Genesis 14

Written and Compiled by Gary Kukis

Genesis 14:1–24

War of the Kings/Abraham and Melchizedek


These studies are designed for believers in Jesus Christ only. If you have exercised faith in Christ, then you are in the right place. If you have not, then you need to heed the words of our Lord, Who said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten [or, uniquely-born] Son, so that every [one] believing [or, trusting] in Him shall not perish, but shall be have eternal life! For God did not send His Son into the world so that He should judge the world, but so that the world shall be saved through Him. The one believing [or, trusting] in Him is not judged, but the one not believing has already been judged, because he has not believed in the Name of the only-begotten [or, uniquely-born] Son of God.” (John 3:16–18). “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life! No one comes to the Father except through [or, by means of] Me!” (John 14:6).


Every study of the Word of God ought to be preceded by a naming of your sins to God. This restores you to fellowship with God (1John 1:8–10). If there are people around, you would name these sins silently. If there is no one around, then it does not matter if you name them silently or whether you speak aloud.


This is a collection of the weekly lessons of Genesis (HTML) (PDF) interspersed with the complete word-by-word exegesis of this chapter from the Hebrew with some information from Genesis (HTML) (PDF) thrown in. Furthermore, the examination of this chapter has been expanded with additional commentary as well. However, much of this material was thrown together without careful editing. Therefore, from time to time, there will be concepts and exegetical material which will be repeated, because there was no overall editing done once all of this material was combined. At some point in the future, I need to go back and edit this material and consider other source material as well. Links to the word-by-word, verse-by-verse studies of Genesis (HTML) (PDF).

 

One more thing: it is not necessary that you read the grey Hebrew exegesis tables. They are set apart from the rest of the study so that you can easily skip over them. However, if you ever doubt a translation of a phrase or a verse, these translation tables will tell you exactly where that translation came from.


This should be the most extensive examination of Gen. 14 available, where you will be able to examine in depth every word of the original text.


Outline of Chapter 14:

 

Introduction

 

         vv.     1–3           War of the Kings—Summary

         vv.     4–7           War of the Kings—Prelude

         vv.     8–12         War of the Kings

         vv.    13–16         Abram Deploys Against the Kings of the East

         vv.    17–24         Abram, Melchizedek and the King of Sodom

 

Addendum


Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

 

         Introduction         Links to the JEPD Theory (also known as Documentary Hypothesis)

         Introduction         The Prequel of Genesis 14

         Introduction         The Principals of Genesis 14

         Introduction         The Abrahamic Timeline for Genesis 14

         Introduction         A Synopsis of Genesis 14

         Introduction         What We Learn from Genesis 14—A Preview

 

         v.       1              Summary of the 4 Kings of the Eastern Alliance

         v.       1              Map of the 4 Kings

         v.       1              The World of the Old Testament (map)

         v.       5              A stele from the Tophet in Carthage (today Tunisia) (graphic)

         v.       6              The Horites/Hivites

         v.       6              Route of the Kings of the East (map)

         v.       7              The Route of the Kings of the East (map)

         v.       7              The Strategy and Tactics of the Kings of the East

         v.      13              The Word “Hebrew”

         v.      14              Delving into Rûwq

 

         v.      18              The Melchizedek Special

         v.      18              Melchizedek is a real person; he is not a Theophany

         v.      18              Melchizedek Blesses Abraham (a graphic)

         v.      18              Jesus Claimed to be God—a Logical Approach

         v.      18              Melchizedek is the Type; Jesus Christ is the Antitype

         v.      18              Melchizedek in Psalm 110

         v.      18              Melchizedek in the New Testament

         v.      18              Post-Diluvian Heathenism

         v.      18              The Priesthoods of God

 

         v.      19              The Doctrine of Redemption

         v.      19              The Illustration of the Slave Market of Sin

         v.      19              The Seeds of Genesis in the first 14 Chapters

         v.      19              Progressive Revelation

         v.      20              The Doctrine of Tithing

         v.      20              Modern Applications of Tithing

         v.      21              The Stages of National Discipline insert

         v.      23              The Contents of Abram’s Spiritual Victory

         v.      24              Map of the British Empire

 

         Addendum          A Retrospective of Genesis 14

         Addendum          What We Learn from Genesis 14

         Addendum          Josephus’ History of this Time Period

         Addendum          Edersheim Summarizes Genesis 14

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Genesis 14


Chapter Outline

 

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines

Forward

Doctrines Covered and Alluded to

Chapters of the Bible Alluded To

Psalms Appropriately Exegeted with this Chapter

Other Chapters of the Bible Appropriately Exegeted with this Chapter

Definition of Terms

Introduction

Text

Addendum

www.kukis.org

 

Exegetical Studies in Genesis


Doctrines Covered

Doctrines Alluded To

 

 

 

 

The Horites/Hivites

 

 

Wealthy Men of the Bible


Chapters of the Bible Alluded To

Gen. 11

Gen. 23

 

 


Psalms Appropriately Exegeted with this Chapter

Psalm 33

 

 

 


Other Chapters of the Bible Appropriately Exegeted with this Chapter

 

 

 

 


Many who read and study this chapter are 1st or 2nd generation students of R. B. Thieme, Jr., so that much of this vocabulary is second nature. One of Bob’s contributions to theology is a fresh vocabulary along with a number of concepts which are theologically new or reworked, yet still orthodox. Therefore, if you are unfamiliar with his work, the definitions below will help you to fully understand all that is being said. Also, I have developed a few new terms and concepts which require definition as well.

In addition, there are other more traditional yet technical theological terms which will be used and therefore defined as well.

Sometimes the terms in the exegesis of this chapter are simply alluded to, without any in-depth explanation of them. Sometimes, these terms are explained in detail and illustrated. A collection of all these terms is found here: (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Definition of Terms

Christophany

A Christophany is an appearance by Jesus after the resurrection

Client Nation

Client-Nation, is a national entity in which a certain number of spiritually mature Christians (the salt of the earth) have formed a pivot sufficient to sustain the nation and through which God specifically protects this nation so that believers can fulfill the divine mandates of evangelism, communication and custodianship of Bible doctrine, providing a haven for Jews, and sending missionaries abroad. The United States is a client-nation to God. A client nation must have freedom: Freedom to seek God, freedom to use one’s own volition and self-determination to succeed or fail, freedom from anarchy and tyranny, freedom for evangelism, freedom for believers to hear Bible teaching without government interference and, therefore, to grow spiritually, and freedom to send missionaries to other nations.

Gloss

A gloss is simply taking the name of a place in one era and identifying it with the same place under a new name in a later era, so that the reader knows where the area is.

JEPD Theory (also known as Documentary Hypothesis)

Documentary Hypothesis simply asserts that the Pentateuch was not authored by Moses but written 1000 years after Moses by several authors who wrote portions here and there and then other men have performed extensive revisions and editing after them.

Laws of Divine Establishment

Laws which are designed by God for the entire human race with the purpose of perpetuating the human race and individual nations.

Stages of National Discipline (Cycles of Discipline)

A national entity which is a client nation to God is under both God’s protection and His discipline (much like the individual believer). As a nation moves further and further from God, God may impose disciplinary measures on that nation, which include economic disaster, illness, civil unrest, military defeat, and even invasion which may include a slavery or dispersion of the people. These cycles are found in Lev. 26. Although these warnings are designed for Israel, all client nations to God may face similar downward historical trends.

The 4th Stage of National Discipline

This is when a nation is controlled and/or taxed by an outside entity.

The 5th Stage of National Discipline

The fifth cycle of discipline involves complete loss of personal and national sovereignty, the destruction of the family and the nation. Offerings to God are unacceptable. Nations which have undergone this destruction have experienced slavery, cannibalism, and the assimilation of its surviving citizens into other cultures.

Priest Nation

A nation which represents God on earth. The United States is such a nation today, although there are attempts at all levels to stop this.

Theophany

A Theophany is an appearance by God, the Revealed Lord, before the incarnation of Jesus.

Some of these definitions are taken from

http://gracebiblechurchwichita.org/?page_id=1556

http://www.bibledoctrinechurch.org/?subpages/GLOSSARY.shtml

http://rickhughesministries.org/content/Biblical-Terms.pdf

http://www.gbible.org/index.php?proc=d4d

http://www.wordoftruthministries.org/termsanddefs.htm

http://www.realtime.net/~wdoud/topics.html

http://www.theopedia.com/


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An Introduction to Genesis 14


I ntroduction: Gen. 14 is one of the most unusual chapters in the Bible. The first time I studied it, I had a difficult time understanding its purpose. Now, it makes perfect sense. There are quite a number of important doctrines hidden in this chapter, including the stages of national discipline, blessing by association, and the national impact of the individual believer.


This is an odd chapter, and J. Vernon McGee observed that, if you removed this chapter from the narrative of Genesis, it would be unnoticeable. You would not feel as if you had missed out on anything, but to leave this chapter out would be to leave out one of the greatest chapters found in the Bible.


If you want to start out with a brief overview of this chapter, may I suggest Wells Bible Study on Gen. 14 (this will open up either PowerPoint or Presentations on your computer).


In Gen. 14, Abram is going to face adversity head on. The land of promise is going to be overrun by war, and, instead of running down to Egypt again, Abram is going to hold his ground, and, when it becomes necessary, he will become directly involved. This indicates that Abram has advanced spiritually.


The next thing that we need to examine is point of view. This portion of Genesis, from Gen. 11:27–24:67 (or thereabouts), seems to have been written (or recounted) by Abram originally. However, he is not an immediate participant in chapter 14. How did Abram know all this information? Abram has a large number of people with him. The impression at first, is that perhaps he had 5–20 servants or families with him. Au contraire. He probably traveled with a band of at least 350–1000 people. Lot, via blessing by association, probably had a similar entourage. Abram certainly did more than just travel about. He would have had scouts with him and interpreters. He would have, over several years, collected information about the peoples who inhabited the lands that he traversed. He was not a simple nomad bumbling across the land the best that he could. How do we know this? When faced with famine in chapter 12, he knows that famine exists throughout the land that he is in but that he might be able to find respite in Egypt. He knew enough about the land and the peoples to attempt that bit of duplicity with Sarai. This indicates that Abram in his wandering, did this in an educated way. He found out about the land and the peoples around him. This information of the beginning of chapter 14 was not necessarily pieced together immediately; he certain knew some of these people by names prior to his skirmish with some of them, and ascertained the other names after he emerged victorious.


Another introductory remark is we have these people called kings. This evokes in our mind a kingly realm or a country of perhaps millions of people, a country which might be the size of Colorado. We have to lose that notion. These are rulers over a tribe of people. If, in the first millennium b.c., we have the advent of the city-state, these countries or kingdoms are likely much smaller. My estimate is that these countries might be the size of a city and might have anywhere from 3000 to 100,000 population. These city-states would be organized, some more than others, and would have some form of government, and they would trade and do business with other groups. The fact that there are no recorded skirmishes with Abram prior to this is God's grace. Abram might have passed through the land these few times as invisible to the inhabitants (I'm speaking figuratively).


A final point of introduction is a mention of a famous theory which many people fell into: the JEPD theory; this is where it was believed that at least three different people wrote the Pentateuch, at various times, each having his own particular vocabulary (one used the name Elohim for God, another used the name Jehovah for God, etc.). This was discussed back in Gen. 11 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD) (in the special section on archeology).


In case you are unfamiliar with this overall interpretation of Old Testament Scripture.

Links to the JEPD Theory (also known as Documentary Hypothesis)

Description

Link

Basic one page description

http://imp.lss.wisc.edu/~rltroxel/Intro/hypoth.html

My coverage of this topic

Documentary Hypothesis (HTML) (PDF) (WPD)

More detailed approach; author favors this theory

http://www.cs.umd.edu/~mvz/bible/doc-hyp.pdf

A detailed analysis; seems to be a fair assessment

http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2010/09/24/the-documentary-hypothesis.aspx

What it is; and a strong criticism of this theory

http://www.gotquestions.org/documentary-hypothesis.html

Debunking the Documentary Hypothesis

http://creation.com/debunking-the-documentary-hypothesis

A Critical Assessment of the Graf-Wellhausen Documentary Hypothesis

http://vintage.aomin.org/JEDP.html

Essentially, the JEPD theory does not believe that the authors of Scripture are who they had traditionally been believed to be; that much of the Old Testament is fabricated; and that the supernatural is a result of imaginative authors and those who wrote long after these books were assume to have been written. Essentially, this is a theory which rejected the orthodox understanding of the inspiration of Scriptures. However, it is found on many seminary campuses and often presented as the intellectual approach to the Word of God.

Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


It was a foolish thought which had someone during the four centuries prior to the first advent weaving these various narratives together. Their reasons for this theory were: (1) different chapters of Genesis have a slightly different vocabulary; (2) man was not advanced enough to write in Moses' time; (3) it is impossible to prophecy with any accuracy, so every prophecy had to be written after the event occurred. These objections are easy to deal with: different subjects require different vocabularies. If I discuss a television program with a friend, I will use one set of vocabulary words; if I teach a lesson in differential calculus, I will use a different vocabulary; if I teach a portion of Scripture, I will use yet another and different vocabulary. Man was very likely able to write from the earliest times. God has the ability to see into the future, as time is His invention, so he can tell us in time what will happen in the future. The thrust of the JEPDer's is to take divine inspiration out of the Bible and to make it a book like any other book, despite the evidence to the contrary. Why do I mention this theory here? I mention it because this vocabulary does not match any of the vocabularies used by J or E or P. The reason it doesn’t is two-fold: (1) there is, in reality, no J, no E and no P; and, (2) the vocabulary does not match even the imaginary J, E or P because it is different subject matter than what is dealt with in the rest of Genesis; therefore, there is a different, specific vocabulary.


There are a lot of moving parts in this chapter. There are 9 different kings involved in this chapter; there will be those who conquer and those who serve. There is going to be several other groups of people involved in this chapter, incidentally. However, the Bible will focus upon Abraham and Lot. This is because God is interested in those who have believed in Him. God has made several specific promises to Abram, so God must make certain that these promises comes to pass. Furthermore, God controls history, no matter how many players are on the field. God controls history to achieve the outcome which He requires.


Application: How does this apply to you? You might find yourself in the middle of a depression or in the midst of a war or in some other national or regional disaster. If you have believed in Jesus Christ, then God is concerned about you specifically. Furthermore, the Bible is filled with promises. There are more promises in the Bible which God has made to us as believers than He made ot Abraham—far more. God has to keep these promises. Otherwise, God is not God.


There are a number of reasons why the United States is headed for a great economic collapse, but one of them is, many people, including believers, think that they can develop a system of government which will take care of everyone. They think that they can pass a few laws and organize a few bureaucracies, and that everyone’s needs will be taken care of. Children who show up to school hungry? Government will feed them. People who did not save their money for their old age? Government will take care of them. People without medical insurance at the end of their lives when they most need it? Uncle Sam—who is now Dr. Sam—will see that they get whatever medical treatment is necessary. Such promises have led us on a road to economic collapse. Government cannot become God. Government cannot be all things to all men. Should a people not look to their God? (Isa. 8:19b). God can make promises and these promises stand forever. Man cannot. The grass withers and the flower fades: but the Word of our God shall stand forever (Isaiah 40:8). God forever remembers His covenant, the promise He ordained for a thousand generations (Psalm 105:8). “I will remember the promise that I made with you when you were young, and I will make it a promise that will last forever.” (Ezek. 16:60).


It is important to understand what has gone before.

The Prequel of Genesis 14

God called Abram in Hebron and told him to leave his family and go to the land of promise. Abram stopped about ¾ths of the way there, then his father died, and he finally went to the land that God showed him. However, he took his nephew Lot with him, which was not God’s ideal. Gen. 11:27–12:3


However, Abram and Lot finally split up because they were both too prosperous, and they could not keep their things separate. Gen. 13:1–13


Lot chooses to go to a place which is filled with evil people. As a result, this geographical area is under discipline. Gen. 14

Gen. 14 will begin with 4 kings from the east coming out to put down a revolt against one of them, a revolt that is taking place in Sodom and Gomorrah, where Lot lives.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


We need to know who the people are who populate this chapter.

The Principals of Genesis 14

Characters

Commentary

The 4 kings of the East

One king, Chedorlaomer, had defeated Sodom and Gomorrah in battle, and had them paying him tribute. When they stopped, Chedorlaomer joined with 3 other kings to put this rebellion down.

The 5 kings of the West

Apparently, Chedorlaomer had 5 cities under his control, and they rebelled against him, the 5 kings planning on going to war against him.

Abram

Abram is in this general area, and he is well-known enough that, when the people of the west are attacked and defeated, an escapee comes to Abram and tells him about it.

Lot

When Abram and Lot went their separate ways, Lot moved down to Sodom. When Sodom and the other cities were defeated, Lot was taken into captivity with the others.

Melchizedek

After Abram successfully pursues and defeats the kings of the east, he meets Priest-King Melchizedek, of Salem, and worships with him and pays him a tithe.

The king of Sodom

The king of Sodom is the only person from the 5 kings who has a speaking part in this narrative. He asks Abram for the people to be returned to him, and asks Abram to keep the stuff.

Knowing the principal characters essentially gives away the entire plot of Gen. 14.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


The Abrahamic Timeline for Genesis 14


Legend

Birth or death

God speaks with Abraham

Historical incidents (most of which are related to Abraham)

Parenthetical dates (2065 b.c.) simply refer to taking the date assigned by the chronologist and using Scripture to determine the next date.


Brent MacDonald

Age of Abraham

Reese’s Chronology Bible

Scripture

Event/Description

2164 b.c.

0

1967 b.c.

Gen. 11:26–27

Abraham (Terah’s son) and Lot (Haran’s son) born in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram would be the 43rd generation from Adam. Gen 11:26 Terah lived 70 years and fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Reese occasionally supplies 2 dates in his Chronological Bible; the first is his and the second is Klassen’s.

 

 

1957 b.c.

 

Birth of Sarai

 

 

1907 b.c.

1927 b.c. (Klassen)

Gen. 11:28, 14

Abram’s family travel from Ur to Haran, although their original intention had been to go to the land of Canaan. Gen 11:28, 14 Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans, during his father Terah's lifetime. Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.

2089 b.c.

75

1892 b.c.

Gen. 12:1–4

Abraham leaves for Promised Land from Haran, after being so instructed by God. Gen 12:4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.

Reese actually gives the date of Terah’s death as April 1–4, 1892 b.c. and the date of Abram leaving Haran as April 5, 1892 b.c.

 

 

1884 b.c.

1888 b.c. (Klassen)

Gen. 14:5–13

Lot is taken captive.

 

 

 

Gen. 14:14–16

Abram delivers Lot.

 

 

1883 b.c.

Gen. 14:17, 21–24

Abram speaks with the King of Sodom after his victory.

 

 

 

Gen. 14:18–20

Abram’s meeting with Melchizedek, which would be in Salem (Jerusalem).

Reese suggests that Melchizedek is Shem, a theory which several people have; which theory I reject.

The New Berkeley Bible dates Gen. 14 as 2091 b.c. with a question mark.


Bibliography

MacDonald’s timeline is from: http://www.bibleistrue.com/qna/qna63.htm accessed October 11, 2011.

See http://www.bibleistrue.com/qna/qna63dating.htm for his justification of his timeline.

From: http://www.christianshepherd.org/bible_study_guides/abram_to_the_exodus.pdf (Christian shepherd)

The Reese Chronological Bible; KJV translation; Editor: Edward Reese; ©1977 by Edward Reese and Klassen’s dating system ©1975 by Frank R. Klassen; Ⓟ1980 by Bethany House Publishers, South Minneapolis, MN; pp. 18–19, 54–74.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


Here is what to expect from Genesis 14:

A Synopsis of Genesis 14

Vv. 1–3 give us the overall setup for this chapter and the war which will take place.

The 5 cities of the west served Chedorlaomer for 12 years, rebelled in the 13th year, and he came in the 14th year with 3 other allies in order to put this rebellion down. Vv. 4–5a.

As the eastern alliance came towards Sodom and Gomorrah, they conquered several other groups of people. They also went past Sodom and Gomorrah, conquered some more people, and then doubled-back. Vv. 5b–7

This eastern alliance went to war against the armies of Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities, but, because they approached them from the west (or from the southwest), the 5 western kings and their troops were defeated by the tar pits on their own land. Vv. 8–10

The eastern alliance took all of the stuff from these 5 cities and took all of their people into captivity. Vv. 11–12

Someone escapes this attack and tells Abram. Abram organizes a very small army and attacks the eastern alliance at night, defeating them and sending them in a retreat. He is able to recover the people and the things which they had. Vv. 13–16

Both the king of Salem, Melchizedek, and the king of Sodom came out to speak with Abram. Abram first interacts with the king of Salem and worships the Revealed Lord with him. Vv. 17–20

Although the king of Salem asks only to have his people back, Abram returns most of the merchandise that they recovered. Apparently some was given to Abram’s allies and some was given as a tithe to Melchizedek. Vv. 21–24

Like all chapters of the Word of God, you need more than just the simple plot outline to understand what God wants us to know.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


Gen. 14 is one of the most unusual chapters in Genesis, if not in the entire Bible.

What We Learn from Genesis 14—A Preview

       This will give us a much fuller understanding of the person of Abraham with respect to his wealth, his character, his bravery, his assets. Also, the number of his servants and staff is revealed. Furthermore, the loyalty which his people have for him is apparent in this chapter.

       This chapter gives us a better clue as to the recording and the transmission of Scripture. There are a few places in here where a copyist, or, most likely, Moses, added a word of explanation or clarification. Very likely, vv. 3, 7, 8 and 17 have these points of clarification. Moses, being a genius of history, having been raised in the palace of the Pharaoh and receiving a royal education, a recognizing the need of the readers to properly interpret Scripture, would have been the most likely person to add those words of clarification, by the guidance of God the Holy Spirit. My point is that it appears as though someone recorded this information and then someone added those few words to it. Logically, this would be Abram as the original writer and Moses as the one who copied these things down.

       This chapter gives us a better idea as to the state that the world was in. This is the first war mentioned in the Bible. This is a major war, but the organization with which this is done and the existence of arms, indicates that this was a normal occurrence in life. At some point in time when the groups of peoples from Gen. 11 dispersed, there were going to be some territorial disputes. Certainly, one group would find a picturesque spot along a river with fresh water and an abundance of wild game and good land for farming and settle there, and another group would come along and either camp nearby or decide that they would like that particular place, and there would be a skirmish. Remember, that they could not communicate as a whole (although, with man's genius, it was apparent that some learned to translate from language to language at a very early time). Just like today, if you took one hundred people at random and dropped them into the middle of Germany, one or two could get by with their German skills and another 2 or 3 might be able to say a few German phrases to begin with, but the vast majority would be without linguistic resource. It was the same here.

       Even though God is not mentioned for most of this chapter, it is clear that Abram credits Him with the victory and worships the revealed God at the end of this chapter. In this, we learn about the interaction of man and God and nations.

       We understand how various nations interacted. Alliances were formed, nations were conquered, protectorates were formed, nations paid tribute; and, from time to time, a protectorate would rebel.

       We will actually learn some important principles of military function: the importance of training, surprise, and the proper use of mass.

       We have a better idea as to the state of the world and corruption of man, the violence that he was capable of soon after the flood.

       Most importantly, we learn that Jesus Christ controls history.

These few points of introduction only apply to the first portion of Gen. 14. There is a second portion which will require as much explanation as the first portion.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


Every believer faces a set of problems. Sometimes they never seem to end. Abram’s first great problem in the land of Canaan was, he was living in the midst of an economic depression. His solution was to run from it, which is no solution at all. This is how he ended up in Egypt, a place of no spiritual blessing; and a time period during which Abram had no contact with God.


The contents of the first half of the chapter are as follows: a great war breaks out, one that we might understand to be the first world war; or, a war which takes in many of the main players on the world stage in the Middle East.


Then Lot is going to find himself caught up in the midst of this, and he is taken as a slave by one side of this war of kings. Then Abram will lead a very small battalion of 318 soldiers against what is easily a brigade (2000–5000) and quite probably a division (10,000–20,000) of hardened, well-trained soldiers. Furthermore, he will defeat the much larger coalition of professional soldiers with his little rag-tag band of citizen-soldiers.


The result is a great spiritual victory for Abram and God will reward him. He will meet King Melchizedek, a type of Christ, and, in my opinion, will be the recipient of one of the greatest spiritual handoffs in the history of man.


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Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


War of the Kings—Summary


Slavishly literal:

 

Moderately literal:

And so he is in days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Eliasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim—they manufactured war with Bera king of Sodom and Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah and Shemeber king of Zeboiim and king of Bela, she [is] Zoar.

Genesis

14:1–2

And it was in the days of Amraphel, the king of Shinar; Arioch, the king of Eliasar; Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam and Tidal, the king of Goiim—they made war with Bera, the king of Sodom; and Birsha, the king of Gomorrah; [and] Shinab, the king of Admah; and Shemeber, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that (is) Zoar).

And it was in the days of Amraphel, the king of Shinar; Arioch, the king of Eliasar; Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam and Tidal, the king of Goiim—that they made war with Bera, the king of Sodom; and Birsha, the king of Gomorrah; [and] Shinab, the king of Admah; and Shemeber, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (which is Zoar).


Here is how others have translated this verse:

 

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

 

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

 

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

 

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

 

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

 

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

 

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

 

The Targum of Onkelos is actually the Pentateuchal Targumim, which are The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel. On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. Taken from http://targum.info/targumic-texts/pentateuchal-targumim/ and first published in 1862.


Ancient texts:

 

Targum (trans. By Cook)        And it was in the days of Amraphel,--he is Nimrod, who commanded Abram to be cast into the furnace; he was then king of Pontos; Ariok, (so called) because he was (arik) tall among the giants, king of Thalasar, Kedarlaomer, (so called) because he had bound himself (or gone over) among the bondmen of the king of Elam, and Thidal, crafty as a fox, king of the peoples subjected to him, --made war with Bera, whose deeds were evil, king of Sedom, and with Birsha, whose deeds were with the wicked, king of Amora: Shinab, who had hated his father, king of Admah, and Shemebar, who had corrupted himself with fornication, king of Zeboim; and the king of the city which consumed (Bela) the dwellers thereof, which is Zoar.

Latin Vulgate                          And it came to pass at that time, that Amraphel, king of Sennaar, and Arioch, king of Pontus, and Chodorlahomor, king of the Elamites, and Thadal, king of nations, Made war against Bara, king of Sodom, and against Bersa, king of Gomorrha, and against Sennaab, king of Adama, and against Semeber, king of Seboim, and against the king of Bala, which is Segor.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so he is in days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Eliasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim—they manufactured war with Bera king of Sodom and Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah and Shemeber king of Zeboiim and king of Bela, she [is] Zoar.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    AND it came to pass in the days of Amarphel king of Sinar, Arioch king of Dalasar, Cardlaamar king of Elam, and Tarael king of Gelites That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemer king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar.

Septuagint (Greek)                And it came to pass in the reign of Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, that Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations, made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, and with Shinab, king of Adamah, and with Shemeber king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela, (that is, Zoar).

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Common English Bible           Abram rescues Lot

While Amraphel was king of Shinar, Ellasar's King Arioch, Elam's King Chedorlaomer, and Goiim's King Tidal declared war on Sodom's King Bera, Gomorrah's King Birsha, Admah's King Shinab, Zeboiim's King Shemeber, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar.

Contemporary English V.       About this time, King Amraphel of Babylonia, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim attacked King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, also known as the city of Zoar.

Easy English                          4 kings fight against 5 kings, 14:1-12

At that time, Amraphel was the king of Shinar and Arioch was the king of Ellasar. Chedorlaomer was the king of Elam and Tidal was the king of Goiim. Those 4 kings made war with 5 other kings. These 5 kings included Bera the king of Sodom, and Birsha the king of Gomorrah. There were Shinab the king of Admah, and Shemeber the king of Zeboiim. And there was the king of Bela (the place that is also called Zoar).

Easy-to-Read Version            Amraphel was the king of Shinar. Arioch was the king of Ellasar. Kedorlaomer was the king of Elam. And Tidal was the king of Goiim. All these kings fought a war against Bera the king of Sodom, Birsha the king of Gomorrah, Shinab the king of Admah, Shemeber the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela. (Bela is also called Zoar.).

Good News Bible (TEV)         Four kings, Amraphel of Babylonia, Arioch of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer of Elam, and Tidal of Goiim, went to war against five other kings: Bera of Sodom, Birsha of Gomorrah, Shinab of Admah, Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (or Zoar).

The Message                         Then this: Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim went off to war to fight Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar.

New Berkeley Version           In the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar; Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of the nations [Here sacred and secular history meet and dating becomes more feasible. Shinar corresponds to Babylonia (Dan. 1:2 Isa. 11:11 Zech 5:11) though Amraphel is not to be identified with Hammurabi, king of Babel, who reigned about 1728–1686, Erisku, king of Larsa, may have been Arioch. Chedorlaomer-Kudurlagamar—means “Servant of Lagamar,” an Elamite god. Tidal, king of nations, has been identified as Tudhul, king of Gutium, located north-east of Babylonia.], these kings made war against Bera, king of Sodom; Birsha, king of Gomorrah; Shinab, king of Admah, Shemeber, king of Zeboiim and king of Belah, that is of Zoar.

New Century Version             Lot Is Captured

Now Amraphel was king of Babylonia, Arioch was king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer was king of Elam, and Tidal was king of Goiim. All these kings went to war against several other kings: 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.)

New Living Translation           Abram Rescues Lot

About this time war broke out in the region. King Amraphel of Babylonia,[a] King Arioch of Ellasar, King Kedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim fought against King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (also called Zoar).

The Voice                               Back when King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim ruled the land, these four kings formed an alliance and made war on five other kings: Bera of Sodom, Birsha of Gomorrah, Shinab of Admah, Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (a city now known as Zoar).


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          It was during the reign of AmarPhal (the king of ShinaAr) and AriOch (the king of ElLasar), that ChodolLogomor (the king of Elam) and Thargal (the king of the Gentiles) went to war against BalLa (the king of Sodom), Barsa (the king of GomorRah), Shinar (the king of Adama), Symobor (the king of Seboim), and Balac (or Segor).

Christian Community Bible     At the time of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, these kings made war on Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shi nab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

New Advent (Knox) Bible       It chanced at this time that Amraphel, the king of Sennaar, and Arioch, King of Pontus [`Of Pontus'; so the Latin version, whereas the Hebrew text and the Septuagint Greek have `of Ellasar'. It is not likely that Pontus on the southern shore of the Black Sea is meant; the other kings all lived east of Palestine.], and Chodorlahomor, king of Elam, and Thadal, king of the barbarians, 2 went out to war. And their enemies were Bara, king of Sodom, Bersa, king of Gomorrha, Sennaab, king of Adama, Semeber, king of Seboim, and the king of Bala (or Segor).

New American Bible              In the days of [In the days of . . . : the personal name by which the event is dated has not been preserved.]. . . , Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim made war on Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

New American Bible (R.E.)    The Four Kings.

When Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim made war on Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar), all the latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea [= the Dead Sea]). V. 3 is included for context. Abraham plays a role with other world leaders. He defeats a coalition of five kings from the east (where, later, Israel's enemies lived) and is recognized by a Canaanite king as blessed by God Most High. The historicity of the events is controverted; apart from Shinar (Babylon), Tidal (Hittite Tudhaliya), and Elam, the names and places cannot be identified with certainty. The five cities were apparently at the southern end of the Dead Sea, and all but Bela (i.e., Zoar) were destined for destruction (19:20-24; Hos 11:8). The passage belongs to none of the traditional Genesis sources; it has some resemblance to reports of military campaigns in Babylonian and Assyrian royal annals.

NIRV                                      Abram Saves Lot

At that time Amraphel was the king of Babylonia. Arioch was the king of Ellasar. Kedorlaomer was the king of Elam. And Tidal was the king of Goiim. They went to war against five kings. The kings were Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela. Bela was also called Zoar.

New Jerusalem Bible             When Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedor-Laomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of the Goiim, made war on Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar), all the latter joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (now the Salt Sea). V. 3 is included for context.

Revised English Bible            In those days King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Kedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim went to war against King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Ancient Roots Translinear      It was in the days of King Amraphel of Central-Iraq, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of South-Iran, and King Tidal of the nations: They made war with King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboim, and the King of Bela (it's Zoar).

The Expanded Bible              Lot Is Captured

Now Amraphel was king of ·Babylonia [LShinar], Arioch was king of Ellasar [Cpossibly in Mesopotamia], Kedorlaomer was king of Elam [Clocated on the Iranian plateau], and Tidal was king of Goiim [Cpossibly a people otherwise known as the Umman-manda]. All these kings went to war against several other kings: 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.) [CSodom and Gomorrah were located in the vicinity of the Dead Sea, and the other named cities are thought to have been nearby.].

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 War of Abram with the Five Kings

It was now in the reign of Amrafel, king of Shinar, Ariok, king of Ellassar, Kedarlaomer, king of Elam, and Thidal, king of the Gentiles, and they waged war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Bersha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Zeboiim, and king Bela of Zoar.

NET Bible®                             The Blessing of Victory for God's People

At that time [The sentence begins with the temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayehi) followed by "in the days of."] Amraphel king of Shinar [Shinar (also in Gen_14:9) is the region of Babylonia.], Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations [Or "king of Goyim." The Hebrew term גּוֹיִם (goyim) means "nations," but a number of modern translations merely transliterate the Hebrew (cf. NEB "Goyim"; NIV, NRSV "Goiim").] went to war [Heb "made war."] [Went to war. The conflict here reflects international warfare in the Early and Middle Bronze periods. The countries operated with overlords and vassals. Kings ruled over city states, or sometimes a number of city states (i.e., nations). Due to their treaties, when one went to war, those confederate with him joined him in battle. It appears here that it is Kedorlaomer's war, because the western city states have rebelled against him (meaning they did not send products as tribute to keep him from invading them).] against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). When it comes to making an actual material change to the text, the NET Bible® is pretty good about indicating this. Since most of these corrections will be clear in the more literal translations below and within the Hebrew exegesis itself, I will not continue to list every NET Bible® footnote.

NIV, ©2011                             Abram Rescues Lot

At the time when Amraphel was king of Shinar [That is, Babylonia; also in verse 9], Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goyim, these kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Complete Jewish Bible           When Amrafel was king of Shin'ar, Aryokh king of Elasar, K'dorla'omer king of 'Elam and Tid'al king of Goyim; they made war together against Bera king of S'dom and against Birsha king of 'Amora, Shin'av king of Admah, Shem'ever king of Tzvoyim, and the king of Bela (which is the same as Tzo'ar).

exeGeses companion Bible   ABRAM RESCUES LOT

And so be it,

in the days of Amraphel sovereign of Shinar,

Aryoch sovereign of Ellasar,

Kedorlaomer sovereign of Elam

and Tidal sovereign of goyim:

that these work war with Bera sovereign of Sedom

and with Birsha sovereign of Amorah,

Shinab sovereign of Admah,

and Shem Eber sovereign of Seboim,

and the sovereign of Bela, which is Soar:...

Judaica Press Complete T.    Now it came to pass in the days of Amraphel the king of Shinar, Arioch the king of Ellasar, Chedorloemer the king of Elam, and Tidal the king of Goiim. That they waged war with Bera the king of Sodom and with Birsha the king of Gomorrah, Shineab the king of Admah, and Shemeber the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.

Kaplan Translation                 The War

It was around this time [(Rabenu Meyuchas). Literally, 'It was in the days of Amraphel,' or 'It was in the days when Amraphel....'] that Amraphel [Talmudic sources identify him with Nimrod (Genesis 10:8; cf. Targum Yonathan; Eruvin 53a; Rashi). Some identify him with the famed Hammurabi, who in ancient writings is referred to as Ammurapi. This may have occurred at the beginning of his reign, before he had built his famed empire, and hence, the leading king is seen as Chedorlaomer (Genesis 14:4,5,9). However, since he later became famous, the age is identified with him.] king of Shinar [This is identified with Sumer. The Targum Yonathan renders it as Pontus (see note on Genesis 10:10). In some manuscripts, however, the reading is Bogtos, denoting Baghdad.], Ariokh [A king of Larsa by the name of Eriaku is found in ancient writings. It was later also a popular name (cf. Daniel 2:14).] king of Ellasar [This is the same as Larsa, a city just south of Erekh, and 100 miles south of Babylon. It was a major power center in ancient times. See note on Genesis 10:10.], Chedorlaomer [K'darla'omer in Hebrew. Some sources indicate that he was originally one of Amraphel's generals, who rebelled and established an independent kingdom (Sefer HaYashar). The name itself is a Hebraicized form of Kudur (servant of) and Lagamar, the name of an Elamite deity.] king of Elam [A city-state in the area of Shushan. See note on Genesis 10:22.], and Tidal [He can be identified with the Tudghala or Tudhaliya of cuniform texts, who was king of the Northern Kurdish or Hittite nations.] king of Goiim [Literally 'nations' or 'hordes' (see Targum). This might indicate that he was the king over a number of nations, or perhaps, a barbaric king. Others, interpret Goyim as a place name (Rashi). It may be identified with Gutium in Kurdistan. See Joshua 12:23.] waged war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinav king of Admah, Shemever king of Tzevoyim [See Genesis 10:19. Also see Deuteronomy 24:22, Hosea 11:8.], and the king of Bela (now Tzoar [See note on Genesis 13:10. The name was changed after the other cities were destroyed (Genesis 19:22). Bela was still used as a name (Genesis 36:32).]).

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And it came to pass in the yamim of Amraphel Melech Shinar (i.e., Babylon), Aryoch Melech Ellasar, Kedorlaomer Melech Elam, and Tidal Melech Goiim; That these made milchamah with Bera Melech Sodom, and with Birsha Melech Amora (Gomorrah), Shinav Melech Admah, and Shemever Melech Tzevoyim, and the Melech Bela, which is Tzoar.

The Scriptures 1998              And it came to be in the days of Amraphel sovereign of Shinʽar, Aryo sovereign of Ellasar, Keorlaʽomer sovereign of Ěylam, and Tiʽal sovereign of Goyim, that they fought against Bera sovereign of Seom, Birsha sovereign of Amorah, Shina sovereign of Amah, Shemʼĕer sovereign of Tseoyim, and the sovereign of Bela, that is Tsoʽar.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

The Amplified Bible                In the days of the kings Amraphel of Shinar, Arioch of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer of Elam, and Tidal of Goiim, They made war on the kings Bera of Sodom, Birsha of Gomorrah, Shinab of Admah, Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar. One of the notable proofs of the antiquity of the early sections of Genesis is that many of the original names of places about which they speak were so old that Moses, the writer, had to add an explanation in order to identify these ancient names so that the Israelites returning from Egypt might recognize them. Chapter 14 alone contains six such explanatory notes (Gen. 14:2, 3, 7, 8, 15, and 17).

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ he~ will~ Exist in~ Day~ s “Amraphel [Speaker of judgement]” King “Shinar [Country of two rivers]” “Aryokh [Tall]” King “Elasar [El is noble]” “Kedarla'omer [Attack for sheaves]” King “Elam [Ancient]” and~ “Tidal [Breaker of the yoke]” King “Goyim [Nations]” they~ did~ Do Battle At “Bera [With dysfunction]” King “Sedom [Secret]” and~ At “Birsha [With wickedness]” King “Ghamorah [Rebellion]” “Shinav [Teeth of father]” King “Admah [Red ground]” and~ “Shemever [Character of wing]” King “Tseviim [Gazzells]” and~ King “Bela [Swallow]” She “Tso'ar [Tiny]”.

Benner Mechanical Trans2    and it came to pass in the days of “Amraphel [Speaker of judgement]” king of “Shinar [Country of two rivers]”, “Aryokh [Tall]” king of “Elasar [El is noble]”, “Kedarla'omer [Attack for sheaves]” king of “Elam [Ancient]” and “Tidal [Breaker of the yoke]” king of “Goyim [Nations]”, they did battle with “Bera [With dysfunction]” king of “Sedom [Secret]” and with “Birsha [With wickedness]” king of “Ghamorah [Rebellion]”, “Shinav [Teeth of father]” king of “Admah [Red ground]” and “Shemever [Character of wing]” king of “Tseviim [Gazzells]” and the king of “Bela [Swallow]”, she is “Tso'ar [Tiny]”,...

Concordant Literal Version    And coming is it in the days of the reign of Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Ellasar, and Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of nations, that they make war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, and Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela. (It is now Zoar.

Context Group Version          And it happened in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, that they 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 ( the same is Zoar ).

English Standard V. – UK       Abram Rescues Lot

In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, 2 these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

The Geneva Bible                  And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar [That is, of Babylon: by kings here, meaning, them that were governors of cities. ], Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations [Of a people gathered from various countries.]; ... This is v. 1 only.

 

New King James Version       Lot's Captivity and Rescue

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 [Hebrew goyim], that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

Syndein/Thieme                     Abram's 4 Great Victories and meet 'Melchizedek'

{See also Hebrews Chapter 7}

{Confederation of 4 Armies Led by Chedorlaomer}

And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king {melek} of Shinar {the original Babylon/Chaldea} Arioch king of Ellasar {other side of Shinar} Chedorlaomer king of Elam {mountainous area of Southern Persia} and Tidal, king of nations {country north of Jerusalem - known as Galilee}. {Note: These men combine and make a formidable force - with Chedorlaomer as the leader.}

{War in the Jordan Valley - The Land that Lot Chose for Himself}

{4 Armies Take on These 5 Armies}

These {4 armies} manufactured {'asah - out of their mental attitude sins} 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.

Third Millennium Bible            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, 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.

Young's Literal Translation     In those days Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim waged war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, as well as the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

 

The gist of this verse:          This is an account of 5 kings of the east going to war with 4 kings in the west.


Genesis 14:1a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

hâyâh (הָיָה) [pronounced haw-YAW]

to be, is, was, are; to become, to come into being; to come to pass

3rd person masculine singular, Qal imperfect

Strong's #1961 BDB #224

Without a specific subject and object, the verb hâyâh often means and it will come to be, and it will come to pass, then it came to pass (with the wâw consecutive). It may be more idiomatically rendered subsequently, afterwards, later on, in the course of time, after which. Generally, the verb does not match the gender whatever nearby noun could be the subject (and, as often, there is no noun nearby which would fulfill the conditions of being a subject).

be (בְּ) [pronounced beh]

in, into, through; at, by, near, on, upon; with, before, against; by means of; among; within

a preposition of proximity

No Strong’s # BDB #88

yâmîym (יָמִים) [pronounced yaw-MEEM]

days, a set of days; time of life, lifetime; a specific time period, a year

masculine plural construct

Strong’s #3117 BDB #398

ʾAmerâphel (אַמְרָפֶל) [pronounced am-raw-FEL]

sayer of darkness: fall of the sayer and is transliterated Amraphel

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #569 BDB #57

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

This is the first occurrence of this word in Scripture.

Shineʿâr (שִנְעָר) [pronounced shine-GAWR]

country of two rivers; land of Babylon; transliterated Shinar

proper singular noun location

Strong’s #8152 BDB #1042


Translation: And it was in the days of Amraphel, the king of Shinar;... These first two verses make up a title for this chapter or a summary of what is to come, giving us an overview. Essentially, we find out who the participants are and who is going to war against whom.


Shinar is an early name for the Babylon area. We have come across this name twice already in our study of Genesis. You may recall Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, who was a great hunter and who established a great kingdom in the cities of Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, which were in the land of Shinar (Gen. 10:6–10). This would make Shinar an early name for Babylonia. The descendants of Noah eventually moved from the mountains near the eastern border of Modern Turkey south-southeast until they were overlooking the very lush plain of Shinar (modern-day Iraq). As waters continued to recede after the flood, they moved down into these lowlands (Gen. 11:2).


It is thought by some that Amraphel is the famous Hammurabi, although this is not universally accepted. We are similar in time period (Hammurabi reigned in approximately 2100 b.c.; yet others place him in the 1700's or the 1600's), but the names are too different without a reasonable explanation as to why. When comparing a Greek and a Hebrew name, is is likely that an h might get left out because the Greek does not have an h (except for a rough breathing before some words) and the Hebrew has, more or less, two h's. No one is certain who Arioch is, but there are several theories as to his identity and his realm.


We do not know any of these kings for certain, although the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew-English lexicon (and other sources) suggest that Amraphel could be Hammurabi. I haven’t a clue as to how they came up with this identity, as there were probably many city states at that time.


