south of the Lisan.
Zoar Place v. 2, 8: Small, a town on the east or south-east of the Dead Sea, to which Lot and his daughters fled from Sodom ( Gen. 19:22 , 23). It was originally called Bela (14:2, 8). Modern identification: Al Safi.
Salt Sea Place v. 3: (Heb. yam), signifies (1) “the gathering together of the waters,” the ocean ( Gen. 1:10 ); (2) a river, as the Nile ( Isa. 19:5 ), the Euphrates ( Isa. 21:1 ; Jer. 51:36 ); (3) the Red Sea. Modern identification: Dead Sea.
Valley of Siddim Place v. 3, 8, 10: Biblical valley. Modern identification: south of the Lisan.
Ashteroth-karnaim Place v. 5: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tell Ashtara.
Ham Place v. 5: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Tell Ham.
Shaveh-kiriathaim Place v. 5: Biblical natural area. Modern identification: Al Qurayyat.
El-paran Place v. 6: Biblical island. Modern identification: Aqaba.
Mount Seir Place v. 6: Biblical mountain range. Modern identification: Jebel esh Shera.
Amorites People v. 7: Highlanders, or hillmen, the name given to the descendants of one of the sons of Canaan ( Gen. 14:7 ), called Amurra or Amurri in the Assyrian and Egyptian inscriptions.
Hazazon-tamar Place v. 7: Biblical region. Modern identification: En Hazeva.
Kadesh-barnea Place v. 7: Holy, or Kadesh-Barnea, sacred desert of wandering, a place on the south-eastern border of Palestine, about 165 miles from Horeb. It lay in the “wilderness” or “desert of Zin”. Modern identification: Ain el Qudeirat.
Dan Place v. 14: Woodland Dan, a place probably somewhere in the direction of Dan, near the sources of the Jordan ( 2 Sam. 24:6 ). The LXX. and the Vulgate read “Dan-ja’ar”, i. e., “Dan in the forest. ”. Modern identification: Tel Dan.
Damascus Place v. 15: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Damascus.
Hobah Place v. 15: Hiding-place, a place to the north of Damascus, to which Abraham pursued Chedorlaomer and his confederates ( Gen. 14:15 ). Modern identification: Hoba.
King’s Valley Place v. 17: Biblical valley. Modern identification: intersection of Kidron Valley and Valley of Hinnom.
Valley of Shaveh Place v. 17: Biblical valley. Modern identification: intersection of Kidron Valley and Valley of Hinnom.
Salem Place v. 18: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jerusalem.