Genesis 14:1b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

ʾĂreyôwke (אֲרְיוֹ) [pronounced uhr-YOKE]

lion-like; and is transliterated Arioch

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #746 BDB #73

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

ʾEllâçâr (אֶלָּסָר) [pronounced el-law-SAWR]

 God is chastener; transliterated Ellasar

proper noun singular location

Strong’s #495 BDB #48

According to BDB: Ellasar was a town in Babylonia, approximately 28 miles (50 kilometers) E of Ur.


Translation: ...Arioch, the king of Eliasar;... Ellasar is probably the name of the Chaldean Larsa, which is located just a little northwest from Ur, up along the Euphrates River. In other words, this invading army is coming from the area where Abram originally lived.


Genesis 14:1c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

Kedorelâʿômer (כְּדָרְלָעֹמֶר) [pronounced ked-or-law-OH-mehr]

handful of sheaves; transliterated Chedorlaomer

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #3540 BDB #462

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

ʿÊylâm (עָילָם) [pronounced ģay-LAWM]

eternity; hidden; transliterated Elam

proper singular noun/location

Strong’s #5867 BDB #743

This is also spelled ׳Ôwlâm (עוֹלָם) [pronounced ģoh-LAWM].


Translation: ...Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam... Chedorlaomer has a name which is clearly Elamish and appropriate to that era. He's been identified with one king of Elam (Kutir-nahhunti I), but his name is too different and the chronology is off.


Elam is the area just east of Ur, and it would have been the land that Noah’s descendants first came down to from the mountains. Elam was a son of Shem, after whom this land is probably named (Gen. 10:22).


Genesis 14:1d

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

Tideʿâl (תִדְעָל) [pronounced tihd-ĢAWL]

great son; transliterated Tidal

masculine proper singular noun

Strong’s #8413 BDB #1062

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

gôwyîm (גּוֹיִם) [pronounced goh-YIHM]

Gentiles, [Gentile] nations, people, peoples, nations

masculine plural noun with the 2nd person masculine singular suffix

Strong’s #1471 BDB #156

This can be used as a proper noun.


Translation: ...and Tidal, the king of Goiim... Tidal's name is likely identical to the Hittite name Tudhalia (the Hebrew letter ayin (a) is often identified with an Asiatic or an Akkadian h). However, he is not necessarily one of the five Hittite kings uncovered bearing that name. He is said to be the king of gôwyîm (גּוֹיִם) [pronounced goh-YIHM], which many of us recognize. This word means Gentiles, [Gentile] nations, people, peoples, nations. Strong’s #1471 BDB #156. It is possible that this is a particular nation (I doubt that it is another federation of nations as has been suggested by some) or an unnamed nation. Words do change in their usage and this word could have begun as the name of a particular nation and then later used to refer to gentile nations in general. You see, we do not yet have the corresponding term Hebrew, although it does occur in this chapter for the first time (v. 13). Since we do not yet have the distinct contrast in the mind of Abram, it would be reasonable for this term to proceed from referring to a particular nation and later be generalized to refer to any gentile nation. You cannot have goyim until you first have Hebrews and Abram is not yet a Hebrew in the technical sense until he is circumcised and thereby set apart to God. However, he will be called a Hebrew in this chapter.


You probably recognize the word Goiim, which is usually translated nations or Gentiles (the -im ending is plural in the Hebrew). We do not know if this refers to a specific place here or whether Tidal is king over a small group of city-states. Prior to this, goiim has already been translated nations in Gen. 10:5, 20, 31–32; in such a way that, it clearly does not refer to a specific geographical area. However, that does not preclude this word from referring to a particular area in the east.


This first group of kings were a tough, war-like people. They would go out, conquer areas, and then expect the people that they conquered to pay them tribute. This gave them some protection from these warriors. They would not come in a raze a village (except for practice), because a village could produce much more for them over the long wrong by exacting tribute from them.


These are men who are probably heads of city-states who have come from the east. They are vassal kings who would conquer this or that area and extract tribute from them (tribute is like taxes paid to a controlling entity).

Summary of the 4 Kings of the Eastern Alliance

King

Commentary on the King and his Kingdom

King Amraphel of Shinar

The first king named here, but the 3rd king named in v. 14. Some have associated him with Hammurabi, although it is not completely clear why. Shinar is Babylonia.

King Arioch of Ellasar

Tablets discovered suggest that this man is Eri-Aku of Larsa. Ellasar would be Al-Larsa (now Sinqâra in central Babylonia).

King Chedorlaomer of Elam

For whatever reason, Chedorlaomer is named 3rd here, but he apparently was the first to conquer the Sodom and Gomorrah area. In v. 14, Chedorlaomer is named first. This suggests that, in the Babylonian region, Amraphel is seen as preeminent. However, when it comes to conquering cities in the west, this may have been something that Chedorlaomer originally developed, which would explain his name coming first in v. 14.

King Tidal of the nations

According to Fausset, [Tidal is] From a Samaritan root "reverence" (Gesenius: Gen. 14:1, 9). [He is] Probably chief of several nomadic tribes who occupied different tracts of Lower Mesopotamia at different times, as the Arabs do there to this day. His name Thurgah (in the Septuagint, Thargal), "the great chief." or "king of nations," is Turanian or Hamitic, the original element of Babylonia's early population.

Originally, Chedorlaomer began extorting tribute from the 5 cities of the Siddim Valley. At this point, he joins forces with 3 other kings and their armies to continue doing the same thing.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


gen14_1.jpg

Map of the 4 Kings


This map was taken from a slide show from www.WellsBibleStudy.com which appears to be a fairly straightforward study of several incidents in the Bible. This particular slide is from his slide show page, which slides can be opened with PowerPoint or Presentations.


We will later find out that it takes a year for these kings to get it all together. However, given how spread out they are, it makes sense that this excursion took some time to plan out.


Gen 14:1 In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim,


V. 1 essentially stops us in mid sentence, but we have enough information to take us into a few paragraphs here. First of all, this portion of Scripture was often ridiculed because liberal critics pointed out that these kings did not exist in history and that this is all fanciful stuff cooked up out of Abram's imagination to make him look important. The problem is that, at one time, these men did not appear in secular history. Man is very negative toward God's Word. Even though we have an historical portrait which bears all the earmarks of authenticity, of unbiased history, man has rejected the historical portions of the Bible whenever there is no corroborating evidence in the secular realm. Man is predisposed to reject God's Word no matter what. Now, you find a scrap of papyri or a inscription in a wall or a clay tablet and man will jump at that as authentic and accurate (I am being a bit too harsh; archeologists by and large recognize that the history recorded by and for some rulers is distorted a great deal in favor of the ruler involved). Still, they will reject God's Word precisely because it is God's Word.


The Bible has an objectivity when it comes to its central characters unparalleled in secular history. The historical records of secular kings tell us that they were the strongest, fiercest warriors in the world; however, our writers of Scripture portray themselves sometimes as faithful and strong, but other times as mistaken, sinful, weak and willful. Furthermore, this is a consistent trait of Scripture, particularly with the great men of history, like Abram, Moses, David and (especially) Solomon. My point here is that unregenerate man, despite the objectivity of Scripture, is predisposed to reject God's Word because it is God's Word. Wherever God's Word does not have corroborating evidence from unregenerate historians, then the events recorded are though to be fanciful or fables.

 

The prolific ancient historian Will Durant, however, has an objective point-of-view here: The discoveries here summarized have restored considerable credit to those chapters of Genesis that record the early traditions of the Jews. In its outlines, and barring supernatural incidents, the story of the Jews as unfolded in the Old Testament has stood the test of criticism and archeology; every year adds corroboration from documents, monuments, or excavations...We must accept the Biblical account provisionally until it is disproved.


However, over the past century, information about kings and kingdoms of this era have been retrieved from secular history, making this account much more reasonable than originally thought by the critics.


In any case, this is not some coalition of desert bandits who are out to plunder; these are invading kings from the east who have come to plunder the people of Canaan. They intend to put down this rebellion, to take their possessions, and to take many of their people as slaves.


This was not the first time that these groups had contact. Apparently, Chedorlaomer had an arrangement with these peoples of Canaan where they paid him tribute, and they were rebelling against that arrangement. We do not know how often this sort of thing occurred. We only know that, this is an invading army and they came from the general area where Abram was raised up, the area that God told Abram to leave. We will come to find out that the people whom they attacked was a very degenerate people.


Gen 14:1 In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim,


This may have been the first significant war of mankind, which is why it is found here.


There is one more thing which we need to keep in mind: the Middle East then was not this vast, almost uninhabitable desert area that we know today. It was lush and green, and the area around the Euphrates is called the Fertile Crescent (a name given to this area by James Henry Breasted in 1906). Over several millennia, this area has gone from a lush, prosperous area, to what we have today, which metamorphous represents God’s judgment on the people who live in these lands.


As you will see in the map which follows, there is quite a bit of distance between the centers of these two regions. They are approximately 500 miles apart. If we take what is later found in the Bible as the way of doing things, then the kings of the east probably had outposts around Sodom and Gomorrah where a tax would be collected and then shipped off to the east. When a tax is not received in the 13th year, an army was sent to deal with it.


The first set of kings (v. 1) come from the Babylonian area (which is to the east). The second kings are from the Canaan area (v. 2), many from around the Dead Sea area.

The World of the Old Testament

map9.jpg

 

Map is from: http://jesusreigns.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/the-world-of-the-old-testament.jpg


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


This is essentially the first world war (or, at least the first one recorded in the Bible).


Genesis 14:2a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

ʿâsâh (עָשָֹה) [pronounced ģaw-SAWH]

to do, to make, to construct, to fashion, to form, to prepare, to manufacture

3rd person masculine plural, Qal imperfect

Strong's #6213 BDB #793

milechâmâh (מִלְחָמָה) [pronounced mil-khaw-MAW]

battle, war, fight, fighting; victory; fortune of war

feminine singular noun

Strong’s #4421 BDB #536

This is the first occurrence of this word in Scripture.

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

with, at, near, by, among, directly from

preposition (which is identical to the sign of the direct object)

Strong's #854 BDB #85

Beraʿ (בֶּרַע) [pronounced BEH-rahģ]

son of evil; transliterated Bera

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #1298 BDB #140

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

Çedôm (סְדֹם) [pronounced sehd-OHM]

burning; which is transliterated Sodom

masculine singular locative noun

Strong’s #5467 BDB #690

Also spelled Sedum (שֶׂדֹם) [pronounced sehd-OHM]. Not sure about this spelling.


Translation: ...—they made war with Bera, the king of Sodom;... Bera is the only king that will have a personal part to play in this narrative, at the end of this chapter.


Genesis 14:2b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

Bireshaʿ (בִּרְשַע) [pronounced beer-SHAHĢ]

with iniquity; transliterated Birsha

Masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #1306 BDB #141

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

ʿĂămôrâh (עֲמֹרָה) [pronounced ģuhm-oh-RAW]

submersion; and is transliterated Gomorrah

feminine singular proper noun

Strong’s #6017 BDB #771


Translation: ...and Birsha, the king of Gomorrah;... The name Birsha may mean son of wickedness. What I believe happened with many names is, a person’s name was remembered in connection with his reputation. So that, there might be a merging of that person’s name with his reputation in the minds of the people of that era, so Birsha would be remembered as son of wickedness, even though that might not have been his exact name.


Sodom and Gomorrah are cities along the southern end of the Salt Sea (which would not have been as salty at this time as it today). It is definitely possible that, at one time, a river went from the Salt Sea into the Red Sea. However, at this time, it appears that these kings in v. 2 lived in the very green valley formed from that river bed.


Genesis 14:2c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

Shineʾâb (שִנְאָב) [pronounced shin-AWBV]

splendor of the father; transliterated Shinab

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #8134 BDB #1039

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

ʾAdemâh (אַדְמָה) [pronounced ahd-MAW]

 red earth; earthy; transliterated Admah

feminine singular, proper noun/location

Strong’s #126 BDB #10


Translation:...[and] Shinab, the king of Admah;... Admah means red earth and it would have been a city in the Siddim valley close to Sodom and Gomorrah (Deut. 29:23). He is only mentioned here by name.


Genesis 14:2d

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

Shemeʾêbêr (שֶמְאֵבֵר) [pronounced shem-AY-ber]

lofty flight; transliterated Shemeber

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #8038 BDB #1028

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

Tsebôyiyim (צְבֹיִיִם) [pronounced tsehb-oh-ih-YIM]

gazelles; transliterated Zeboim, Zeboiim

plural proper noun/location

Strong’s #6636 BDB #840


Translation: ...and Shemeber, the king of Zeboiim,... Admah, Sodom, Gomorrah and Zeboiim are all linked as cities close together, settled by Canaanites, as far back as Gen. 10:19. Shemeber is only mentioned by name in this passage.


Genesis 14:2e

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

Belaʿ (בֶּלַע) [pronounced BEH-lahģ]

a swallowing, a devouring; a consuming, destruction; transliterated Bela

masculine singular proper noun; location

Strong's #1106 BDB #118

hîyʾ (הִיא) [pronounced hee]

she, it; also used as a demonstrative pronoun: that, this (one)

3rd person feminine singular, personal pronoun; sometimes the verb is, is implied

Strong’s #1931 BDB #214

Tsôʿar (צֹּעַר) [pronounced TSOH-ģahr]

to be small, to be insignificant; transliterated Zoar

proper singular noun/location

Strong’s #6820 BDB #858


Translation: ...and the king of Bela (that (is) Zoar). The Bible mentions Zoar in several places; meaning that Bela later gave way to be called Zoar during the time that this portion of the Word of God was copied by Moses. Whereas, it is mentioned in Gen. 14:2, 8 19:22, 23, 30 Deut. 34:3 Isa. 15:5 Jer. 48:34, none of these references give us a geographical fix on Zoar. Various scholars put it south of the Salt Sea (along with Sodom and Gomorrah), but Deut. 34:3 seems to place this in the valley of Jericho on the North end of the Dead Sea (i.e., the Salt Sea). Otherwise, Moses could ot have seen it from Mt. Nebo (Pisgah). Furthermore, as ZPEB points out, those cities, if they were south of the Dead Sea, would have been much more remote and inaccessible, making them unlikely targets. It is not out of the question that there were two Zoar's, except that Moses identifies this city Bela with Zoar, so he would not have done this if there was another Zoar elsewhere.


Where we read things like that is, Zoar, that is called a gloss. It is simply taking the name of a place in one era and identifying it with the same place under a new name in a later era, so that the reader knows where the area is. So, a copyist or a writer at a later date (like Moses), adds in this information. It is similar to me identifying the area where the first kings come from—ancient Babylon—as modern-day Iraq. I also mentioned that Mount Ararat is where Noah’s ark landed, and that it was probably along the eastern border of modern Turkey. Making such references is similar to a gloss in Scripture, which does not alter anything in the Old Testament.


The second group is an alliance of kings who all live in the Sodom area. Now, they are going through this pain because they are a very degenerate people, alluded to back in Gen. 13:13. Because of this great degeneracy, these people will go through disciplinary steps from God.


In human history, there are laws designed for the human race, which are known as the Laws of Divine Establishment (HTML) (PDF) (WPD). These laws protect a nation and help that nation prosper. Much of the Old Testament Law is about such laws, many of which are codified in the Law of Moses. When nations reject these laws (such as, reject the notion of family, which our nation is beginning to do), national discipline follows.


Gen 14:2 these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).


The kings mentioned in v. 2 are unknown to us. If you can imagine achieving one of the highest offices or places of authority and yet remain unknown to history; or, at best, a small footnote in history. These kings, were it not for the Bible, would be entirely unknown to us. Nobody remembers Shemember.


——————————


These joined together in a Valley of Siddim, that [is] a sea of salt.

Genesis

14:3

These joined forces in the Valley of Siddim, which [is] the Salt Sea.

These latter kings formed an alliance in the Valley of Siddim, which is near the Salt Sea.


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                All these were joined in the vale of the gardens (paredesaia), the place that produced the streamlets of waters that empty themselves into the sea of salt.

Latin Vulgate                          All these came together into the woodland vale, which now is the salt sea.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        These joined together in a Valley of Siddim, that [is] a sea of salt.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    All of these joined together in the valley of Siddim, which is the Salt Sea.

Septuagint (Greek)                All these met with one accord at the Salt Valley; this is now the Salt Sea.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Common English Bible           These latter kings formed an alliance in the Siddim Valley (that is, the Dead Sea [Or Salt Sea]).

Contemporary English V.       King Chedorlaomer and his allies had ruled these last five kings for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year the kings rebelled and came together in Siddim Valley, which is now covered by the southern part of the Dead Sea.

Easy English                          All these 5 kings came together in the valley called Siddim, which is near the Salt Sea.

The Message                         This second group of kings, the attacked, came together at the Valley of Siddim, that is, the Salt Sea.

New Berkeley Version           All these forces met in the Siddim valley which is now the Salt Sea.

New Century Version             These kings who were attacked united their armies in the Valley of Siddim (now the Dead Sea).

New Living Translation           This second group of kings joined forces in Siddim Valley (that is, the valley of the Dead Sea [Hebrew Salt Sea.]).

The Voice                               All of these joined forces in the valley of Siddim (near the area now known as the Dead Sea [Literally, Salt Sea]).


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          So, they all agreed to meet together at the Salt Valley (which is now the Dead Sea).

God’s Word                         The five kings joined forces and met in the valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea).

New Advent (Knox) Bible       All these joined their forces in the Valley of the Forests, where the Salt Sea is now;...

NIRV                                      Those five kings all gathered their armies together in the Valley of Siddim. It was the valley of the Dead Sea.

Today’s NIV                          All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea Valley).


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Ancient Roots Translinear      All these aligned in the vale of the Dead-Sea (it's the Salt Sea).

The Expanded Bible              These kings who were attacked united their armies in the Valley of Siddim (·now [Lthat is] the ·Dead [LSalt] Sea).

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 All these were defeated in the Valley of Siddim (now known as the Salt Sea).

NET Bible®                             These last five kings [Heb "all these," referring only to the last five kings named. The referent has been specified as "these last five kings" in the translation for clarity.] joined forces [The Hebrew verb used here means "to join together; to unite; to be allied." It stresses close associations, especially of friendships, marriages, or treaties.] in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea) [The Salt Sea is the older name for the Dead Sea.].

NIV, ©2011                             All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea Valley).


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               ...all the latter joined forces at the Valley of Siddim, now the Dead Sea [Heb., the Salt Sea].

Kaplan Translation                 All of these had come together [That is, the kings of Sodom and its sattelites had made a treaty to serve Chedorlaomer, and this treaty was made in Siddim Valley (Rashi). Others say that the five cities of the plain had made a mutual defense pact in this valley. Another possible explanation is that they gathered for war in Siddim Valley (see Genesis 14:8).] in Siddim Valley (now the Dead Sea). Siddim Valley: After the destruction, this area was submerged to become the Dead Sea. The name Siddim is from the root sadad (cf. Isaiah 28:24, Hosea 10:11), which is also the root of the word sadeh, a field (Radak). Hence, Onkelos translates it, 'Field Valley,' or 'Valley of Fields.' Targum Yonathan renders it, 'Orchard Valley,' but, since the word for orchard is pardes, it can also be rendered 'Paradise Valley' (see Bereshith Rabbah 42).

Orthodox Jewish Bible           All these were joined together in the Valley of Siddim which is the Yam HaMelach (i.e., Dead Sea).


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

The Amplified Bible                The latter kings joined together [as allies] in the Valley of Siddim, which is [now] the [Dead] Sea of Salt.

Benner Mechanical Trans1    All These they~ did~ Couple To Valley the~ “Sidim [Fields]” He Sea the~ Salt.

Benner Mechanical Trans2    All of these coupled to the valley of the “Sidim [Fields]”, he is the sea of the salt,...

Concordant Literal Version    All these are joined at the vale of the salt fields. (It is now the salt sea.)

Emphasized Bible                  All these, joined together in the valley of the open fields, the same, is the Salt Sea.

English Standard Version      And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).

The Geneva Bible                  All these were joined together [Ambition is the chief cause of wars among princes. ] in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea [Called also the dead sea, or the lake Asphaltite, near Sodom and Gomorrah. ].

NASB                                     All these came as allies [Lit joined together] to the valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).

Syndein/Thieme                     {Battle of the Vale of Siddim}

All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim (which is the salt sea {today the Dead Sea}).

Young's Updated LT              All these have been joined together unto the valley of Siddim, which is the Salt Sea.

 

The gist of this verse:          These two sets of armies would meet in the Valley of Siddim, which is the Valley of the Salt Sea.


Genesis 14:3a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

kôl (כֹּל) [pronounced kohl]

every, each, all of, all; any of, any

masculine singular construct not followed by a definite article

Strong’s #3605 BDB #481

ʾêlleh (אֵלֶּה) [pronounced ALE-leh]

these, these things

demonstrative plural adjective with the definite article (often the verb to be is implied)

Strong's #428 BDB #41

châbar (חָבַר) [pronounced khawb-VAHR

to join [together], to unite; to adhere [to one another], to bind together; to fascinate, to charm; to be marked with stripes, lines, to be variagated

3rd person masculine plural, Qal perfect

Strong’s #2266 BDB #287

ʾel (אֶל) [pronounced ehl]

unto; into, among, in; toward, to; against; concerning, regarding; besides, together with; as to

directional preposition (respect or deference may be implied)

Strong's #413 BDB #39

ʿemeq (עֶמֶק) [pronounced ĢEH-mek]

valley, vale, lowland, deepening, depth

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #6010 BDB #770

This is the first occurrence of this word in Scripture.

Siddîym (שִׂדִּים) [pronounced sihd-DEEM]

field, plain; transliterated Siddim

proper masculine plural noun; location

Strong’s #7708 BDB #961


Translation: These joined forces in the Valley of Siddim,... These refers back to the second group of kings. They are all located near one another in the Valley of Siddim.


Genesis 14:3b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

hûwʾ (הוּא) [pronounced hoo]

he, it; himself as a demonstrative pronoun: that, this (one); same

3rd person masculine singular, personal pronoun; sometimes the verb to be, is implied

Strong’s #1931 BDB #214

yâm (יָם) [pronounced yawm]

sea, lake, river, seaward, west, westward

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #3220 BDB #410

melach (מֶלַח) [pronounced MEH-lakh]

salt

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #4417 BDB #571


Translation: ...which [is] the Salt Sea. This valley is, according to this gloss, not just near the Salt Sea, but it is the Salt Sea. So, with this name, the implication is, even this far back, this was a salty sea (and it would be much more so today). Someone familiar with this area, many years later, after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, adds these few words to indicate that the area being discussed is now a part of the Salt Sea.


Those in the west are rebelling against those over them from the east. Apparently, 13 years ago, kings from the east came over into Canaan and conquered this set of cities. One approach when a place is conquered is, you leave the people there, and they pay a tribute (tax) to the conquering nation (s). It was not unusual for peoples in the east to come into the land of Canaan and conquer portions of it. In fact, this will happen on several occasions in the Bible.


Apparently, what had happened is the kings of the east made war with the Pentapolis [=5 city] coalition and subdued them, possibly individually (made war in v. 2 is in the perfect tense), and subjected them. They were in subjection because of the four kings of the east, specifically to Chedorlaomer. He was perhaps the king who initiated the original attack on the famous Pentapolis. The other kings no doubt received what was due them as spoils from war.


Vv. 1–3 give us the background for this chapter: And it was in the days of Amraphel, the king of Shinar; Arioch, the king of Eliasar; Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam and Tidal, the king of Goiim—they made war with Bera, the king of Sodom; and Birsha, the king of Gomorrah; [and] Shinab, the king of Admah; and Shemeber, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that (is) Zoar). These joined forces in the Valley of Siddim, which [is near] the Salt Sea. What follows will be the details of what took place.


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Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


War of the Kings—Prelude


Two-teen a year they had served Chedorlaomer; and three-teen a year they rebelled.

Genesis

14:4

[The peoples of the Valley of Siddim] served Chedorlaomer [for] 12 years, and [in] the thirteenth year, they rebelled [against him].

The people of the Valley of Siddim served Chedorlaomer for 12 years, but in the 13th year, they rebelled against him.


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                Twelve years they had served Kedarlaomer; and in the thirteenth year they had rebelled.

Latin Vulgate                          For they had served Chodorlahomor twelve years, and in the thirteenth year they revolted from him.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        Two-teen a year they had served Chedorlaomer; and three-teen a year they rebelled.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    Twelve years they served Cardlaamar, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

Septuagint (Greek)                Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and the thirteenth year they revolted.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Easy English                          They had served Chedorlaomer for 12 years. But in the 13th year they started to oppose his authority.

Easy-to-Read Version            These kings had served Kedorlaomer for twelve years. But in the 13th year they all rebelled against him.

New Century Version             They had served Kedorlaomer for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year, they all turned against him.

New Life Bible                        They had been ruled by Chedorlaomer for twelve years. But in the thirteenth year they went against him.

New Living Translation           For twelve years they had been subject to King Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled against him.

The Voice                               You see, the five latter kings had been conquered by Chedorlaomer and so they had served him for 12 years; but in the 13th year, they rebelled against him.


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          They had been vassals to ChodolLogomor for some twelve years, but in the thirteenth year, they revolted.

Christian Community Bible     Twelve years they had been dominated by Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       ...they had been tributary to Chodorlahomor for twelve years, and in the following year they had revolted from him.

NIRV                                      For 12 years they had been under the rule of Kedorlaomer. But in the 13th year they opposed him.

New Jerusalem Bible             For twelve years they had been under the yoke of Chedor-Laomer, but in the thirteenth year they revolted.


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Ancient Roots Translinear      For twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, but they rebelled in year thirteen.

Bible in Basic English             For twelve years they were under the rule of Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they put off his control.

The Expanded Bible              They had served Kedorlaomer for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year, they all ·turned [rebelled] against him.

NET Bible®                             For twelve years [The sentence simply begins with "twelve years"; it serves as an adverbial accusative giving the duration of their bondage] they had served Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year [This is another adverbial accusative of time.] they rebelled [The story serves as a foreshadowing of the plight of the kingdom of Israel later. Eastern powers came and forced the western kingdoms into submission. Each year, then, they would send tribute east - to keep them away. Here, in the thirteenth year, they refused to send the tribute (just as later Hezekiah rebelled against Assyria). And so in the fourteenth year the eastern powers came to put them down again. This account from Abram's life taught future generations that God can give victory over such threats - that people did not have to live in servitude to tyrants from the east.].

NIV, ©2011                             For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Kaplan Translation                 They [That is, the five cities of the plain] had served Chedorlaomer for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year [According to others, 'then for 13 years they rebelled' (Bereshith Rabbah 42). According to some, the servitude began immediately after the Tower of Babel (Seder Olam Rabbah 1; cf. Shabbath 11a, Rashi ad loc. s.v. Esrim).] they rebelled.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           Twelve shanah they served Kedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

Benner Mechanical Trans1    Two Ten Year they~ did~ Serve At “Kedarla'omer [Attack for sheaves]” and~ Three Ten Year they~ did~ Rebel.

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...twelve years they served “Kedarla'omer [Attack for sheaves]” and the thirteenth year they rebelled,...

Concordant Literal Version    Twelve years they serve Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they revolt.

New RSV                               For twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

Syndein/Thieme                     {Cause of the Battle - Retrospective Explanation}

Twelve years they served {were slaves in they paid tribute for protection} Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

Young's Literal Translation     Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and the thirteenth year they rebelled.

 

The gist of this verse:          The king of Sodom (and possibly the other kings) was subject to Chedorlaomer for 12 years; they rebelled against him in the 13th year.


Genesis 14:4a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

shenêy (שְנֵי) [pronounced shen-Ā]

two, two of, a pair of, a duo of; both of

dual numeral construct

Strong’s #8147 BDB #1040

ʿâsâr (עָשָׂה) [pronounced ģaw-SAWR]

ten; –teen [resulting in numbers 11–19]

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #6240 BDB #797

shânâh (שָנָה) [pronounced shaw-NAW]

year

feminine singular noun

Strong’s #8141 BDB #1040

ʿâbad (עָבַד) [pronounced ģawb-VAHD]

to work, to serve, to labor; to be a slave to

3rd person masculine plural, Qal perfect

Strong's #5647 BDB #712

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

Kedorelâʿômer (כְּדָרְלָעֹמֶר) [pronounced ked-or-law-OH-mehr]

handful of sheaves; transliterated Chedorlaomer

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #3540 BDB #462


Translation: [The peoples of the Valley of Siddim] served Chedorlaomer [for] 12 years,... For twelve years, these peoples of the Siddim valley were willing to pay tribute to Chedorlaomer. He may have set up a tax office there (often called a garrison) and he may have sent tax collectors to them. For, for 12 years, they continued paying what was asked of them.


Genesis 14:4b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

shâlôsh (שָלֹש) [pronounced shaw-LOHSH]

a three, a trio, a triad, a threesome

numeral; masculine singular noun

Strong’s #7969 BDB #1025

ʿâsâr (עָשָׂה) [pronounced ģaw-SAWR]

ten; –teen [resulting in numbers 11–19]

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #6240 BDB #797

shânâh (שָנָה) [pronounced shaw-NAW]

year

feminine singular noun

Strong’s #8141 BDB #1040

mârad (מָרַד) [pronounced maw-RAHD]

to rebel, to revolt, to be seditious

3rd person masculine plural, Qal perfect; pausal form

Strong’s #4775 BDB #597


Translation: ...and [in] the thirteenth year, they rebelled [against him]. However, this got to a point where they were no longer willing to pay, so they rebelled against Chedarlaomer in the 13th year. Exactly what they did is not told to us—perhaps they burned down the garrison and killed those in the garrison, or perhaps, if Chedarlaomer used tax collectors, they either embarrassed or killed the tax collectors.


Gen 14:4 Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.


What was common in that era is one national entity would dominate another, and the conquered peoples would have to pay their conquerors tribute. Serving them meant working in their own land but paying taxes to the conquering country. Many times, a Suzerain-Vassal treaty would be established, which specified the responsibilities of both parties. The Suzerain (ruler from a different country) would provide these people with some modicum of protection (i.e., they would become a protectorate), furthermore, he would not invade them. In return, the vassals would pay taxes to the sovereign and swear allegiance to him. The suzerain would establish this treaty and the vassals would agree to it (otherwise, they would be destroyed by the suzerain).


Such a treaty (or covenant) could be established by means of an invasion; but sometimes these problems could be worked out before an invasion. Psychological warfare was often employed, and if one people were conquered in their minds, that would be enough to establish a suzerain-vassal treaty.


The people living in the land of Canaan had been conquered by Chedorlaomer, a great king from the east. They paid him tribute for 12 years and then they rebelled against him in the 13th year. We may reasonably assume that he sent his tax collectors to collect tribute from them in that 13th year, and they killed these tax collectors. Or, Chedorlaomer established an outpost in the Valley of Siddim (possibly several outposts), and, on the 13th year, these soldier-tax collectors were beaten down.


Application: Due to the teaching that we have received in school, we are brought up to think that a people’s revolution is a good thing; and that a facebook revolution is a great thing. Men like Gandhi are revered for standing up to the British Empire. However, when a nation does not control itself, then God must impose humility upon that nation, and that is what was happening in Sodom and Gomorrah. These nations had reached levels of great lasciviousness (which will become more apparent in Gen. 19). In order to preserve a people, God often imposes authority over them, if they do not have the ability to control themselves. We have this occurring in our nation today. We have become and arrogant and entitled people; so each successive government applies more and more controls. Our freedom is based upon self-regulation and an inherent morality; barring that, we go the way of Sodom. If you are reading this, you have probably grown up in the great period of prosperity for the United States. The idea that we could end up on some kind of ash heap of nations seems out of the question. However, the great personal immorality of the people of our nation may take us into that direction. All of the great nations fall—Spain was a world class power at one time; Great Britain virtually ruled the world. But these nations fell, not necessarily into complete ruin, but to a place of power far, far below what they once were.


That Sodom is under the thumb of another nation is a good thing; this is a warning to them from God. If they continue to go down the path of their degenerate ways, then greater discipline will follow. This is all found in Gen. 19. There is no reason to think that our nation is immune to this.


This is what we have studied so far:


Gen. 14:1–4 At that time four kings-King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim- went to war against five kings-King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). The five kings joined forces and met in the valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea). For 12 years they had been subject to Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.


At that time is literally and so it is in days of... While God is showing all of the land to Abram, there is this great human drama playing out around the Dead Sea, which is where Lot, Abram’s nephew, eventually moved.


A portion of this chapter is going to be a war between two alliances—4 kings who come out of the east and 5 kings who form as coalition in the west. Their kingdoms were far apart—about 500 miles from one another—yet for 12 years, King Chedorlaomer exerted control over these 5 city-states which are situated near the Salt Sea. The exact location of these 5 cities is disputed, but my guess is, there was a river which drained the water of the Salt Sea into the Red Sea, and that these cities were gathered along this river, in what was called the Valley of Siddim.


In the ancient world, the key to any word is its consonants. You will note the consonantal equivalence of Siddim and Sodom (the Hebrew does not double up the consonant as we do in the English, but it puts a dot in the middle of the consonant, to indicate that it both ends one syllable and begins the next syllable). Sodom and Siddim could be equivalent names or one could have arisen from the other. Even today, there is a salt mountain located at the southwest corner of the Dead Sea called Jebel Usdum. Jebel means mountain; and Usdum is consonantally equivalent to Sodom and Siddim.


As the Hebrew style is, we get the overall view first, and then this will be followed by details.


Then we read something which is quite unexpected:


——————————


And in a four-teen year came Chedorlaomer and the kings who [are] with him. And so they strike Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham and the Emin in Shavey-Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their mountain Seir, as far as El-Paran, which is against the wilderness.

Genesis

14:5–6

In the 14th year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who [are] with him came and they conquered the Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emin in Shavey-Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their mountain Seir, [going] as far as El-Paran, which is adjacent [to] the wilderness.

In the 14th year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who are with him came and they conquered the Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emin in Shavey-Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their mountain Seir, going as far as El-Paran, which is adjacent to the wilderness.


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                And in the fourteenth year came Kedarlaomer and the kings who were with him, and smote the Giants (gibboraia) which were in Ashtaroth-Karniam, and the Strong who were in Hametha, and the Terrible who were in the plain of Kiriathaim, and the Choraee (dwellers in caverns) who were in the high mountains of Begala, unto the valley of Pharan, which was nigh upon the edge of the desert.

Jerusalem targum                  All these were joined in the valley of the gardens. And they slew the giants who were in Ashtaroth-Karnaim, the famed who were among them, and the formidable who inhabited the city which they had built, and the cavern people who dwelt in the mountain of Gebala, unto the valley of vision which is nigh upon the desert.

Latin Vulgate                          And in the fourteenth year came Chodorlahomor, and the kings that were with him: and they smote the Raphaim in Astarothcarnaim, and the Zuzim with them, and the Emim in Save of Cariathaim. And the Chorreans in the mountains of Seir, even to the plains of Pharan, which is in the wilderness.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And in a four-teen year came Chedorlaomer and the kings who [are] with him. And so they strike Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham and the Emin in Shavey-Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their mountain Seir, as far as El-Paran, which is against the wilderness.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And in the fourteenth year came Cardlaamar, and the kings that were with him, and smote the mighty men who were in Ashteroth Karnaim and the valiant men who were in the city, and the Emins in Shaveh Koriathaim, And the Horites in the mountains of Seir, as far as the oak of Paran, which is in the wilderness.

Septuagint (Greek)                And in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came, and the kings with him, and they cut to pieces the giants in Astaroth, and Karnaim, and strong nations with them, and the Emim in the city Shaveh Kiriathaim. And the Horites in the mountains of Seir, to the terebinth tree of El Paran, which is in the desert.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Common English Bible           In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings of his alliance came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites in the mountains of Seir as far as El-paran near the desert.

Easy English                          In the 14th year, Chedorlaomer came. He was with those kings that were helping him. Together, they defeated the people called Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim, and the people called Zuzim in Ham. Those 4 kings also defeated the people called Emim in Shaveh-Kiriathaim. And they defeated the people called Horites in the mountains called Seir, as far as El-Paran. That is at the edge of the desert.

Easy-to-Read Version            So in the 14th year, King Kedorlaomer and the kings with him came to fight against them. Kedorlaomer and the kings with him defeated the Rephaim people in Ashteroth Karnaim. They also defeated the Zuzim people in Ham. They defeated the Emim people in Shaveh Kiriathaim. And they defeated the Horite people who lived in the area from the hill country of Seir [Or, "Edom."] to El Paran [Probably the town Elath, at the southern tip of Israel near the Red Sea.]. (El Paran is near the desert.).

Good News Bible (TEV)         In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and his allies came with their armies and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in the plain of Kiriathaim, and the Horites in the mountains of Edom, pursuing them as far as Elparan on the edge of the desert.

The Message                         In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him set out and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El Paran on the far edge of the desert.

New Berkeley Version           For twelve years they had been subject to Chedorlaomer; in the thirteenth year they revolted and in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer approached with the allied kings. They conquered the Rephaim [The Rephaim were of gigantic statures (Deut. 2:11, 20 Joshua 17:17 2Sam 21:16). The Zuzim or Zamzuzum were their kin (Deut. 2:20); so the Emim were tall as the Anakim (Deut. 2:9, 11). The Horites (Gen. 36:20) were destroyed by the Edomites (Deut. 2:12, 22). They carved rooms out of sheer rocks, stories above one another.] at Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim at Ham, the Emim in the Kiriathaim plane, and the Horites in their Seir mountain range as far as El-Paran, near the desert. V. 4 is included for context.

New Century Version             Then in the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings with him came and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, and the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim. They also defeated the Horites in the mountains of Edom to El Paran (near the desert).

New Life Bible                        Then in the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and won a war against the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shavehkiriathaim, and the Horites in their Mount Seir as far as El-paran near the place where no people live.

New Living Translation           One year later Kedorlaomer and his allies arrived and defeated the Rephaites at Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites at Ham, the Emites at Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites at Mount Seir, as far as El-paran at the edge of the wilderness.

The Voice                               In the 14th year, Chedorlaomer and the three kings who were allied with him squashed rebellions of the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites in the hill country of Seir all the way to El-paran, which lies on the edge of the wilderness.


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          So in the fourteenth year, ChodolLogomor and his allies attacked, cutting to pieces the giants in AstarOth and Carnain, along with the strong nations that were their allies (the OmMeans in the city of Saue and the ChorRheans in the mountains of Seir), all the way to the turpentine trees of Pharan (in the desert).

Christian Community Bible     In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the king who were his allies, came and fought and subdued the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emin in Shaveh-kiriathaim and the Horites in their Mount Seir as far as Elparan which is near the desert.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       So, in this fourteenth year, Chodorlahomor and the kings allied with him came out to battle. They had defeated the Raphaim, in Astaroth-Carnaim, and the Zuzim in their company [`In their company'; the Hebrew text makes this a proper name, `in Cham', a place not elsewhere mentioned.]; the Emim, too, in Save-Cariathaim, and the Horrites in the hills of Seir, right up to the plains of Pharan, out in the desert.

New American Bible (R.E.)    In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El-paran, close by the wilderness. Dt 2:12.

NIRV                                      In the 14th year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who helped him went to war. They won the battle against the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim. They also won the battle against the Zuzites in Ham and the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim. They did the same thing to the Horites in the hill country of Seir. They marched all the way to El Paran near the desert.

New Jerusalem Bible             In the fourteenth year Chedor-Laomer arrived and the kings who had allied themselves with him. They defeated the Rephaim at Ashteroth-Carnaim, the Zuzim at Ham, the Emim in the Plain of Kiriathaim, the Horites in the mountainous district of Seir near El-Paran, which is on the edge of the desert.


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Ancient Roots Translinear      In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings with him came and smote the giants in Ashtaroth and Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, reckoned the Emims in Kiriathaim, the Hurrians in the Seir mountains, and unto the arch in the Central-Sinai wilderness.

Bible in Basic English             And in the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who were on his side, overcame the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, And the Horites in their mountain Seir, driving them as far as El-paran, which is near the waste land.

The Expanded Bible              Then in the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings with him came and ·defeated [subdued] the ·Rephaites [or Rephaim; Can especially warlike tribe in Canaan] in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, and the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim [Cthe Zuzites and Emites were likely related to the Rephaites; Deut. 2:10-11]. 6 They also defeated the Horites in the mountains of ·Edom [LSeir; Ca region outside of Palestine on the southeastern coast of the Dead Sea] to El Paran (near the ·desert [wilderness]).

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 Accordingly, in the fourteen year, Kedarlaomer and his allied kings defeated the Refaim at Ashteroth’s Horn, and the Zuzim at the Devil’s Horns [Hebrew, “Shava Qirnim], and the Horites in the mountains of Seir, as far as the pastures which adjoin the desert.

NET Bible®                             In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who were his allies came and defeated [The Hebrew verb נָכָה (nakhah) means “to attack, to strike, to smite.” In this context it appears that the strike was successful, and so a translation of “defeated” is preferable] the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is near the desert [The line of attack ran down the eastern side of the Jordan Valley into the desert, and then turned and came up the valley to the cities of the plain.].

NIV, ©2011                             In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert.


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Complete Jewish Bible           In the fourteenth year K'dorla'omer and the kings with him came and defeated the Refa'im in 'Asht'rot-Karnayim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Eimim in Shaveh-Kiryatayim and the Hori at Se'ir, their mountain, all the way to Eil-Pa'ran by the desert.

exeGeses companion Bible   ...and in the fourteenth year

Kedorlaomer and the sovereigns with him

come and smite the Rephaim in Ashteroth Qarnaim

and the Zuziym in Ham

and the Emim in Shaveh Qiryathayim

and the Horiy in their mount Seir

unto El Paran by the wilderness.

Judaica Press Complete T.    And in the fourteenth year, Chedorloemer came, and the kings who were with him, and they smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh kiriathaim. And the Horites in their mountain Seir, until the plain of Paran, which is alongside the desert.

Kaplan Translation                 In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and his allied kings came. They defeated [Literally, 'struck.' It can also mean 'killed,' 'attacked,' or 'conquered.'] the Rephaim [The Targum has 'mighty ones,' or 'giants,' cf. Deuteronomy 2:11, 2:21. Their land was promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:20), and part of it was given to Lot's descendants (Deuteronomy 2:20). Og, a giant reputed to be over ten feet tall, was reputed to be one of the survivors of the Rephaim (Deuteronomy 3:11; Joshua 12:4, 13:12). Their land was later called Bashan, to the east of the Jordan (Deuteronomy 3:13). They were associated with the Perizites (Joshua 17:15, see Genesis 15:20). Some sources identify them with the Hivites (Bereshith Rabbah 44).] in Ashteroth Karnaim [Ancient twin cities, some 22 miles east of the Sea of Galilee (Kinereth Sea), on what is now the Golan Heights. Actually Karnayim was a little over two miles northeast of Ashteroth. Later, Og lived near there (Joshua 9:10, 12:4, 13:12) in Edrei (Deuteronomy 1:4. Cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 1:4). Ashteroth was also the name of a Sidonite deity (cf. 1 Kings 11:5 etc.). Karnayim literally means 'twin horns' (Radak).], the Zuzim [These are identical with the Zumzumim of Deuteronomy 2:20 (Rashi). Zumzumim was the name given to this race of giants by the Amonites (Deuteronomy 2:20). The Targum renders it takifin, literally 'the powerful ones.'] in Ham [A city 14 miles to the east of the Jordan River, and 25 miles southwest of Ashteroth Karnayim. We thus see that the attackers were coming from the north and heading south. Some sources, however, render this verse, 'the Zuzim among them' (Bereshith Rabbah 42). This follows from Deuteronomy 2:20, where the Zuzim are identified with the Raphaim.], the Emim [Literally, 'fearsome ones' (Targum), a name given to the Rephaim (giants) by the Moabites (Deuteronomy 2:11). They lived in what was later Moabite territory (see note on Genesis 14:5, 'Shaveh Kiryathaim' ).] in Shaveh Kiryathaim [An ancient city, 8 miles east of the Dead Sea, 5 miles north of the Arnon River, and 67 miles south of Ham. It is literally, 'the plain of two cities.' It was on the frontier of Moab (Ezekiel 25:9; cf. Jeremiah 48:1,2,23,24). It later became part of Reuben's territory (Numbers 32:37, Joshua 13:19).], and the Horites [Chorites in Hebrew. These were the original inhabitants of Seir who were later driven out and destroyed by Esau's descendants (Deuteronomy 2:12, 2:22; cf. Genesis 36.8). Seir may have been named later, after Seir the Horite (cf. Genesis 36:27). See note on Genesis 36:2.] in the hill country of Seir [The area later occupied by Esau (Genesis 36:8). Seir is the hill country to the south of the Dead Sea. This means that the invaders swung around the Dead Sea and headed west.], as far as Eyl Paran [To the west of Seir. Eyl is translated 'plain' in the Targum. According to this, it might be associated with the plain known as Arabah directly south of the Dead Sea (see below). Other sources render this 'Terebinth of Paran' (Ramban; Septuagint), indicating a grove or oasis. It would then be related to the word elon (see note on Genesis 12:6). See Rashi, Targum on Ezekiel 31:14. Paran was the area settled by Ishmael (Genesis 21:21). It was on the way from Sinai (Numbers 10:12), from where the spies were sent out, heading through the Tzin Desert (Numbers 13:3,21). The Arabah is between Paran and Tophel (Deuteronomy 1:1).], which borders the desert [Probably the Tzin Desert, see note on Genesis 14:6, 'Eyl Paran'.].

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And in the fourteenth year came Kedorlaomer, and the melachim that were with him, and they defeated the Rephaim in Ashterot Karnayim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-Kiryatayim, And the Chori in their Mt Seir, as far as Eil-Paran, which is near the midbar.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

The Amplified Bible                And in the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him attacked and subdued the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, And the Horites in their Mount Seir as far as El-paran, which is on the border of the wilderness.

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ in~ Four Ten Year he~ did~ Come “Kedarla'omer [Attack for sheaves]” and~ the~ King~ s Which At~ him and~ they(m)~ will~ Hit At “Rapha [Heal]”~ s in~ “Ashterot-Qaraniym [Growths of two horns]” and~ At the~ “Zuz [Creature]”~ s in~ “Ham [Roar]” and~ At the~ “Eym [Terror]”~ s in~ “Shaweh-Qiryatayim [Plain of cities]” and~ At the~ “Hhor [Cave Dweller]”~ of in~ Mount~ them(m) “Se'iyr [Hairy]” Until “Eyl-Paran [Post of decoration]” Which Upon the~ Wilderness.

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...and in the fourteenth year “Kedarla'omer [Attack for sheaves]” came and the kings which were with him and they hit the ones of “Rapha [Heal]” in “Ashterot-Qaraniym [Growths of two horns]” and the ones of “Zuz [Creature]” in “Ham [Roar]” and the ones of “Eym [Terror]” in “Shaweh-Qiryatayim [Plain of cities]”, and the one of “Hhor [Cave dweller]” in their mount of “Se'iyr [Hairy]” as far as “Eyl-Paran [Post of decoration]” which is upon the wilderness,...

English Standard V. – UK       In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness.

NASB                                     In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, came and defeated [Lit smote] the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim [Or the plain of Kiriathaim], and the Horites in their Mount Seir, as far as El-paran, which is by the wilderness.

New RSV                               In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and subdued the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites in the hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the edge of the wilderness;...

Syndein/Thieme                     {3 Races of Giants are attacked - Securing the flanks and Providing Good training for the Battle of the Vale of Siddim}

And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him and drove back and slaughtered the Rephaims {famous giant peoples} in Ashteroth Karnaim and the Zuzims {also famous giant peoples} in Ham and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim and the Horites in their mount Seir {cave dwellers and also giants} unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness.

Young's Updated LT              And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings who are with him, and they smite the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their mount Seir, unto El-Paran, which is by the wilderness.

 

The gist of this verse:          In the 14th year, the kings of the east conquered several groups of men and cities before dealing with those in rebellion.


Genesis 14:5a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

be (בְּ) [pronounced beh]

in, into, through; at, by, near, on, upon; with, before, against; by means of; among; within

a preposition of proximity

No Strong’s # BDB #88

ʾarebaʿ (אַרְבַּע) [pronounced ahre-BAHĢ]

four

masculine singular noun; numeral

Strong’s #702 BDB #916

ʿâsâr (עָשָׂה) [pronounced ģaw-SAWR]

ten; –teen [resulting in numbers 11–19]

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #6240 BDB #797

bôwʾ (בּוֹא) [pronounced boh]

to come in, to come, to go in, to go, to enter, to advance

3rd person masculine singular, Qal perfect

Strong’s #935 BDB #97

Kedorelâʿômer (כְּדָרְלָעֹמֶר) [pronounced ked-or-law-OH-mehr]

handful of sheaves; transliterated Chedorlaomer

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #3540 BDB #462

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine plural noun with the definite article

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

ʾăsher (אֲֹשֶר) [pronounced uh-SHER]

that, which, when, who, whom

relative pronoun

Strong's #834 BDB #81

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

with, at, near, by, among, directly from

preposition (which is identical to the sign of the direct object); with the 3rd person masculine singular suffix

Strong's #854 BDB #85


Translation: In the 14th year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who [are] with him came... For 12 years, these people of Sodom and Gomorrah served Chedorlaomer, which means, they paid tribute to him. Then, in the 13th year, they rebelled, although exactly what they did is not recorded. This is not really something that he can tolerate.


We understand the 14th year—it takes awhile to respond to what is happening 500 miles away—but then, who are all of these other people? This 4-king alliance from the east appears to be taking the scenic route. This gives us an idea as to how they work. They have a large, well-trained army, and, rather than go directly to Sodom and Gomorrah, they attack and defeat several people along the way. Let me suggest 3 reasons why this is done (1) It is on the way. Just as you might be going grocery shopping, and you are asked to stop by the hardware store and pick up something, since it is on the way; that is how this was viewed. (2) We do not know how logistics worked for this ancient army. They have to be fed. It is possible that they conquer these other peoples in order to eat. (3) Strategically, it is better to control contiguous sets of people, rather than to have places here and there which are independent. That means, in order to move tribute from a protectorate in the far west, they would have to move through territory which is independently held. So, in all of these areas in between, they either needed a controlling treaty or they needed to simply conquer these people. Once they have been conquered, then they will not become allies of the people the eastern alliance is going to put down. (4) Finally, if this is known to the western coalition, then this would give the eastern alliance a psychological advantage as well.


Chedor and company were busy making war when those of the pentapolis rebelled. It takes time to prepare for war, to map out what is going to be done, and they rebelled when Chedorlaomer and his allies were preparing for an attack on those mentioned. It was obviously a major campaign to solidify and to expand their control. Parallel to the Jordan River and the Dead Sea and east of same is the very famous King's Highway. This was known to exist long before 2000 b.c.. Chedorlaomer and his allies were likely making a trek along this highway during this campaign. This was likely an important trade route and dotted with various groups of peoples. One view is that the kings of the east were taking control of a portion of this highway. At the north end of this highway and across from the Sea of Galilee is Ashteroth-karnaim, never referred to again in the Bible.


Genesis 14:5b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

nâkâh (נָכָה) [pronounced naw-KAWH]

to smite, to assault, to hit, to strike, to strike [something or someone] down, to defeat, to conquer, to subjugate

3rd person masculine plural, Hiphil imperfect

Strong #5221 BDB #645

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

Repha’îym (רְפַאִים) [pronounced refaw-EEM]

giants; transliterated Rephaim

masculine plural proper noun

Strong's #7496-7497 BDB #952

be (בְּ) [pronounced beh]

in, into, through; at, by, near, on, upon; with, before, against; by means of; among; within

a preposition of proximity

No Strong’s # BDB #88

ʿAshetârôwth (עַשְתָּרוֹת) [pronounced ģahsh-taw-ROHTH]

transliterated Ashtaroth, Ashtartes, Ashtaroths

feminine proper noun; plural form

Strong’s #6252 BDB #800

Qarenayim (קַרְנַיִם) [pronounced ker-nah-yihm]

two horns, both horns, a pair of horns; flashes of lightning, rays of light

feminine dual noun

Strong’s #7161 BDB #901

Together, these works make up the location of the Rephaim. Strong’s #6255 BDB #800.


tunesiastele.jpgFrom http://www.lessing-photo.com/p2/030301/03030132.jpg

Translation: ...and they conquered the Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim,... Chedarlaomer and the kings with him do not simply go to Sodom and put down the rebellion. They have been keeping track of the various groups in that general area, and have decided to expand their enterprise. Furthermore, they will use the people of Sodom and Gomorrah as examples, as in, “Here is what happens when you stop paying us tribute.”


This may also be a stop-gap measure. Chedorlaomer may not be certain just who might join with the rebels, so he takes out several cities in that general area. This way, he increases the amount of tribute that is paid to him, and he eliminates possible alliances.


They know that they will be going against the five king faction from the Valley of Siddim.


Notice that the Chedorlaomer’s eastern alliance is at war with whole different sets of people in vv. 5–7. If this all took place in the 14th year, then this was an amazing military alliance.


The operative verb here is the masculine plural, Hiphil imperfect of nâkâh (נָכָה) [pronounced naw-KAWH], which means to smite, to assault, to hit, to strike, to strike [something or someone] down, to defeat, to conquer, to subjugate. Strong #5221 BDB #645. The Hiphil appears to be the principle form of this verb and the imperfect tense means that this is a process. If this was the perfect tense, we might see this as something which had been done in the past, as in, these kings also had subdued these groups.


Those conquered by the Chedorlaomer’s eastern alliance: the Rephaim are giants, and two sources place Ashtaroth-Karnaim as being 25 miles south of Damascus, which is in Bashan, east of the Jordan. This is consistent with the location of these giants elsewhere in Scripture. Ashtaroth is likely a reference to an ancient female goddess and Karnaim simply means two horns. Interestingly enough, the two-horned goddess, Astarte, has crescent moon on her head (not unlike the symbol for Islam).


Ashteroth-Karnaim mean “Ashteroth of the two horns" or "peaks," situated between two hills, perhaps so named to honor the two horned goddess Astarte, the crescent moon on her head.


Above is a stele from the Tophet in Carthage (today Tunisia). This was probably a grave marker which had been set up over a burial urn for a child or animal which had been sacrificed to the goddess Tanit. You will note the typical Middle eastern symbols of the sun, crescent moon and triangle; with the goddess below.


The crescent moon is a common symbol of Babylon and Sumeria, which is where these kings of the east are from. Many historians have claimed that the crescent moon symbol used by Mohammed has its origins in Middle Eastern heathenism. However, if this is true, they dropped the female goddess Astarte. For a religion that treats women so shabbily, it would have seemed odd to worship a goddess at the same time.


Astarte was a common goddess found in many ancient cultures, and it is not unusual to find her associated with the sun, the crescent moon, the sacred lotus and/or intertwined serpents. Other images of Astarte can be found at Lessing Images; One of the more fascinating reliefs is one of Astarte, naked from the waist up, holding several snakes in each hand, and standing upon 14 skulls, Teenwitch.com (where else?). This appears to be Astarte, but notice that her feet are talons. Or here, the goddess of Mesopotamia is holding onto the Tree of Life,


Genesis 14:5c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

Zûwzîym (זוּזִים) [pronounced zoo-ZEEM]

roving creatures, transliterated Zuzim

masculine plural proper noun with the definite article

Strong’s #2104 BDB #265

BDB: an ancient people of uncertain origin, perhaps, inhabitants of ancient Ammon east of the Jordan.

be (בְּ) [pronounced beh]

in, into, through; at, by, near, on, upon; with, before, against; by means of; among; within

a preposition of proximity

No Strong’s # BDB #88

Hâm (הָם) [pronounced hawm]

 hot, sunburnt; transliterated Ham

proper singular noun; location

Strong’s #1990 BDB #241

BDB: the place where Chedorlaomer and his allies smote the Zuzim, probably in the territory of the Ammonites, east of the Jordan; site uncertain. This is not the same Strong’s # as the word transliterated Ham, as in Noah’s son (Strong’s #2526 BDB #325), although they appear to be identical.


Translation: ...the Zuzim in Ham,... The Zuzim are also thought to be giants living east of the Jordan (we do not know where Ham is).


The exact location of Ham is not known and the Zuzim are not mentioned again, but the direction of the attack is possibly due south on the King's Highway, so this would place it directly east of the Jordan river running between the two seas, south of Ashteroth-karnaim.


Genesis 14:5d

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

ʾÊymîym (אֵימִים) [pronounced ay-MEEM]

terror, dread, horror, fear; and is transliterated Emim [terrors]

masculine plural proper noun with the definite article

Strong’s #368 BDB #34

BDB: ancient inhabitants of Moab.

be (בְּ) [pronounced beh]

in, into, through; at, by, near, on, upon; with, before, against; by means of; among; within

a preposition of proximity

No Strong’s # BDB #88

Shâvêh (שָוֵה) [pronounced shaw-VAY]

level plain; transliterated Shaveh

proper singular noun/location

Strong’s #7740 BDB #1001

Qireyâthayim (קִרְיָת) [pronounced kir-yaw-THAHN-yim]

2 cities, two towns; transliterated Kirjathajim, Kirjathayim, Kiriathaim

feminine dual noun

Strong’s #7151 BDB #900

Together, these make up the dual cities Shaveh Kiriathaim. Together, they mean plain of the two cities; plain of the double cities. Strong’s #7741 BDB #1001.


Translation: ...the Emin in Shavey-Kiriathaim,... The Emim are east of the Salt Sea where Moab will be and many believe them to be giants as well. Shaveh Kiriathaim means the valley of two cities. Shaveh-kiriathaim (which could be translated the plain of Kiriathaim and this would be found on the southern portion of the King's Highway across from the Dead Sea. The coalition of the kings of the east have taken over the area either north of the Dead Sea (which seems most likely) or possibly the southern portion of the Dead Sea, and now they have moved to the other side and are taking their campaign down the King's Highway, taking out one city after another.


Gen 14:5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,


This gives us a fairly straightforward time frame. Given the distance from these cities in the west from the main cities of the kings of the east, it took a year for the Chedorlaomer to realize that he had been stiffed and to gather together an army to travel this distance.


Gen 14:5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,



Genesis 14:6a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

Chôrîy (חֹרִי) [pronounced khoh-REE]

cave-dweller, troglodyte; transliterated Horites

adjective gentis; proper noun

Strong’s #2752 BDB #362

Probably the aboriginal Idumaean. Used to generally identify the inhabitants of Mount Seir.

be (בְּ) [pronounced beh]

in, into, through; at, by, near, on, upon; with, before, against; by means of; among; within

a preposition of proximity

No Strong’s # BDB #88

hârâr (הָרָר) [pronounced haw-RAWR]

mountain, hill, hill country, mount

masculine singular noun with the 3rd person masculine plural suffix

Strong’s #2042 BDB #249

Sêʿîyr (שֵׂעִיר) [pronounced say-ĢEER]

hairy, shaggy; transliterated Seir

masculine singular, proper noun

Strong’s #8165 BDB #973


Translation: ...and the Horites in their mountain Seir,... Mount Seir is south of the Dead Sea, and it will be the area where Esau, Abram’s grandson, will eventually live and begin a people there. Mount Seir is southeast of the Dead Sea, right in the path of this coalition at the edge of several deserts.


This particular doctrine could stand to be updated.

The Horites/Hivites

 1.     The Horites of Mount Seir, are mentioned in Gen. 14:6, during the great war of the kings which took place in Abraham's day. Genesis does not take us any further back, so we do not know whether Seir is a Horite (named after one of his ancestors) or whether the Horites are descended from Seir (Seir will be later associated with Esau).

 2.      The Horites and the Hivites are probably the same people. Zibeon in Gen. 36:2 is called a Hivite, and Zibeon in Gen. 36:20 is called a Horite. Certainly these could be different Zibeon's, but context seems to indicate that we are talking about one and the same person (compare vv. 2 and 24). The LXX has Horite instead of Hivite in Gen. 34:2 and Joshua 9:7.

 3.      Hittite is a more general term and the Horites (Hivite) appear to be a more specific branch of the Hittites.

 4.      ZPEB suggests that their progenitor was Hori, the son of Lotan, who was the son of Seir (1Chron. 1:38–39). This line of Seir just begins with a group that lives in northern Edom, which takes its name from Seir. This would make Seir a Hittite, who moved to northern Edom (prior to Esau moving there). From Seir came a branch of his line, the Horites, who occupied the land of Seir.

 5.      Esau originally married two Hittite women, Judith and Basemath, which choice gave his family grief (Gen. 26:34 36:2).

          1)      Esau, in his travels, picked up a wife from the Horites, and twice moved his families out to Seir, a mountain range in the land of the Horites. She is called a Hivite, in Gen. 36:2, which might be a slight corruption of the text.

          2)      This association of Esau with Seir and the Horites with Seir makes perfect sense.

          3)      As in-laws, Esau learned a bit about her heritage, which certainly influenced him more than his own heritage of the Revealed God.

          4)      This information of their backgrounds likely came from Esau who either told it to one of Jacob's sons (likely Joseph, his favorite nephew) or he recorded it and left a copy of these records with Jacob's family. In any case, the original information would have come from Esau, the expert in this field.

 6.      Intermarriage and living in the same area ultimately did not draw Esau and the Horites closer together. There was apparently very little if any intermarriage after Esau and eventually Esau's descendants (the Edomites) overran and forced the Horites out of Seir (Deut. 2:12, 22).

 7.      The displaced Horites (Hivites) who survived this devastation, and they moved west of the Jordan River. They made a pact with Joshua, under false pretenses (claiming to come from a far away land, wearing battered clothing and carrying beat-up supplies (Joshua 9).

 8.      Because Joshua made a pact before God with these people, even though he was deceived, Israel was honor-bound to keep that pact (Joshua 2:16–20).

 9.      These people were not looking for peace with the Jews; they just did not want to face a pre-emptive strike. The Horites, in conjunction with the Amorites, Hittites, the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, then attacked Israel, but God delivered them into the hands of the Israelites under Joshua's leadership (Joshua 11).

10.    The Hivites, along with other groups, were left in the land to test Israel (Judges 3:1–8).

11.    As predicted by Joshua (Joshua 9:22–23), these peoples became slaves to Israel (1Kings 9:20–21 2Chron. 8:6–8).

12.    There are arguments pro and con concerning identifying the Hurrians with the Horites. Horite could have been the Semitic rendering of the name, just as those mentioned in Gen. 36:20–21 could have had their names Hebrewized (as these names are not, strictly speaking, Hurrian names).

13.    The Hurrians (which, again, may or may not have been the Horites) were a group of peoples forgotten about for thousands of years. It was not until this past century when we realized that such a people existed. They lived in the northern portion of Mesopotamia, in Syria and in Palestine just prior to 2000 b.c. We also find evidence of them living in Lower (Northern) Egypt. However, there are no records indicating that they lived in Moab. We have recently (meaning during the past 200 years) discovered thousands of tablets upon which are inscribed their business records and documents and all other manner of information. The evidence that there was Hurrian influence in Palestine is the fact that some names found in the Bible are quite likely Hurrian names. The El Amarna tablets indicate that there was a Jebusite ruler in Jerusalem who was a servant of Hepa, which is likely a shortened form of Hepat or Hebat, who is the most prominent goddess of the Hurrian pantheon. A Jebusite successor to this servant of Hepa was Araunah (or Ornan) (2Sam. 24:18 1Chron. 21:18) are taken from the original Hebrew consonants ’rwnh, ’wrnh, or ’rnn is a Hurrian title found in an Hurrian-Akkadian dictionary tablet and it means lord or king. It is often that the Bible records the title rather than the name of foreign kings and rulers. Part of our problem in connecting the two groups is that we still have not cracked the Hurrian language, which seems to be related only the Urartian, the language found on inscriptions made by the kings of Urartu near Lake Van from the 900-600 bc era.

This doctrine is also posted: the Doctrine of the Horites (HTML) (PDF).


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


Genesis 14:6b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

ʿad (עַד) [pronounced ģahd]

as far as, even to, up to, until

preposition

Strong’s #5704 BDB #723

ʾÊyl (אֵיל) [pronounced āyil]

strong man, leader, chief; a strong, robust tree [e.g., an oak, terebinth, palm]; transliterated El

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #352 BDB #18

Pâʾrân (פָּארָן) [pronounced paw-RAWN]

(possibly) boughs; abounding in foliage [or caverns]; and is transliterated Paran

proper noun/location

Strong’s #6290 BDB #803

Together, these make up the location known as El Paran. Strong’s #364 BDB #18.

According to BDB: El-paran = “palm of Paran.” [It is a] town and harbour at tip of Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea.

ʾăsher (אֲֹשֶר) [pronounced uh-SHER]

that, which, when, who, whom

relative pronoun

Strong's #834 BDB #81

ʿal (עַל) [pronounced ģahl]

upon, beyond, on, against, above, over, by, beside

preposition of proximity

Strong’s #5921 BDB #752

When not showing a physical relationship between two things, ʿal can take on a whole host of new meanings: on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, besides, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by on to, towards, to, against, in the matter of, concerning, as regards to. It is one of the most versatile prepositions in Scripture. This word often follows particular verbs. In the English, we have helping verbs; in the Hebrew, there are helping prepositions.

midebâr (מִדְבָר) [pronounced mide-BAWR]

wilderness, unpopulated wilderness, desert wilderness; mouth

masculine singular noun with the definite article

Strong’s #4057 BDB #184

This is the first occurrence of this word in Scripture.


Translation:...[going] as far as El-Paran, which is adjacent [to] the wilderness. The wilderness probably became a word used for the desert, but is not a word which originally meant desert. Given how well-watered this overall area was, this was probably an area that had not been established or inhabited yet. So Chedarlaomer is spreading out his means of income to take in all of the people in this general area.


Gen 14:6 and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness.


The Horites are in the hill country south of the Salt Sea. BDB identifies El-paran as being at the tip of the Gulf of Aqaba at the Red Sea. So this army is coming around to Sodom and Gomorrah, conquering all that they come across. The scenic route.


Vv. 5–6: In the 14th year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who are with him came and they conquered the Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emin in Shavey-Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their mountain Seir, going as far as El-Paran, which is adjacent to the wilderness.


Route of the Kings of the East. There is a clear route that this eastern alliance is following. They are beginning around where Abram used to live, in Haran, and moving west and then south, traveling parallel to the Jordan River,

4_5kingwar.jpghttp://heartofwisdom.com/imageslp/4.5kingwar.jpg

probably along the King’s Highway. We use the narrative here to determine where most of these people are located.



























——————————


And so they return and so they come unto En Mishpat (that [is], Kadesh); and so they strike all a country of the Amalekite and also the Amorite the dwellers of Hazazon Tamar.

Genesis

14:7

Then they turned back and came to Eyn Mishpat (that [is], Kadesh) and they defeated the entire country of the Amalekite as well as [lit., and also] the Amorite, the dwellers of Hazazon Tamar.

Then they turned back around and came to En Mishpat (which is today known as Kadesh), where they defeated the entire territory of the Amorites and then went on to defeat the Amorites, who were living in Hazazon Tamar.


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                And they returned, and came to the place where was rendered the judgment of Mosheh the prophet, to the fountain of the waters of Strife, which is Requam. And they smote all the fields of the Amalkaee, and also the Emoraee, who dwelt in En-gedi.

Latin Vulgate                          And they returned, and came to the fountain of Misphat, the same is Cades: and they smote all the country of the Amalecites, and the Amorrhean that dwelt in Asasonthamar.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so they return and so they come unto En Mishpat (that [is], Kadesh); and so they strike all a country of the Amalekite and also the Amorite the dwellers of Hazazon Tamar.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And they returned, and came to En-dina, which is Rakim (Kadesh) and they smote all the princes of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who dwelt in En-gad.

Septuagint (Greek)                And having turned back, they came to the Well of Judgment; this is Kadesh, and they cut to pieces all the princes of Amalek, and the Amorites dwelling in Hazezon Tamar.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Contemporary English V.       They went back to the city of Enmishpat, better known as Kadesh. Then they captured all the land that belonged to the Amalekites, and they defeated the Amorites who were living in Hazazon-Tamar.

Easy English                          Then the 4 kings turned back and they came to En-Mishpat (Kadesh). They got power over all the country where the people called Amalekites lived. And they got power over the people called *Amorites that were living in Hazezon-Tamar.

Good News Bible (TEV)         Then they turned around and came back to Kadesh (then known as Enmishpat). They conquered all the land of the Amalekites and defeated the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.

The Message                         On their way back they stopped at En Mishpat, that is, Kadesh, and conquered the whole region of the Amalekites as well as that of the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tamar.

New Berkeley Version           Turning there, they came to En-Mishpat — that is Kadesh — and sacked the whole Amalekite region [Later possessed by Amalekites, who were descendants of Esau.] and the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-Tamar.

New Life Bible                        Then they turned around and came to Enmishpat (that is, Kadesh). There they won a war against all the country of the Amalekites and the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.

The Voice                               Then Chedorlaomer and his allies turned back and did the same in En-mishpat (a city also known as Kadesh), and they conquered all of the country of the Amalekites and also the Amorites, who lived then in Hazazon-tamar.


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          And on their return, they stopped at the Well of Judgment (Cades), where they cut all the princes of Amalec and the Amorites to pieces who were living in AsasonThamar.

Beck’s American Translation Turning there, they came to the Fountain of Justice (Kadesh), and they defeated the whole territory of the Amalekites and also the Amorites living at Hazazon-tamar.

God’s Word                         On their way back, they came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who were living at Hazazon Tamar.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       And now, returning, they had reached the spring of Misphat (or Cades), where they fell upon all the Amalecite country, and the Amorrhites that lived by Asason-Thamar.

NIRV                                      Then they turned back. They went to En Mishpat. En Mishpat was also called Kadesh. They took over the whole territory of the Amalekites. They also won the battle against the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.

New Jerusalem Bible             Wheeling round, they came to the Spring of Judgement (that is, Kadesh); they conquered all the territory of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-Tamar.


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Ancient Roots Translinear      They returned and came into the rest-stop at En-Mishpat, and smote all the fields of the slave-traders, and also the dwellers of North-Jordan in the date-palms of Hazazaon.

Bible in Basic English             Then they came back to En-mishpat which is Kadesh, making waste all the country of the Amalekites and of the Amorites living in Hazazon-tamar.

The Expanded Bible              Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh). They ·defeated [subdued] all the Amalekites [Ca fearsome tribe in pre-Israelite Canaan], as well as the Amorites who lived in Hazazon Tama.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 They then returned and came to the Well of Justice [or The Fountain of Judgment, “Kadesh”] and conquered all the plain of Amalakites, and also the Amorites who inhabited the palm groves.

HCSB                                     Then they came back to invade En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they defeated all the territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.

NET Bible®                             Then they attacked En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh) again [Heb "they returned and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh)." The two verbs together form a verbal hendiadys, the first serving as the adverb: "they returned and came" means "they came again." Most English translations do not treat this as a hendiadys, but translate "they turned back" or something similar. Since in the context, however, "came again to" does not simply refer to travel but an assault against the place, the present translation expresses this as "attacked.again."], and they conquered all the territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.

NIV, ©2011                             Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar.


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Complete Jewish Bible           Next they turned back, came to 'Ein-Mishpat (which is the same as Kadesh), and defeated all the country of the 'Amaleki, and also the Emori, who lived in Hatzatzon-Tamar.

exeGeses companion Bible   And they return and come to En Mishpat - Qadesh

and smite all the field of the Amaleqiy

and also the Emoriy settling in Haseson Tamar.

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               On their way back they came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and subdued all the territory of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazazon-tamar.

Kaplan Translation                 They then turned back and came to Eyn Mishpat [Literally, 'Well of Decision,' or 'Well of Judgment.'] (now Kadesh [This is Kadesh Barnea (compare Numbers 13:26 and 32:8). The Targum renders this Rekem, which is identified as Petra, 43 miles due south of the Dead Sea (cf. Genesis 16:14, 20:1). Others say that it is an area some 55 miles southwest of the Dead Sea. (Cf. Tosafoth, Gittin 2a, s.v. Ashkelon).]), and they conquered the entire field of the Amalekites [These were not the descendants of Esau (Genesis 36:12), since the latter were born much later and named after this earlier tribe (Ramban). Otherwise, it may denote the field where the Amalekites later lived (Radak; Ramban).], as well as the Amorites [See note on Genesis 10:16.] who lived in Chatzatzon Tamar [This is Eyn Gedi on the western shore of the Dead Sea (2 Chronicles 20:2; Targum; Rashi). See Judges 1:16, note on Genesis 15:19, regarding the Kenite.].

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And they turned, and came to En Mishpat, which is Kadesh, and conquered all the country of the Amaleki, and also the Emori, that dwelt in Chazezon-Tamar.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ they(m)~ will~ Turn.back and~ they(m)~ will~ Come To “Eyn-Mishpat [Eye of judgement]” He “Kadesh [Set apart]” and~ they(m)~ will~ make~ Hit At All Field the~ “Amalek [People gathered]”~ of and~ Also At “Emor [Sayer]”~ of the~ Settle~ ing(masculine singular) in~ “Hhats'tson-Tamar [Dividing the palm tree]”

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...and they turned back and they came to “Eyn-Mishpat [Eye of judgement]”, he is “Kadesh [Set apart]”, and they hit all of the field of the one of “Amaleq [People gathered]” and also the one of “Emor [Sayer]” settling in “Hhats'tson-Tamar [Dividing the palm tree]”,...

Concordant Literal Version    And returning are they and coming to En-Mishphat (It is now Kadesh). And smiting are they all the chiefs of the Amalekites and, moreover, the Amorites dwelling in Hazezon-tamar.

English Standard Version      Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon-tamar.

NASB                                     Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and conquered [Lit smote] all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, who lived in Hazazon-tamar.

New King James Version       Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and attacked all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazezon Tamar.

New RSV                               ...then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and subdued all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.

Syndein/Thieme                     And they returned and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and drove back and slaughtered all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who lived in Hazezontamar.

World English Bible                They returned, and came to En-mishpat (the same is Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar.

Young's Literal Translation     And they turn back and come in unto En-Mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smite the whole field of the Amalekite, and also the Amorite who is dwelling in Hazezon-Tamar.

 

The gist of this verse:          They were moving more or less in one direction in the previous battles, and now they turn back, going toward Sodom, and they strike the country later occupied by Amalekites and then the Amorites.


Genesis 14:7a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

shûwb (שוּב) [pronounced shoobv]

to return, to turn, to turn back, to reminisce, to restore something, to bring back something, to revive, to recover something, to make restitution

3rd person masculine plural, Qal imperfect

Strong's #7725 BDB #996

4_5kingwar1.jpghttp://heartofwisdom.com/imageslp/4.5kingwar.jpg

Translation: Then they turned back... This appears to be key in their defeating of Sodom and Gomorrah. They were expecting an attack out of the east, but Chedarlaomer went past Sodom and Gomorrah and defeated some tribes of people here and there, and then doubled back.


The Route of the Kings of the East (map). This is the same map as was found earlier. However, here we need it for the second half of the route of these kings.


The verb to turn back is a very common one in the Hebrew, and it means just that. In context, the kings of the east are moving along a varied route, but, at some point, the begin to back track.


This map is quite important; it explains just how the eastern alliance army was able to defeat the western coalition. It also explains the thinking of the kings of the east.


You will observe in the map how this would mark the point at which the Chedorlaomer eastern alliance began to turn back toward their native land. Up to that point, they were moving further and further away from the east; and after Kadesh, they put themselves on a route back toward the east. It is almost as if they stop by the cities in the Valley of Siddim as sort of an afterthought. If you refer back to this map, then the doctrine which follows will make perfect sense.


One of the things which fascinates me about the Bible is, the number of times strategy and tactics and spoken of (although you may not recognize it as such). These kings from the east did not simply saddle up and come out to Sodom and Gomorrah to put down a rebellion.

The Strategy and Tactics of the Kings of the East

1.      These kings were quite obviously the first environmentalists. They did not take 3 trips, when they could accomplish several tasks on the same trip.

2.      First of all, Chedorlaomer allied himself with several other kings in his region. This would be done for several reasons. It would give him a larger army and he would not be in competition with these kings for the wealth of these western city-states. Obviously, these men are of like minds, as they all want to subjugate the peoples of the west. If two or three of them go after the same city-states, then the result will be that they fight amongst each other. So, their plan here is to get many groups of people to send them tribute, and then to split up the loot amongst each other.

3.      With this large, fearsome army (we do not know its size, but, since it is an allied army of 4 kings, we may assume that it is 3x or larger than the individual peoples that they will overrun. Many times, this great army would show up at the front door of a city (these cities may not have been walled cities at this time), and say, “You have 2 choices: (1) we will attack you and kill all of you and take away your women and children as slaves or (2) you can pay us a tribute each year, and you will live.” Many times, a war will not be necessary, or a short war of a few days is enough to convince the city-state to serve them.

4.      By attacking the various peoples along the King’s Highway, this eastern alliance eliminates them as possible allies for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. When the east alliance swings around Sodom and Gomorrah and moves in a southwesterly direction, they subjugate several more groups of people, and prevent them from helping out Sodom and Gomorrah. In this way, they isolate the people of Sodom and Gomorrah from any people that they might partner up with.

5.      This eastern alliance knows that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah expect them to come around from the east, or, less likely, to come down from the north, along the western edge of the Salt Sea. So, if they come from the west, that will be both a surprise and a tactical advantage. The western coalition will be ready and waiting for them to come from the east, and they will be so positioned.

6.      This will explain the next few verses: the western people know their own land. They would like to drawn the eastern alliance into the area where all of these tar pits are located, and then attack, so they would position themselves with the tar pits in between them and the eastern army. However, if the eastern army comes up behind them, then these tar pits are then right behind the western coalition army. Therefore, if the western coalition army retreats, then they will be retreating right into these tar pits.

7.      So, the eastern alliance attacks from the west side, which is a surprise, and which surprise will cause their enemies to retreat. They can retreat backwards into the tar pits, or they can retreat going northward, into the hill country along the Salt Sea. This is very difficult country to go through.

8.      All of this leaves their cities unguarded, and the eastern kings can simply go into the cities and take what they want.

If God the Holy Spirit places strategy and tactics in the Bible, then we ought to take notice of that.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


Genesis 14:7b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

bôwʾ (בּוֹא) [pronounced boh]

to come in, to come, to go in, to go, to enter, to advance

3rd person masculine plural, Qal imperfect

Strong’s #935 BDB #97

ʾel (אֶל) [pronounced ehl]

unto; into, among, in; toward, to; against; concerning, regarding; besides, together with; as to

directional preposition (respect or deference may be implied)

Strong's #413 BDB #39

ʿÊyn (עַיִן) [pronounced ģayn]

 spring, fountain; eye, spiritual eyes

feminine singular noun

from Strong’s #5869 (and #5871) BDB #744

mîshepâţ (מִשְפָּט) [pronounced mishe-PAWT]

judgement, justice, a verdict rendered by a judge, a judicial decision, a judicial sentence, a verdict, a judgement of the court

masculine singular noun

Strong's #4941 BDB #1048

Together, this gives us the spring of justice [judgment, a judicial verdict]; which is Strong’s #5880 BDB #745.

hîyʾ (הִיא) [pronounced hee]

she, it; also used as a demonstrative pronoun: that, this (one)

3rd person feminine singular, personal pronoun; sometimes the verb is, is implied

Strong’s #1931 BDB #214

Qâdêsh (שקָדֵ) [pronounced kaw-DAYSH]

sacred, holy, set apart; transliterated Kadesh

proper noun; location

Strong’s #6946 and #6947 BDB #873

This city is in the extreme southern portion of Judah and is the same as Kadesh-barnea.


Translation: ...and came to Eyn Mishpat (that [is], Kadesh)... As the come back, they come to what is today, Kadesh, which this gloss seems to indicate.


The words that is, Kadesh is another gloss. What would be quite logical is, Moses, who was educated in the Egyptian palace, and who would have been an excellent history and geography student, when he took possession of what were the Scriptures of God, that he added these glosses. It would also be reasonable that Joshua did this as well. Moses, because of his royal education, or Joshua, because he both traveled and conquered the land of Canaan, and then distributed this land to the children of Israel, would have been ideally suited to make such glosses.


Genesis 14:7c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

nâkâh (נָכָה) [pronounced naw-KAWH]

to smite, to assault, to hit, to strike, to strike [something or someone] down, to defeat, to conquer, to subjugate

3rd person masculine plural, Hiphil imperfect

Strong #5221 BDB #645

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

kôl (כֹּל) [pronounced kohl]

every, each, all of, all; any of, any

masculine singular construct not followed by a definite article

Strong’s #3605 BDB #481

sâdeh (שָׂדֶה) [pronounced saw-DEH]

field, land, country, open field, open country

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #7704 BDB #961

ʿĂmâlêqîy (עֲמָלֵקִי) [pronounced ģuh-maw-lay-KEE]

people of lapping; transliterated Amalekite

proper noun gentilic with the definite article

Strong’s #6003 BDB #766

Although BDB identifies Amalekite as being a descendant of Esau, Esau is not yet born.


Translation: ...and they defeated the entire country of the Amalekite... There is a large section of Amalekites, and they are defeated—all of them—in battle.


These men cannot have been descended from Esau, as he has not yet been born.


The most common explanation is, when this was written, these areas were known as Amalekite country. So these kings of the east went through and conquered all of the peoples who lived in the territory later occupied by the Amalekites.


The second explanation is, this territory was identified with a people named Amalekites, essentially destroyed here; but there would be a group of men more famously known as Amalekites who would occupy this area in the future.


Genesis 14:7d

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

gam (גַם) [pronounced gahm]

also, furthermore, in addition to, even, moreover

adverb

Strong’s #1571 BDB #168

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

ʾĔmôrîy (אֱמֹרִי) [pronounced eh-moh-REE]

mountaineer (possibly); and is transliterated Amorite

gentilic adjective; with the definite article

Strong’s #567 BDB #57

yâshab (יָשַב) [pronounced yaw-SHAHBV]

those inhabiting, those staying, those dwelling in, the inhabitants of, the ones dwelling in, dwellers of, those sitting [here], the ones sitting

Qal active participle with the definite article

Strong's #3427 BDB #442

I used the definitions here for the masculine plural, Qal active participle.

be (בְּ) [pronounced beh]

in, into, through; at, by, near, on, upon; with, before, against; by means of; among; within

a preposition of proximity

No Strong’s # BDB #88

Chatsetsôn (חַצְצֹן) [pronounced khats-tsohn]

to sing; to shout, to yell; to prune; transliterated Hazazon, Hazezon

possibly a form of the verb châtsats (חָצַץ) [pronounced khaw-tsahts]; Strong’s #2686 BDB #346

Strong’s #2688 BDB #346

Tâmâr (תָּמָר) [pronounced taw-MAWR]

palm-tree, date-palm and is transliterated Tamar

feminine singular proper noun

Strong’s #8559 BDB #1071

Together, these words refer to a singular location, which means division [dividing] of the palm tree; pruning of the palm tree. There are two slightly different spellings for the first name. BDB says this city is probably Engedi.


Translation: ...as well as [lit., and also] the Amorite, the dwellers of Hazazon Tamar. This is the famous Amorite, who is said to be in the land, and here, these kings from the east defeat them.


The Amalekites and Amorites named here also lived in the land of Canaan, which is the land that God would give to the Jews. The Amalekites lived mostly around this southern region of the land of Canaan, and they will show up in Israel’s history on two very important future events. When God leads Moses and the people into this land, the Amalekites, Amorites and Canaanites stand between them and entering into the land, and the people of Israel will be defeated by them (Num. 14).


On another occasion, David will wander out of the geographical will of God, and, while he is preparing to war against Israel, the Amalekites attack his main camp, taking all of the women and things which David and his men had accumulated (1Sam. 30). Both of these incidents take place here in this same geographical area.


So, what does all of this tell us? Abram, with a very small army, will defeat the Eastern Alliance. The Eastern Alliance defeated many of the peoples in the land which God is giving to Abram. Therefore, Abram is capable himself of taking the entire land (however, it is not time yet, as the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached a point of critical mass).


Moses will bring his people, the Jews, into the land, and they will face the Amorites, Amalekites and the Canaanites right at the very beginning. Their reasoning should be as follows: God led Abram and 318 soldiers to defeat the Eastern Alliance, which defeated the very people that Moses is facing. If Moses still has God on his side and has 2 million people, then how can he be defeated? He has an army much larger than Abram’s. He also has God. Therefore, Moses should have been able to enter into this Land of Promise some 400 years later and taken it. What is the key? Knowledge of the Word of God and the history found in the Word of God. Moses and the Israelites will be stopped right here, in this very spot, around the Kadesh area, in land held by the Amorites, Amalekites and the Canaanites. This chapter tells us that there is no reason for Moses and the children of Israel to be defeated at this point by this people.


To state this even more simply:


Moses + 2 million + God > [is greater than] Abram + 318 men + God > the eastern alliance (Chedorlaomer, et al) > the Amalekites, Amorites and Canaanites. Therefore, by the transitive property of inequality, Moses + 2 million + God > the Amalekites, Amorites and Canaanites.


Application: How does this relate to you? You have the power of the Holy Spirit. Access to this power will never leave you. You have the completed canon of Scripture. Potentially, you are greater than Abraham or Moses or David. They could lose the Holy Spirit and they did not have the complete Word of God. Never underestimate your power or your responsibility. You might be a woman with 2 children under your command, and your contact with the outside world is limited. This does not matter. Billy Graham, who is easily the greatest evangelist of my day, was converted at a meeting led by Mordecai Ham. If you are a normal person, you have never heard of Mordecai Ham before today. We all have different ministries, just as there are many parts to a body. Some may pray, some may give, some may have a limited evangelistic ministry to just one other person. All of these ministries are equally important. However, apart from Bible doctrine and the ministry of God the Holy Spirit (through naming your sins to God), you have no ministry. Without these 2 power options, you have shown up for work at a new job for which you have had no training, and nobody tells you what to do. Your production at that job will be about nil.


So far, we have studied:


Gen 14:1–7 In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness. Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon-tamar.


Chedorlaomer has conquered a number of city states and they pay him tribute. This has been the case for several city-states in the Valley of Siddim, which is the valley below the southern tip of the Salt Sea (which may or may not have been salty at this time). After 12 years of paying tribute, the Siddim coalition stopped paying taxes to Chedorlaomer. Although we are not given the full story here, very likely, in the 13th year, they overran the tax collector’s outposts and killed the soldiers there. Not receiving payment in that year, Chedorlaomer deduced what happened (he probably had spies in the area as well), so he gathered up an alliance from the east in order to crush this rebellion. Along the way, they conquered several groups of people, most of whom were discussed in the previous lesson.


——————————


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


War of the Kings


And so they go out—a king of Sodom and a king of Gomorrah and a king of Admah and a king of Zeboiim and a king of Bela (she [is] Zoar). And so they set in order with them in a battle in a Valley of Siddim with Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim and Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings with the five.

Genesis

14:8–9

They went out—the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (which [is] Zoar]. They organized [themselves] in battle [array] with their enemies [lit., with them]—Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, Tidal the king of Goiim, Amraphel the king of Shinar and Arioch the king of Ellasar—four kings against [lit., with, near] the five.

The king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (also known as Zoar) went out and organized themselves in battle array with the four kings of the East: Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, Tidal the king of Goiim, Amraphel the king of Shinar and Arioch the king of Ellasar.


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                And the king of Sedom, and the king of Amorah, and the kind of Admah, and the king of Zeboim, and the king of the city which consumed its inhabitants, which is Zoar, went forth, and set the array of battle against them in the valley of the gardens; with Kedarlaomer king of Elam, and Thidal king of the nations obedient to him, and Amraphel king of Pontos, and Ariok king of Thelasar; four kings arrayed in battle against five.

Jerusalem targum                  And Amraphel king of Pontos, and Ariok king of Elasar: four kings against five spread out the array of war. V. 9 only.

Latin Vulgate                          And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha, and the king of Adama, and the king of Seboim, and the king of Bala, which is Segor, went out: and they set themselves against them in battle array, in the woodland vale: To wit, against Chodorlahomor king of the Elamites, and Thadal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Sennaar, and Arioch king of Pontus: four kings against five.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so they go out—a king of Sodom and a king of Gomorrah and a king of Admah and a king of Zeboiim and a king of Bela (she [is] Zoar). And so they set in order with them in a battle in a Valley of Siddim with Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim and Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings with the five.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And there went out the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar); all of these made war in the valley of Siddim, With Cardlaamar, the king of Elam, Tarael the king of Gelites, Amarphel king of Sinar, and Arioch king of Dalasar; four kings against five.

Septuagint (Greek)                And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrhah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, (that is, Zoar) went out, and they set themselves in battle array against them for war in the Salt Valley, against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, the four kings against the five.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Common English Bible           Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bera (that is, Zoar) took up battle positions in the Siddim Valley against King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Shinar, and King Arioch of Ellasar, four kings against five.

Easy English                          Then the 5 kings went out to fight. There were the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah. There were also the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim. And there was the king of Bela (the place that is also called Zoar). They fought in the Valley called Siddim against the other 4 kings. These included Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and Tidal the king of Goiim. There were also Amraphel the king of Shinar, and Arioch the king of Ellasar. 4 kings were fighting against 5 kings..

Easy-to-Read Version            At that time, the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (Zoar) joined together and went to fight against their enemies. {They went to fight} in the Valley of Siddim [The valley or plain along the eastern or southeastern side of the Dead Sea.]. They fought against Kedorlaomer the king of Elam, Tidal the king of Goiim, Amraphel the king of Shinar, and Arioch the king of Ellasar. So there were four kings fighting against five.

Good News Bible (TEV)         Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela drew up their armies for battle in Siddim Valley and fought against the kings of Elam, Goiim, Babylonia, and Ellasar, five kings against four.

The Message                         That's when the king of Sodom marched out with the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar. They drew up in battle formation against their enemies in the Valley of Siddim--against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five.

New Life Bible                        Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined in war against them in the valley of Siddim. They fought against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five.

New Living Translation           Then the rebel kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (also called Zoar) prepared for battle in the valley of the Dead Sea [Hebrew Siddim Valley (see 14:3); also in 14:10.]. They fought against King Kedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Babylonia, and King Arioch of Ellasar-four kings against five.

The Voice                               The five kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (that is, Zoar) all went and joined in battle in the valley of Siddim against the four kings (Chedorlaomer of Elam, Tidal of Goiim, Amraphel of Shinar, and Arioch of Ellasar).


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          And then the kings of Sodom, GomorRah, Adama, Seboim, and Balac (or Segor) went out and set up battle lines against them in the Salt Valley - against ChodolLogomor (king of Elam), Thargal (king of the Gentiles), AmarPhal (king of ShinaAr), and AriOch (the king of ElLasar) - the four against five.

Christian Community Bible     Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and took up battle positions in the valley of Siddim against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against five.

God’s Word                         Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and prepared for battle in the valley of Siddim. They fought against King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Shinar, and King Arioch of Ellasar-four kings against five.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       So the kings of Sodom, Gomorrha, Adama, Seboim and Bala (or Segor) came out to meet them, and prepared to do battle with them in the Valley of the Forests. Chodorlahomor, king of Elam, and Thadal, king of the barbarians, and Amraphel, king of Sennaar, and Arioch, king of Pontus, these were the four kings those five kings had to meet.

New American Bible (R.E.)    Thereupon 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 in the Valley of Siddim they went into battle against them: against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar-four kings against five.

NIRV                                      Then the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah marched out. The kings of Admah, Zeboiim and Bela went with them. Bela was also called Zoar. They lined up their armies for battle in the Valley of Siddim. They got ready to fight against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Babylonia, and Arioch king of Ellasar. There were four kings against five.

New Jerusalem Bible             Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and engaged them in the Valley of Siddim: Chedor-Laomer king of Elam, Tidal king of the Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar: four kings against five.


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Ancient Roots Translinear      The king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela (it's Zoar) proceeded and ranked for war with them in the vale of the Dead-Sea with King Chedorlaomer of South-Iran, King Tidal of the nations, King Amraphel of Central-Iraq, and King Arioch of Ellasar, the four kings with the five.

Bible in Basic English             And the king of Sodom with the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela that is Zoar, went out, and put their forces in position in the valley of Siddim, Against Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim, and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Ellasar: four kings against the five.

The Expanded Bible              At that time the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela went out to fight in the Valley of Siddim. (Bela is called Zoar.) They fought against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of ·Babylonia [LShinar], and Arioch king of Ellasar-four kings fighting against five.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 The king of Sodom accordingly went out with the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and king Bela of Zoar; and they commenced hostilities in the valley of Siddim with Kedarlaomer king of Elam, and Thidal king of the Gentiles, and Amrafel king of Shinar, and Ariok king of Ellasar—four kings against five.

NET Bible®                             Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and prepared for battle. In the Valley of Siddim they met [Heb "against."] Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations [Or "Goyim." See the note on the word "nations" in 14:1.], Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar. Four kings fought against [The Hebrew text has simply "against." The word "fought" is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.] five.


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Complete Jewish Bible           Then the kings of S'dom, 'Amora, Admah, Tzvoyim and Bela (that is, Tzo'ar) came out and arrayed themselves for battle in the Siddim Valley 9 against K'dorla'omer king of 'Elam, Tid'al king of Goyim, Amrafel king of Admah and Aryokh king of Elasar, four kings against the five.

exeGeses companion Bible   And the sovereign of Sedom

and the sovereign of Amorah

and the sovereign of Admah

and the sovereign of Seboim

and the sovereign of Bela - Soar

go and array in war with them in the valley of Siddim

- with Kedorlaomer sovereign of Elam

and with Tidal sovereign of goyim

and Amraphel sovereign of Shinar

and Aryoch sovereign of Ellasar

- four sovereigns with five.

Judaica Press Complete T.    And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar, came forth, and they engaged them in battle in the valley of Siddim. With Chedorloemer the king of Elam and Tidal the king of Goyim and Amraphel the king of Shinar and Arioch the king of Ellasar, four kings against the five.

Kaplan Translation                 The kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Tzevoyim and Bela (Tzoar) marched forth. They set up battle lines in Siddim Valley, against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar. There were four kings against the five.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And there went out the Melech Sodom, and the Melech Amora (Gomorrah), and the Melech Admah, and the Melech Tzevoyim, and the Melech Bela (the same is Tzoar); and they joined in milchamah with them in the Valley of Siddim; With Kedorlaomer Melech Elam, and with Tidal Melech Goyim, and Amraphel Melech Shinar, and Aryoch Melech Ellasar; four melachim against five.

The Scriptures 1998              And the sovereign of Seom, and the sovereign of Amorah, and the sovereign of Amah, and the sovereign of Tseoyim, and the sovereign of Bela, that is Tsoʽar, went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim, against Keorlaʽomer sovereign of Ěylam, and Tiʽal sovereign of Goyim, and Amraphel sovereign of Shinʽar, and Aryo sovereign of Ellasar – four sovereigns against five.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

The Amplified Bible                Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela, that is, Zoar, went out and [together] they joined battle [with those kings] in the Valley of Siddim, With the kings Chedorlaomer of Elam, Tidal of Goiim, Amraphel of Shinar, and Arioch of Ellasar-four kings against five.

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ he~ will~ Go.out King “Sedom [Secret]” and~ King “Ghamorah [Rebellion]” and~ King “Admah [Red ground]” and~ King “Tseviim [Gazzells]” and~ King “Bela [Swallow]” She “Tso'ar [Tiny]” and~ they(m)~ will~ Arrange At~ them(m) Battle in~ Valley the~ “Sidim [Fields]” At “Kedarla'omer [Attack for sheaves]” King “Elam [Ancient]” and~ “Tidal [Breaker of the yoke]” King “Goyim [Nations]” and~ “Amraphel [Speaker of judgement]” King “Shinar [Country of two rivers]” and~ “Aryokh [Tall]” King “Elasar [El is noble]” Four King~ s At the~ Five

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...and the king of “Sedom [Secret]” went out and the king of “Ghamorah [Rebellion]” and the king of “Admah [Red ground]” and the king of “Tseviim [Gazzells]” and the king of “Bela [Swallow]”, she is “Tso'ar [Tiny]”, and they arranged with them a battle in the valley of “Sidim [Fields]”, with “Kedarla'omer [Attack for sheaves]” the king of “Elam [Ancient]” and “Tidal [Breaker of the yoke]” the king of “Goiim [Nations]” and “Amraphel [Speaker of judgement]” the king of “Shinar [Country of two rivers]” and “Aryokh [Tall]” the king of “Elasar [El is noble]”, four kings with the five,...

Concordant Literal Version    And forth is faring the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (It is now Zoar). And arranging themselves are they for battle in the vale of the salt fields, with Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of nations, and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Ellasar--four kings with five.

New King James Version       And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations [Hebrew goyim], Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar-four kings against five.

Syndein/Thieme                     {The 5 Cities of the Valley (now under the Dead Sea) come out to meet them - Back up to date}

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 'made their tactical dispositions'/'joined battle' with them in the vale of Siddim.

{Battle of the Vale of Siddim - Large Military Campaign 2100 - 2000 B.C.}

With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar . . . four kings . . . {battling} with five. {Note: Abraham is on the flank rear of this battle. This part of the flank was NOT secured though the other flanks WERE! He could have been wiped out by the action to protect the flanks before the battle began. But even now God is protecting Abraham.}.

Third Millennium Bible            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, against Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and against Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar -- four kings against five.

Webster’s Bible Translation  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; 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.

Young's Literal Translation     And the king of Sodom goeth out, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar; and they set the battle in array with them in the valley of Siddim, with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goyim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with the five.

 

The gist of this verse:          The two coalitions of kings meet to war.


Genesis 14:8a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

yâtsâʾ (יָצָא) [pronounced yaw-TZAWH]

to go [come] out, to go [come] forth; to rise; to flow, to gush up [out]

3rd person masculine plural, Qal imperfect

Strong's #3318 BDB #422

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

Çedôm (סְדֹם) [pronounced sehd-OHM]

burning; which is transliterated Sodom

masculine singular locative noun

Strong’s #5467 BDB #690

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

ʿĂămôrâh (עֲמֹרָה) [pronounced ģuhm-oh-RAW]

submersion; and is transliterated Gomorrah

feminine singular proper noun

Strong’s #6017 BDB #771


Translation: They went out —the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah,... These are the kings of the degenerate peoples, and this tells us that they are the aggressors here. They know that they will have to go to war against the 4 kings of the East, and so they prepared and they went out against them.


There are two things to note—these men know their own land and they expect the kings of the east to come from the east or from the north. This changes everything.


Furthermore, this war was inevitable. The 4 kings were not going to just walk on by Sodom and Gomorrah. So these kings of degenerate peoples did not have to go out as the aggressors; they could have waited in place anywhere that they chose.


Genesis 14:8b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

ʾAdemâh (אַדְמָה) [pronounced ahd-MAW]

 red earth; earthy; transliterated Admah

feminine singular, proper noun/location

Strong’s #126 BDB #10

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

Tsebôyiyim (צְבֹיִיִם) [pronounced tsehb-oh-ih-YIM]

gazelles; transliterated Zeboim, Zeboiim

plural proper noun/location

Strong’s #6636 BDB #840

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

Belaʿ (בֶּלַע) [pronounced BEH-lahģ]

a swallowing, a devouring; a consuming, destruction; transliterated Bela

masculine singular proper noun; location

Strong's #1105 BDB #118

hîyʾ (הִיא) [pronounced hee]

she, it; also used as a demonstrative pronoun: that, this (one)

3rd person feminine singular, personal pronoun; sometimes the verb is, is implied

Strong’s #1931 BDB #214

Tsôʿar (צֹּעַר) [pronounced TSOH-ģahr]

to be small, to be insignificant; transliterated Zoar

proper singular noun/location

Strong’s #6820 BDB #858


Translation: ...the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (which [is] Zoar]. These together make up the 5 cities of the valley, whose destruction was so complete that we cannot find these cities today (however, Josephus testified as to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in his historical writings).


Genesis 14:8c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

ʿârake (עָרך׃) [pronounced ģaw-RAK]

to arrange, to set in order, to place in a row, to place in a particular arrangement or order; to organize

3rd person masculine plural, Qal imperfect

Strong's #6186 BDB #789

This is the first occurrence of this word in Scripture.

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

with, at, near, by, among, directly from

preposition (which is identical to the sign of the direct object); with the 3rd person masculine plural suffix

Strong's #854 BDB #85

milechâmâh (מִלְחָמָה) [pronounced mil-khaw-MAW]

battle, war, fight, fighting; victory; fortune of war

feminine singular noun

Strong’s #4421 BDB #536

be (בְּ) [pronounced beh]

in, into, through; at, by, near, on, upon; with, before, against; by means of; among; within

a preposition of proximity

No Strong’s # BDB #88

ʿemeq (עֶמֶק) [pronounced ĢEH-mek]

valley, vale, lowland, deepening, depth

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #6010 BDB #770

Siddîym (שִׂדִּים) [pronounced sihd-DEEM]

field, plain; transliterated Siddim

proper masculine plural noun; location

Strong’s #7708 BDB #961


Translation: They organized [themselves] in battle [array] with their enemies [lit., with them]... The kings of the Sodom area either did not use their own land against their enemies or they were thrown off track when the kings of the East came from another direction.


In war, the kings of the Sodom area should have known how to use their own land against the kings of the East; they should have had scouts out there determining where the Eastern alliance was at all times; and they should have been in contact as often as possible with the kings of the Sodom area.


Gen 14:8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they arranged [themselves] [to] battle with them [the eastern alliance] in the Valley of Siddim


These are the rebels, those who formerly paid tribute to Chedorlaomer. They have rebelled against their conqueror and have now refused to pay him tribute. As I suggested earlier, this probably involved the killing of the soldiers who collected this tribute.


The Valley of Siddim is a valley near the southern portion of the Dead Sea, which would be a part of southern Judah. These kings were fully aware of what was to come. If they stopped paying tribute to Chedorlaomer and if they killed some of his tax collectors, then this would involve war, so the Coalition of the Valley of Siddim was organized into the, coalition made up of the 5 kings named above.


The 5 kings of the Siddim coalition arrange themselves in battle array against the eastern alliance in the Valley of Siddim. They have a lot of advantages here. They know that the eastern alliance is coming; they know the terrain, as this is where they live. However, quite frankly, they do not prepare themselves enough, and that will become obvious from the few details of the battle which are recorded.


Another great difference between these armies is, Chedorlaomer’s alliance is made up of professional soldiers. They have been trained and they do this for a living. They are so well-trained that they conquered several groups of people simply marching to the Valley of Siddim. On the other hand, the army of the western coalition lacks training and does nothing about its own natural advantages (they live in this area, so they would know the terrain). They are also fighting so that their people might be free, which is usually a great motivator (see 2Sam. 10:12, for instance). However, it is possible that this particular motivation was not as strong as it could have been. A man protecting his wife and little ones is far more motivated than the gay man who is looking to have sex with more males (and there is a significant gay population in these 4 city-states, as we will see in Gen. 18). It is human nature for the male to want to protect his own family; it is not human nature for a male to want to protect those he deems as sexual objects who will gratify his lusts.


Chedorlaomer’s eastern alliance is re-identified in v. 9:


Genesis 14:9a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

with, at, near, by, among, directly from

preposition (which is identical to the sign of the direct object)

Strong's #854 BDB #85

Kedorelâʿômer (כְּדָרְלָעֹמֶר) [pronounced ked-or-law-OH-mehr]

handful of sheaves; transliterated Chedorlaomer

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #3540 BDB #462

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

ʿÊylâm (עָילָם) [pronounced ģay-LAWM]

eternity; hidden; transliterated Elam

proper singular noun/location

Strong’s #5867 BDB #743

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

Tideʿâl (תִדְעָל) [pronounced tihd-ĢAWL]

great son; transliterated Tidal

masculine proper singular noun

Strong’s #8413 BDB #1062

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

gôwyîm (גּוֹיִם) [pronounced goh-YIHM]

Gentiles, [Gentile] nations, people, peoples, nations

masculine plural noun with the 2nd person masculine singular suffix

Strong’s #1471 BDB #156

This can be used as a proper noun.


Translation:...—Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, Tidal the king of Goiim,... Chedorlaomer takes the lead, because this people served him specifically.


This tells us that, 14 years ago, Chedorlaomer decided to invade the Sodom area and to collect tribute from them. However, since then rather than be in competition with the kings of his area to collect this tribute, these kings decided to join together. The idea is, they had such a powerful army that they could conquer a city at a time, set up a taxing office, and then continue to do this in the west, and set up a steady income stream for themselves.


Genesis 14:9b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʾAmerâphel (אַמְרָפֶל) [pronounced am-raw-FEL]

sayer of darkness: fall of the sayer and is transliterated Amraphel

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #569 BDB #57

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

This is the first occurrence of this word in Scripture.

Shineʿâr (שִנְעָר) [pronounced shine-GAWR]

country of two rivers; land of Babylon; transliterated Shinar

proper singular noun location

Strong’s #8152 BDB #1042

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʾĂreyôwke (אֲרְיוֹ) [pronounced uhr-YOKE]

lion-like; and is transliterated Arioch

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #746 BDB #73

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

ʾEllâçâr (אֶלָּסָר) [pronounced el-law-SAWR]

 God is chastener; transliterated Ellasar

proper noun singular location

Strong’s #495 BDB #48


Translation: ...Amraphel the king of Shinar and Arioch the king of Ellasar... The order of the kings have changed, and possibly because Chedorlaomer would naturally take the lead going against the area that he had conquered 14 years earlier.


Genesis 14:9c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

ʾarebâʿâh (אַרְבַּעָה) [pronounced ahre-baw-ĢAW]

four

feminine singular noun; numeral

Strong’s #702 BDB #916

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine plural noun

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

with, at, near, by, among, directly from

preposition (which is identical to the sign of the direct object)

Strong's #854 BDB #85

This preposition can also refer to being in one’s possession or in one’s keeping. This can also mean to proceed from someone. The key to this word is close association with, close proximity to beyond simple geographical proximity.

chămishshâh (חֲמִשָּה) [pronounced khuh-mish-SHAW]

five

feminine singular numeral with the definite article

Strong’s #2568 BDB #331


Translation:...—four kings against [lit., with, near] the five. For that era, this was, for all intents and purposes, a world war.


Gen 14:9 ...with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five.


The 5 kings of the Siddim Coalition versus the 4 kings of the Eastern Alliance. These 5 kings and their people want independence, but their souls are corrupted, as we will find out later in Gen. 18. Therefore, they are willing to fight for independence, but they are not willing to die for it. They do not want to give any more of their produce and production to the eastern kings; but, on the other hand, they do not fully appreciate all that this rebellion entails.


The 4 kings from the east had a very well-trained army which prevailed over the Siddim coalition. The latter wanted to keep more of their own produce, but they were ill-equipped to actually protect their own land. In fact, this coalition from the Salt Sea was apparently a lousy army. They knew the eastern alliance was coming. They had a year to prepare. They would be fighting this eastern alliance on their own turf, so the coalition had that great advantage as well. As we will see, this defending army is pathetic! They are poorly trained, they are poorly motivated, and they do not know their own geography. The eastern alliance will cause them to run in retreat.


You may think, no matter what, these people are still fighting for their own land; isn’t that a greater motivation than Chedorlaomer and his alliance? Chedorlaomer and his army were motivated by self-righteousness. They had an agreement, a contract, a suzerain-vassal treaty, which gave the vassal states some modicum of protection in exchange for a reasonable amount of taxation. If you don’t think an army can be motivated by self-righteousness, just imagine what would happen if we did not repay the Chinese the huge debt that we owe them. It would be very easy for them to motivate their soldiers to abhor the United States for reneging on our obligations to them.


Application: An early secular lesson to come out of the Bible is, if you want to protect your country, then you need a well-motivated, well-armed and well-trained military. We will find out that this is a terribly degenerate people, and degenerates cannot be easily organized into an effective defending army.


——————————


And a Valley of Siddim [there are] pits—pits of bitumen. And so flee a king of Sodom and Gomorrah. And so they fall there-ward and the remaining ones mountain-ward they have fled.

Genesis

14:10

[There were] pits—pits of bitumen— [in] the Valley of Siddim. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah retreated, [many in their armies] fell there [into these pits]; and those who remained fled to the mountains.

There were pits of bitumen all over the Valley of Siddim. Therefore, when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah retreated, many from their armies fell into these pits; and those who did not, fled to the mountains.


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                And the valley of the gardens had many pits filled with bitumen: [JERUSALEM. The valley of the gardens was full of pits of bitumen:] and the kings of Sedom and Amora fled away, and fell there; and they who were left fled to the mountains.

Latin Vulgate                          Now the woodland vale had many pits of slime. And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha turned their backs, and were overthrown there: and they that remained, fled to the mountain.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And a Valley of Siddim [there are] pits—pits of bitumen. And so flee a king of Sodom and Gomorrah. And so they fall there-ward and the remaining ones mountain-ward they have fled.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And the valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and those who survived fled to the mountain.

Septuagint (Greek)                Now the Salt Valley consists of slime pits. And the king of Sodom fled and the king of Gomorrah, and they fell in there: and they that were left fled to the mountain country.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Contemporary English V.       At Siddim Valley, the armies of the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela fought the armies of King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Babylonia, and King Arioch of Ellasar. The valley was full of tar pits, and when the troops from Sodom and Gomorrah started running away, some of them fell into the pits. Others escaped to the hill country. Vv. 8–9 are included for context.

Easy English                          Now there were very many big holes in the valley called Siddim. From those holes, people got bitumen (a black stuff that people used like cement). The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah ran away. Some men fell into the big holes. The rest ran away to the mountains.

Easy-to-Read Version            There were very many holes filled with tar [Or, "pitch," a thick oil that must be heated to become liquid.] in the Valley of Siddim. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah {and their armies} ran away. Many of the soldiers fell into those holes. But the others ran away to the mountains.

Good News Bible (TEV)         The valley was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah tried to run away from the battle, they fell into the pits; but the other three kings escaped to the mountains.

New Century Version             There were many tar pits in the Valley of Siddim. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and their armies ran away, some of the soldiers fell into the tar pits, but the others ran away to the mountains.

New Life Bible                        Now the Siddim valley was full of deep holes with tar. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah turned and ran, and some fell there. But the others ran away into the hill country.

New Living Translation           As it happened, the valley of the Dead Sea was filled with tar pits. And as the army of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into the tar pits, while the rest escaped into the mountains.

The Voice                               The valley of Siddim held many dangers; it was full of tar pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled the battle, some of their soldiers fell into the pits and were killed. The rest managed to make it out alive to the hill country.


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          Now, there were slime pits in the Salt Valley, and the kings of Sodom and GomorRah fled and fell into them, as the rest retreated into the mountains.

Christian Community Bible     Now there were many bitumen pits in the valley of Siddim, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them and the rest took refuge in the mountains.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       The Valley of the Forests contained many pools of asphalt, and among these the Kings of Sodom and Gomorrha were overcome and routed; those who survived took refuge in the hill country.

NIRV                                      The Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah ran away from the battle. Some of their men fell into the pits. The rest escaped to the hills.

New Jerusalem Bible             Now there were many bitumen wells in the Valley of Siddim, and in their flight the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fell into them, while the rest fled into the hills.


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Ancient Roots Translinear      The vale of the Dead-Sea had wells, wells of bitumen. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell there. The remaining fled to the mountain.

The Expanded Bible              There were many ·tar [bitumen] pits in the Valley of Siddim. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and their armies ·ran away [fled], some of the soldiers fell into the tar pits, but the others ·ran away [fled] to the mountains.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 The valley of Siddim, however, was full of petroleum pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah took flight and fell there; and the Hillmen pursued,...

NET Bible®                             Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits [Heb "Now the Valley of Siddim [was] pits, pits of tar." This parenthetical disjunctive clause emphasizes the abundance of tar pits in the area through repetition of the noun "pits."] [The word for "tar" (or "bitumen") occurs earlier in the story of the building of the tower in Babylon (see Gen 11:3).]. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them [Or “they were defeated there.” After a verb of motion the Hebrew particle שָם (sham) with the directional heh (שָמָּה, shammah) can mean “into it, therein” (BDB 1027 s.v. שָם).], but some survivors [Heb "the rest."] fled to the hills [The reference to the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah must mean the kings along with their armies. Most of them were defeated in the valley, but some of them escaped to the hills.].


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Complete Jewish Bible           Now the Siddim Valley was full of clay pits; and when the kings of S'dom and 'Amora fled, some fell into them; while the rest fled to the hills.

exeGeses companion Bible   And the valley of Siddim is wells

- wells of bitumin;

and the sovereigns of Sedom and Amorah flee

and fall there;

and they who survive flee to the mountain:...

Judaica Press Complete T.    Now the valley of Siddim was composed of many clay pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and they fell there, and the survivors fled to a mountain.

Kaplan Translation                 Siddim Valley was full of tar pits [Even now, asphalt is found in the Dead Sea region. The Romans referred to it as Mer Asphaltitis, the Asphalt Sea, and it was known to cast up lumps of asphalt (Josephus, Wars 4:8:4; Tacitus, Histories 5:6).], and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah tried to flee, they fell into them. The others fled to the mountains [That is, to the mountains on the west of the Dead Sea, toward Hebron, where Abram was living.].

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the Melech Sodom and Amora (Gomorrah) they fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

The Amplified Bible                Now the Valley of Siddim was full of slime or bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell (were overthrown) there and the remainder [of the kings] fled to the mountain.

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ Valley the~ “Sidim [Fields]” Well~ s Well~ s Tar and~ they(m)~ will~ Flee King “Sedom [Secret]” and~ “Ghamorah [Rebellion]” and~ they(m)~ will~ Fall There~ unto and~ the~ be~ Remain~ ing(mp) Hill~ unto they~ did~ Flee

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...and the valley of “Sidim [Fields]” was wells of tar and the king of “Sedom [Secret]” and “Ghamorah [Rebellion]” fled and they fell unto there and the remaining ones fled unto the hill,...

Concordant Literal Version    And the vale of salt fields had wells, asphalt wells. And fleeing are the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah, and falling are they there, and the remainder flee toward the mountain.

English Standard Version      Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country.

The Geneva Bible                  And the vale of Siddim [was full of] slimepits [And afterward was overwhelmed with water, and so was called the salt sea. ]; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.

Green’s Literal Translation    And the valley of Siddim was pitted with asphalt pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there. And they that remained fled to the mountain.

NASB                                     Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them [Lit there]. But those who survived fled to the hill country.

New King James Version       Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains.

Syndein/Thieme                     And the vale of Siddim was full of pits of asphalt {oil on ground} and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and {their armies} fell there. And they {including the kings} that remained fled to the mountain.

Webster’s Bible Translation  And the vale of Siddim [was full of] slime-pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there: and they that remained fled to the mountain.

World English Bible                Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and those who remained fled to the mountain.

Young's Literal Translation     And the valley of Siddim is full of bitumen-pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah flee, and fall there, and those left have fled to the mountain.

 

The gist of this verse:          There are tar pits in this valley, and the armies of the west fall into them; and others flee to the hill country.


Genesis 14:10a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʿemeq (עֶמֶק) [pronounced ĢEH-mek]

valley, vale, lowland, deepening, depth

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #6010 BDB #770

Siddîym (שִׂדִּים) [pronounced sihd-DEEM]

field, plain; transliterated Siddim

proper masculine plural noun; location

Strong’s #7708 BDB #961

beʾêr (בְּאֵר) [pronounced be-AIR]

well, pit; spring

feminine plural noun

Strong’s #875 BDB #91

beʾêr (בְּאֵר) [pronounced be-AIR]

well, pit; spring

feminine plural construct

Strong’s #875 BDB #91

chêmâr (חֵמָר) [pronounced khay-MAWR]

bitumen, asphalt, oil-based mortar; pitch; slime

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #2564 BDB #330


Translation: [There were] pits—pits of bitumen— [in] the Valley of Siddim. There are many words missing from this verse. The idea is, the retreat occurs suddenly and desperately. No one spends time with perfect exact grammar. They just run.


In this valley, there are many pits of hot oil.


This is the only mention in the Bible of the Valley of Siddim, which is likely a lower area along the shores of the Dead Sea, possibly now under water. The four kings had just finished a long war which involved at least 7 battles and they were certainly exhausted and their supplies for war depleted. However, it does not appear that the five kings know any of this; and that they do not have intelligence out there determining where the eastern alliance was moving. This lack of intelligence would prove to be the undoing of the western coalition.


Genesis 14:10b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

nûwç (נוּס) [pronounced noose]

to flee, to flee from, to escape, to depart, to retreat, to hasten quickly [away]

3rd person masculine plural, Qal imperfect

Strong's #5127 BDB #630

This is the first occurrence of this word in Scripture.

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

Çedôm (סְדֹם) [pronounced sehd-OHM]

burning; which is transliterated Sodom

masculine singular locative noun

Strong’s #5467 BDB #690

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʿĂămôrâh (עֲמֹרָה) [pronounced ģuhm-oh-RAW]

submersion; and is transliterated Gomorrah

feminine singular proper noun

Strong’s #6017 BDB #771


Translation: When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah retreated,... The kings from the east had the more professional army, so they pressed on, and those of Sodom and Gomorrah began to retreat.


Genesis 14:10c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

nâphal (נָפַל) [pronounced naw-FAHL]

to fall, to lie, to die a violent death, to be brought down, to settle, to sleep deeply; to desert

3rd person masculine plural, Qal imperfect

Strong's #5307 BDB #656

shâm (שָם) [pronounced shawm]

there; at that time, then; therein, in that thing

adverb with the directional hê

Strong’s #8033 BDB #1027

This simply means there; hê acts almost like a demonstrative.


Translation:...[many in their armies] fell there [into these pits];... This was a terrible miscalculation on the part of those involved with strategy and tactics in the western coalition. They should have used these pits to their own advantage, and yet, they are caught up in them themselves. We know that only a portion of their army fell prey to this, as another group, named below, escape toward the mountains.


Genesis 14:10d

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

shâʾar (שָאַר) [pronounced shaw-AHR]

the ones remaining, those remaining, the leftovers, the survivors, the part remaining, the thing remaining, that which remains

masculine plural, Niphal participle

Strong’s #7604 BDB #983

har (הַר) [pronounced har]

hill; mountain, mount; hill-country, a mountainous area, mountain region

masculine singular noun with the directional hê

Strong’s #2022 (and #2042) BDB #249

The directional hê is the âh (הַ] ending to a noun, usually found after a verb of motion. This is called the directive hê or the he locale, which often indicates direction and puts somewhat of an adverbial spin on the noun. Essentially, it answers the question where? The pronunciation of the word does not change. The directional hê indicates the direction in which something moves. It is often used with the noun heaven and the most literal rendering in the English would be heavenward. We can also indicate the existence of the hê directional by supplying the prepositions to or toward.

nûwç (נוּס) [pronounced noose]

to flee, to flee from, to escape, to depart, to hasten quickly [away]

3rd person masculine plural, Qal perfect

Strong's #5127 BDB #630


Translation: ...and those who remained fled to the mountains. Those who did not fall into the pits escaped to the mountains.


The historicity of this chapter has been questioned because (1) many readers saw Abram as a nomad with perhaps a half a dozen or so slaves; (2) the extensive campaign herein discussed sounded too advanced for the preconceived notions of some scholars; and, (3) some of the peoples mentioned have been lost in history. Archeologists, forever coming to our rescue in matters historical have unearth several cities from this time period, which could be the very cities named; which cities showed signs of being heavily fortified during Abram's time.


Gen 14:10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country.


There are a plethora of oil and tar pits around the Salt Sea. Most of the oil which pollutes the earth today seeps naturally to the surface of the ground and into oceans. It is my understanding that, about two-thirds of oil pollution today occurs naturally. Mother nature often takes care of it from there (various chemicals, enzymes and bacteria apparently will break the oil down, and work much more quickly when dealing with crude oil than with refined oil).


This Canaanite coalition retreats, and some of them are so disoriented, that they fall into tar pits. This is their own land; they should have known their own land and how to use it to their own advantage. They had a year to prepare and they were ill-prepared for the better trained and more powerful eastern alliance army. Therefore, the Western Coalition forces were defeated, and they retreated north, into the hills, some of them falling into tar pits as they ran.


This is why we know this army is poorly trained. They are on their own land; and they should have known their own land and they should have used it to their own advantage. Instead, they are so poorly organized that, even in retreat, some of them fall into tar pits, which they ought to have known were there.


We also know that they fled to the north for two reasons: (1) it is said that they fled into the hill country, and there is hill country along the west bank of the Salt Sea; and (2) by the direction that the eastern army came from. They had come down along the eastern side of the Salt Sea, gone down into the desert area when Moses would someday wander, and then turned around at Kadesh, attacking the western coalition from the southwest.


We also learn about the principle of surprise in battle. Since the Eastern Alliance is coming from the east, they would likely attack from the east, if they came around the eastern side of the Salt Sea; of they would attack from the north, if they came down the western side of the Salt Sea. This was probably quite a surprise that they came at the Western Coalition from the southwest.


The Eastern Alliance had surprise, motivation and superior training. The Western Coalition did not develop a superior military force, they were not motivated by much else than selfishness, and they allowed themselves to be trapped so that the oil pits were behind them, which meant that, when they retreated, it was into an area filled with oil pits.


Tactically, what appears to have happened is, the amateur soldiers lined themselves up on the southwestern portion of the valley, so that the enemy, coming either from the east or the north would be trapped in this valley of tar pits. However, the kings of the east came around from the other direction, so that the Sodomites and their allies now had the Valley of Siddim directly behind them, so that when they began to be beat, they had to retreat into this valley of tar pits. It was a brilliant move by the kings of the east, who, rather than walk into a trap, turned the terrain of the Sodom and Gomorrah area against the Sodomite army.


As we have been studying, Chedorlaomer, a king of Elam in the east had control over several city-states at the southern tip of the Salt Sea. They rebelled against paying him tribute, so Chedorlaomer brought in an alliance to put down this rebellion.


Gen 14:1–10 In the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness. Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh) and defeated all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who were dwelling in Hazazon-tamar. Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out, and they arranged [themselves] [to] battle with them [the eastern alliance] in the Valley of Siddim with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar, four kings against five. Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country.


This Eastern Alliance did not simply come out west to put down this rebellion. They defeated several other groups of people along the way, traveling all the way to Kadesh, In what would be southern Judah, and then coming back on this rebellion from a direction that they did not expect. The rebels apparently were not expecting an attack from the southwest. Furthermore, they were not a very well-disciplined army, and they did not even know their own territory. It is even likely that they functioned without an intelligence unit. As a result, they piddled away every advantage that they had, and were soundly defeated by the Eastern Alliance.


——————————


And so they take all substance of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food. And so they go.

Genesis

14:11

They took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as all their food; and they departed.

The kings of the east took anything of value out of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as all of their food; and they departed.


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                And they took all the property of Sedom and Amora, and all their food, and went.

Latin Vulgate                          And they took all the substance of the Sodomites, and Gomorrhites, and all their victuals, and went their way.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so they take all substance of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food. And so they go.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And the raiders took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way.

Septuagint (Greek)                And they took all the cavalry of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and departed.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Common English Bible           They took everything from Sodom and Gomorrah, including its food supplies, and left.

Contemporary English V.       Their enemies took everything of value from Sodom and Gomorrah, including their food supplies.

Easy English                          Their enemies took all the goods from the cities called Sodom and Gomorrah. And they took all the people's food. Then the enemies went.

Easy-to-Read Version            So their enemies took all the things that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah owned. They took all their food and clothing and left.

Good News Bible (TEV)         The four kings took everything in Sodom and Gomorrah, including the food, and went away.

New Berkeley Version           The victors took all the wealth and all the provisions of Sodom and Gomorrah and moved on;...

New Century Version             Now Kedorlaomer and his armies took everything the people of Sodom and Gomorrah owned, including their food.

New Life Bible                        Then those who won the war took all that belonged to Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and left.

New Living Translation           The victorious invaders then plundered Sodom and Gomorrah and headed for home, taking with them all the spoils of war and the food supplies.

The Voice                               As a result, Chedorlaomer and his allies captured all of the spoils of battle from the retreating forces of Sodom and Gomorrah-their provisions, weapons, and other supplies. Then they left.


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          So, they took all the horses and food in Sodom and GomorRah, then left.

Beck’s American Translation The enemy took all the livestock and all the food in Sodom and Gomorrah and left.

Christian Community Bible     The enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, all their provisions and went off.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       All the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrha, and all their supply of food, was carried off by the victors as they went;...

NIRV                                      The four kings took all of the things that belonged to Sodom and Gomorrah. They also took all of their food. Then they went away.

New Jerusalem Bible             The conquerors seized all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and made off.

Revised English Bible            The four kings captured all the flocks and herds of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions, and withdrew, carrying off Abram’s nephew, Lot, who was living in Sodom, and his flocks and herds. V. 12 is included for context.


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Ancient Roots Translinear      They went and took all the goods and all the food from Sodom and Gomorrah.

Bible in Basic English             And the four kings took all the goods and food from Sodom and Gomorrah and went on their way.

The Expanded Bible              Now Kedorlaomer and his armies took everything the people of Sodom and Gomorrah owned, including their food, and left.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 ...and seized all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the whole of their stores and marched off.

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

NET Bible®                             The four victorious kings [Heb "they"; the referent (the four victorious kings, see v. 9) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.] took all the possessions and food of Sodom and Gomorrah and left.

NIV, ©2011                             The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away.


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Complete Jewish Bible           The victors took all the possessions of S'dom and 'Amora and all their food supply; then they left.

exeGeses companion Bible   ...and they take all the acquisitions

and all the food of Sedom and Amorah

and go their way:...

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               [The invaders] seized all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions, and went their way.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And they took all the possessions of Sodom and Amora (Gomorrah), and all their ochel, and went their way.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

The Amplified Bible                [The victors] took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah and all the supply of provisions and departed.

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ they(m)~ will~ Take At All Goods “Sedom [Secret]” and~ “Ghamorah [Rebellion]” and~ At All Foodstuff~ them(m) and~ they(m)~ will~ Walk

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...and they took all of the goods of “Sedom [Secret]” and “Ghamorah [Rebellion]” and all of their foodstuff and they walked,...

Darby Translation                  And they took all the property of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and departed.

English Standard Version      So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way.

Green’s Literal Translation    And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went away.

NASB                                     Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed.

Syndein/Thieme                     And they {Chedorlaomer's group of armies} took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food and went their way.

World English Bible                They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.

Young's Literal Translation     And they take the whole substance of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the whole of their food, and go away.

 

The gist of this verse:          The eastern invaders took all of the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah, including their foodstuffs.


Genesis 14:11a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

lâqach (לָקַח) [pronounced law-KAHKH]

to take, to take away, to take in marriage; to seize

3rd person masculine plural, Qal imperfect

Strong’s #3947 BDB #542

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

kôl (כֹּל) [pronounced kohl]

every, each, all of, all; any of, any

masculine singular construct not followed by a definite article

Strong’s #3605 BDB #481

rekûwsh (רְכוּש) [pronounced rehk-OOSH]

that which is acquired; substance, wealth; [moveable, transportable] property, goods; possessions; livestock

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #7399 BDB #940

Çedôm (סְדֹם) [pronounced sehd-OHM]

burning; which is transliterated Sodom

masculine singular locative noun

Strong’s #5467 BDB #690

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʿĂămôrâh (עֲמֹרָה) [pronounced ģuhm-oh-RAW]

submersion; and is transliterated Gomorrah

feminine singular proper noun

Strong’s #6017 BDB #771


Translation: They took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah,... We are referring here back to the kings of the east, who came in and took all of the substance of Sodom and Gomorrah. Before, they did not do this, as they wanted the people of Sodom and Gomorrah to continue to produce and pay tribute to them.


Genesis 14:11b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

kôl (כֹּל) [pronounced kohl]

every, each, all of, all; any of, any

masculine singular construct not followed by a definite article

Strong’s #3605 BDB #481

ʾôkel (אֹכֶל) [pronounced OH-kehl]

food, grain, meal; prey, meat; provisions

masculine singular noun with the 3rd person masculine plural suffix

Strong’s #400 BDB #38


Translation: ...as well as all their food;... This time, they took everything. They left nothing behind.


Genesis 14:11c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

hâlake (הָלַךְ) [pronounced haw-LAHKe]

to go, to come, to depart, to walk; to advance

3rd person masculine plural, Qal imperfect; pausal form

Strong’s #1980 (and #3212) BDB #229


Translation: ...and they departed. They took all of these things and departed.


Gen 14:11 So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way.


Sodom and Gomorrah are near the Salt Sea, in the valley, at a time when this was a much more beautiful country. Recall that Lot looked over this area and told Abram, “I’ll go in this direction.” (as Abram gave him first pick).


In war, you get all that the other country has. This is practiced by almost every nation in human history, apart from the United States in the 20th century (and in some previous wars as well). This ancient alliance from the east collected the things they liked along with the people, who would become their wives and slaves.


It is worth noting that, prior to this, Chedorlaomer did not bleed these Canaanites dry. Even though they were paying tribute to him, it was not so oppressive as to keep them from prospering on their own. Over the years, these Canaanites had built up enough personal possessions as to make this war very profitable for the Eastern Alliance.


The people in the Siddim Valley had a choice. They could have continued to serve Chedorlaomer, which meant that a percentage of their wealth was sent off to him. In return for this, he did not attack them. However, other city-states in that area did not attack them either, because that would have brought the wrath of Chedorlaomer upon them. This arrangement gave them some modicum of safety and allowed them to build up their own personal wealth as well. My point is, this was not a terrible arrangement for these people who lived around the Salt Sea. They had not been enslaved nor were they bled dry by Chedorlaomer. This verse tells us that Chedorlaomer’s Eastern Alliance took all of the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and v. 16 is going to tell us that there was a lot of stuff taken here (this is hidden in the verb tenses in v. 16).


Along with their poorly trained army, the Siddim coalition had a failure of imagination. They did not think this through. They did not seem to realize the consequences of their actions, if they lost this war. They did not even seem to be prepared for being attacked from the southwest.


Being a protectorate is not a horrible thing. The British Empire has ruled over India, Palestine, South Africa, Rhodesia, Burma, Nigeria, Kenya, Australia, etc. The British brought law and order to these areas, and most of these countries prospered greatly under British rule. Great Britain also brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to these areas, so that there are millions in heaven today from these nations because of Great Britain. Furthermore, it would be hard to argue that South Africa, Rhodesia, Burma, Nigeria, Egypt, the Sudan, Uganda and Kenya are better off today than they were under British imperialism. The idea that being ruled by someone with the same skin color is somehow greater freedom is preposterous.


As a side note, there are two lies which are perpetrated throughout the world today: (1) America is an imperialistic nation and (2) imperialism is bad. Great Britain was an imperialist empire. They were a client nation to God, and, therefore, God allowed them to conquer huge portions of the world. When they conquered an area, they brought law and order (divine establishment) and the gospel to that area. Great Britain is a tiny spec of a nation and under its imperial power was a huge portion of the world. To look at Great Britain and then to look at the massive British Empire is an awesome thing.


As an example, Rhodesian came under British control in 1890. Although Christianity had been introduced to this country in the 1500's, there was very little positive volition under the 1850's, when a Scottish missionary Robert Moffat set up a mission there. Great gold and mineral discoveries in this area brought Rhode’s British South African Company into what would be named Rhodesia. Although there were uprisings, there were also pockets of Christianity throughout. Although they were granted self-rule as a British colony in 1923, and many Rhodesians fought in WWII as British subjects, a rebellion among the people developed, and world politics was brought into the picture in the mid-1960's. Nations, including the United States, were convinced that life in Rhodesia was terrible for the Black man, and that it was wrong from a white minority to rule, and, many nations participated in various types of boycotts against Rhodesia. I recall seeing propaganda favoring such boycotts at a church I cleaned during that era. Eventually this country won its independence from Great Britain. However, even the liberal Wikipedia describes the eras which followed as Independence and Early Decline (1980–1999) and then Deep Decline (1999-2008). Dictator Robert Mugabe, who was elected, has ruled for about 3 decades, whose rule includes a legacy of rebellions and torture camps. Since 1990, life expectancy there has gone from 60 to 39. In retrospect, British rule was a far better thing for this land (now called Zimbabwe) than majority rule, which resulted in a far bloodier and more oppressive reign.


The idea that America is some kind of an imperialist nation defies logic. The British empire was an imperialistic empire; the Eastern Alliance that we are studying is an imperialistic empire. What the United States did after WWII was, take the small amount of territory that was carved out for us, and we guided these nations to independence or protected the independence of these nations (Japan, the Philippines, West Germany). Our involvement in Korea left South Korea as a free and independent ally. Communists took over the regions given to them, and turned these areas into communist nations, where a very small minority of a wealthy class rules over a permanent underclass of poor people. In North Korea, this year (2011), between 1–6 million peasants will starve without receiving aid because of some natural disasters which have occurred there. No one in their ruling class will starve; their soldiers will not starve; but the farmers and peasants will starve by the millions. The corresponding problem with the poor in the United States is they are too fat (one of the only nations in human history where this is true).


The propaganda which is sold today is, the United States is am imperialistic nation, which is pure poppycock. We do not go out and conquer other nations and them make them subservient to us. What is presented as imperialism today is, in this or that country, they might drink coke, or walk down the street and go into a McDonald’s or a Starbucks. The idea that this represents imperialism is a result of changing the meaning of the word imperialism and reapplying it. If a nation objects to such franchises within their country, they can vote with their feet and not to go to them. The spread of businesses from one country to another is not imperialism. Going to a McDonald’s in Thailand is no more imperialism than buying a Volkswagen in America.


Having a basic understanding of the British empire may help to explain why huge numbers of people in the American colonies were willing to continue under British rule before our own War for Independence. They were paying some tribute to Britain, but they were also prospering. They looked at the well-trained British soldiers and they thought about the army that the colonists might raise up, and recognized that the more professional and well-armed British army had most of the advantages. There were very good arguments for keeping things just as they were in the early 1700's.


So, let’s return to our passage: in the 13th year, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah attempted to throw off the rule of Chedorlaomer, and, in the 14th year, their coalition army was badly defeated.


Gen 14:11 So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way.


The Eastern Alliance found a great many possessions which belonged to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and they took them (which was, in part, how ancient warriors were paid).


A portion of this narrative is all about Abram and Lot. They were traveling about the land of Canaan, but they were unrelated to the peoples who lived here. You will recall that they split up and that Lot moved down south into the area of Sodom.


——————————


And so they take Lot and his substance ([Lot is] a son of a brother of Abram). And so they go and he dwelling in Sodom.

Genesis

14:12

They also took Lot (Abram’s brother’s son) and all of his wealth, and they departed ([Lot was] the one living in Sodom).

They also took Lot and all of his wealth and departed (Lot was Abram’s nephew and he lived in Sodom).


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                And they made captive Lot the son of Abram's brother, and his property, and went. And he had dwelt in Sedom.

Latin Vulgate                          And Lot also, the son of Abram's brother, who dwelt in Sodom, and his substance.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so they take Lot and his substance ([Lot is] a son of a brother of Abram). And so they go and he dwelling in Sodom.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And they carried away Lot, Abrams brothers son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

Septuagint (Greek)                And they also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, and his baggage, and departed, for he dwelt in Sodom.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Common English Bible           They also took Lot, Abram's nephew who lived in Sodom, and everything he owned, and took off.

Contemporary English V.       They also captured Abram's nephew Lot, who lived in Sodom. They took him and his possessions and then left.

Easy English                          They also took Lot, Abram's nephew, who lived in Sodom. And they took Lot's goods and they went away.

The Message                         They captured Lot, Abram's nephew who was living in Sodom at the time, taking everything he owned with them.

New Berkeley Version           ...they also captured Lot, Abram’s nephew, who lived in Sodom, his goods too, and de-camped.

New Living Translation           They also captured Lot-Abram's nephew who lived in Sodom-and carried off everything he owned.

The Voice                               But before they left they took Lot, the son of Abram's brother who lived in Sodom, prisoner along with all of his goods.


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          However, they also took Abram's nephew Lot (who lived in Sodom), along with all his possessions.

Christian Community Bible     They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, who lived in Sodom, and his possessions and went off.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       ...so, too, was Abram's nephew Lot, who dwelt at Sodom, with all the wealth that was his.

New American Bible              The victors seized all the possessions and food supplies of Sodom and Gomorrah and then went their way, taking with them Abram's nephew Lot, who had been living in Sodom, as well as his possessions. V. 11 is included for context.

NIRV                                      They carried away Lot, Abram's nephew, and the things he owned. Lot was living in Sodom at that time.

New Jerusalem Bible             They also took Lot (the nephew of Abram) and his possessions and made off; he had been living at Sodom.

Today’s NIV                          They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Bible in Basic English             And in addition they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who was living in Sodom, and all his goods.

The Expanded Bible              They took Lot, Abram's ·nephew [Lson of his brother] who was living in Sodom, and ·everything he owned [Lhis possessions/goods]. Then they left.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 They also took Lot, the nephew of Abram, and his chattels when they marched, for he resided in Sodom.

NET Bible®                             They also took Abram's nephew [Heb "Lot the son of his brother."] Lot and his possessions when [Heb "and."] they left, for Lot [Heb "he"; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity] was living in Sodom [This disjunctive clause is circumstantial/causal, explaining that Lot was captured because he was living in Sodom at the time.].

NIV, ©2011                             They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom.


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Complete Jewish Bible           But as they left, they took Lot, Avram's brother's son, and his possessions; since he was living in S'dom.

exeGeses companion Bible   ...and they take Lot, the son of the brother of Abram,

who settles in Sedom

with his acquisitions and go.

Kaplan Translation                 When they left, they [also] took Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions, since he had been living in Sodom.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ they(m)~ will~ Take At “Loth [Covering]” and~ At Goods~ him Son Brother~ of “Avram [Father raised]” and~ they(m)~ will~ Walk and~ He Settle~ ing(ms) in~ “Sedom [Secret]”

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...and they took “Loth [Covering]”, the son of the brother of “Avram [Father raised]”, and his goods and they walked and he settled in “Sedom [Secret]”,...

Concordant Literal Version    And taking are they Lot, Abram's brother's son, and all his goods, for he was dwelling in Sodom, and they are going.

Darby Translation                  And they took Lot and his property, Abram's brother's son, and departed. For he dwelt in Sodom.

English Standard Version      They also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.

The Geneva Bible                  And they took Lot [The godly are plagued many times with the wicked: therefore their company is dangerous.], Abrams brothers son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

Green’s Literal Translation    And they took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, and his goods, and left; and he was living in Sodom.

Syndein/Thieme                     And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son {nephew}, who lived in Sodom and his goods and departed. {Note: Lot had his eyes on the land and chose by sight not by the Lord. Lot is being disciplined by God in a very interesting way here. Lot is utterly helpless and hopeless right now. A picture of all mankind without fellowship with God (Lot was a believer but is currently in carnality).}

World English Bible                They took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

Young's Literal Translation     And they take Lot, Abram's brother's son (seeing he is dwelling in Sodom), and his substance, and go away.

 

The gist of this verse:          The kings of the east also take Lot and all that he owns as they leave.


Genesis 14:12a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

lâqach (לָקַח) [pronounced law-KAHKH]

to take, to take away, to take in marriage; to seize

3rd person masculine plural, Qal imperfect

Strong’s #3947 BDB #542

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

Lôwţ (לוֹט) [pronounced loht]

hidden; a covering, a veil; wrapped up; transliterated Lot

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #3876 BDB #532

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

rekûwsh (רְכוּש) [pronounced rehk-OOSH]

that which is acquired; substance, wealth; [moveable, transportable] property, goods; possessions; livestock

masculine singular noun with the 3rd person masculine singular suffix

Strong’s #7399 BDB #940


Translation: They also took Lot and all of his wealth... They took many of the people into slavery; Lot here is mentioned specifically. They take Lot and they take all that he owns.


Being related to Abram meant that Lot received a great deal of protection and prosperity by association. However, he chose to live close to Sodom to be considered one of the Sodomites. His choosing to change associations meannt that blessing by God in his life was changed. When associated with Abram, Lot was blessed; when associated with Sodom, he received their cursing. Furthermore, at one time, Lot had great wealth, and the four kings plundered this wealth and took Lot with them into slavery. Lot did lose his wealth, but it is not clear in Scripture when this all took place.


There are two things that we know at this point: for whatever reason, Lot is not included with the army which goes out to fight the kings of the east. How many people did not volunteer? How many did not feel it necessary to protect their homeland? Could this help to explain to us why there is no intelligence gathering taking place? Given the retreat of the western coalition army, it appears that the southern attack throws them off their game. Their own peculiar land, which they had hoped to use against the eastern armies, was used against them.


Genesis 14:12b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

bên (בֵּן) [pronounced bane]

son, descendant

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #1121 BDB #119

ʾâch (אָח) [pronounced awhk]

brother, half-brother; kinsman or close relative; one who resembles

masculine singular construct

Strong's #251 BDB #26

ʾAberâm (אַבְרָם) [pronounced abv-RAWM]

father of elevation, exalted father; and is transliterated Abram

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #87 BDB #4


Translation:...([Lot is] Abram’s brother’s son),... Two times, Lot will be explained in this verse. First he is said to be Abram’s nephew.


Genesis 14:12c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

hâlake (הָלַךְ) [pronounced haw-LAHKe]

to go, to come, to depart, to walk; to advance

3rd person masculine plural, Qal imperfect; pausal form

Strong’s #1980 (and #3212) BDB #229

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

hûwʾ (הוּא) [pronounced hoo]

he, it; himself as a demonstrative pronoun: that, this (one); same

3rd person masculine singular, personal pronoun; sometimes the verb to be, is implied

Strong’s #1931 BDB #214

yâshab (יָשַב) [pronounced yaw-SHAHBV]

are inhabiting, were staying, remaining, dwelling, sitting

Qal active participle

Strong's #3427 BDB #442

be (בְּ) [pronounced beh]

in, into, through; at, by, near, on, upon; with, before, against; by means of; among; within

a preposition of proximity

No Strong’s # BDB #88

Çedôm (סְדֹם) [pronounced sehd-OHM]

burning; which is transliterated Sodom

masculine singular locative noun

Strong’s #5467 BDB #690


Translation: ...and they departed ([Lot was] the one living in Sodom). Again, it says that the kings of the east and their armies departed, and it mentions that Lot is the one living in Sodom.


You will note that some of this seems out of place. That is to convey the confusion that reigned as the kings of the east took all of these people captive. Only Lot is mentioned, but it will be clear in the context that most of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were seized.


Gen 14:12 They [the eastern alliance] also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.


These people could have chosen to live as a protectorate, and they chose not to. Therefore, rather than keep them as a protectorate, the Eastern Alliance took these people as slaves, including Lot, Abram’s nephew.


Gen 14:11–12 So the enemy took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. They [the eastern alliance] also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who was dwelling in Sodom, and his possessions, and went their way.


Once the Sodom Coalition army was sent running, the Eastern Alliance went into Sodom and Gomorrah and took all of their possessions as booty and they took their people as slaves, including Lot, who was living there at the time.


You will recall that, when Abram and Lot separated, Lot had first choice of the area that he would take, and he went south, toward the big cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Obviously this was a temperate climate at that time with a beautiful landscape and lots of green.


My guess is, the Jordan River was higher, the Salt Sea was higher, and that it may have even, at one time, flowed into the Gulf of Aqeba. The more water that there is in an area, the more temperate the climate is, as water transmits cooler temperatures from below, but moving water does not change temperature very much. This portion of Genesis takes place 400 to 1300 years after the flood, so the Dead Sea is not dead yet but vibrant with life. It may have not been too long ago when water moved through the Salt Sea.


There is a fascinating interactive map at: http://deadseachange.webs.com/map.html If you press play, it will show the Dead Sea’s different water levels over the ages (from 3500 b.c. to today). Interestingly enough, based on the research done for this map, the level of the Dead Sea, at one time, was much higher than it is today. In fact, there shows to be a dramatic water level reduction over a period of 500 years, which takes us to the time of Abram and Lot. This suggests that, at one time, there was a lot more rain in the land of Canaan (Israel) and that the Salt Sea possibly drained into the Gulf of Aqeba, which would have made the Salt Sea a freshwater lake.


Being the dead end lake that it is (that is, throughout most of its history, water flows into the Dead Sea but not out), its salt levels have continued to increase over the centuries. The salts are carried by the Jordan River into the Dead Sea; the water evaporates, but the salts remain. This occurs over a long period of time, which continues to increase the salt level of this lake.


At one time, Lot and Abram had a thriving combined enterprise, which was so large, they had to separate from one another. Abram still has his organization, which could be as large as a 1000 employees, slaves and dependents. It is not clear if Lot has anything remaining at this point. When Lot was in close association with Abram, he received great blessing by association. However, since Lot is not a growing believer and since his blessing depended upon his association with Abram, it appears as though his riches have long since been dissipated.


——————————


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


Abram Deploys Against the Kings of the East


And so comes in the fugitive and so he makes known to Abram the Hebrew (and he [is] dwelling in oaks of Mamre the Amorite a brother of Eshcol and a brother of Aner—these [are] leaders of a covenant of Abram).

Genesis

14:13

An escaped man came in and he makes [this] known to Abram the Hebrew. [At this time] He [is] living near the Oaks of Mamre, the Amorite [who is] the brother of Eshcol and the brother of Aner—[in fact] these [men] are in league with Abram [lit., (are) possessors of a covenant of Abram].

A man who escaped the kings of the east came to Abram and made this information known to Abram the Hebrew. At this time, Abram was living near the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, who is the brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of these men being confederates with Abram.


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                And Og came, who had been spared from the giants that died in the deluge, and had ridden protected upon the top of the ark, and sustained with food by Noah; not being spared through high righteousness, but that the inhabitants of the world might see the power of the Lord, and say, Were there not giants who in the first times rebelled against the Lord of the world, and perished from the earth? But when these kings made war, behold, Og, who was with them, said in his heart, I will go and show Abram concerning Lot, who is led captive, that he may come and deliver him from the hands of the kings into whose hands he has been delivered. And he arose and came, upon the eve of the day of the Pascha, and found him making the unleavened cakes. Then showed he to Abram the Hebrew, who dwelt in the valleys of Mamre Amoraah, brother of Eshkol and brother of Aner, who were men of covenant with Abram.

Latin Vulgate                          And behold one, that had escaped, told Abram the Hebrew, who dwelt in the vale of Mambre the Amorrhite, the brother of Escol, and the brother of Aner: for these had made a league with Abram.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so comes in the fugitive and so he makes known to Abram the Hebrew (and he [is] dwelling in oaks of Mamre the Amorite a brother of Eshcol and a brother of Aner—these [are] leaders of a covenant of Abram).

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And there came one who escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew, who dwelt by the oak of Mature, which belonged to the Amorite, brother of Aner and brother of Eshcol, who were allies of Abram.

Septuagint (Greek)                And one of them that had been rescued came and told Abram the Hebrew; and he dwelt by the oak of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eschol, and the brother of Aner, who were confederates with Abram.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Common English Bible           When a survivor arrived, he told Abram the Hebrew, who lived near the oaks of the Amorite Mamre, who was the brother of Eshcol and Aner, Abram's treaty partners.

Contemporary English V.       At this time Abram the Hebrew was living near the oaks that belonged to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his brothers Eshcol and Aner were Abram's friends. Someone who had escaped from the battle told Abram...

Easy English                          Abram and Melchizedek, 14:13-24

Someone that escaped came to Abram the *Hebrew. And he told Abram about what had happened. Abram was living by some *oaks that belonged to Mamre the *Amorite. Mamre was Eshcol's and Aner's brother. All those brothers were Abram's friends.

Easy-to-Read Version            One of the men that was not captured went to Abram the Hebrew and told him what happened. Abram was camped near the trees of Mamre the Amorite. Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner had made an agreement to help each other [Literally, "Mamre … was a brother of Eshcol and a brother of Aner."]. And they had also signed an agreement to help Abram.

Good News Bible (TEV)         But a man escaped and reported all this to Abram, the Hebrew, who was living near the sacred trees belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his brothers Eshcol and Aner were Abram's allies.

New Berkeley Version           But one who had escaped, came to Abram the Hebrew and told him, for he was living by the terebinths of Mamre, the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and of Aner, who were allies of Abram. Abram had achieved enough prominence to form alliances with native chiefs and was glad to secure such friendship to protect his increasing livestock.

New Century Version             One of the men who was not captured went to Abram, the Hebrew, and told him what had happened. At that time Abram was camped near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite. Mamre was a brother of Eshcol and Aner, and they had all made an agreement to help Abram.

New Life Bible                        Then one who had run for his life came and told Abram the Hebrew. Abram was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and Aner, who were friends of Abram.

New Living Translation           But one of Lot's men escaped and reported everything to Abram the Hebrew, who was living near the oak grove belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his relatives, Eshcol and Aner, were Abram's allies.

The Voice                               Then one of the men who had escaped the battle went and found Abram, the Hebrew, who at that time was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite (brother of Eshcol and of Aner-some of Abram's allies). He told Abram what had happened.


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          Then one of those who had been rescued came and told Abram (the Hebrew) [what had happened], while he was living by the large tree [belonging to] MamRe. ([MamRe] was an Amorite, the brother of Eschol and Aunan (who were Abram's allies).

God’s Word                         Then a soldier who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew what had happened. He was living next to the oak trees belonging to Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner. (These men were Abram's allies.)

New Advent (Knox) Bible       And now word came, by one of those who had escaped, to the Hebrew chieftain Abram, where he lived in the valley of Mambre the Amorrhite, brother of Escol and Aner; all these were confederate with Abram.

New American Bible (R.E.)    A survivor came and brought the news to Abram the Hebrew ["Hebrew" was used by biblical writers for the pre-Israelite ancestors. Linguistically, it is an ethnic term; it may be built on the root Eber, who is the eponymous ancestor of the Israelites, that is, the one to whom they traced their name (10:21, 24-25; 11:14-17), or it may reflect the tradition that the ancestors came from beyond (eber) the Euphrates. It is used only by non-Israelites, or by Israelites speaking to foreigners.], who was camping at the oak of Mamre the Amorite, a kinsman of Eshcol and Aner; these were allies of Abram.

NIRV                                      One man escaped. He came and reported everything to Abram. Abram was a Hebrew. He was living near the large trees of Mamre the Amorite. Mamre was a brother of Eshcol and Aner. All of them helped Abram.

New Jerusalem Bible             A survivor came to tell Abram, and Aner the Hebrew, who was living at the Oak of the Amorite Mamre, the brother of Eshcol; these were allies of Abram.

Today’s NIV                          A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram.


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Ancient Roots Translinear      A refugee came and told Abram. The Hebrew resided by Mamre's oaks with the brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, masters by covenant with Abram from North-Jordan.

Bible in Basic English             And one who had got away from the fight came and gave word of it to Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the holy tree of Mamre, the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and Aner, who were friends of Abram.

The Expanded Bible              One of the men who was not captured went to Abram, the Hebrew, and told him what had happened. At that time Abram was camped near the ·great trees [Loaks; or terebinths] of Mamre the Amorite. Mamre was a brother of Eshcol and Aner, and they had all made an ·agreement to help [covenant/treaty with] Abram.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 A fugitive then came and reported to Abram, the Colonist, who had settled at the Oakwoods of Mamrah, the Amorite, the brother of Ashkol, and brother of Aner, who were confederate chiefs with Abram.

HCSB                                     One of the survivors came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was at the oaks belonging to Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and the brother of Aner. They were bound by a treaty with Abram.

NET Bible®                             A fugitive [Heb "the fugitive." The article carries a generic force or indicates that this fugitive is definite in the mind of the speaker.] came and told Abram the Hebrew [E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103) suggests that part of this chapter came from an outside source since it refers to Abram the Hebrew. That is not impossible, given that the narrator likely utilized traditions and genealogies that had been collected and transmitted over the years. The meaning of the word "Hebrew" has proved elusive. It may be related to the verb "to cross over," perhaps meaning "immigrant." Or it might be derived from the name of Abram's ancestor Eber (see Gen 11:14-16).]. Now Abram was living by the oaks [Or "terebinths."] of Mamre the Amorite, the brother [Or "a brother"; or "a relative"; or perhaps "an ally." ] of Eshcol and Aner. (All these were allied by treaty [Heb "possessors of a treaty with." Since it is likely that the qualifying statement refers to all three (Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner) the words "all these" have been supplied in the translation to make this clear.] with Abram.) [This parenthetical disjunctive clause explains how Abram came to be living in their territory, but it also explains why they must go to war with Abram.].

NIV, ©2011                             A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother [Or a relative; or an ally] of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram.


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Complete Jewish Bible           Someone who had escaped came and told Avram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Emori, brother of Eshkol and brother of 'Aner; all of them allies of Avram.

exeGeses companion Bible   And an escapee comes

and tells Abram the Hebrew;

and he tabernacles

in the mighty oak of Mamre the Emoriy,

the brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner

- masters of a covenant with Abram.

Kaplan Translation                 Those who escaped [Some have it in the singular, 'the refugee.] came and brought the news to Abram the Hebrew [See note on Genesis 10:21.], who was living undisturbed [See Hirsch] in the plains of Mamre the Amorite [One of the defeated nations. See Genesis 14:7.], brother of Eshkol and Aner. They were Abram's allies.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And there came one that had escaped, and told Avram HaIvri; for he dwelt in Elonei Mamre the Emori, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were Ba'alei Brit Avram.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

The Amplified Bible                Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew [one from the other side], who was living by the oaks or terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and of Aner-these were allies of Abram.

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ he~ will~ Come the~ Escaped.one and~ he~ will~ make~ Be.face.to.face to~ “Avram [Father raised]” the~ “Ever [Cross over]”~ of and~ He Dwell~ ing(ms) in~ Great.tree~ s “Mamre [Bitter place]” the~ “Emor [Sayer]”~ of Brother~ of “Eshkol [Cluster]” and~ Brother~ of “Aner [Answer]” and~ They(m) Master~ s Covenant “Avram [Father raised]”

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...and the escaped one came and he told to “Avram [Father raised]”, the one of “Ever [Cross over]” and he was dwelling in the great trees of “Mamre [Bitter place]” and the one of “Emor [Sayer]”, the brother of “Eshkol [Cluster]” and the brother of “Aner [Answer]” who were the masters of the covenant of “Avram [Father raised]”,...

Concordant Literal Version    And coming is one who was delivered, and he is telling Abram, the Hebrew. Now he is tabernacling among the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner. And they are possessors of a covenant with Abram.

A Conservative Version         And some man came who had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner. And these were allies with Abram.

New King James Version       Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre [Hebrew Alon Mamre] the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram.

Syndein/Thieme                     {Verses 13-14: Abram's 1st Victory - Mental Attitude}

And there came 'the fugitive'/ 'one that had escaped' {paliyt - a desperate man} and kept on being compelled to tell {nagad - Hiphil tense-no place else to go for help} all to Abram the Hebrew {'Ibriy - means 'one who crosses the river' - a picture of the responsibility of the people of God to witness to unbelievers}. For he dwelt in the plain/valley of Mamre {name means wealth or strength} the Amorite - brother of Eshcol, and the brother of Aner and these {Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre - see verse 24} were allied/confederate with Abram {means they had a treaty . . . and RBT says Abram had converted to believe in the Lord}. {Note: Hebrew means 'to cross over a river'. Abram crossed over a river and was given this name. He is not a Jew at this point, he is still a gentile until age 99. These three were wonderful friends. Later the Amorites would be synonymous with decadence, but not at this time.}.

Webster’s Bible Translation  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.

World English Bible                One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. Now he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were allies of Abram.

Young’s Updated LT             And one who is escaping comes and declares to Abram the Hebrew, and he is dwelling among the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner, and they are Abram’s allies.

 

The gist of this verse:          One man escapes and comes to Abram and tells him what happened. Abram has 3 high-ranking allies from this general area.


Genesis 14:13a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

bôwʾ (בּוֹא) [pronounced boh]

to come in, to come, to go in, to go, to enter, to advance

3rd person masculine singular, Qal imperfect

Strong’s #935 BDB #97

pâlîyţ (פָּלִיט) [pronounced paw-LEET]

escaped one, fugitive, refugee

masculine singular noun with the definite article

Strong’s #6412 BDB #812


Translation: An escaped man came in... In all of the confusion of the battle, at least one man escaped, and he came to Abram. Although we know nothing about this man, he is likely from the Sodom and Gomorrah area and he knows about Abram and he knows he ought to go to Abram with this information.


Genesis 14:13b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

nâgad (נָגַד) [pronounced naw-GAHD]

to make conspicuous, to make known, to expound, to explain, to declare, to inform, to confess, to make it pitifully obvious that

3rd person masculine singular, Hiphil imperfect

Strong's #5046 BDB #616

lâmed (לְ) [pronounced le]

to, for, towards, in regards to

directional/relational preposition

No Strong’s # BDB #510

ʾAberâm (אַבְרָם) [pronounced abv-RAWM]

father of elevation, exalted father; and is transliterated Abram

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #87 BDB #4

ʿIberîy (עִבְרִי) [pronounced ģibe-VREE]

one from beyond; transliterated Hebrew, Eberite

proper masculine singular gentilic/noun with the definite article

Strong’s #5680 BDB #720


Translation: ...and he makes [this] known to Abram the Hebrew. This man made all of this information known to Abram, as he knows Abram would be concerned about Lot and about what had happened.


Incidentally, this is the first time anyone is called a Hebrew in the Bible. The Hebrew word is ʿIberîy (עִבְרִי) [pronounced ģibe-VREE], which means one from beyond; and is transliterated Hebrew, Eberite. Strong’s #5680 BDB #720. This suggests that Abram had become fairly well-known at the time, and had been given this designation, which meant one from beyond.


Briefly, the name Hebrew is how other nations referred to the Israelites (Ex. 1:15 2:6).

The Word “Hebrew”

1.      In the Hebrew, the word Hebrew is ʿIberîy (עִבְרִי) [pronounced ģibe-VREE], which is poorly transliterated as Hebrew. This word, interestingly enough, is found most often in the books of Genesis, Exodus and 1Samuel. Apart from those books, we find it once in Deuteronomy, thrice in Jeremiah and once in Jonah. We first find this mentioned back in Gen. 14:13 in reference to Abraham, when we discussed it in more detail. Strong’s #5680 BDB #720. There are two suggested origins for the word Hebrew.

         a.      One possibility is that Abraham had an ancestor named Eber. In the Hebrew, that is ʿÊber (עֵבֶר) [pronounced ĢAYB-ver], which means, one from beyond, the other side, across, region on the other side; and is transliterated Eber, Heber, Hebrew, Eberite. Strong’s #5677 BDB #720. There appear to be times in the Bible when a person of a specific name actually has that name changed somewhat, to reflect information about that person.

         b.      The other possibility is that the name comes from the verb ʿâbar (עָבַר) [pronounced ģawb-VAHR], which means to pass over, to pass through, to pass, to go over. Strong’s #5674 BDB #716. The idea is that Abraham crossed over the Euphrates River to disassociate himself with his heathen roots.

2.      Today, we obviously use the names Israel, Israelite and Hebrew synonymously. However, historically, the name Hebrew was first applied to Abraham 500 years prior to the establishment of the nation Israel.

3.      Suggested hypothesis: Hebrew is a word used by Israel to designate themselves before foreigners (Ex. 2:6–7, 13 3:18 5:3) and it is a name used by non-Israelites to refer to the Israelites (1Sam. 4:6). In other words, this is a term which separates the Israelites from non-Israelites and is not generally used apart from making such a distinction.1 However, we find this word used in 1Sam. 13:7 which does not denote such a distinction.

4.      In Gen. 14, the chapter of the war of the kings, when the four kings took Lot as a prisoner (he was thought to be a Sodomite because his close proximity to these people), one escaped and came and told Abraham, the Hebrew what had happened. This narrative is probably written by (or recounted by) Abraham who is wandering the land. The man who told Abraham may have thought of him as a foreigner, inasmuch as he was unrelated to the war between the nine kings (Gen. 14:13).

5.      In Gen. 39:14, 17, the word is used in what appears to be a derogatory way. Joseph has resisted this woman of Potiphar's many times, so that she becomes frustrated and accuses him of rape.

6.      Joseph uses this word when describing himself while explaining his situation to the chief cupbearer in Gen. 40:15. Since there were only a bit more than a few dozen Jews in the world at that time, so that the terms Jew and Hebrew were not yet synonymous. The term Hebrew was applied to Joseph by his accuser (a term he no doubt heard prior to the accusation and during his sentencing because of her accusation), so Joseph applies it to himself. Here, in Egypt, it likely refers to those from Canaan or those from beyond the land of Egypt. When the chief cupbearer remembers, he uses this term (Gen. 41:12).

7.      Hebrew is used in connection with racial prejudice in Gen. 43:32. Joseph ate alone, his brothers ate at another table, and the Egyptians ate at another table because Egyptians did not eat with Hebrews. Even at that time, they were seen as outsiders.

8.      This name had become fully associated with Jews during the period of slavery to the Egyptians between Genesis and Exodus (Ex. 1:15, 16, 19 2:6, 7, 11, 13).

9.      God uses this term to apply to the Jews in Ex. 3:18 Deut. 15:12 (see also Ex. 5:3 7:16 9:1, 13 10:3 21:2). Note that these uses were always applied to the Jew when they were in a foreign land (in Gen. 14:13, they were still considered sojourners in a foreign land, even though they were in the land of Canaan).

10.    It is significant that this word is not found in Joshua, Judges, Ruth Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, or Isaiah.

11.    The Jews became fully associated with the term Hebrew by the time of Samuel; that is, the terms were interchangeable (1Sam. 4:6, 9 13:19 14:11, 21 29:3 Jer. 34:9, 14)

12.    The Jews applied this term to themselves (1Sam. 13:3, 7)

13.    The Hebrews were also closely associated in the minds of foreigners with Yahweh Elohim (Jonah 1:9)

1 This was suggested by Gnana Robinson, 1 & 2 Samuel; Let Us Be Like the Nations; International Theological Commentary; Eerdmans’s Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, ©1993; p. 32. This commentary is not known for having accurate information.

Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


Genesis 14:13c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

hûwʾ (הוּא) [pronounced hoo]

he, it; himself as a demonstrative pronoun: that, this (one); same

3rd person masculine singular, personal pronoun; sometimes the verb to be, is implied

Strong’s #1931 BDB #214

shâkan (שָכַן) [pronounced shaw-KAHN]

dwelling, residing, living; settling [in, down]; encamping; pitching one’s tent

Qal active participle

Strong’s #7931 BDB #1014

be (בְּ) [pronounced beh]

in, into, through; at, by, near, on, upon; with, before, against; by means of; among; within

a preposition of proximity

No Strong’s # BDB #88

ʾêlôwn (אֵלוֹן) [pronounced AY-lohn]

oak, terebinth, tall tree, a strong and hardy tree; plain; hill?

masculine plural construct

Strong’s #436 BDB #18

My BDB identifies this as a feminine singular noun, but it is apparently a masculine singular noun (BDB in e-sword and Gesenius).

Mamerêʾ (מַמְרֵא) [pronounced mahm-RAY]

strength; fatness; transliterated Mamre

proper singular noun/location

Strong’s #4471 BDB #577

ʾĔmôrîy (אֱמֹרִי) [pronounced eh-moh-REE]

mountaineer (possibly); and is transliterated Amorite

gentilic adjective; with the definite article

Strong’s #567 BDB #57

ʾâch (אָח) [pronounced awhk]

brother, half-brother; kinsman or close relative; one who resembles

masculine singular construct

Strong's #251 BDB #26

ʾEshekôl (אֶשְכֹּל) [pronounced esh-KOHL]

cluster; transliterated Eshcol

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #812 BDB #79

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʾâch (אָח) [pronounced awhk]

brother, half-brother; kinsman or close relative; one who resembles

masculine singular construct

Strong's #251 BDB #26

ʿÂnêr (עָנֵר) [pronounced ģaw-NARE]

necklace; transliterated Aner

masculine singular proper noun:

Strong’s #6063 BDB #778


Translation: [At this time] He [is] living near the Oaks of Mamre, the Amorite [who is] the brother of Eshcol and the brother of Aner... While this is all occurring, Abram is living near the Oaks of Mamre.


Here, we find out that Mamre is a person rather than a place, and that he is an Amorite who is an Amorite who is the brother of Eshcol and Aner, and that they are all confederates with Abram.


Genesis 14:13d

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

hêm (הֵם) [pronounced haym]

they, those; themselves; these [with the definite article]

3rd person masculine plural personal pronoun

Strong’s #1992 BDB #241

As with many pronouns, the verb to be is often implied.

baʿălêy (בַּעֲלֵי) [pronounced bah-ģuh-LAY]

aristocracy, leaders, baal’s, lords, landowners, movers and shakers, supervisors, administrators, citizens, inhabitants; owners

masculine plural construct

Strong’s #1181 (plural of Strong’s #1167 & 1168) BDB #127

berîyth (בְּרִית) [pronounced bereeth]

covenant; pact, alliance, treaty, alliance, contract

feminine singular construct

Strong’s #1285 BDB #136

ʾAberâm (אַבְרָם) [pronounced abv-RAWM]

father of elevation, exalted father; and is transliterated Abram

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #87 BDB #4


Translation:...—[in fact] these [men] are in league with Abram [lit., (are) possessors of a covenant of Abram]. Men apparently made a lot of alliances in those days, and many men wanted to strike an alliance with Abram because most of them knew of his relationship to the Living God, the Revealed Lord.


I can recall 3 contracts which Abram makes in the book of Genesis, apart from those made with God. The other two are future from this time, and they will be summed up in Gen. 23 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).


Gen 14:13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram.


Abram had quite a large group of people who worked for him. He was a very wealthy man, and, contrary to the propaganda of liberation theology, the Bible is not anti-wealth and it does not show some special contempt for wealthy individuals. Many great Old Testament heroes were wealthy or became wealthy: Abram, Joshua, Caleb, David, and Solomon all quickly come to mind. Jesus knew at least 2 wealthy men who appear to be friends of His: Joseph of Arimathaea (who was a discipline of His) and the tax collector Zacchaeus in Jericho, neither of whom did Jesus ask to give away all of their possessions. Wealth is a detail of life and wealth, in itself, is not sinful. It is the love of money that is the root of all evils, but not money itself (1Tim. 6:10). The problem is, when money becomes the focus of your life. So, rich and poor alike can be trapped by the love of money. See Wealthy Men of the Bible (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).


So, for that day and time, Abram is quite rich; which will allow him to put together an army of 318 (which suggests that there are probably 300–1000 more men, women and children who travel with Abram). Furthermore, Abram, for the past few decades, has been traveling all over this land, so he knows the mountains, valleys, and rivers; he knows the geography. So do all of his men, as they have traveled with him. He will use this to his advantage.


At this time in history, there would have been lions and bears in the land, so Abram and his people were well-armed, and able to deal with animal attacks (their flocks and herds would have certainly attracted wild animals). Also, this large traveling ranch would have caught the attention of men with bad intent, so it is reasonable to suppose that Abram’s people had weapons and they were trained and ready to use these weapons. So, although this is a scratch army, these men have a great many advantages: they have weapons and they are able to use them; they know the terrain; they have the advantage of surprise (the Eastern Alliance probably does not even know who they are), and, the greatest advantage of all, most of them believe in the God of Abraham.


In those days, there were a variety of social relationships. Many in the east were bedouin types, who traveled from place to place, in caravans. That appears to be the situation with Abram. Quite obviously, he developed a good relationship with those around him. More than likely, this relationship would have been based upon trading, and there is a strong indication that Abram was honest in his dealings with these traders.


Abram would live in this general vicinity for some time; the oaks of Mamre are mentioned in Gen. 13:18 14:13 and 18:1; so during much of that time, Abram lived here, although it is apparent that he shifted his herds around from place to place.


Finally, there are normal, traditional relationships among the peoples who served Abram. They had wives and children. Nothing gives a man greater motivation than a wife and children. A normal male will kill of and die for his family. So, Abram’s servants are well-armed and well-motivated, and they have an excellent view of the terrain where they have lived for many decades.


Gen 14:13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram.


Why would an escapee run to Abram? The most simplest explanation is, this is a man who used to work for Lot, and, at one time, worked under the banner of Abram and Lot’s Canaan-bred Livestock, before they went their separate ways. This man knows that Abram will still be concerned about his nephew; and he apparently knows that Abram is a brave and honest man. All of that is conjecture, but it is reasonable conjecture. In the alternative, he may have been roped near Lot, and Lot said, “If only we could contact my Uncle Abram.” In any case, this man knew to come to Abram.


Although this alliance from the east conquered a number of peoples in their trek to the Valley of Siddim, they did not conquer this entire area. Abram remained free, as did the 3 Amorite brothers with whom Abram had an alliance, Eshcol, Aner and Mamre. They probably brought with them another set of soldiers.


We studied blessing by association. Lot has chosen to go his own way, separating from Abram, so, now Lot is caught up in this Eastern Alliance invasion. However, Abram has 3 men with whom he is allied, and they are still free—this invasion of the eastern kings did not affect them directly. Those associated with Abram are blessed and those separated from Abram are not.


This blessing will continue for these men: Mamre’s name will continue to be associated with various portions of this area for another 100+ years. Eshcol’s name will be associated with this area for another 500 years at least.


Although, it is not completely clear yet, Abram will ally himself with these 3 brothers in war, and they will all attack the entire eastern alliance.


——————————


And so hears Abram that had been taken captive his brother and so he empties out his trained men, those born of his house, eight-teen and three hundreds [men] and so they pursue as far as Dan.

Genesis

14:14

When Abram heard that his brother had been taken captive, he led forth [lit., emptied out] his trained men, those born in [lit., of] his house, 318 [men], and they pursued [them] as far as Dan.

When Abram heard that Lot had been taken captive, he took 318 of his trained men, those of his household, and they pursued the kings of the east as far as Dan.


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                And Og came, who had been spared from the giants that died in the deluge, and had ridden protected upon the top of the ark, and sustained with food by Noah; not being spared through high righteousness, but that the inhabitants of the world might see the power of the Lord, and say, Were there not giants who in the first times rebelled against the Lord of the world, and perished from the earth? But when these kings made war, behold, Og, who was with them, said in his heart, I will go and show Abram concerning Lot, who is led captive, that he may come and deliver him from the hands of the kings into whose hands he has been delivered. And he arose and came, upon the eve of the day of the Pascha, and found him making the unleavened cakes. Then showed he to Abram the Hebrew, who dwelt in the valleys of Mamre Amoraah, brother of Eshkol and brother of Aner, who were men of covenant with Abram. And when Abram heard that his brother was made captive, he armed his young men who were trained for war, grown up in his house; but they willed not to go with him. And he chose from them Eliezer the son of Nimrod, who was equal in strength to all the three hundred and eighteen; and he pursued unto Dan.

Jerusalem targum                  Domestics (marbitsi, down-liers) of his house, eighteen and three hundred, and pursued after them unto Dan of Kisarion.

Latin Vulgate                          Which when Abram had heard, to wit, that his brother Lot was taken, he numbered of the servants born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, well appointed: and pursued them to Dan.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so hears Abram that had been taken captive his brother and so he empties out his trained men, those born of his house, eight-teen and three hundreds [men] and so they pursue as far as Dan.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And when Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive, he armed his young men, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued the raiders as far as Dan.

Septuagint (Greek)                And Abram, having heard that Lot his nephew had been taken captive, numbered his own home-born servants three hundred and eighteen, and pursued after them to Dan.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Common English Bible           When Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he took all of the loyal men born in his household, three hundred eighteen, and went after them as far as Dan.

Contemporary English V.       ...that his nephew Lot had been taken away. Three hundred eighteen of Abram's servants were fighting men, so he took them and followed the enemy as far north as the city of Dan.

Easy English                          Abram heard that the enemy had caught Abram's nephew as a prisoner. So then Abram led out the 318 men that he had trained. They had been born in his house. They pursued the enemy as far as Dan.

Easy-to-Read Version            Abram learned that Lot was captured. So Abram called all of his family together. There were 318 trained soldiers. Abram led the men and chased the enemy all the way to the town of Dan.

Good News Bible (TEV)         When Abram heard that his nephew had been captured, he called together all the fighting men in his camp, 318 in all, and pursued the four kings all the way to Dan.

The Message                         When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken prisoner, he lined up his servants, all of them born in his household--there were 318 of them--and chased after the captors all the way to Dan.

New Berkeley Version           When Abram learned that his kinsman had been captures, he mustered his trained men, born in his household, 318 of them, and marched in pursuit as far as Dan.

New Century Version             Abram Rescues Lot

When Abram learned that Lot had been captured, he called out his 318 trained men who had been born in his camp. He led the men and chased the enemy all the way to the town of Dan.

New Life Bible                        When Abram heard that one of his family had been taken away, he led 318 men who had been born in his house and whom he had taught to fight. They went after them as far as Dan.

New Living Translation           When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer's army until he caught up with them at Dan.

The Voice                               As soon as Abram heard that his nephew had been taken prisoner, he gathered a company of his most reliable and best-trained men (there were 318 of them, all born in his household) and pursued the enemy as far north as Dan.


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          And when Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he gathered three hundred and eighteen of his personal home-born servants [According to Wikipedia, 'A concubine is generally a woman in an ongoing, matrimonial-like relationship with a man, whom she cannot marry for a specific reason. The reason may be because she is of lower social rank than the man (including slave status) or because the man is already married. Generally, only men of high economic and social status have concubines. Many historical rulers maintained concubines as well as wives. 'Historically, concubinage was frequently voluntary (by the woman and/or her family's arrangement), as it provided a measure of economic security for the woman involved. Today, concubinage is reserved for the most apex alphas who can maintain a de facto harem with concurrent long term relationships. 'In opposition to those laws, traditional Western laws do not acknowledge the legal status of concubines, rather only admitting monogamous marriages. Any other relationship does not enjoy legal protection, making the woman essentially a mistress.' In patriarchal times, concubines were usually slaves; and as the result, their offspring were referred to as 'home-born' or 'native-born servants' (see Ecclesiastes 2:7). AbraHam, for example, was known to have more than a hundred of such offspring (see Genesis 14:14). And although many have written to argue this conclusion; note God's instructions to AbraHam, when He was making the Agreement with him involving circumcision (Genesis 17:12): 'All of your male children must be circumcised by you when they are eight-days old, throughout all your generations. [This includes all the] servants who are born in your house, and those who are bought with money (the sons of aliens who are not your seed).' Notice that those who are 'home-born' are differentiated from those who are not the seed of AbraHam.], and pursued them all the way to Dan.

Christian Community Bible     Abram and Melchizedek

As soon as Abram heard that his brother had been taken away captive, he assembled and led forth his trained men born in his house three hundred and eighteen men and set off in pursuit as far as Dan.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       Abram himself, as soon as he heard that his kinsman Lot was a prisoner, mustered the men he had in arms, all of his own household, to the number of three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit all the way to Dan.

New American Bible (R.E.)    When Abram heard that his kinsman had been captured, he mustered three hundred and eighteen of his retainers [Retainers: the Hebrew word hanik is used only here in the Old Testament. Cognate words appear in Egyptian and Akkadian texts, signifying armed soldiers belonging to the household of a local leader.], born in his house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

NIRV                                      Abram heard that Lot had been captured. So he called out his 318 trained men. All of them were sons of his servants. They chased the enemy as far as Dan.

New Jerusalem Bible             When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he mustered his retainers born in his own household, numbering three hundred and eighteen, and gave chase as far as Dan.


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Ancient Roots Translinear      When Abram heard of the capture of his brother, he emptied three hundred and eighteen born and dedicated in his house, and pursued them unto Dan.

The Expanded Bible              Abram Rescues Lot

When Abram learned that ·Lot [Lhis relative/brother] had been captured, he called out his 318 trained men who had been born in his camp. He led the men and ·chased the enemy [went in pursuit] all the way to the town of Dan [Cin the far north of Palestine].

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 When Abram had heard that they had taken captive his relative, he then mustered the trained youths of his own family, to the number of three hundred and eighteen, and pursued to punish them; and overtook them in the night-time,... A portion of v. 15 is included for context.

HCSB                                     When Abram heard that his relative had been taken prisoner, he assembled his 318 trained men, born in his household, and they went in pursuit as far as Dan.

NET Bible®                             When Abram heard that his nephew [Heb "his brother," by extension, "relative." Here and in v. 16 the more specific term "nephew" has been used in the translation for clarity. Lot was the son of Haran, Abram's brother (Gen 11:27).] had been taken captive, he mobilized [The verb וַיָּרֶק (vayyareq) is a rare form, probably related to the word רֵיק (req, “to be empty”). If so, it would be a very figurative use: “he emptied out” (or perhaps “unsheathed”) his men. The LXX has “mustered” (cf. NEB). E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103-4) suggests reading with the Samaritan Pentateuch a verb diq, cognate with Akkadian deku, “to mobilize” troops. If this view is accepted, one must assume that a confusion of the Hebrew letters ד (dalet) and ר (resh) led to the error in the traditional Hebrew text. These two letters are easily confused in all phases of ancient Hebrew script development. The present translation is based on this view.] his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders [The words "the invaders" have been supplied in the translation for clarification.] as far as Dan [The use of the name Dan reflects a later perspective. The Danites did not migrate to this northern territory until centuries later (see Judg 18:29). Furthermore Dan was not even born until much later. By inserting this name a scribe has clarified the location of the region.].


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

exeGeses companion Bible   And Abram hears his brother is captured,

he draws his hanukked,

- three hundred and eighteen

birthed in his own house

and pursues them to Dan.

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, Hypostatic Union mustered his retainers [Meaning of Hebrew hanikh unceartain], born into his household, numbering three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

Kaplan Translation                 When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he called out [Or 'hurried' (Targum), or 'armed' (Ibn Ezra).] all his 318 fighting men [(Ibn Ezra). Or 'students' (Rashi).] who had been born in his house. He hurried after [the invaders], catching up with them in Dan [A city at the northern end of the Holy Land, 12 miles north of Lake Hula, and 120 miles north of Hebron. It may have been called that since it would later be named Dan, or else there may have been an ancient city there by that name (Radak). Targum Yonathan identifies it as Dan of Caesarea, since Caesarea was some three miles to the east of Dan. (See Joshua 19:47, Judges 18:29). Saadia identifies it with the Banias River. This indicates that the invaders had a head start, and Abraham did not catch up with them until Dan.].

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And when Avram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained men, born in his own bais, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them as far as Dan.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

American KJV                        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 to Dan.

The Amplified Bible                When Abram heard that [his nephew] had been captured, he armed (led forth) the 318 trained servants born in his own house and pursued the enemy as far as Dan.

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ he~ will~ Hear “Avram [Father raised]” Given.that he~ did~ be~ Capture Brother~ him and~ he~ will~ Empty At Experienced~ s~ him Born~ s House~ him Eight Ten and~ Three Hundred~ s and~ he~ will~ Pursue Until “Dan [Moderator]”

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...and “Avram [Father raised]” heard that his brother was captured and he emptied his three hundred and eighteen experienced ones born of his house and he pursued as far as “Dan [Moderator]”,...

Concordant Literal Version    And hearing is Abram that Lot, his brother, is captured. And numbering is he those dedicated to him, born in his household, three hundred and eighteen, and is pursuing them as far as Dan.

Context Group Version          And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he mobilized his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.

English Standard V. – UK       When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

Green’s Literal Translation    And when Abram heard that his brother was captured, even then he led out his trained men, born of his household, three hundred and eighteen. And they pursued as far as Dan.

Syndein/Thieme                     And when Abram heard that his kinsman/brethren {'ach - his nephew Lot and fellow believer} had been captured, he led out his 'trained/armed servants' {chaniyk} born in his own house - three hundred and eighteen - and pursued them unto Dan. {Note: The army was larger than 318. There were 318 from his household. And, Abram had already TRAINED and ARMED his household! Here Abram led out fully prepared soldiers! His reconnaissance was excellent. Not counting his allies, Abram may have a total of 500 of his own men going up against well over 10,000 men. Probably closer to 50 to 100,000 men in Chedorlaomer's group of armies. So two things are important here. Most importantly, Abram had God on his side. Abram also followed God's Law of establishment - he had trained and armed men. This is a picture though of a vastly outnumbered group of men willing to risk their lives to save the life of his carnal nephew. That is a picture of great grace orientation.}.

Webster’s Bible Translation  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] to Dan.

World English Bible                When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.

Young’s Updated LT             And Abram hears that his brother has been taken captive, and he draws out his trained domestics, three hundred and eighteen, and pursues unto Dan.

 

The gist of this verse:          Abram takes 318 men born in his own house to pursue the kings of the east.


Genesis 14:14a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

shâmaʿ (שָמַע) [pronounced shaw-MAHĢ]

to listen [intently], to hear, to listen and obey, [or, and act upon, give heed to, take note of], to hearken to, to be attentive to, to listen and be cognizant of

3rd person masculine singular, Qal imperfect

Strong's #8085 BDB #1033

ʾAberâm (אַבְרָם) [pronounced abv-RAWM]

father of elevation, exalted father; and is transliterated Abram

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #87 BDB #4

kîy (כִּי) [pronounced kee]

for, that, because; when, at that time, which, what time

explanatory or temporal conjunction; preposition

Strong's #3588 BDB #471

shâbâh (שָבָה) [pronounced shawb-VAW]

led away as captives, taken away captive

3rd person plural, Niphal perfect

Strong’s #7617 BDB #985

ʾâch (אָח) [pronounced awhk]

brother, half-brother; kinsman or close relative; one who resembles

masculine singular noun with the 3rd person masculine singular suffix

Strong's #251 BDB #26


Translation: When Abram heard that his brother had been taken captive,... There was one man who escaped and came to tell Abram. So, apparently, someone in Sodom knew of the connection between Lot and Abram.


Genesis 14:14b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

rûwq (רוּק) [pronounced rouk]

to empty, to make empty, to make hungry; to pour [out, down]; to empty out

3rd person masculine singular, Qal imperfect

Strong’s #7324 BDB #937

Some question this verb and suggest, with the LXX, that this should be to muster; to lead forth.

When this verb is used with a sword, it means to draw out, to take out, to unsheathe. In the Hiphil (which is the normal stem for this verb), a causative sense may be applied (to cause to draw out, to make unsheathe).

NET Bible footnote: The verb וַיָּרֶק (vayyareq) is a rare form, probably related to the word רֵיק (req, “to be empty”). If so, it would be a very figurative use: “he emptied out” (or perhaps “unsheathed”) his men. The LXX has “mustered” (cf. NEB). E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103-4) suggests reading with the Samaritan Pentateuch a verb diq, cognate with Akkadian deku, “to mobilize” troops. If this view is accepted, one must assume that a confusion of the Hebrew letters ד (dalet) and ר (resh) led to the error in the traditional Hebrew text. These two letters are easily confused in all phases of ancient Hebrew script development. The present translation is based on this view.

What ought to be pointed out is, this is not a rare form; this verb simply begins with a wâw consecutive, which we would expect, and is preceded by a yodh (י), which simply indicates that the verb is an imperfect. However, this does not appear to be the Hiphil stem, which is the common form of the verb, but the Qal stem. There is normally a hê (ה) associated with the Hiphil at the beginning of the word. We do not find there here in Genesis or in other passages like Eccles. 11:3 or Jer. 48:12. Why this is so, and yet still listed as a Hiphil is out of my depth. Seow comes to my rescue here: The characteristic h is no longer apparent in the Hiphil imperfect; it has dropped out... According to examples from that page, the 3rd person masculine singular, the 3rd person masculine plural, and the 1st person singular and plural of the Hiphil lack the hê.

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

chânîyk (חָנִיך) [pronounced khaw-NEEK]

trained, instructed, trained servant, tried, experienced

masculine plural adjective acting as a substantive; with the 3rd person masculine singular suffix

Strong’s #2593 BDB #335

yillôwd (יִלּוֹד) [pronounced yihl-LOHD]

born; possibly son

verbal adjective; masculine plural construct

Strong’s #3209 BDB #409

bayith (בַּיִת) [pronounced BAH-yith]

house, residence; household, habitation as well as inward

masculine singular noun with the 3rd person masculine singular suffix

Strong's #1004 BDB #108


Translation: ...he led forth [lit., emptied out] his trained men, those born in [lit., of] his house,... There are two problems in the text here. The verb generally means to empty out, to pour out; but it is found in at least 9 passages which are connected to war.


There is a lot of technical information about the Hebrew and about this particular Hebrew word. You may want to simply skip down to the NET note and leave it at that.

First of all, the word is rûwq (רוּק) [pronounced rouk], and it clearly means to empty, to make empty, to make hungry; to pour [out, down]; to empty out. See Gen. 42:35 Eccles. 11:3 Isa. 32:6 Jer. 48:11–12 Habak. 1:17 Zech. 4:12. Strong’s #7324 BDB #937.

Delving into Rûwq

Passage (WEB)

KJV

ESV

Young’s

NET

LXX

Gen 14:14 When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.

armed

led forth

draws out

mobilized

counted, enumerated

Ex. 15:9 The enemy said, 'I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.'

draw

draw

draw out

draw

to take up, to take away, to adopt

Lev. 26:33 I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you: and your land will be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

draw out

unsheathe

drawn out

unsheathe

εξαναλωσει

Psalm 35:3 Brandish the spear and block those who pursue me. Tell my soul, "I am your salvation."

draw out

draw

draw out

use

pour forth, gush forth

Ezek. 5:2 A third part shall you burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and you shall take a third part, and strike with the sword round about it; and a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.

draw out

unsheathe

draw out

unleash

εκκενωσω

The difference between the 8 passages (not all shown) and Gen. 14:14 is that this verb is used specifically in those other 8 passages in relationship to a sword. So we can clearly conclude that this verb means to draw out, to unsheathe when it is used in conjunction with a sword. This does not help us with our passage, where it appears that the verb is wrong or there is another application.

The NET Bible footnotes here: The verb וַיָּרֶק (vayyareq) is a rare form, probably related to the word רֵיק (req, “to be empty”). If so, it would be a very figurative use: “he emptied out” (or perhaps “unsheathed”) his men. The LXX has “mustered” (cf. NEB). E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103-4) suggests reading with the Samaritan Pentateuch a verb diq, cognate with Akkadian deku, “to mobilize” troops. If this view is accepted, one must assume that a confusion of the Hebrew letters ד (dalet) and ר (resh) led to the error in the traditional Hebrew text. These two letters are easily confused in all phases of ancient Hebrew script development. The present translation is based on this view.

What ought to be pointed out is, this is not a rare form; this verb simply begins with a wâw consecutive, which we would expect, and is preceded by a yodh (י), which simply indicates that the verb is an imperfect. However, this does not appear to be the Hiphil stem, which is the common form of the verb, but the Qal stem. There is normally a hê (ה) associated with the Hiphil at the beginning of the word. We do not find there here in Genesis or in other passages like Eccles. 11:3 or Jer. 48:12. Why this is so, and yet still listed as a Hiphil is out of my depth. Seow comes to my rescue here: The characteristic h is no longer apparent in the Hiphil imperfect; it has dropped out... According to examples from that page, the 3rd person masculine singular, the 3rd person masculine plural, and the 1st person singular and plural of the Hiphil lack the hê.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


The second problem is, Abram would have had a lot of men who worked for him and/or were his slaves. It seems odd here that the text specifically speaks of those born of his house. Why are we specifically speaking only of these men?


Genesis 14:14c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

shemônâh ( ׂשְמֹנָה) [pronounced shemoh-NAW]

eight

feminine singular numeral

Strong’s #8083 BDB #1032

ʿâsâr (עָשָׂה) [pronounced ģaw-SAWR]

ten; –teen [resulting in numbers 11–19]

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #6240 BDB #797

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

shâlôsh (שָלֹש) [pronounced shaw-LOHSH]

a three, a trio, a triad, a threesome

numeral; masculine singular noun

Strong’s #7969 BDB #1025

mêʾôwth (מֵאוֹת) [pronounced may-OHTH]

hundreds

feminine plural construct; numeral

Strong’s #3967 BDB #547


Translation: ...318 [men],... Because of the odd verbiage in the previous portion of this verse, it appears that this is a particular class of men, who were born to the Abram household.


Genesis 14:14d

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

râdaph (רָדַף) [pronounced raw-DAHF]

to pursue, to follow after; to chase with hostile intent, to persecute

3rd person masculine singular, Qal imperfect

Strong’s #7291 BDB #922

This is the first occurrence of this verb in Scripture.

ʿad (עַד) [pronounced ģahd]

as far as, even to, up to, until

preposition

Strong’s #5704 BDB #723

Dân (דָּן) [pronounced dawn]

judge and is transliterated Dan

masculine proper noun

Strong’s #1835 BDB #192

This is either quite a gloss, or a different city altogether.


Translation: ...and they pursued [them] as far as Dan. There is a city called Dan to the far north of Israel. However, this is the place where the tribe of Dan occupied after being given their land grant (they are given their land grant in the book of Joshua and they take over a more northern position in the book of Judges). This is a very long ways off in time—about 500 or more years. So someone, even after the time of Moses, had to make the change here. That is, there had to be another city or territory named, and someone, a copyist, hundreds of years later, changed it. Now, you may not realize it, but making such a change is not only profound, but hard to manage, as there would have been many copies of the Bible extent by this time. How does one get a hold of all of them and change them all? Furthermore, as Barnes points out, there are many locations in this chapter alone just crying out to be given a more up-to-date identification. Based upon this, we must assume that Dan here is not the place that we know as Dan, but another location, probably much further south than Dan. Wherever that place is, that is where they apparently caught up with the kings of the east and their prey.


I do not believe that the word Dan is a gloss. There is no territory called Dan at this time that I am aware of. However, even though there is a city of Dan is many generations removed from Abram, that is far, far to the north. Would this pursuit have really gone as far as the northernmost area of Israel? The history of this Dan is recounted in the book of the Judges.


In short, we have two options. (1) This is a place known to Abram at this time, but much closer to where Abram was (not outside of the territory of Judah); or (2) if this were the Dan of the far, far north, then this suggests that, about 500–600 years later, after this was originally written, someone identified this area with the tribe of Dan, and changed it. There could be a more convoluted explanation, but that is the most likely one. At one time, this may have read, ...and went in pursuit as far as ____; later to be changed to ...and went in pursuit as far as ____ (that is, Dan); and later changed to ...and went in pursuit as far as Dan. There is no actual change in the area being referred to; just the name by which it is known. This sort of thing occurs enough times in the Old Testament to have its own name: this is called a gloss.


Gen 14:14 When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.


Abram leads 318 men who are born in his house, and these men are trained. This is the Hebrew adjective chânîyk (חָנִיך) [pronounced khaw-NEEK], which means trained, instructed, trained servant, tried, experienced. Strong’s #2593 BDB #335. So these are not 318 miscellaneous men which Abram chooses, but these men are trained to fight.


Abram has three company commanders in the persons of Mamre, Eshcol and Aner, and he is able to put together 318 or more men from his encampment. These are trained men, an Hebrew word found nowhere else in the Bible. The same word is found in Egyptian documents from this same period as a reference to hired soldiers. There are certainly women and children and some men which are left behind to protect them, so Abram is traveling with anywhere from 500 to 1000 people. They all work for him and many of them are converts. We can only make wild guesses as to the size of the armies which he pursued, but 300-3000 per each king would be ballpark. Note that five kings, rested and lying in wait for the four kings, could not defeat them. Also, nothing is said up until this time about any warlike activity with Abram. Their weapons are not alluded to; however, during this period, archeology has uncovered various kinds of axes, knives, spears, leather shields, clubs with copper and limestone heads, boomerangs, bows and arrows. We do not know what kind of weapons Abram and company specifically used, but likely they were made of stone or bronze and possibly doubled for farming implements. This indicates great loyalty to Abram.


Gen 14:14 When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.


It will become clear, further into this chapter, that this military operation is done in conjunction with the 3 Amorite brothers, Mamre, Eshcol and Aner. We do not know how many men that they led into battle, but God the Holy Spirit recognizes the 318 men which Abram employs as his attacking force. Abram is attacking an army of thousands with 318 men, plus those who are under his allies. These 318 would have been his slaves and employees, and he had apparently both evangelized them and gained their respect. It is reasonable to suppose that most of them understood what had happened, the war which had taken place, where the 5 city-states in the Valley of Siddim had been soundly defeated and taken captive by Chedorlaomer’s eastern coalition. That Abram was able to gather these 318 men and say, “Now, this is our plan of attack” is quite amazing. This indicates great faith among his slaves and employees.


I want you to notice something: Abram is not under attack. Mamre, Eshcol and Aner are not under attack. This is the first time that we see war in the Bible involving a mature believer, and it is an offensive war. There are many times in the Word of God where God supports an offensive war. Abram is not under attack, neither are his allies—now, in the future, they may be under attack, but they are not under attack now. God will bless Abram’s offensive action against the Eastern Alliance.


Also bear in mind that, Lot is not necessarily the greatest person in the world. When associated with Abram, he was greatly blessed; and, on his own, his fortune has clearly taken a tumble. It would have been easy for Abram to add it all up and decide, there is no way that we can defeat this army and Lot’s situation is his own fault; so there is really nothing that I can do. But that is not how Abram thinks.


Abram’s men are well-trained, which the Bible testifies to. They are not simply sheepherders and cattlemen. These men are well-trained to protect Abram’s fortune. They are all, apparently, NRA members.


——————————


And so he divides against them at night—he and his servants. And so he strikes them and so he pursues them as far as Hobah which [is] from the north to Damascus.

Genesis

14:15

Abram [lit., he] divided [his troops] against them at night—he and his servants. He attacked them and then pursued them as far as Hobah, which [is] south of Damascus.

Abram divided his troops at night and then attacked the kings of the east, pursuing them as far as Hobah, which is south of Damascus.


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                And he divided them at night in the way; a part were to engage with the kings, and a part were hidden to smite the firstborn of Egypt. And he arose, he and his servants, and smote them, and pursued them which remained of them unto (the place) of the memorial of sin which was to be in Dan, from the north of Darmesek [JERUSALEM. And he pursued them unto Havetha, which is from the north of Darmesek.].

Latin Vulgate                          And dividing his company, he rushed upon them in the night, and defeated them: and pursued them as far as Hoba, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so he divides against them at night—he and his servants. And so he strikes them and so he pursues them as far as Hobah which [is] from the north to Damascus.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

Septuagint (Greek)                And he came upon them by night, he and his servants, and he struck them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Common English Bible           During the night, he and his servants divided themselves up against them, attacked, and chased them to Hobah, north of Damascus.

Contemporary English V.       That night, Abram divided up his troops, attacked from all sides, and won a great victory. But some of the enemy escaped to the town of Hobah north of Damascus,...

Easy English                          Abram divided his men and servants into groups. And during the night, they chased the enemy to Hobah. That is north from Damascus.

Easy-to-Read Version            That night, he and his men made a surprise attack against the enemy. They defeated the enemy and chased them to Hobah, north of Damascus.

Good News Bible (TEV)         There he divided his men into groups, attacked the enemy by night, and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus,...

New Berkeley Version           Dividing his force against them by night, he and his men defeated the enemy and chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.

New Century Version             That night he divided his men into groups, and they made a surprise attack against the enemy. They chased them all the way to Hobah, north of Damascus.

New Life Bible                        Abram night, he and his servants. They w divided his army against them by on the war against them, and followed them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.

New Living Translation           There he divided his men and attacked during the night. Kedorlaomer's army fled, but Abram chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.

The Voice                               When he caught up with them, Abram divided up his men, surrounded the enemy, and attacked them during the night. He and his soldiers crushed the invaders and pursued any survivors all the way to Hobah, north of Damascus.


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          Then, when he and his servants caught up with them that night, he attacked them and chased them all the way to Choba, which is to the left of Damascus.

Christian Community Bible     He grouped his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed and followed them to Ho bah, north of Damascus.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       Here he divided his confederates into companies, and fell upon the enemy by night, routing them and driving them in their flight as far as Hoba, to the left of Damascus;...

New American Bible              He and his party deployed against them at night, defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.

New American Bible (R.E.)    He and his servants deployed against them at night, defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.

NIRV                                      During the night Abram separated his men into groups. They attacked the enemy and drove them away. They chased them north of Damascus as far as Hobah.

New Jerusalem Bible             He and his retainers deployed against them under cover of dark, defeated them and pursued them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.

Revised English Bible            Abram and his followers surrounded the enemy by night, routed them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Ancient Roots Translinear      He and his servants divided toward them by night and pursued them unto Hobah, left of Damascus, and smote them.

Bible in Basic English             And separating his forces by night, he overcame them, putting them to flight and going after them as far as Hobah, which is on the north side of Damascus.

The Expanded Bible              That night he divided his men into groups, and ·they made a surprise attack against the enemy [Lhe subdued/defeated/struck them]. They chased them all the way to Hobah, north of Damascus [Ca major city in Syria].

NET Bible®                             Then, during the night [The Hebrew text simply has "night" as an adverbial accusative.], Abram [Heb "he"; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.] divided his forces [Heb "he divided himself.he and his servants."] against them and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, which is north [Heb "left." Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.] of Damascus.


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Complete Jewish Bible           During the night he and his servants divided his forces against them, then attacked and pursued them all the way to Hovah, north of Dammesek.

exeGeses companion Bible   And he allots against them by night

- he and his servants

and smites them and pursues them to Hobah

at the left of Dammeseq.

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               At night, he and his servants deployed against them and defeated them; and he pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.

Kaplan Translation                 He divided [his forces] against them [and attacked] that night - he and his servants. He attacked, and pursued [the invaders] as far as Chovah [See Judith 4:4, 15:4. This is unidentified, but since they were heading northeast, it would be to the northwest of Damascus, possibly in the valley where the Albana River comes through the mountains. The Targum has 'north of Damascus.'], which is to the left of Damascus [The capital of Syria, 42 miles northeast of Dan. This was probably as far as they could pursue in a single day. See note on Genesis 30:36.].

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And he divided himself against them, he and his avadim, by lailah, and routed them, and pursued them as far as Chovah, which is on the left hand (north) of Damascus.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ he~ will~ be~ Apportion Upon~ them(m) Night He and~ Servant~ s~ him and~ he~ will~ Hit~ them(m) and~ he~ will~ Pursue~ them(m) Until “Hhovah [Hiding place]” Which from~ Left.hand to~ “Dameseq [Blood sack]”

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...and he and his servants were apportioned upon them at night and he hit them and he pursued them as far as “Hhovah [Hiding place]” which is from the left hand to “Dameseq [Blood sack]”,...

Concordant Literal Version    And, being apportioned, falling is his force on them by night, he and his servants. And smiting them is he, and pursuing them as far as Hobah, which is to the left of Damascus.

Context Group Version          And he divided himself against them by night, he and his slaves, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

New RSV                               He divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus.

Syndein/Thieme                     {Verses 15-16: Victory in Battle}

And he divided himself/'his forces' {into columns} against them . . . he and his servants . . . by night . . . {surprise attack - only way a small force can cope with a much larger force - a surprise attack at night} and kept on causing the slaughter of them {stacked their bodies HIGH} and kept on pursuing them unto Hobah {in Syria way out of the land - means 'he went to the limit ' no stopping Abram}, which is on the left hand of Damascus. {Note: Abram has surprise on his side. He has darkness. He has concentration of forces. So tactically he has great advantages even though the enemy is superior in size. And, a victory must be followed by pursuit! Those you do not kill, you must scare to death! Or they will return with their friends!}.

A Voice in the Wilderness      And they split up by night, he and his servants, and struck them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.

World English Bible                He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

Young’s Updated LT             And he divides himself against them by night, he and his servants, and strikes them, and pursues them unto Hobah, which is at the left of Damascus.

 

The gist of this verse:          Abram divided up his troops and deployed against the enemy, striking them hard and forcing them into a retreat.


Genesis 14:15a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

châlaq (חָלַק) [pronounced chaw-LAHK]

to be divided [apportioned], to divide oneself; to divide among themselves; to share

3rd person masculine singular, Niphal imperfect

Strong’s #2505 BDB #323

ʿal (עַל) [pronounced ģahl]

upon, beyond, on, against, above, over, by, beside

preposition of proximity with the 3rd person masculine plural suffix

Strong’s #5921 BDB #752

layelâh (לַיְלָה) [pronounced LAY-law]

night; nightly, at night, in the night, during the night

masculine singular noun; this word can take on adverbial qualities

Strong’s #3915 BDB #538


Translation: Abram [lit., he] divided [his troops] against them at night... Abram needed this to seem as though he was coming from all directions, but he allowed those he attacked an escape route. He did this at night so that his enemies had no idea how small his own forces were.


Genesis 14:15b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

hûwʾ (הוּא) [pronounced hoo]

he, it; himself as a demonstrative pronoun: that, this (one); same

3rd person masculine singular, personal pronoun; sometimes the verb to be, is implied

Strong’s #1931 BDB #214

This appears to allow, from time to time, a translation of which [is].

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʿebed (עֶבֶד) [pronounced ĢEB-ved]

slave, servant; underling; subject

masculine plural noun with a 3rd person masculine singular suffix

Strong’s #5650 BDB #713


Translation: ...—he and his servants. Abram has an army of at least 318 men. It is unclear whether he has more than that. In any case, he has a much smaller army than the one which he is attacking.


Genesis 14:15c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

nâkâh (נָכָה) [pronounced naw-KAWH]

to smite, to assault, to hit, to strike, to strike [something or someone] down, to defeat, to conquer, to subjugate

3rd person masculine singular, Hiphil imperfect with the 3rd person masculine plural suffix

Strong #5221 BDB #645


Translation: He attacked them... This was completely unexpected. The kings from the east figured that they had already dealt with all of the people of that general vicinity. So they were taken by surprise to be attacked at night.


Surprise and momentum are two of the greatest factors in warfare.


Genesis 14:15d

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

râdaph (רָדַף) [pronounced raw-DAHF]

to pursue, to follow after; to chase with hostile intent, to persecute

3rd person masculine singular, Qal imperfect with the 3rd person masculine plural suffix

Strong’s #7291 BDB #922

ʿad (עַד) [pronounced ģahd]

as far as, even to, up to, until

preposition

Strong’s #5704 BDB #723

Chôwbâh (חוֹבָה) [pronounced khoh-BAW]

hiding place; transliterated Hobah

proper singular noun/location

Strong’s #2327 BDB #295

BDB: a city north of Damascus to which Abraham pursued the kings who had pillaged Sodom.

ʾăsher (אֲֹשֶר) [pronounced uh-SHER]

that, which, when, who, whom

relative pronoun

Strong's #834 BDB #81

min (מִן) [pronounced min]

from, off, out from, of, out of, away from, on account of, since, than, more than

preposition of separation

Strong's #4480 BDB #577

semôʾl (שְׂמֹאל) [pronounced seMOHL]

the left, the left hand, the left side; north [when facing east]

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #8040 BDB #969

lâmed (לְ) [pronounced le]

to, for, towards, in regards to

directional/relational preposition

No Strong’s # BDB #510

Dameseq (דַּמֶּשֶׂק) [pronounced dahm-MEH-sehk]

alertness; and is transliterated Damascus

proper singular noun; location

Strong’s #1833 and #1834 BDB #199 and #200

BDB lists #1833 on p. 200 as a separate noun, which refers to damask, silk, Damascene cloth. The vowel points and the pronunciation are different. Gesenius puts this all under #1933. There are 2 more alternate spellings for this noun.

This is the first mention of this city in Scripture.


Translation: ...and then pursued them as far as Hobah, which [is] south of Damascus. I am uncertain about the compass direction here. We had this before, with the min preposition, which would suggest from where a thing was. So, to Hobah, Damascus would be to the north of them.


Hobab might be a city lost in time, but Damascus is not. Damascus possibly did not exist during Abram's time and this was added by Moses to help with the geography. It might be identified with the modern since Hoba is 50 miles north of Damascus, which puts us in the correct place. It is possible that the ancient Hobah, as a city, was dying out during Moses' time so he therefore added this as he copied God's Word. Hobah could have been a minor city and Abram added this as they traveled through Damascus to get to Hobah.


What seems to be the case—despite the difficulties with the area known as Dan—is that these kings of the east were forced off into two directions, and they were pursued by the two or more companies of Abram’s armies (which included the armies of his allies). So, it is not a misprint that they are pursued as far as Dan; and here, they are pursued as far as Hobah. For a numerically smaller army to defeat a much larger army, there must be openings where this larger army can escape to. This indicates that there are two routes for the retreating eastern armies to go—toward the north (assuming that Dan is due north), and to the north, and then across the Jordan, going eastward.


Gen 14:15 And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus.


Abram uses some stealth and skill as a soldier. He is likely outnumbered, so he envelops the forces of the four kings, allowing them one route of escape. Had he completely surrounded them, they would have no choice but to fight their way out, and their larger numbers might have prevailed. Abram caused a serious panic, was able to kill a great many of them, and then was able to pursue them, having a psychological advantage. It is possible that the four kings left their prisoners behind when they ran, giving Abram some more troops. The night attack is apt because they cannot see how many soldiers Abram is commanding, they do not know from whence they have come, and the fierce fighting that they faced as they began to wake up totally routed them.


One of the fascinating things in the Bible is, it is a military-friendly book. Having come out of the hippie culture, that took some getting used to for me. Military terms are used regularly in the Old and New Testaments. There are, from time to time, strategy and tactics noted in the text; or, at least, alluded to. This is one of those times. Abram has very few men, and he apparently forms two flying columns. Each force would be constantly moving, and their attack is made at night, which is the element of surprise. If they are able to kill enough soldiers at the beginning, this would route the entire Eastern Alliance army. You see, they have no idea how many men are actually with Abram. He catches them groggy, possibly with hangovers (they may have been celebrating their several victories). Therefore, their guard is down. They are surprised, confused, and overwhelmed. They thought that they had pretty well conquered all of this area. The 318 of Abram’s private army actually sends these thousands of men running, and Abram and company continue to pursue them.


Ths enemy army does not know who Abram is. They don’t know where he’s come from. They don’t know how many men are in his army. Furthermore, there is no indication that God played a supernatural role here. Abram’s army exploited the tactical elements of surprise and movement, and they attacked this army from both sides, allowing them an opening for retreat. Abram’s small army uses a pincher movement, sends the enemies into a panic, and routes what is probably a huge army, causing them to retreat to the north.


Abram and his men were well-trained and they knew the land, so they were able to use the terrain to their own advantage (which the Sodom coalition did not). They pushed the retreating army in two directions: some went due north, through what would later be called Dan; and others crossed over the Jordan and made their escape to the northeast, which would be Zobah. So, this grand alliance is not just put on the retreat, but their retreat becomes divided.


Although the context does not suggest this, it is also reasonable that Abram and his men specifically targeted the leaders of the eastern alliance. It is much easier to kill a snake whose head has been cut off.


A mob does not think. A retreating army does not think. They are operating on fear. They do not stop and collectively realize, “If we were being attacked by a really large army, then they would have set up troops in the north to kill us as we try to escape. However, since this passageway is clear, that means, this attacking army cannot be very large.” But there is no collective thinking; only collective emoting.


God will later promise: “Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.” (Lev. 26:8). “A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill." (Isaiah 30:17).


The last thing an army of thousands expects is to be attacked by a tiny enveloping force. This tactic is usually employed by a larger force, because they can afford to split up their troops. Abram and company would have moved in and quietly killed as many men as possible before waking up the eastern army. The guard of this army would have been minimal because they had just soundly defeated their enemies, and enslaved many of them. Therefore, they had no idea there was any enemy force out there. So, they wake up from drunken stupors, they see many dead bodies around them, and an advancing force, which they can now hear coming from two directions. Those who are still alive, panic and retreat. Based upon what they hear, they can escape by moving northward and eastward.


During their escape, the enemy forces left behind all of the things and people which they took. Abram and his very small army begin to gather these things up and to free the captives. There is no indication that these captives took part in the pursuit of the eastern alliance. Possibly they did, but we have no way of knowing.


This victory is profound and it will change history for the next few hundred years. Quite obviously, the kings of the east found these western lands as a great producer of wealth, which they could siphon off as tribute. They went through the region around the Dead Sea and methodically defeated several groups of people from whom they would later collect taxes. However, the successful attack of Abram’s army changes everything. All that they fought for, they lost. They put all their money on red, and it came up black. Whereas, these kings of the east thought that this would be a great enterprise, they are instead sent packing, their great alliance destroyed by a mystery force (a mystery to them). For at least 100 years, and maybe longer, this is going to keep the eastern armies from coming down into the west and attempting to subjugate them.


What is the result? Abram and those associated with Abram are going to have a great deal of respect in the west; the God of Abram will be given great respect, even among the Philistines (or those who occupy Philistine area). For the most part, Abram will travel throughout the land of Canaan and he will be given great deference by the peoples of that area.


However, what would not change is the degeneracy of Sodom and Gomorrah. They were on a great path of degeneracy and they will continue down that path.


——————————


And so he causes to return all the substance and also Lot, his brother and his substance. He brought back, and also, the women and the people.

Genesis

14:16

Abram [lit., he] brought back all of the wealth as well as Lot, his relative, and his wealth. He also brought back the women and the people.

Abram brought back all of the wealth that had been taken, as well as Lot, Lot’s possession, and all of the women and the people of that area who were to be enslaved.


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                And he brought back all the substance, and also Lot his brother and his substance he brought back, and also the women and the people.

Latin Vulgate                          And he brought back all the substance, and Lot his brother, with his substance, the women also, and the people.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so he causes to return all the substance and also Lot, his brother and his substance. He brought back, and also, the women and the people.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And he brought back all the goods, and also brought back Lot, his nephew, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

Septuagint (Greek)                And he recovered all the cavalry of Sodom, and he recovered Lot his nephew, and all his possessions, and the women and the people.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Common English Bible           He brought back all of the looted property, together with his relative Lot and Lot's property, wives, and people.

Contemporary English V.       ...and Abram went after them. He brought back his nephew Lot, together with Lot's possessions and the women and everyone else who had been captured.

Easy English                          Then Abram brought back all the goods. He brought back his nephew Lot and Lot's possessions. Abram also brought back the women and the other people.

Easy-to-Read Version            Then Abram brought back all the things that the enemy had stolen. Abram brought back the women and servants, and also Lot and everything Lot owned.

Good News Bible (TEV)         ...and got back all the loot that had been taken. He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other prisoners.

The Message                         They recovered all the plunder along with nephew Lot and his possessions, including the women and the people.

New Berkeley Version           He recaptured all the loot and brought back his kinsman Lot and his possessions with the women and the people.

New Century Version             Then Abram brought back everything the enemy had stolen, the women and the other people, and Lot, and everything Lot owned.

New Life Bible                        Then Abram returned with all the things they had taken. He also returned with his brother's son Lot and all that belonged to him, and the women and the people.

The Voice                               After the battle Abram recovered all the spoils the enemy had taken and brought them back with him. He rescued his nephew Lot and brought him back, along with his goods; there were other captives, too, including some women whom he rescued.


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          So, he recovered all the horses of Sodom, his nephew Lot, all of his possessions, the women, and all the rest of the people.

God’s Word                         He brought back everything they had, including women and soldiers. He also brought back his relative Lot and his possessions.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       ...and he brought back all that wealth with him, Lot, too, and the wealth that was his, and the women, and the common folk.

New American Bible              He recovered all the possessions, besides bringing back his kinsman Lot and his possessions, along with the women and the other captives.

NIRV                                      Abram took back all of the things the kings had taken. He brought back his nephew Lot and the things Lot owned. He also brought back the women and the other people.

New Jerusalem Bible             He recaptured all the goods as well as his kinsman Lot and his possessions, together with the women and people.


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

The Expanded Bible              Then Abram brought back ·everything the enemy had stolen [Lall their possessions/goods], the women and the other people, and Lot, and ·everything Lot owned [Lhis goods/possessions].

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 And he recovered all the property, as well as Lot his relative, and his property together with the men and the people.

NET Bible®                             He retrieved all the stolen property [The word "stolen" is supplied in the translation for clarification.]. He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of [The phrase "the rest of " has been supplied in the translation for clarification.] the people.


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Complete Jewish Bible           He recovered all the goods and brought back his nephew Lot with his goods, together with the women and the other people.

exeGeses companion Bible   And he returns all his acquisitions

and also returns his brother Lot and his acquisitions

and also the women and the people:...

Judaica Press Complete T.    And he restored all the possessions, and also Lot his brother and his possessions he restored, and also the women and the people.

Kaplan Translation                 [Abram] brought back all the property. He also brought back his kinsman Lot and all his goods, along with the women and the [other] people.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And he recovered all the possessions, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his possessions, and the nashim also, and the people.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ he~ will~ make~ Turn.back At All the~ Goods and~ Also At “Loth [Covering]” Brother~ him and~ Goods~ him he~ had~ make~ Turn.back and~ Also At the~ Woman~ s and~ At the~ People

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...and he returned all of the goods and also “Loth [Covering]” his brother and his goods he returned and also the women and the people,...

Concordant Literal Version    And restoring is he all the goods of Sodom, and, moreover, he restored Lot, his brother, and his goods, and moreover, the women and the people.

Darby Translation                  And he brought back all the property, and brought again his brother Lot and his property, and the women also, and the people.

English Standard Version      Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people..

Syndein/Thieme                     {Abram's 2nd Victory - Military Success}

And he caused {through military action} to be returned all the goods {great wealth} and also caused to bring again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. {Note: Probably millions and millions of dollars of materialistic 'things'. All the people taken prisoner and all of their wealth. Another test of God. What was Abram's motivation in attacking Chedorlaomer? To make money or get back a relative and fellow (though 'carnal') believer?}.

World English Bible                He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative, Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

Young’s Updated LT             And he brings back the whole of the substance, and also Lot his brother and his substance has he brought back, and also the women and the people.

 

The gist of this verse:          Abram brought back the people and things which the kings of the east had taken.


Genesis 14:16a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

shûwb (שוּב) [pronounced shoobv]

to cause to return, to bring, to be caused to turn back mentally, reminisce, to return something, to restore, to bring back, to send back, to regain, to recover, to make restitution, reconsider, think again, to be caused to return

3rd person masculine singular, Hiphil imperfect

Strong's #7725 BDB #996

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

kôl (כֹּל) [pronounced kohl]

the whole, all of, the entirety of, all; can also be rendered any of

masculine singular construct followed by a definite article

Strong’s #3605 BDB #481

rekûwsh (רְכוּש) [pronounced rehk-OOSH]

that which is acquired; substance, wealth; [moveable, transportable] property, goods; possessions; livestock

masculine singular noun with the definite article

Strong’s #7399 BDB #940


Translation: Abram [lit., he] brought back all of the wealth... Abram and his very small army brought back all of the wealth that had been taken. Now, even if Abram had 1000 men, he could not have brought back all that was taken, but he had help.


Genesis 14:16b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

gam (גַם) [pronounced gahm]

also, furthermore, in addition to, even, moreover

adverb

Strong’s #1571 BDB #168

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

Lôwţ (לוֹט) [pronounced loht]

hidden; a covering, a veil; wrapped up; transliterated Lot

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #3876 BDB #532

ʾâch (אָח) [pronounced awhk]

brother, half-brother; kinsman or close relative; one who resembles

masculine singular noun with the 3rd person masculine singular suffix

Strong's #251 BDB #26

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

rekûwsh (רְכוּש) [pronounced rehk-OOSH]

that which is acquired; substance, wealth; [moveable, transportable] property, goods; possessions; livestock

masculine singular noun with the 3rd person masculine singular suffix

Strong’s #7399 BDB #940


Translation: ...as well as Lot, his relative, and his wealth. Lot was rescued and all the Lot owned. When Lot separated from Abram, he had a great deal of wealth. We do not know how much he possessed at this time, however.


Genesis 14:16c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

shûwb (שוּב) [pronounced shoobv]

to cause to return, to bring, to be caused to turn back mentally, reminisce, to return something, to restore, to bring back, to send back, to regain, to recover, to make restitution, reconsider, think again, to be caused to return

3rd person masculine singular, Hiphil perfect

Strong's #7725 BDB #996

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

gam (גַם) [pronounced gahm]

also, furthermore, in addition to, even, moreover

adverb

Strong’s #1571 BDB #168

Together, the wâw conjunction and the gam particle might mean together with, along with, joined with, and, furthermore, and furthermore.

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

nâshîym (נָשִים) [pronounced naw-SHEEM]

women, wives

feminine plural noun; irregular plural of Strong’s #802; with the definite article

Strong’s #802 BDB #61

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

ʿam (עַם) [pronounced ģahm]

people; race, tribe; family, relatives; citizens, common people; companions, servants; entire human race; herd [of animals]

masculine singular collective noun with the definite article

Strong’s #5971 BDB #766


Translation: He also brought back the women and the people. The kings of the east had taken these people with the intent of enslaving them. That was the choice that they had been given—they either paid tribute to Chedorlaomer each year or they risked being enslaved by him for the rest of their lives. Abram saved them from this fate.


It is quite likely that Abram had freed these goods and peoples at the initial attack; or at least the majority of them. Had he just turned and ran with them, they would have been pursued and likely defeated. Abram did what was most prudent and continued the battle in pursuit, unequivocally defeating his enemy and rescuing all the goods and peoples. This is God's grace extended to Sodom and Gomorrah prior to their judgement. They now have every reason to respect Abram and to find out about his God. They were unable as five armies to defeat the four kings and their armies, yet Abram was able to accomplish this. These cities of the Salt Sea were rescued by Abram. He did for them what they could not do for themselves. There is a chance for their redemption at this point, but they will not take it.


Notice that one of the most important things taken and then retrieved is the women. Women in the ancient world were often captured by the opposing force and either raped or taken with the prevailing army as booty. They became the wives of the soldiers who killed their men. This is how some races intermingled. Their removal from the losing army was a crushing blow and a total defeat of the morale.


Gen 14:16 Then he brought back all the possessions, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his possessions, and the women and the people.


Abram rescues all of those who are taken as slaves, along with all of their things, and he brings them back to the king of Sodom. This is a very unusual move. There would have been nothing unusual about Abram retaining all of the people as his slaves and/or as wives for himself. He could have legitimately kept every person and every item of treasure, and no one would have questioned him.


There is an interesting difference in tenses here. We find the Hiphil of shûwb (שוּב) [pronounced shoobv], which means to cause to return, to bring [back], to return something, to restore, to regain, to recover, to be caused to return. Strong's #7725 BDB #996. With regards to the possessions, the verb is used in the imperfect tense, which indicates continual action, which requires some time, or a process. The eastern alliance had stolen so much, that gathering all that they had taken took several trips to recover (some was probably taken in the retreat, and then dropped in the retreat). However, with regards to the people, who were taken to become slaves, they were brought back in the Hiphil perfect tense, which means, it occurred all at once.


Gen.14:1–15 At that time four kings-King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim- went to war against five kings-King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). The five kings joined forces and met in the valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea). For 12 years they had been subject to Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and his allies came and defeated the Rephaim at Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim at Ham, the Emim at Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, going as far as El Paran on the edge of the desert. On their way back, they came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who were living at Hazazon Tamar. Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and prepared for battle in the valley of Siddim. They fought against King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Shinar, and King Arioch of Ellasar-four kings against five. The valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. As the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell because of the tar pits, but the other kings fled to the hills. So the four kings took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as all their food, and left. They also took Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions since he was living in Sodom. Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew what had happened. He was living next to the oak trees belonging to Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner. (These men were Abram's allies.) When Abram heard that his nephew had been captured, he armed his 318 trained men, born in his own household, and pursued the four kings all the way to Dan. He split up his men to attack them at night. He defeated them, pursuing them all the way to Hobah, which is north of Damascus.


In these previous few verses, there was a world war between a coalition of western kings fighting for their freedom against an alliance of eastern kings who had enslaved them. The eastern alliance soundly defeated the western coalition, taking all of their wealth and placing their people into slavery. However, Abram, an unknown quantity in all this, attacked the eastern alliance with a pincher movement, in a surprise night raid, making them think that Abram commanded a much larger force.


Not only did Abram defeat this eastern alliance, but He kept pursuing them for a very long time. Here is the idea: if, after 2 or 3 miles, Abram stopped the pursuit, the frightened and disorganized eastern alliance would realize that they are no longer being pursued. Therefore, they would then stop, take stock of their army, and go back for their spoils, after a pep talk. So, God the Holy Spirit lets us know that Abram did not just send these men running, but Abram pursued them for miles. Bear in mind that there would have been male captives who would have been cut loose, and they would themselves have the weapons of the dead soldiers from the east. So it is possible that Abram’s army was probably much larger now, as he pursued the kings from the east.


However, the initial attack was made with 318 men + whatever confederates were gathered from Abram’s friendship with the 3 brothers.


What is fascinating is, although the details of many engagements are limited, there is usually enough information included in order for us to put together a more complete entire picture. Even though it appears as though all we know is, Abram and his 318 men attack the armies of 4 eastern kings, and send them running far into the north and the northeast, there are enough clues to allow us to deduce the details of this battle.


Elsewhere in Scripture, there is an amazing battle between Joab and his Israeli army, who are caught between the Ammonite army and a large contingent of Aramæan mercenaries, and he somehow defeats them (this is 2Sam. 10). Although the details are sketchy, there is enough information to explain how an inferior army could be trapped between 2 formidable armies, one of which is technologically superior to Joab’s army, and yet win (and without a miracle). In fact, Joab defeats the Aramæans because of their technological superiority. This is a lesson we need to learn in the United States. We are the most superior technological military force in all human history, but there are ways this can be used against us.


My point is, there are enough strategy and tactics in the Bible to provide great insight to the techniques of war, which, apparently, even General George Patton attested to. General Patton was well-acquainted with the Bible—even more so than some of the preachers who falsely proclaimed pacifism from their pulpits. George Patton said: "These pulpit killers [a reference to preachers to false preach pacifism, which results in the death of many] that go around saying that the Bible says that man dare not kill causes the death of many thousands of good soldiers. Damn little those pulpit killers know about the Bible. They know even less about the way God works. They should read all of the Bible, not just the part they like! God never hesitated to kill. God never hesitates to kill when one man or any race of man needed to be punished. God helped David kill Goliath, didn't He? How about Noah and the Ark? All of the rest of the people were killed in the flood! God took the blame for this mass murder. How about the Red Sea which opened up long enough for one race to escape and another race to be killed. Don't talk to me about God not permitting man to kill. War means that we have to kill people. That's all there is to it. It is a sin not to kill if we are serving on God's side. There is no other way to win. Wars must be won for God's sake. He has a part in every war! The quicker we can kill the enemy, the quicker we can go home and listen to the pulpit killers tell us what we did wrong. If it wasn't for us, those pulpit idiots would be shot for standing in their own pulpits. Our task is to kill the enemy before we are killed."


——————————


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


Abram, Melchizedek and the King of Sodom


And so goes out a king of Sodom to meet him after his return from striking Chedorlaomer and the kings who [are] with him unto a Valley of Shaveh (that [is], a Valley of the King).

Genesis

14:17

Consequently, the king of Sodom went out to meet him after he returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings that [were] with him in the Valley of Shaveh (that [is], the Valley of the King).

Consequently, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram after he returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the Valley of the King).


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                And the king of Sedom came forth, after that he returned from destroying Kedarlaomer and the kings who were with him, to meet him at the plain of Mephana, which was the king's race-course. [JERUSALEM. And the kings who were with him, at the plain of vision which was the house of the king's plain.]

Latin Vulgate                          And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after he returned from the slaughter of Chodorlahomor, and of the kings that were with him in the vale of Save, which is the king's vale.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so goes out a king of Sodom to meet him after his return from striking Chedorlaomer and the kings who [are] with him unto a Valley of Shaveh (that [is], a Valley of the King).

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And the king of Sodom went out to greet him, after his return from the destruction of the forces of Cardlaamar, and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, that is, the kings valley.

Septuagint (Greek)                And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after he returned from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and the kings with him, to the valley of Shaveh; this was the plain of the kings.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Common English Bible           Abram blessed by Melchizedek

After Abram returned from his attack on Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom came out to the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King's Valley) to meet him.

Contemporary English V.       Abram returned after he had defeated King Chedorlaomer and the other kings. Then the king of Sodom went to meet Abram in Shaveh Valley, which is also known as King's Valley.

Easy English                          Abram had defeated Chedorlaomer. And he had defeated the other kings that were helping Chedorlaomer. After that, Abram returned. Then the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley called Shaveh (the King's Valley).

Easy-to-Read Version            Then Abram went home after he defeated Kedorlaomer and the kings with Kedorlaomer. When he came home, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh. (This is now called King’s Valley.)

The Message                         After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and his allied kings, the king of Sodom came out to greet him in the Valley of Shaveh, the King's Valley.

New Berkeley Version           Upon his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and his royal allies, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Shaveh valley — the King’s vale.

New Living Translation           Melchizedek Blesses Abram

After Abram returned from his victory over Kedorlaomer and all his allies, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

The Voice                               After Abram and his men defeated Chedorlaomer and the other kings allied with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him on his return at the valley of Shaveh (an area also known as the King's Valley).


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          And after [Abram] returned from the slaughter of ChodolLogomor and the other kings who were with him; the king of Sodom went out to the valley of Saby (the Plain of the King) to meet with him.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       Thus he defeated Chodorlahomor, and the kings who were with him. And as he came back, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Savé, which is the same as the Royal Valley;...

New American Bible (R.E.)    When Abram returned from his defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were allied with him, the king of Sodom went out to greet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

NIRV                                      After Abram won the battle over Kedorlaomer and the kings who helped him, he returned. The king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh. The Valley of Shaveh was also called the King's Valley.

Revised English Bible            On Abram’s return from defeating Kedorlaomer and the allied kings, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the valley of Shaveh, which is now the King’s Valley.


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Ancient Roots Translinear      After his return from smiting Chedorlaomer and the kings with him, the king of Sodom proceeded to greet him at the vale and reckoned him king of the vale.

Bible in Basic English             And when he was coming back after putting to flight Chedorlaomer and the other kings, he had a meeting with the king of Sodom in the valley of Shaveh, that is, the King's Valley.

The Expanded Bible              After defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, Abram ·went home [Lreturned]. As he was returning, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (now called King's Valley [Csomewhere in the vicinity of Jerusalem]).

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 The king of Sodom then met him to congratulate him after his return from defeating Kedarlaomer, and the kings who were with him at the Devil’s Valley [“(The same as the King’s Valley)” is an inserted note of an ancient transcriber, not a part of the original text. I therefore put it at the foot of the page—F.F.].

NET Bible®                             After Abram [Heb "he"; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.] returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram [Heb "him"; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.] in the Valley of Shaveh (known as the King's Valley [The King's Valley is possibly a reference to what came to be known later as the Kidron Valley.]).


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Complete Jewish Bible           After his return from slaughtering K'dorla'omer and the kings with him, the king of S'dom went out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley, also known as the King's Valley.

exeGeses companion Bible   ...and the sovereign of Sedom goes out to meet him

after his return from the smiting of Kedorlaomer

and the sovereigns with him

at the valley of Shaveh - Ham Melech.

Kaplan Translation                 After he returned from his victory over Chedorlaomer and his allied kings, the king of Sodom came out to greet him in Level Valley [Emek Shaveh in Hebrew.] (now King's Valley [Emek HaMelekh. It was probably near Jerusalem; see 2 Samuel 18:18.]).

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And the Melech Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the defeat of Kedorlaomer, and of the. melachim that were with him, at the Valley of Shaveh, which is the Valley of the King.

The Scriptures 1998              And after his return from the defeat of Keorlaʽomer and the sovereigns who were with him, the sovereign of Seom came out to meet him at the Valley of Shawĕh, that is, the Sovereignʼs Valley.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

The Amplified Bible                After his [Abram's] return from the defeat and slaying of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh, that is, the King's Valley.

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ he~ will~ Go.out King “Sedom [Secret]” to~ >~ Meet~ him After >~ Turn.back~ him from~ >~ make~ Hit At “Kedarla'omer [Attack for sheaves]” and~ At the~ King~s Which At~ him To Valley “Shaweh [Plain]” He Valley the~ King

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...and the king of “Sedom [Secret]” came out to meet him after his turning back from hitting “Kedarla'omer [Attack for sheaves]” and the kings which were with him, to the valley of “Shaweh [Plain]”, he is the valley of the king,...

Concordant Literal Version    And forth is faring the king of Sodom to meet him, after his return from smiting Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the vale Shaveh (It is now the vale of the king).

English Standard V. – UK       Abram Blessed by Melchizedek

After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

Syndein/Thieme                     {Verses 17-23: Victory Over Motivation}

{Abram's 3rd Victory - Against the Lust of the Cosmic System - Plot of King of Sodom against Abram - Trying to make himself Greater than Abram - Satanic Attack}

And the king of Sodom {another fugitive who made it} aggressively advanced {yatsa} 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. {Note: Yatsa in the Qal imperfect means to aggressively advance as in an 'attack'. But here is a mental evil attack against Abram. A battle against his soul if you will. To 'rob' Abram of his victory of grace - by obscuring the grace motivation and the grace principal.}.

Third Millennium Bible            And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (which is the King's Dale) after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and of the kings who were with him.

World English Bible                The king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (the same is the King's Valley).

Young’s Updated LT             And the king of Sodom goes out to meet him (after his turning back from the smiting of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings who are with him), unto the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s valley.

 

The gist of this verse:          The king of Sodom came out to meet Abram.


Genesis 14:17a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

yâtsâʾ (יָצָא) [pronounced yaw-TZAWH]

to go [come] out, to go [come] forth; to rise; to flow, to gush up [out]

3rd person masculine singular, Qal imperfect

Strong's #3318 BDB #422

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

Çedôm (סְדֹם) [pronounced sehd-OHM]

burning; which is transliterated Sodom

masculine singular locative noun

Strong’s #5467 BDB #690

lâmed (לְ) [pronounced le]

to, for, towards, in regards to

directional/relational preposition

No Strong’s # BDB #510

qârâʾ (קָרָא) [pronounced kaw-RAW]

to encounter, to befall, to meet; to assemble [for the purpose of encountering God or exegeting His Word]; to come, to assemble

Qal infinitive construct with the 3rd person masculine singular suffix

Strong’s #7122 & #7125 BDB #896

This is the first occurrence of this word in Scripture. Its homonym has already occurred, however, many times in the book of Genesis. Strong’s #7121.

The lâmed with an infinitive construct generally expresses purpose or result, although it can have three other common uses with the infinitive: (1) It can have a gerundial or adverbial sense to explain the circumstances of a previous action; (2) it can act as a periphrastic future in nominal clauses; and, (3)  Comment it can behave as a gerund, in the sense of is to be, must be, ought to be. (4) Lâmed with the infinitive can connote shall or must.


Translation: Consequently, the king of Sodom went out to meet him... It is unclear where the king of Sodom has come from. Was he among the prisoners that the kings of the east had taken? That seems the most likely. However, the way that this is stated does not suggest that to be the case. That is, we do not have verbiage like, “And one of the prisoners was the king of Sodom, and...” The text is not clear at this point where this king came from, whether out from the group of prisoners or from some hiding place.


Genesis 14:17b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

ʾachărêy (אַחֲרֵי) [pronounced ah-kuh-RAY]

behind, after; following; after that, afterwards; hinder parts

preposition; plural form

Strong’s #310 BDB #29

shûwb (שוּב) [pronounced shoobv]

to return, to turn, to turn back, to reminisce, to restore something, to bring back something, to revive, to recover something, to make restitution

Qal infinitive construct with the 3rd person masculine singular suffix

Strong's #7725 BDB #996

A Qal infinitive construct with a preposition can introduce a purpose clause, a result clause or a temporal clause.

min (מִן) [pronounced min]

from, off, out from, of, out of, away from, on account of, since, than, more than

preposition of separation

Strong's #4480 BDB #577

nâkâh (נָכָה) [pronounced naw-KAWH]

to smite, to assault, to hit, to strike, to strike [something or someone] down, to defeat, to conquer, to subjugate

Hiphil infinitive construct

Strong #5221 BDB #645

A Qal infinitive construct with a preposition can introduce a purpose clause, a result clause or a temporal clause.

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

Kedorelâʿômer (כְּדָרְלָעֹמֶר) [pronounced ked-or-law-OH-mehr]

handful of sheaves; transliterated Chedorlaomer

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #3540 BDB #462

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine plural noun with the definite article

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

ʾăsher (אֲֹשֶר) [pronounced uh-SHER]

that, which, when, who, whom

relative pronoun

Strong's #834 BDB #81

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

with, at, near, by, among, directly from

preposition (which is identical to the sign of the direct object); with the 3rd person masculine singular suffix

Strong's #854 BDB #85

ʾel (אֶל) [pronounced ehl]

unto; into, among, in; toward, to; against; concerning, regarding; besides, together with; as to

directional preposition (respect or deference may be implied)

Strong's #413 BDB #39

ʿemeq (עֶמֶק) [pronounced ĢEH-mek]

valley, vale, lowland, deepening, depth

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #6010 BDB #770

Shâvêh (שָוֵה) [pronounced shaw-VAY]

level plain; transliterated Shaveh

proper singular noun/location

Strong’s #7740 BDB #1001


Translation: ...after he returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings that [were] with him in the Valley of Shaveh... We know that Abram primarily defeated Chedorlaomer and his allies in the Valley of Shaveh, mentioned only here.


Genesis 14:17c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

hûwʾ (הוּא) [pronounced hoo]

he, it; himself as a demonstrative pronoun: that, this (one); same

3rd person masculine singular, personal pronoun; sometimes the verb to be, is implied

Strong’s #1931 BDB #214

This appears to allow, from time to time, a translation of which [is].

ʿemeq (עֶמֶק) [pronounced ĢEH-mek]

valley, vale, lowland, deepening, depth

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #6010 BDB #770

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular noun with the definite article

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572


Translation:...(that [is], the Valley of the King). This place is also known as the Valley of the King. Is the Holy Spirit telling us here that the Revealed Lord, Jesus Christ, the King of Glory, took part in this war? Abram went to war with very little (although the eastern alliance does not know this). They were probably outnumbered at least 100 to 1.


This area is near Salem (Jerusalem) and Josephus places it only a quarter mile outside of Jerusalem. It was originally called the valley of Shaveh, and, because of this meeting, the valley of the King. The kings of the pentapolis are grateful to Abram and have respect for him. However, rather than name this the valley of the kings, it was named the valley of the King, following this meeting. It is my contention that this is Abram''s witness to these men of his ruler, his king, the Lord God of the universe.


Gen.14:16–17 Abram [lit., he] brought back everything they had, including women and soldiers [literally, people]. He also brought back his relative Lot and his possessions. After Abram came back from defeating Chedorlaomer and his allies, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King's Valley).


Abram probably sends out men ahead, and who carry the news of the defeat of this great Eastern Alliance. They probably also arranged a meeting between Abram and the king of Sodom, as this war ran right through his front yard. Abram has been living in this land for a long time now, so he apparently shows some deference to the city-kings of the land. He is probably well-known to the people of the land of Canaan, but not to the kings of the Eastern Alliance. Abram would have been unknown to this Eastern Alliance because he moved around so often. They did not know who he was, how many were in his camp, what they were capable of, etc. Abram’s army and his coalition with the 3 brothers were a complete unknown to the eastern forces. Therefore, when Abram attacked them, they did not say to themselves, “Look, this is just Abram, some wandering cattleman; he only has a few hundred men with him.” They did not know him, and therefore, were defeated by him. You must know your enemy is an axiom of war dating back at least to Sun Tzu. Here, over a millennium before Sun Tzu, this axiom is implied, but not stated directly.


As an application, this is why we have the CIA; this is why the Brits have MI5 and MI6. This is why Israel has Mossad. These intelligence gathering agencies are constantly gathering information about both friends and enemies. The Mossad, in August of 2001, allegedly warned the United States of an imminent threat of perhaps 200 terrorist who had slipped into the United States and were planning an attack against us. The better we know our enemy, the more able we are to defeat him.


Back to Abram and the King of Salem. Where they meet is called the Valley of Shaveh which is also called the Valley of the King. The Bible only names this area twice—here and in 2Sam. 18:18 (where it is called the Valley of the Kings). This is where Abram will meet Melchizedek, the King of Salem, which is Jerusalem. Therefore, we know that Abram’s attack upon this army occurred after they moved further north, parallel to and on the west side of the Salt Sea. Because this king named here, we know that we are somewhere close to Jerusalem.


——————————


And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine (and he [was] priest to El the Most High.

Genesis

14:18

Also, Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He [was] a priest to El the Most High.

Also, Melchizedek, the king of Salem, came out with bread and wine. He was a priest for that city to God the Most High.


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                And Malka Zadika, who was Shem bar Noah, the king of Yerushalem, came forth to meet Abram, and brought forth to him bread and wine; and in that time he ministered before Eloha Ilaha.

Jerusalem targum                  And Malki Zedek, king of Yerushalem, who was Shem, who was the great priest of the Most High.

Latin Vulgate                          But Melchisedech, the king of Salem, bringing forth bread and wine, for he was the priest of the most high God.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine (and he [was] priest to El the Most High.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of the Most High God.

Septuagint (Greek)                And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth loaves and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Common English Bible           Now Melchizedek the king of Salem and the priest of El Elyon [Or God Most High] had brought bread and wine,...

Easy-to-Read Version            Melchizedek, the king of Salem, also went to meet Abram. Melchizedek was a priest of God Most High. Melchizedek brought bread and wine.

New Berkeley Version           Melchizedek, too, king of Salem and priest to God Most Night, brought out food and wine.

New Life Bible                        Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was a religious leader of God Most High.

The Voice                               The priest-king of Jerusalem [Hebrew, Salem], Melchizedek, came out to meet him as well and brought out bread and wine for them. Melchizedek was a priest of the One whom he called the "the Most High God [Hebrew, El Elyon]."


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          Then MelchiZedek (the king of Salem) brought him loaves [of bread] and wine. He was the Priest of the Most High God,...

New Advent (Knox) Bible       Melchisedech, too, was there, the king of Salem. And he, priest as he was of the most high God, brought out bread and wine with him,...

New American Bible              Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram with these words:... Salem: traditionally identified with Jerusalem ( Psalm 76:3), but the Hebrew text is not certain; instead of the present melek shalem ("king of Salem"), the original may have been melek shelomo ("a king allied to him"). In Hebrews 7:2 "king of Salem" is interpreted as "king of peace" (shalom).

New American Bible (R.E.)    Melchizedek, king of Salem,* brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God Most High. Melchizedek, king of Salem (Jerusalem, cf. Ps 76:3), appears with majestic suddenness to recognize Abraham's great victory, which the five local kings were unable to achieve. He prepares a feast in his honor and declares him blessed or made powerful by God Most High, evidently the highest God in the Canaanite pantheon. Abraham acknowledges the blessing by giving a tenth of the recaptured spoils as a tithe to Melchizedek. The episode is one of several allusions to David, king at Jerusalem, who also exercised priestly functions (2 Sm 6:17). Heb 7 interprets Melchizedek as a prefiguration of Christ. God Most High: in Heb. El Elyon, one of several "El names" for God in Genesis, others being El Olam (21:33), El the God of Israel (33:20), El Roi (16:13), El Bethel (35:7), and El Shaddai (the usual P designation for God in Genesis). All the sources except the Yahwist use El as the proper name for God used by the ancestors. The god El was well-known across the ancient Near East and in comparable religious literature. The ancestors recognized this God as their own when they encountered him in their journeys and in the shrines they found in Canaan.

NIRV                                      Melchizedek was the king of Jerusalem. He brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of God Most High.

Revised English Bible            Then the king of Salem, Melchizedek, brought food and wine. He was priest of God Most High,...


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Ancient Roots Translinear      Melchizedek, king of Jerusalem, proceeded with bread and wine. He was the priest of the supreme God.

Bible in Basic English             And Melchizedek, king of Salem, the priest of the Most High God, took bread and wine,...

The Expanded Bible              Melchizedek king of ·Salem [Cprobably an old name of Jerusalem] brought out bread and wine. He was a priest for God Most High [Ps. 110; Heb. 5:6-10; 6:20-7:28]...

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 Melkizedek, also, king of Salem, came out to them with wine; and he was a priest of Almighty God.

NET Bible®                             Melchizedek king of Salem [Salem is traditionally identified as the Jebusite stronghold of old Jerusalem. Accordingly, there has been much speculation about its king. Though some have identified him with the preincarnate Christ or with Noah's son Shem, it is far more likely that Melchizedek was a Canaanite royal priest whom God used to renew the promise of the blessing to Abram, perhaps because Abram considered Melchizedek his spiritual superior. But Melchizedek remains an enigma. In a book filled with genealogical records he appears on the scene without a genealogy and then disappears from the narrative. In Psalm 110 the Lord declares that the Davidic king is a royal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek.] brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God [The parenthetical disjunctive clause significantly identifies Melchizedek as a priest as well as a king.] [It is his royal priestly status that makes Melchizedek a type of Christ: He was identified with Jerusalem, superior to the ancestor of Israel, and both a king and a priest. Unlike the normal Canaanites, this man served “God Most High” (אֵל עֶלְיוֹן, ’el ’elyon) – one sovereign God, who was the creator of all the universe. Abram had in him a spiritual brother.].)


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Complete Jewish Bible           Malki-Tzedek king of Shalem brought out bread and wine. He was cohen of El 'Elyon [God Most High],...

exeGeses companion Bible   MALKI SEDEQ

And Malki Sedeq sovereign of Shalem

brings bread and wine;

and he is priest of El Elyon:.

Hebrew Names Version         Malki-Tzedek king of Shalem brought out bread and wine: and he was Kohen of El `Elyon.

Kaplan Translation                 Malkhi-tzedek [Usually transliterated Melchizedek, literally 'Righteous King' or King of Tzedek.' See Psalms 110:4. He is identified as Shem, the son of Noah (Targum Yonathan; Nedarim 32b; Rashi. However, see 2 Enoch 23:26). Tzedek was a name of Jerusalem, and Malkhi-tzedek was the title given its king, like Pharaoh in Egypt (Radak, Ralbag on Joshua 10:1; cf. Isaiah 1:26).] king of Salem [Jerusalem, cf. Psalms 76:3 (Targum Rashi; Josephus, Antiquities 1:10:2).] brought forth bread and wine. He was a priest to God, the Most High.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And Malki-Tzedek Melech Shalem brought forth lechem and yayin and he was the kohen of El Elyon.

The Scriptures 1998              And Malkitseeq sovereign of Shalĕm brought out bread and wine. Now he was the priest of the Most High Ěl.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

The Amplified Bible                Melchizedek king of Salem [later called Jerusalem] brought out bread and wine [for their nourishment]; he was the priest of God Most High,...

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ “Malkiy-Tsedeq [King of righteousness]” King “Shalem [Complete]” he~ did~ make~ Go.out Bread and~ Wine and~ He Priest To Mighty.one Upper

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...and “Malkiy-Tsedeq [King of righteousness]” was king of “Shalem [Complete]” and he brought out bread and wine and he was priest to the upper mighty one,...

Concordant Literal Version    And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brings forth bread and wine. And he is a priest for the El Supreme.

The Geneva Bible                  And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine [For Abram and his soldiers refreshment, not to offer sacrifice. ]: and he [was] the priest of the most high God.

New King James Version       Abram and Melchizedek

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High.

Syndein/Thieme                     {SuperGrace Believer to the Rescue - A Priest and a King - a 'Type' for Jesus Christ}

And Melchizedek {Malkiy-Tsedeq - name means 'king of righteousness'} king {melek} of Salem {later known as Jerusalem} was caused to advance aggressively {to protect Abram - yatsa} with bread and wine {not with an army, but with foods of spiritual significance - put eyes on the Lord before spiritual attack by the king of Salem, probably motivated by Satan} . . . {BECAUSE} he was the priest {cohen} of the Most High {'elyown} God {'El}. {Note: Yatsa in the Hiphil perfect means to be CAUSED to aggressively advance. Here it is a SuperGrace believer coming to the spiritual aid of one less mature than he is. } {Note: Abram's friends are baby believers. Now Abram needs a mature believer Superior to Abram spiritually. To spiritually protect Abram from the evil plot of the king of Sodom, Melchizedek was caused to advance to protect Abram!}.

World English Bible                Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High.

Young’s Updated LT             And Melchizedek king of Salem has brought out bread and wine, and he is priest of God Most High.

 

The gist of this verse:          Melchizedek, the king of Salem, and a priest to God, comes out to meet Abram, and he has bread and wine.


Genesis 14:18a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

Malekîy Tsedeq (מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק) [pronounced mahle-KEE-TSEH-dek]

my king is Tsedek (righteous, righteousness), king of Tsedek and is transliterated Melchizedek

masculine proper noun

Strong’s #4442 BDB #575

BDB: [The] king of Salem and priest of the Most High God to whom Abram paid tithe after the battle he fought to free Lot; ‘the order of Melchizedek’ the order of the priesthood to which Christ belongs.

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

Shâlêm (שָלֵם) [pronounced shaw-LAIM]

whole; complete, completed, finished; safe, at peace; cherishing peace and friendship; transliterated Salem

masculine singular proper noun/location

Strong’s #8004 BDB #1024

yâtsâʾ (יָצָא) [pronounced yaw-TZAWH]

to cause to go out, to lead out, to bring out, to carry out, to draw out, to take out; [of money:] to put forth, to lay out, to exact; to promulgate; to produce

3rd person masculine singular, Hiphil perfect

Strong's #3318 BDB #422

lechem (לֶחֶם) [pronounced LEH-khem]

literally means bread; used more generally for food

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #3899 BDB #536

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

yayin (יַיִן) [pronounced YAH-yin]

wine

masculine singular noun; pausal form

Strong’s #3196 BDB #406


Translation: Also, Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. The bread and the wine looked forward to Jesus Christ; just as, today, the bread and wine looks backward to the Lord Jesus Christ.


Abram is faced with two kings, and he must choose between these two kings. There is the King of Sodom before him (the king of all things worldly) and also the King of Salem, the King of Peace, named Melchizedek, which means the King of righteousness.


The Melchizedek Special


A Theophany is an appearance by God, the Revealed Lord, before the incarnation of Jesus. A Christophany is an appearance by Jesus after the resurrection. This doctrine explains why Melchizedek was a real person and not a Theophany as some allege.

Melchizedek is a real person; he is not a Theophany

1.      Theophanies are not given real names

2.      Theophanies are never said to be from a specific geographical area—here Salem. This is because the Revealed God is not from some place on earth.

3.      it is always disclosed in a Theophany that He is a messenger from God, but not here.

4.      Melchizedek is called a priest; Jesus is not said to be a priest until after the incarnation.

5.      Psalm 110:4 Jesus is addressed as a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek it does not say You are Melchizedek.

From: http://phrasearch.com/Trans/DBM/setup/Genesis/Gen088.htm accessed July 11, 2013 and from http://syndein.com/Genesis_14.html accessed July 7, 2013.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


God spoke long ago to numerous peoples in many and diverse manners. Melchizedek, mentioned in a narrative only here, is a type of Christ. Jesus Christ is called an High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Heb. 7:2 tells us that Melchizedek means king of righteousness and that ing of Salem means the king of peace. This identifies him with Jesus Christ, our High Priest. A priest is one who represents man to God. Melchizedek is a type, not a preincarnate Christ. That is, he represents or is analogous to Jesus Christ. He foreshadows the Person of Jesus Christ.

melchizedek.jpg

Melchizedek Blesses Abraham by Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin" located at artscroll.ru.


Melchizedek is the Hebrew word Malekîy Tsedeq (מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק) [pronounced mahle-KEE-TSEH-dek]. Tsedeq is the Hebrew word for righteousness and Melek (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lehk] means king. Salem is Shâlêm (שָלֵם), which means whole; complete, completed, finished; safe, at peace; cherishing peace and friendship; transliterated Salem. Strong’s #8004 BDB #1024. We are more familiar with shâlôwm (שָלוֹם) or shâlôm (שָלֹם) [pronounced shaw-LOHM], which varies only by a vowel point and which means peace, prosperity, safe, secure, tranquil, undisturbed, unagitated. Strong’s #7965 BDB #1022.


McGee explains this relationship quite well. With central figures of the Bible, their genealogy is sometimes of utmost importance. An entire chapter almost is spent on the genealogy of Abram. But with Melchizedek, this is a man who steps out of nowhere, is not previously mentioned, there is no genealogy to identify him, and Abram shows him great respect. The name for God here is El Elyon, a term used elsewhere in Scripture for the God of the universe. This is not just a local deity; this is the creator of the universe, and this is clearly monotheism. The author of Hebrews draws the analogy for us in Heb. 7:3: [Melchizedek is] without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he abides [as] as priest forever. Melchizedek comes to us in Scripture out of nowhere, with no mother or father or genealogy and no beginning and no end. As a person, he certainly had these things, but as a person in Scripture, this information is lacking; he is thereby analogous to our Lord Jesus Christ, who is eternal, who comes out of eternity into time, having no beginning and no end to His deity, fully able to be a Priest to God as He is equal to God.


We know only a small fraction of the divine revelation to the world in the Age of the Gentiles. Even though we are following Abraham, the first Hebrew into the Jewish Age, we are still in a transitional period of time. The portion of divine revelation that we know concerning behavior and the laws of worship was that which was given in Scripture as Noah and crew left the ark. We know that God appears to some people (Abram, specifically) in a manner not discussed specifically. Although it seems logical that God also must have appeared to Melchizedek, we do not know that for certain. Since Abram recognizes his priesthood, there is a portion of this story to which we are not privy. We do not know if God has revealed Himself to Abram and has told him about Melchizedek; we do not know if they have met before and God revealed to Melchizedek his function; we are not certain of any of this. However, as a priest to the world, Melchizedek, living in the holy city of the promised land before either was established as such in time, was able to require tithes, which represented obeisance and recognition of his priesthood. Melchizedek has a specific function here; Abram is to guide his own spiritual life and this fellowship and relationship with Melchizedek will help him face some very tempting rewards.


So far, this is what we have: Also, Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. It is in v. 18 that we have the first mention of the city of Jerusalem (Salem). Its existence during this time period is corroborated by the Tel el Amarna Tablets, which were found in Egypt. These tablets are letters written between the kings of Egypt and the kings of the various cities in and around Palestine during the 15th century b.c. The general conditions of Palestine as written in the Bible agree generally with the conditions indicated by these letters.


In fact, as Scofield points out, Archeology again and again shows that the cities mentioned in Genesis preceded in time those cities mentioned in Joshua, which precede those cities mentioned in Kings. This may not seem that important to some, but higher critics of the Bible for centuries have accused the writing of Genesis to come quite later than the tradition time period given for it. However, if that were the case, then the author would have a very difficult time getting the cities correct as their history was no better than our history. We would see some sets of cities over a short period of time in a chronological order, but we would not see the cities in the Bible over millenniums accurately presented in the time-frame that they were presented in. This does not prove the Bible; what archeology does do is reveal that, as we should expect, that God's history of the world is more accurate and objective than any other history recorded by man.


I should mention the bread and the wine. These are similar to the communion elements (although, leaven is not a part of the communion or Passover, since it represents evil). However, this word for wine is used for the drink-offering mentioned several times in Leviticus, so we possibly have the precursor to our communion here, although the writer of Hebrews does not draw any analogies concerning this.


More than likely, this is nothing more than a meal; but it certainly does foreshadow the elements used in communion, and what illustrations communion with God any more than Abram here fellowshipping with Melchizedek, with wine and bread.


Genesis 14:18b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

hûwʾ (הוּא) [pronounced hoo]

he, it; himself as a demonstrative pronoun: that, this (one); same

3rd person masculine singular, personal pronoun; sometimes the verb to be, is implied

Strong’s #1931 BDB #214

kôhên (כֹּהֵן) [pronounced koh-HANE]

priest

masculine singular noun

Strong's #3548 BDB #463

This is the first occurrence of this word in Scripture, and it will not be found again until the end of Genesis.

lâmed (לְ) [pronounced le]

to, for, towards, in regards to

directional/relational preposition

No Strong’s # BDB #510

ʾÊl (אֵל) [pronounced ALE]

God, god, mighty one, strong, hero; transliterated El

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #410 BDB #42

This is the first occurrence of this word in Scripture, although it is found in the book of Job.

ʿEleyôwn (עֶלְיוֹן) [pronounced ģele-YOHN]

high, higher; Most High, highest, Supreme

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #5945 BDB #751

This is the first occurrence of this word in Scripture.


Translation: He [was] a priest to El the Most High. The is the first time the word priest is used as well as the first time this title for God is found. Therefore, we should do some examination of both.


Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)


We have another king now, who was not named among those at war: Melchizedek, the king of Salem.


This leads us to a most important meeting between Abram and Melchizedek, the king of Salem. Salem would be ancient Jerusalem. Salem means peace, so Melchizedek here is the King of Peace. Bear in mind, this was probably written down 2000 years before Jesus walked on this earth. Even the most liberal of historians believe this was written down hundreds of years before Christ (liberal historians are nearly always wrong about theology and history; as has been discussed before, they do not even know this history of our own country).


The name, Melchizedek, means my king is righteousness. So, Melchizedek is the king of peace and his king is the king of righteousness. He is called here, priest of the God Most High. It should not take a genius to figure out Who Melchizedek represents.


This is the first use of the word priest, which is kôhên (כֹּהֵן) [pronounced koh-HANE], which word is principally translated priest. The simplest explanation is, a priest represents man before God; a prophet represents God to man. Ideally speaking, what we would like, as men, is a mediator between God and ourselves—someone who is equal to both parties. This would incorporate the priest and the prophet into one person. There is one God, and there is one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1Tim. 2:5). Jesus is called the great priest over the house of God in Heb. 10:19–21 and our High Priest in Heb. 9:11. Jesus was recognized as a prophet (or as the Prophet) in John 6:14 7:40 9:17 and He is said to be the fulfillment of God raising up a prophet like Moses in Acts 3:22 7:37. Therefore, the first time that we find the word priest, it is reasonable that this man, Melchizedek, is representative of our Lord.


Like much of Genesis, the idea of a priest is presented here in its most basic form. Much of the Mosaic Law associates priests with the offering up of animal sacrifices, but that is not mentioned in this context (perhaps there was an animal sacrifice and perhaps there wasn’t; we don’t know).


What Melchizedek brings out, however, is bread and wine, which are the communion elements, to remind us of our Lord’s body, which was broken for us, and of His blood, which was shed for us—and yet, this incident takes place about 2000 years before the cross. Furthermore, there is not a scholar anywhere who does not believe that this history of Melchizedek preceded the era of Jesus Christ by hundreds of years at the very least.


Throughout the Old Testament there are types of Jesus Christ. If this occurred once or twice, we could simply chalk it up to coincidence. However, these parallels between Jesus Christ and people in the Old Testament are amazing. If a person is truly open-minded, then they cannot explain how such close parallels to Jesus Christ occur in the Old Testament, again and again and again. The only reasonable explanation is, God knows the end from the beginning and God the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of Scripture in the Old and New Testaments. “I am God, and there is no one like Me; I proclaim the end from the beginning and from ancient times, I proclaim things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose' ” (Isa. 46:9b–10). “The former things I declared of old; they went out from my mouth, and I announced them; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.” (Isa. 48:3; see also Isa. 41:22, 26 44:7 45:21). No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2Peter 1:21) . No other explanation else makes any sense.


People do not believe in Jesus Christ because they choose not to believe in Him. It is not that there is some lack of evidence. People do not believe that the Bible is the Word of God because they choose to believe that, not because there is a lack of evidence for such an assertion.

 

A student in a New England university said he had an intellectual problem with Christianity and just could not therefore accept Christ as saviour. “Why can’t you believe?” I asked. He replaced, “The New Testament is not reliable.” I then asked, “If I prove to you that the New Testament is one of the most reliable pieces of literature of antiquity, will you believe?” He retorted, “NO!” “You don’t have a problem with your mind, but with your will,” I answered. From Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict; ©1972 by Campus Crusade for Christ; p. 12.

 

Bertrand Russell is an example of an intelligent atheist who did not give careful examination to the evidence for Christianity. In his essay, “Why I am Not a Christian,” it is obvious that he has not even considered the evidence of and for the resurrection of Jesus and, by his remarks, it is doubtful as to whether he has even glanced at the New Testament. It seems incongruous that a man would not deal with the resurrection in great detail since it is the foundation of Christianity. From Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict; ©1972 by Campus Crusade for Christ; p. 12. McDowell took this from Michael Green’s book Runaway World.


Josh McDowell wrote and rewrote a book called Evidence that Demands a Verdict (along with several incarnations of that book, including A Ready Defense (however, do not start with Evidence that Demands a verdict, Vol. II). If anyone reads this book with an open mind, they must come away with the conclusion that, Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Way, the Truth and the Life; our only gate to God; and that the Bible is the Word of God. Even though we are given salvation for exercising faith in Jesus Christ, that does not mean that the Christian way of life is only based solely upon faith, where all human evidence is opposed to it. God gave us a mind capable of reason and logic, and, if you believe your faith to be weak, then get one of McDowell’s books and feast upon the logic and reason which is the Christian faith.


In McDowell’s book, he collected our Lord’s direct claims to be God, His indirect claims to Deity, and the titles given Him, which are titles of Deity. So, we cannot dismiss Jesus as someone upon whom the concept of Deity was simply overlaid.

 

C. S. Lewis, once an agnostic, wrote, I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict; ©1972 by Campus Crusade for Christ; p. 107, who was quoting C. S. Lewis (I believe from Is Christianity Credible?).


This is followed by a flow chart in McDowell’s book. Under “Jesus Claims to be God” we have two alternatives: His claims were true or His claims were false. Obviously, if His claims are true, then Jesus is our Lord, the Son of God. If His claims are false, then there are two logical alternatives: He knew His claims to be false or He did not know that His claims were false. In the latter case, Jesus is deluded and a lunatic. Does anyone actually believe that to be true? In the alternative, Jesus lied about Who He knew Himself to be, making Him a liar, a hypocrite and probably demonically-influenced or possessed. From Josh McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict; ©1972 by Campus Crusade for Christ; pp. 108–109. What this logically robs a person of is, the patronizing nonsense that Jesus was a great teacher, but He was not God. Analytically, that view makes little sense.


Jesus Claimed to be God—a Logical Approach

┌───────────────────────┴───────────────────────┐

This claim is false This claim is true

│ │

┌────────────┴─────────────────────────┐

Jesus knows this Jesus does not know this

│ │

Jesus is a liar or worse Jesus is a deluded lunatic

       │

Therefore, Jesus is the Son of God, the Lord of Glory, our Savior

In any case, Jesus is not simply a great and wonderful teacher

It would be intellectually dishonest to say, “Okay, Jesus was a great teacher and a deluded lunatic, because the line between insanity and genius is indistinct.” Jesus is quoted today by people of all faiths in all areas in all realms. He is given great respect as a moral teacher all over the world. How do you logically equate Him to some nutjob in a mental hospital? What other mental defectives does all mankind pay this sort of homage to?



Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


Personally, I believe strongly in apologetics (the study of Jesus Christ and Christianity from a logical and empirical point of view), because that was the basis, at first, for the building up my own faith. Even though I believed in Jesus Christ at age 21, this did not mean that my faith was completely solid at that point. I read almost anything I could get my hands on, particularly in the realm of apologetics. The more that I read, the more difficult it was to deny that Jesus is God; that Jesus is our Savior.


Therefore, as we study Melchizedek in the next several lessons, remember that he is one of dozens of men who were shadow-images of our Lord. Again, this shadow image of Jesus does not just occur once or twice in the Old Testament; we see it again and again, in nearly every single Old Testament book. How did approximately 2 dozen independent writers, writing hundreds of years before the incarnation, know to present men in such a way that, they are clearly shadow images of Jesus Christ?


So Abram meets with “My King is My Righteousness,” who is the King of Peace, which king is a priest to the God Most High—the God worshiped by Abram—and who brings out bread and wine, the Communion elements.


Gen. 14:17–18 After Abram returned from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)


We are told in the New Testament that this Melchizedek is a type of Christ. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and he blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever (Heb. 7:1–3; Gen. 14:17–20).


Jesus Christ is called a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4 Heb. 5:6, 10 6:20 7:15). Therefore, there must be some parallels between Jesus Christ and Melchizedek.

Melchizedek is the Type; Jesus Christ is the Antitype

Melchizedek

Jesus Christ

The name Melchizedek means my King is righteousness. This recognizes that our righteousness is in Christ, not in ourselves. Furthermore, this is in keeping with Gen. 15:6, where Abraham has imputed righteousness because he has faith in Jehovah Elohim.

Jesus Christ, our King, is our righteousness. [God is speaking]: "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as king and deal wisely, and He will execute justice and righteousness in the land [of promise]. In His days Judah will be delivered, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which He will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.' ” (Jer. 23:5–6; see also Jer. 33:16 Rom. 3:22 1Cor. 1:30 Phi. 3:9 Heb. 7:2 2Peter 1:1). He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2Cor. 5:21).

Melchizedek is the King of Salem, which means the King of Peace. Heb. 7:2

Jesus Christ is called the Prince of Peace in Isa. 9:6 and Heb. 7:2. To us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6).

Melchizedek brings out the communion elements, the bread and the wine, which represent our Lord’s death on the cross for the atonement of our sins (Gen. 14:18).

The one clear ritual that we are to participate in during the Church Age is the Eucharist, spoken of by Paul in 1Cor. 11:23–36 and by our Lord in the first communion in Matt. 26:26–29, taken the night before He paid for our sins on the cross.

Melchizedek is presented here as without a recorded genealogy; not even his mother or father is mentioned (as we have seen, the recording of genealogies is quite important throughout the Old Testament). Heb. 7:3

The Deity of Jesus Christ has no mother or father, or genealogy, or beginning or end of days. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and he blessed him, and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever (Heb. 7:1–3; Gen. 14:17–20).

Being without a genealogy means that Melchizedek’s authority was not derived from His genealogy (Levitical priests derive their authority from their genealogy).

Jesus Christ is not authoritative because of His genealogy through Mary; He is authoritative because He is the Son of God and because He speaks the truth (Matt. 7:29 9:6 28:18 John 7:17–18). "Point of doctrine: I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.” (John 5:27).

Melchizedek (a type of Christ) blessed Abram. The greater blesses the lesser. Gen. 14:18–19 Heb. 7:1, 4–7 Recall that all nations and people would be blessed because of Abram, in Abram, and because of his seed (Gen. 12:3 18:18 26:4).

We are blessed by Jesus Christ and because we are in Him (Rom. 4:6–8 Gal. 3:9 Eph. 1:3, 6). He has blessed us in the Beloved (Eph. 1:6b).


All of our blessings are related directly or indirectly to Jesus Christ. The blessing of Abram by Melchizedek reveals this in typology.

Melchizedek was a priest of the Most High God (Gen. 14:18).

Jesus Christ is also know as our great High Priest (Heb. 9:11 10:19–22),

Because Melchizedek is a priest of the Most High God, he is under God’s authority.

Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, was under the authority of God the Father and acting with the authority of God (John 5:17 10:18 14:10 Heb. 5:7–8).

Over and over again, throughout the Old Testament, we do not just have prophesies of Jesus Christ, but we have people, things and circumstances which are types of Jesus Christ, which illustrate some aspect of our Lord’s Person, His mission or His character. These types are numerous and not always documented in the New Testament. We discover these types by means of an investigation of the Old Testament.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


Gen. 14:17–18 After Abram returned from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)


Even though Melchizedek comes to us out of nowhere, it is clear that he is a legitimate priest, because the Scripture calls him a priest of the Most High God. So, again, prior to the Mosaic Law, there was some kind of a spiritual life which was probably well-defined, with overlaps both to the Age of Israel and to the Church Age. However, we know very little about it. We find out here, suddenly, that there is a priesthood, but we find out very little about this priesthood in this context.


Now, so you don’t think that some New Testament writer read a couple of verses about Melchizedek in the Old Testament and then made all of these unwarranted applications, a psalmist, writing almost exactly between the time of Melchizedek and Christ, also recognizes the importance of Melchizedek.

Melchizedek in Psalm 110

1.Melchizedek is mentioned only one time in narrative, and he is the first person called a priest in the Bible.

2.There is a specialized priesthood which will be developed in the Mosaic Law, which is related to those who are descended from Aaron and who had a particular ministry to Israel (which ministry essentially faded away when Jesus came).

3.Melchizedek is mentioned just one more time in the Old Testament, in Psalm 110:

1       Jehovah said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

God the Father (= Jehovah) says to God the Son (= David’s Lord), “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool.” This is the ultimate defeat of Satan and his demons in the Angelic Conflict (Psalm 2:9 110:1 Zech. 13:2 Eph. 1:22 Col. 2:15); which defeat, R. B. Thieme, Jr. called operation footstool (apropos of his WWII involvement).

2       Jehovah shall send the Rod of Your strength out of Zion. “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.

God the Father (called Yehowah in this and the previous verse) sends out the Rod of His Strength (Jesus Christ) from Zion in the midst of His enemies. 4 huge armies will maneuver in the valley beneath Mount Zion, intent upon killing the Jews. Zech. 14:1–3 Joel 2:1–10a 3:9–11a Matt. 24:28–30 Rev. 16:16–21 Jesus Christ will go out from Zion and crush His enemies (Isa. 64:1–12 Zech. 14:3 Haggai 2:6–7 Rev. 14:19–20).

Given the rampant anti-Semitism in the Middle East and the implacability of the Palestinians, Egyptians and Iranians (to name a few), it is not difficult to imagine huge coalitions coming to destroy Israel. God the Son here is told to “Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” This is the imperative mood.

I write this in 2011, where, in many Middle Eastern countries, there is an uprising going on; and one of the key factors of most of these uprisings is a pronounced hatred for the Jews (a component all but ignored by the media). So, where there has been a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt since 1978, there is a good chance that a future Egyptian government will abrogate that treaty.

3       Your people offer themselves willingly in the day of Your power, in the holy mountain. Out of the womb of the morning, to You [is] the dew of Your youth.”

The Jews (called Your people) willingly face their enemies in the day of Your power, which is another synonym for the Tribulation and the 2nd advent.


The second line references the 1st advent. Throughout the Bible, we find the advents of our Lord presented as one event.

The 1st advent is the incarnation of our Lord; it is His historical earthly ministry in which He gave Himself for us on the cross. The 2nd advent is when Jesus returns to the earth, at the end of the Great Tribulation, when great armies are maneuvering outside of Jerusalem. We find the two advents of our Lord combined at least 22 times in the Old Testament. In between these advents, the Church Age is inserted (intercalated). See the Doctrine of Intercalation (HTML) (PDF) for more information on this topic.

4       Jehovah has sworn, and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”

God the Father calls God the Son a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. This is a declaration made in eternity past; this is the decree of God as to the Person of Jesus Christ, a decree made before the creation of the world.


Despite the great massacre of the evil armies, Jesus Christ is a royal priest forever. What it means to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek will be explained in the New Testament. We have 3 different authors, each writing 1000 years apart, each telling us all about Melchizedek, the priest of God, Who is a type of Jesus Christ.

5       The Lord at Your right hand will shatter kings in the day of His wrath.

When Jesus returns to this earth, He will be a conquering warrior, destroying the enemies of the Jews, including the kings who have organized armies to kill the Jews in Jerusalem. The day of His wrath is another name for the Tribulation and the 2nd advent. Rev. 14:15–20

6       He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill them with dead bodies; He will shatter heads over much of the earth.

In the Tribulation, Jesus Christ will return and destroy those armies which have converged on Jerusalem. He will fill the streets with the dead bodies of His enemies. Isa. 34:2–8 66:15–16 Rev. 14:18–20

7       He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore He shall lift up the head (Psalm 110).

This describes a pursuing force, taking a drink for refreshment, and then continuing the pursuit to wholly and completely destroy the fleeing enemies. Often, a drink of refreshment in the Bible refers to the intake of Bible doctrine.

We continually find in the Bible new aspects to the Person of Jesus Christ. Here, He is called a priest after the order of Melchizedek; and, at the same time, He will judge the nations and fill the streets with dead bodies.

An full exegesis of Psalm 110 is found here (HTML) (PDF).


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A priest represents man to God. Here, this very same priest, after the order of Melchizedek, Who will judge the nations as the Rod and the Power which comes out of Zion.


The passage we are studying reads:


Gen. 14:17–18 After Abram returned from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)


The priesthood of Melchizedek is a very big deal in the New Testament; particularly in the book of Hebrews.


Melchizedek in the New Testament

Melchizedek is then mentioned in the book of Hebrews several times. Heb. 5:6; Heb. 5:10; Heb. 6:20; Heb. 7:1; Heb. 7:10; Heb. 7:11; Heb. 7:15; Heb. 7:17:

5:1–2  For every high priest being taken from men is appointed on behalf of men in the things respecting God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; being able to feel in due measure for those not knowing and being led astray, since he also is circled about with weakness.

The writer of Hebrews refers back here to the Aaronic priesthood (those Levites who are descended from Aaron), and one man was High Priest for each generation. This man offered up gifts and sacrifices for sins for those who came to the Tabernacle or to the Temple, representing man to God. However, the High Priest is just a man, with human failings.

5:3–4  And because of this he ought to offer for sins as concerning the people, so also concerning himself. And no one takes the honor to himself, but he being called by God, even as Aaron was also.

Because the High Priest is just a man who is also beset by weakness (he has a sin nature), he must also offer up sacrifices for himself. He is called by God, but he is just a man—just like Aaron.

5:5     So also the Christ has not glorified Himself to become a high priest, but He [God the Father] speaking to Him [God the Son], "You are My Son; today I have begotten You." Psalm 2:7

Before Jesus Christ was crucified and then glorified, which made Him the True High Priest, God said to Him, “You are My Son; Today I have sired You.” God the Father chose God the Son to be our High Priest.

5:6–10As He also says in another place, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek," (Psalm 110:4) Who [Jesus Christ], in the days of His flesh, was offering both petitions and entreaties to Him [God the Father], being able to save Him [Jesus Christ] from death, with strong crying and tears, and being heard from His godly fear; though being a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered and having been perfected, He came to be the Author of eternal salvation to all the ones obeying Him, having been called out by God [the Father] as a High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Jesus Christ became our priest after the order of Melchizedek, which means, He represents us to God


Jesus Christ, as a man, recognized the great suffering involved with bearing our sins, and He asked God, with great emotion, to remove this cup from Him (Matt. 26:39). Drinking the cup was taking upon Himself our sins. Because He drank from the cup, Jesus Christ became the Author of our salvation, we who have been called out by Him.


His suffering is His spiritual death for our sins; His being perfected is being raised from the dead in a resurrection body.


Although Jesus is called here a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, this is not explained.

5:11   Concerning Whom we have much to say, but it has been difficult to explain because you have come to be slow in your response to spiritual information [lit., lazy in hearing].

The explanation of what this means for Jesus to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek is difficult to explain, and this is, in part, because the Jews to whom this is addressed, are negative toward the truth (Heb. 5:12–14), where the writer of Hebrews says they ought to be teachers by now, but they are still babies in their understanding of the Word.

6:13–16For God made a promise to Abraham, [and], since He had no one greater to swear by, "He swore by Himself," saying, "Surely [in] blessing I will bless you, and [in] multiplying I will multiply you." (Gen. 22:16–17) And so, being patient, he [Abraham] obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath to make things sure is to them the end of all opposition.

God swore, upon the strength of His Own character and essence (there is nothing greater than His Own Person), that He would bless and multiply the seed of Abraham. Abraham, who is patient, as received the promise (although this is still to be fulfilled future from our time—the aorist tense here refers to a point of time, which point of time could be future).


To make an oath certain, to end all discussion of that oath, a man swears by something greater than himself; God swears by Himself.

6:17–20In this way, desiring to declare more fully to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, God mediated in an oath, so that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope [confidence] we have as an anchor of the soul, both certain and stable, and which enters into that within the veil, where the Forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

The oath which God made is based upon 2 immutable (unchangeable) things: the fact that He is the One making the oath and the fact that He swears by Himself.


At the time that this is written, the Jews were suffering great persecution, and, a few years after this epistle, they would be slaughtered in the streets of Jerusalem as they took their last stand against the Romans. For this reason, the Jews are told to seize upon this promise and to hold onto it, despite what is coming. This promise was to anchor their souls.


Entering beyond the veil is the Holy of Holies inside the Tabernacle, which is where the Ark of God was. Entering into the Holy of Holies is Jesus Christ entering into the Throne Room of God, where He sits down at the right and of the Father. Again, the writer does not explain what it means for Jesus to be a priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Finally, in Heb. 7, the writer explains exactly what he means:

7:1–3  For this "Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God," the one meeting Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, "and blessing him;" to whom also Abraham "divided a tenth from all" (first being interpreted, king of righteousness; and then also king of Salem, which is, king of peace (Gen. 14:17-20), without father, without mother, without genealogy, nor beginning of days, nor having end of life, but having been made like the Son of God, he remains a priest in perpetuity).

The writer of Hebrews draws parallels between Melchizedek and Jesus Christ. In order to do this, he must remind his readers of who Melchizedek is, and he will pull out all of the pertinent information. Melchizedek is the King of Peace (= the King of Salem). He is said to be without mother, father or genealogy. Of course, Melchizedek had a mother and a father, and he was associated with a genealogy (at that time), but the Bible does not emphasize or record his genealogy. The Deity of Jesus Christ is without beginning or end, and His Deity has no mother or father; no genealogy leading up to it. Similarly, Melchizedek has no beginning of days, no end of life, and, for this reason, he stands as a priest to God forever, just like the Deity of Jesus Christ .

7:4–6  Now behold how great this one was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils; and indeed those of the sons of Levi receiving the priesthood have a command to tithe the people according to Law, (that is, from their brothers, though coming forth out of Abraham's loins), but he lacking a genealogy collected tithes from Abraham, and he has blessed the one having the promises.

This priest, Melchizedek, without beginning or end, is so great, that even Abraham, the father of the Jews, the recipient of the great promises of God, gave to him, as a high priest, a tenth of all that he had.


The Levites are mentioned here, which were to collect tithes from their brothers, but Melchizedek blessed Abraham, the one to whom the promises were made. The Levites are genetically in Abram as he makes his offering to Melchizedek, so the Levites, in Abram, pay homage to Melchizedek.

7:7–10But it is not disputed that the lesser is blessed by the greater. And here mortal men indeed receive tithes, but there one receives tithes, of whom it is witnessed that he lives; and one would say, through Abraham Levi also, the one receiving tithes, has paid tithes. For he [Levi] was yet in his father's loins when Melchizedek met him [Abram].

Levi, because he was in the loins of Abraham (so to speak), also paid tithes to Melchizedek.


The one who blesses (Melchizedek) is greater than the one receiving the blessing (Abraham), and in Abraham was Levi (his great grandson), so, Levi is blessed by Melchizedek and is therefore inferior to Melchizedek. Levi, in Abraham, brings tithes to Melchizedek, making the Levitical Priesthood inferior to Melchizedek’s priesthood.

7:11   Truly, then, if perfection was through the Levitical priestly office (for the people had been given Law under it), why yet was there need for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek and not to be called according to the order of Aaron?

Man is not made perfect or complete by means of the Levitical priests; otherwise, there would have been no need for the incarnation of Jesus Christ, a priest after the order of Melchizedek.


Jesus Christ is our true High Priest, after the order of Melchizedek.

7:12–14For the priestly office having been changed, of necessity a change of law also occurs. For the One of whom these things are said belongs to another tribe, from which no one has officiated at the altar. For it is clear that our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, as to which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.

The priestly office was changed, which change was reflected in the Law of God.


Jesus Christ came from the seed of Judah, not from the seed of Levi (Judah and Levi are brothers, both sons of Jacob, Abraham’s grandson). Moses said nothing of a priest arising out from the family of Judah.


Levi and Judah are 2 of the tribes of Israel; the first being the priestly tribe and the second being the royal tribe.

7:15–18And it is still more abundantly clear that if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, Who has not become so according to a law of a fleshly command, but according to the power of an endless life. For it is testified, "You are a priest to the age according to the order of Melchizedek." (Psalm 110:4). For, indeed, an annulment of the preceding command comes about because it is weak and useless.

Jesus Christ was made a priest according to the likeness of Melchizedek. Psalm 110:4 testifies to this. There was a weakness and unprofitability in the Levitical priesthood, because its ceremonies did not save. Therefore, it was necessary for God to raise up Jesus according to another priesthood.


If there is another priesthood (the priesthood of Jesus Christ), then there is a change made in the Law. The Mosaic Law was set aside with regards to its priesthood and offerings because they were weak and unprofitable (no one was saved because a priest from the tribe of Aaron offered up a sacrifice on their behalf).

7:19   For the Law made nothing perfect, apart from the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

The Mosaic Law did not complete or perfect anything (and the Aaronic priesthood did not perfect anything either). Man is not made perfect by obeying the Mosaic Law. The Law presents to us a better Hope, which is Jesus Christ. The Law brings us a way by which we may draw closer to God.

7:20–21And inasmuch as He was not made a priest without taking an oath; for they became priests are without taking an oath, but He (became a priest) by taking an oath, through the One saying to Him, The Lord swore, and will not change His mind (about this oath): "You are a priest to the age according to the order of Melchizedek;" (Psalm 110:4).

Levites were born into the priesthood; they did not take an oath.


There is a greater covenant—a greater contract—between God and man, brought to us by Jesus Christ, our Savior. He is the guarantee of a better contract, since the Law cannot perfect us. This greater contract is, He died for our sins, and we may apprehend the promise of God through believing in Jesus Christ.

7:22   By this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

Another thing which makes the Priesthood of Jesus superior is, it is based upon an oath, and this oath guarantees us of a better covenant (contract). This was an oath made between God the Father and God the Son, immortalized in Psalm 110.

7:23–25And there have been many priests, but they were prevented from continuing because of death; however, He [Jesus Christ] has the priesthood which is not passed on [from generation to generation], because of His remaining to the age. And from this He is able to save to the end completely the ones drawing near to God through Him, forever living to intercede on their behalf.

Those in the Levitical priesthood are mortal; when one dies, another arises to take his place. However, Jesus Christ is of a priesthood which is not passed on from generation to generation, and He is able to save those who draw near to God through Him, because He is eternal and His priesthood is eternal. A Levitical priest can intercede on behalf of man to God during the time he is alive, but he will die. Jesus Christ will be forever before God, interceding forever on our behalf.

7:26–27a      For such a High Priest fully meets our needs: [because He is] holy, harmless, undefiled, and separated from sinners, and, having become higher than the heavens; He has no need, as do the high priests, to offer sacrifices day by day, first for His own sins, then for the sins of the people.

Jesus Christ was designed by God for us (for all mankind). Jesus Christ is set apart from all else. He is harmless to us (we will not be hurt by believing in Him). Jesus is undefiled by sin, making Him the true Lamb without spot and without blemish, qualified to die for our sins. He is completely separate from us sinners (Jesus Christ has no sin nature and He committed no personal sins). Therefore, He has no need to offer sacrifices each day first for his own sins, and then for the sins of others.

7:27b–28      For He did this once for all, offering up Himself. For the Law makes men high priests who have infirmity, but the word of the oath-taking after the Law appoints the Son forever, having been made perfect.

Jesus Christ, once and for all, offered up Himself, as a sacrifice for the people. The Law designated certain mortal men as high priests, even though they all had sin natures. However, Jesus Christ has no sin nature, He has died for our sins, and we are made perfect in Him.

Melchizedek is called a type and Jesus Christ is the antitype. The Bible records enough information about Melchizedek so that, 1000 years later, David, in a psalm, recognizes that God will fulfill this type in His Son. Then, another 1000 years pass, and the unnamed writer of Hebrews pulls this all together for his Jewish readers, that the priesthood of Melchizedek, testified to in Gen. 14 and then recognized by David in Psalm 110, illustrates the priesthood of Jesus Christ.


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The words above are written by 3 different authors—a bedouin rancher, a king and a man of unknown profession—all living 1000 years apart from one another, and yet these words all fit together and complement one another, the author of Hebrews explaining in detail the meaning of the priesthood of Melchizedek and testifying as to why David saw this priesthood to be so important as to document it in a psalm.


So far, we have studied Melchizedek and we ought to know from the previous lesson exactly who he is. His name occurs but once in Genesis and once in the Psalms. Yet, the writer of Hebrews, as moved by God the Holy Spirit, discusses Melchizedek in great detail, relating his priesthood to Jesus Christ, over a space of 3 chapters. He is a type of Jesus Christ and our Lord is the antitype. Melchizedek is a priest-king and, the king of Jerusalem. Jesus Christ is a priest-king and He will become the King to rule from Jerusalem.


Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)


The title, the God Most High, is found several times in this passage and once in the psalms (Psalm 57:2), and it refers to Jehovah Elohim, the 1st Person of the Trinity, Whom we know as God the Father. There are another 10 verses where Jehovah is called the Most High God (in the Psalms and the prophets).


Prior to the Mosaic Law, we have only the barest of religious structure—at least, in terms of what is revealed to us. When Noah and his family emerge from the ark, the mandate against murder is introduced. Noah offered up animal sacrifices as a priest (the term priest is not specifically applied to him, however), as does Abram. This has led many to conclude that, in the antediluvian period prior to the Mosaic Law, there was a family priesthood, where the eldest male family member acted as a priest. Although that may be the case, all we have in the Bible is anecdotal evidence, but no clear mandates from God. This does not mean that they lacked religious structure or that they did whatever felt right; it simply means that religious function mandates are not recorded for us. There were clean and unclean animals taken into the ark, and additional clean animals went with him into the ark, no doubt for sacrifice and possibly for food. So Noah exited the ark and he sacrificed some of these clean animals, but this is apart from any clear Genesis era religious structure. What they certainly did not have was a detailed Mosaic Law, as God will give Moses. Probably what they did have was a religious tradition which came out of the direct interaction between God and man. I would therefore suggest that there was more information on one’s spiritual modus operandi which is not revealed to us in Genesis. Hence, there is a man like Melchizedek, who is both a king and a priest, whose origins are separate from Abram. Did he have any direct communication with God? I don’t know. This does indicate to us that, there were pockets of believers in the God Most High.


Although we do not know how these pockets of believers came about, we know several things about God.

Post-Diluvian Heathenism

1.      Melchizedek, the priest-king, reveals to us that there were believers here and there in the ancient world.

2.      We do not know how the worship of Jehovah Elohim, the God Most High, came about, here or there.

3.      With Abram, his spiritual life is developed through a series of face to face meetings with God, and a number of promises. However, when Abram was back in the Euphrates valley, he had to have believed in Jehovah Elohim. We do not know the circumstances of this, only the simple recollection that Abram believed Yehowah and it was credited to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6).

4.      In this chapter, we have Abram meeting Melchizedek, the priest-king, who believed in Jehovah Elohim separately and developed a spiritual life separately from Abram. Gen. 14:18–20

5.      Therefore, God is able to reach man, no matter where he is and no matter how he is brought up.

6.      Here is what we know about God:

         1)      He is omniscient; He can even see into the hearts of man. Gen. 11:5 1Sam. 16:7 Job 11:11 Jer. 23:23

         2)      God is just and righteous. Psalm 145:17 Jer. 12:1

         3)      Therefore, we can conclude that, when a person goes on positive volition toward God, no matter what the time frame, God will see to it that person hears about Him so that the person with positive volition can place his faith in Jehovah Elohim.

7.      As a result, there are people like Melchizedek in the very ancient world who have believed in Jehovah God.

I had liberal, unbelieving friends of mine, who brought up their daughter in that way, and then sent her off to one of the most liberal, anti-God colleges in the United States. What happened? She believed in Jesus Christ. Her mother was quite surprised. “How did this happen? We never taught her this,” her mother wondered. God is able to reach all mankind, whenever He chooses to.


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Here is what we do know: Abram, who has spoken to God, will recognize the spiritual status of Melchizedek. There was a sharing of bread and wine. A sacrifice may have been offered to God. There appears to be a clear mutual respect and recognition between Abram and Melchizedek. And Abram will pay Melchizedek a tithe (a tenth of what he has).


The Bible speaks of priests, high priests, and at least 3 priesthoods. Therefore, we need to get these things differentiated in our minds.

The Priesthoods of God

1.      There are a number of priesthoods spoken of in the Bible, and they are certainly interrelated.

2.      A priest is a man who represents man to God. We have similar representative relationships throughout our society: an attorney represents us in a court of law; a real estate agent represents us in a real estate transaction; etc. It is someone who acts in our behalf in an arena in which we are not fully qualified to represent ourselves. Num. 15:15, 28

3.      The first priesthood is named here In Gen. 14, and it refers to a priesthood which existed after the Flood and before the Mosaic Law was established.

         1)      We know precious little about this priesthood. We know only one man who acts in this capacity, which man is Melchizedek. We might argue that Noah acted in this capacity as well. However, we have precious little information delineated here as to how this priesthood as organized, how a person became a priest, what the duties of the priest were, etc. There appears to be two rituals connected with this priesthood: the offering of animal sacrifices (an assumption we make, based upon Noah bringing clean animals on the ark and sacrificing some of them when exiting the ark); and what appears to be a pre-communion ritual with bread and wine (although, this could simply represent a meal shared by Melchizedek and Abram). Gen. 8:20 14:18–20

         2)      Abram will pay a tithe (a tenth of his possessions) to Melchizedek. Gen. 14:20

         3)      Our Lord’s priesthood is said to have its origins in this priesthood. Psalm 110:4 Heb. 6:20

         4)      Even though this post-diluvian priesthood could be very well-defined, God the Holy Spirit intentionally does not define it for us, but presents this priesthood as being one man, without mother or father, and without genealogy. The idea is, Melchizedek is the best one, in this way, to be a type of Christ.

4.      The next priesthood is known by most as the Levitical priesthood. However, the Levitical priesthood is a misnomer, but this is how it has come to be known throughout the ages. It is properly the Aaronic priesthood, as all priests are descendants of Aaron. Ex. 28:1 Num. 3:10

         1)      Throughout most of Israel’s history, there was one high priest with clearly defined duties. Ex. 27:21 28:41–43 Lev. 1:5–8

         2)      The priests were all descended from Aaron, and one man, in each generation, would act as high priest. Ex. 28:1 29:44 30:30

         3)      Aaron was from the tribe of Levi, and the Levites were not a part of the land ownership of the other tribes of Israel. All families of Israel receive a plot of earth which was theirs, but not the Levites, who were involved in the spiritual growth of Israel. They were to inherit a spiritual kingdom and therefore, they did not participate in ownership of land on earth. Deut. 18:1 Joshua 18:7 21:3–4

         4)      The priests officiated in all of the religious holidays and they offered up animal sacrifices on behalf of the people of Israel. Num. 18:1–8

         5)      The priests were to encourage the people in war. Deut. 20:1–4

         6)      The high priest, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, entered into the Holy of Holies (a room of the Tabernacle that no one went into apart from the high priest), and sprinkled blood on the Ark of God, a piece of furniture which represented Jesus Christ; a piece of furniture which every Israelite knew about, but was almost never seen. Ex. 26:34 Heb. 9:25 13:11

5.      We are told in the New Testament that the offerings of the Aaronic priesthood could never take away sins (Heb. 10:11). However, this is a point we ought to be able to reach with logic, because those is the Aaronic priesthood are mortals, as are we, and first had to offer up sacrifices for their own sins.

6.      In the time of Jesus, the priesthood had become corrupted and the high priests had become evil in their thinking, leading the Lord of Glory before the courts to be crucified. John 19:6 Acts 4:1–10

7.      These same priests persecuted Paul. Acts 23:1–2, 12–15

8.      Jesus, our High Priest:

         1)      These various priesthoods look forward to Jesus Christ; each ancient priest is a type of Jesus Christ. Heb. 8:1–5

         2)      The priests of old—even the high priest of Jehovah worship—were imperfect and had to offer up sacrifices even for themselves. Heb. 5:1–3 7:27–28

         3)      Jesus, on earth, became our High Priest, the true High Priest, after the order of Melchizedek. Heb. 7:1–5, 17, 21 9:11

         4)      Jesus is not a Levitical priest, as He is from the tribe of Judah, not the tribe of Levi (from which is the family of Aaron); and there is nothing spoken about Judah and the priesthood. Heb. 7:11–14

         5)      Jesus is able to intercede on our behalf before God, as would a priest. Heb. 7:21–26

         6)      He offered up Himself one time for our sins, taking them away, as the sacrifice of animals could not do. Heb. 2:7 9:12 10:19–22

         7)      It is by His blood (His spiritual death on the cross) that we may boldly enter into the Holy of Holies (which is representative of coming directly before God). Heb. 9:24 10:19

9.      In the Church Age, we are all priests before God; we are able to represent ourselves directly to God because we are in Christ Jesus. Being in Christ Jesus, we share all that He is. Therefore, we can go to God directly in prayer and we can go to Him to restore our fellowship (by naming our sins to Him). These are priestly functions. 1Peter 2:5, 9 1John 1:9

10.    The priesthoods of the Old Testament always looked forward to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Melchizedek priesthood, the Aaronic priesthood and the office of the high priest, all spoke of Jesus Christ. When the reality came (the fulfillment of these types), then there is no need to continue on with the types. Just as we no longer sacrifice animals to ceremonially take away our sins, we no longer have a specialized priesthood.

11.    There will be another priesthood in the Millennium of those who survive the Tribulation. This will be in memory of the great plan of God, a plan which spanned the ages. Rev. 5:9–10 20:6

We depend upon the intercession of Jesus Christ on our behalf because He is the perfect priest before God.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)


Jewish tradition has it that this man, Melchizedek, is Shem, the son of Noah. Shem’s life overlaps the life of Abram by about 100 years (as per the Hebrew text; this is not true according to the Greek text). In fact, according to the Hebrew text, the first 4 generations out of the ark lived about 100 years into Abram’s life. These 4 generations outlived their sons and grandsons and great grandsons. In fact, Abraham, Isaac (his son) and Jacob (grandson) would be the first ones to outlive the first 4 generations from the ark. However, because of the numbers found in the LXX (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), we do not know for certain that this is true (the Greek text adds an additional 875 years to the line of Shem to Abram, which therefore separates them by three-quarters of a century).


Personally, I do not believe that Melchizedek is Shem, regardless of whether Shem is alive at this time or not. The reason for this is, the book of Hebrews, as we have studied, developed the identify of Melchizedek and his relationship to Jesus Christ (being a type of Christ), but nowhere do they entertain the idea that this man is Shem. If he was Shem, all of this stuff about him lacking a genealogy would be false, as we know Shem’s ancestors and descendants both.


On the other hand, I do believe that something very special happened when Abram and Melchizedek met, which will be discussed in the next lesson.


Here is where we have been for awhile:


Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was a priest of God Most High.)


The accepted view is, Moses wrote the book of Genesis, although there is no reason to assume that he did. Although he is called the author of various portions of 4 of the books of the Bible (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy), the New Testament does not attribute the authorship of Genesis to him. It is possible that he edited the book of Genesis, or edited it, when it came to a particular region or city whose name had changed, we really have no reason to directly associate Moses with Genesis.


Furthermore, there are sections of Genesis that only the participant would have known about. We have been studying Abram (later, Abraham), and nearly all of what we have read would have been information available only to him. It is far more likely that Abram recorded the information about himself. Furthermore, when we get to Jacob, there will be one verse which no one but Jacob would have written.


At some point, Abram received the Scriptures, and I believe this is where it occurred—a spiritual handoff, if you will. I doubt that you will read this theory anywhere else. Think back to Noah’s time on the ark—this was ticked off in terms of days as related to Noah’s birth—we know the very day the rains stopped, we know the day the water began to recede, we know on which days Noah let which birds fly from the ark. All of this suggests and Noah—or, at the very least, his son Shem—recorded all this information. As we have discovered, there is a complex organization to the entire flood epic, which would make it easy to learn and to memorize. So, by recording this information, I simply mean, it was committed to memory and told from generation to generation. You will recall that nearly every ancient civilization has a flood epic as a part of their history, which would tend to (1) confirm the flood narrative and (2) suggest that this history was originally passed down from generation to generation.


Here is my theory: Melchizedek, king of Salem, possessed the Holy Scriptures up to that point in time, whether they were in written form, or memorized. If Melchizedek is from one of the first 4 generations off the ark—or if he is simply in possession of this information—then this would have been an ideal time for God to have passed along the first 10 or 11 chapters of the Bible to Abram. I think that it is more likely that Melchizedek is a descendant of Shem’s—a descendant not named in the Semitic line, and that he will take the Scriptures which he received from Shem and hand them off to Abram.


The Scriptures of the first ten or so chapters of Genesis had to have come from somewhere. Abram came out of a heathen family, which will become even more clear when we study Rachel. So, it seems unlikely that his family has possession of the Word of God (although it is reasonable that they were able to trace their own genealogy back to Shem, and that would have been placed into Scripture by Abram). Just as we all today know the name of our parents and grandparents (well, most of us do), in the ancient world, it is not a stretch to think that most men, several generations after the flood, could trace their male line all the way back to Noah and one of his sons. It would have been one of the things of one’s heritage that each person would learn. Furthermore, given their ages, for several generations, it would have been common for there to be 5 and even more generations all alive at the same time.


Throughout the book of Genesis, we have many details given to us from this or that time from the life or this or that man, and these details suggest a first-hand recording of this information. I have several theories, and one of them was, at one time, man did not need to write anything down because he remembered very nearly everything that he heard, as the Bible suggests that early man was genetically superior to us (if men lived longer, that makes them genetically superior; if they were genetically superior, then their minds were probably better). Furthermore, if the record of Adam and the woman is accurate (and I believe that it is), then genetically and biologically, we would predict that man would not become superior in time but inferior in time. Man’s time on this earth decreased in each generation (Gen. 11:10–26); therefore, it is not a huge leap to suppose that there came a point in man’s de-evolution that his memory became more and more flawed, and that man therefore developed a written language in order to write things down that his memory no longer retained. The most important thing for man to record is the Word of God, which would have been the first 10 or 11 chapters of Genesis. This is all speculative, but logical and reasonable; as is the idea of the spiritual handoff from Melchizedek to Abram.


For many subsequent chapters, we are going to have an in-depth examination of Abram’s life, which information is logically recorded by Abram. The same will be true of Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. During the life of Jacob, Abram’s grandson, there will be a very personal verse that no one but Jacob would have written, indicating that Jacob wrote that verse (and, therefore, Jacob likely wrote about the period of time in which he lived). The same will be true of Joseph, Abram’s grandson—there will be information about his life recorded in Genesis that he and only he would have known about. When we find such personal information recorded, does it not make sense that the person who experienced these things, also passed them along, either verbally or in written form, to subsequent generations?


And so, from generation to generation, the Word of God was handed off, with a few chapters appended to it. In fact, from this point, the hand-off is easy to determine: from Abram, to Isaac, to Jacob to Joseph. For at least 3 of these men (Abram, Jacob and Joseph), there are very personal things recorded that only these men would have had direct knowledge of.


Let me suggest how this works. Jacob has the Word of God in his hands (or, in his mind), and in it is recorded, primarily, God’s interaction with man. Jacob meets with God on a couple of occasions, and so Jacob records these meetings, along with other material which he believes is important (as guided by God the Holy Spirit). The end result is, Jacob adds another few chapters onto the Word of God. Whether he recognizes that he is recording the Word of God, I could not tell you. But he does recognize the importance of recording these events, and he deems it necessary to record a few things from his own life—particularly his interaction with God.


In the future, several chapters from now (Gen. 27), Jacob will connive a special blessing from his father Isaac. This could have represented the next handoff. Someone had to record the book of Genesis, and there are many aspects of this book which suggest that there were several different authors. If that is the case, then this spiritual information had to be preserved from generation to generation, which not only was done orally or in written form, but, it is reasonable to assume that one man in every generation (or in every few generations) was given the solemn task of preserving God’s Word. Let me emphasize that this is just a theory, and it is based upon the very personal nature of some of the narratives in Genesis. We do not have a verse that says, and Melchizedek handed off the Holy Word to Abram; however, if Genesis is indeed a series of personal accounts, then it had to be handed off from one generation to the next. If this was done orally, then the handoff might have taken days or even weeks. That is, one believer would learn these things at the foot of his father, grandfather or whatever.


This theory does not mean that no one else knew this information. The Word of God is the Word of God; it is alive and powerful, in all generations, and it is sharper than any two-edged sword. It has always distinguished between the soul and the spirit, separating them as neatly as one would separate the joints and the marrow; and it has always discerned the thoughts and intents of the human heart. Heb. 4:12 describes the Word of God in all generations. Therefore, then, as now, there are going to be a different level of positive volition from person to person. Therefore, in any generation, there will not be just one person who knows the Word of God. However, in any generation, there would have been at least one person with the responsibility of preserving the Word of God, no matter what form it is in.


Let’s approach this from a different angle. Somehow, Melchizedek was able to establish a position of respect in the eyes of Abram. Abram does not simply blow him off saying, “Look, Mr. Priest-man, I’ve talked to God on many occasions—fact to face—so what can you tell me that I don’t know?” And had Abram said that, Melchizedek would have answered, “I can tell you Who Jehovah Elohim is, and how He created the heavens and the earth. I can tell you important information about the flood, and what happened during the flood.” I doubt seriously that this conversation took place; however, Melchizedek was afforded great respect from Abram in a way that was different from any other interaction recorded in Abram’s life.


Recall that God had Abram separate from his family. His family lived along the Euphrates and they were idolaters, so how does Abram get accurate spiritual information from his own family, if they are idolaters? It would be more logical that Abram receives accurate information from a man who is a priest to the true God, rather than from his own idolatrous family.


Additional evidence of such a spiritual handoff would be simply the fact that we are now studying the life of Abram. Abram would have appended the Word of God with incidents from his own life, as led by God the Holy Spirit, and with his actual meetings with God. In other words, it is logical that Abram, at some point in his life, was given the Word of God, because we are now studying about him.


There is additional evidence of this in Gen. 26:4–5 [God is speaking to Isaac]: “And I will make your seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto your seed all these countries; and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” What commandments, statutes and laws are we talking about here? Where did they come from and what were they? All of this is taking place 400–500 years before the God gave His Law to Moses. These verse suggest that there was some kind of a system, some sort of law, some set of commandments which Abram was responsible for, and that he attempted to obey them. What has been recorded so far, concerning Abram, and what will be recorded in the future, is God making promises to Abram. God did not lay out a list of rules that Abram must follow in order for God to give the land to his progeny; God simply says, “I will give this land to you.” And yet, Abram obeys God’s voice, God’s charge, God’s commandment, God’s statutes and God’s laws.


Back to Melchizedek.


In this context, there is a ceremony occurring. They are eating bread and drinking wine—the very elements of the Communion—and Melchizedek will call for the blessing of Abraham by God the Most High.


Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)


As we have already studied, Melchizedek is a type of Christ. His name means King of Righteousness or Righteousness [is my] King. He is the King of Salem (Jerusalem), which is from where Jesus Christ will rule in the Millennium.


He is identified as priest of the God Most High. A priest represents man before God. Somehow, Abram was able to recognize this, and not think that this man was a priest to some heathen god. As I have suggested herein, Melchizedek had to somehow establish his authority, his position and his relationship as priest to God. I believe that Melchizedek did this through the Word of God. What is most logical to me is, after Melchizedek met with Abram and said who he was, he then said, “In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Elohim was hovering over the face of the waters. And Elohim said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And Elohim saw that the light was good. And Elohim separated the light from the darkness. Elohim called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.” Whether Abram had heard these words before or not, he would have recognized immediately their power and authority, and therefore, he would have afforded Melchizedek immediate respect. Again, this is conjecture, but what other things could Melchizedek have done to get Abram’s immediate respect so quickly? What else could be more powerful and effective than for Melchizedek to speak the Word of God to Abram?


Remember, Abram has just returned from a war where he attacked the great alliance of his time and he sent them running. He has collected all of the spoil which they left behind, along with all of the slaves taken from Sodom and Gomorrah (which would have included his nephew Lot). My point being, Abram was not interested in a chit-chat with just anyone who came along. God brought these men together and Melchizedek established who he was almost immediately.


The title the God Most High is used here for the first time. God is the Hebrew word ʾÊl (אֵל) [pronounced ALE], which means God, god, mighty one, strong, hero; and is transliterated El. Strong’s #410 BDB #42. Most High is the Hebrew word ʿEleyôwn (עֶלְיוֹן) [pronounced ģele-YOHN], which means Most High, highest, Supreme. The Phœnicians and the Carthaginians used the same word to refer to their gods. This word has a secular use, where it simply means high, higher, situated in a higher place. However, we find it used most often in connection with this title for God. Strong’s #5945 BDB #751. God is not portrayed as a local god or a god of heathen worship, but the God over all, the God Most High.


The emphasis of the title El–Elyôn is authority. We find it used in this way in Deut. 32:8, where God is said to have divided up mankind: When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. This title is associated with great authority also in Psalm 83:10 97:9. On many occasions, El–Elyôn or just Elyôn is used as a title of authority against Whom men rebel (Psalm 78:17, 56 107:11).


Most of the times that we find God the Most High or simply the Most High is in the psalms. This title is associated with hailstones and coals of fire (Psalm 18:3), with grace in Psalm 21:7, with Jerusalem in Psalm 46:4 87:5, with fear and respect in Psalm 47:2, as a God Who can be appealed to in Psalm 57:2, and with protection in Psalm 91:1, 7. In fact, we could easily put together a doctrine where entirety of God’s essence is associated with this name.


Finally, we find this name used when Satan rebelled against God: "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star [= Lucifer], son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars [angels] of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' (Isa. 14:12–14). This is the event which precipitated human history. God brought mankind into the picture to reveal His perfect justice, righteousness and love.


In Gen. 14:19, we will come across a very unusual name for God—God will be called the Possessor (by purchase) of the earth.


——————————


And so he blesses him and so he says, “Blessed is Abram regarding El Most High, redeemer of [two] heavens and earth. And blessed is El Most High Who has delivered over your enemies into your hand.” And so he gives to him a tenth of all.

Genesis

14:19–20

Melchizedek then blessed Abram [lit., and so he blesses him] and said, “Blessed is Abram by El the Most High, possessor of heaven and earth. Furthermore, blessings to El the Most High Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Therefore, Abram [lit., he] gave him a tenth of all.

Melchizedek then blessed Abram, saying, “Blessing be to Abram by God the Most High, the Possessor and Redeemer of heaven and earth. Furthermore, let God the Most High be blessed—God Who has delivered your enemies into your hand in battle.” Therefore, Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all he had.


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the Lord God Most High, who for the righteous possesses the heavens and the earth. And blessed be Eloha Ilaha, who has made your enemies as a shield which receives a blow. And he gave to him one of ten, of all which he brought back.

Latin Vulgate                          Blessed him, and said: Blessed be Abram by the most high God, who created heaven and earth. And blessed be the most high God, by whose protection, the enemies are in thy hands. And he gave him the tithes of all.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so he blesses him and so he says, “Blessed is Abram regarding El Most High, redeemer of [two] heavens and earth. And blessed is El Most High Who has delivered over your enemies into your hand.” And so he gives to him a tenth of all.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And he blessed him, saying, Blessed be Abram to God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be the Most High God, who has delivered your enemies into your hands. And Abram gave him tithes of everything.

Septuagint (Greek)                And he blessed Abram, and said, Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, who made heaven and earth, and blessed be the Most High God, who delivered your enemies into your power. And Abram gave him a tithe of all.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Common English Bible           ...and he blessed him,

"Bless Abram by El Elyon,

creator of heaven and earth;

bless El Elyon,

who gave you the victory over your enemies."

Abram gave Melchizedek one-tenth of everything.

Contemporary English V.       ...and said to Abram: "I bless you in the name of God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. All praise belongs to God Most High for helping you defeat your enemies." Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.

Easy English                          Melchizedek *blessed Abram. And Melchizedek said this.

`Let the Most High God, who made the sky and the earth, *bless Abram. And let people *bless the Most High God, because he has delivered your enemies into your power!'

And Abram gave to Melchizedek a tenth part of everything.

Easy-to-Read Version            And we praise God Most High.

God helped you to defeat your enemies.”

Then the king of Sodom told Abram, “Give me my people that the enemy took away. But you can keep all these other things.”

Good News Bible (TEV)         ...blessed him, and said, "May the Most High God, who made heaven and earth, bless Abram! May the Most High God, who gave you victory over your enemies, be praised!" And Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the loot he had recovered.

The Message                         ...and blessed him: Blessed be Abram by The High God, Creator of Heaven and Earth. And blessed be The High God, who handed your enemies over to you. Abram gave him a tenth of all the recovered plunder.

New Berkeley Version           He also blessed him, saying, “Blessed by Aram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed by God Most High who has delivered your oppressors into your hand.” Then he [Abram gave Melchizedek the tithe, because as priest he represented God.] gave him a tithe of everything

New Life Bible                        And Melchizedek honored Abram and said, "May good come to Abram from God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth. Honor and thanks be to God Most High, Who has given into your hand those who fought against you." Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all he had taken.

New Living Translation           Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing:

"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

Creator of heaven and earth.

And blessed be God Most High,

who has defeated your enemies for you."

Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.

The Voice                               Priest-king Melchizedek offered a special blessing to Abram.

                                     King Melchizedek:      May Abram be blessed by the Most High God,

Creator of the heavens and earth.

Blessing and honor to the Most High God,

who has clearly delivered your enemies into your hands!

Abram gave the priest-king a tenth of all of the captured goods he was bringing back with him.


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          ...and he blest Abram, saying: 'May Abram of the Most High God who made the heavens and the earth be blest. And may the Most High God who delivered your enemies into your hands be praised.'

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything [he had captured].

AEB Commentary                  This is a tough one, and we won't say that our position on the translation of this word can't be changed. The Greek word that we are struggling with is eulogetos. The first part of the word eu, is Greek for good. The last part of the word, logetos, means words (or expressions). So, a literal translation of eulogetos is good words. And our question is: Is this all that a blessing amounts to?

 

Yes, we know that eulogetos has been translated as bless, blest, and blessing in other Bibles. So, why rock the boat? Because these translators have simply found too many errors in commonly-accepted renderings. And here, for example, if eulogetos is properly translated as blessing each time (which carries the English nuance, 'causing good things to happen'); then, how can humans 'bless God?' We do know that we can praise God, however.

 

Eulogetos is what we derive the English word eulogy from. that is, the kind words that are said of the deceased at a funeral. Such words are never said as a blessing (it's a bit late for that); they are said in praise of the deceased individual. However, there are definitely places where eulogetos can't be translated as praise or praising. So, perhaps the real meaning is (or is at least is similar to) praise. And when praises come from God, this means blessings to humans.

 

This isn't the same word that we have rendered as blest in other portions of this translation (for an example, see Matthew 5:5). The word in question there is makarios, which is rendered as happy in certain other Bibles. However, we believe that blest is the proper way to translate that Greek word.

Beck’s American Translation ...and blessed Abram. “May God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth, bless Abram,” he said, “and blessed be God Most High who put your enemies in your hands.”

Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

New Advent (Knox) Bible       ...and gave him this benediction, On Abram be the blessing of the most high God, maker of heaven and earth, and blessed be that most high God, whose protection has brought thy enemies into thy power. To him, Abram gave tithes of all he had won. Cf. Heb. 7.

This unusual encounter has sparked much interest over the centuries. Melchizedek, it seems, appears out of nowhere. There is no genealogical record for him; he is described simply as the priest-king of Salem, likely a reference to the city that will one day be known as Jerusalem. The Hebrew root of the name Salem means "peace" (shalom). Melchizedek comes in peace, offering the victors a meal to sustain them on their journey home. Abram, in return, gives Melchizedek ten percent of the spoils claimed in battle. There are two other scriptural references to Melchizedek in Psalm 110 and Hebrews 7. The writer of Hebrews compares the priestly role of Jesus to the ancient priestly order of Melchizedek showing that Jesus' role, like that of Melchizedek, is superior in every way to the later Levitical priests.

New American Bible (R.E.)    He blessed Abram with these words [Ps 110:4; Heb 5:6, 10; 7:1.]:

"Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

the creator of heaven and earth;

And blessed be God Most High,

who delivered your foes into your hand."

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

NIRV                                      He gave a blessing to Abram. He said,

"May God Most High bless Abram.

May the Creator of heaven and earth bless him.

Give praise to God Most High.

He gave your enemies into your hand."

Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.

New Jerusalem Bible             He pronounced this blessing: Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High for putting your enemies into your clutches. And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Ancient Roots Translinear      He blessed him, and said, "The supreme God, constructor of the heavens and land, blessed Abram! Bless the supreme God, which shielded your hand from your persecutors!" He gave him a tithe of all.

Bible in Basic English             And blessing him, said, May the blessing of the Most High God, maker of heaven and earth, be on Abram: And let the Most High God be praised, who has given into your hands those who were against you. Then Abram gave him a tenth of all the goods he had taken.

The Expanded Bible              ...and blessed Abram, saying,

"Abram, may you be blessed by God Most High,

the ·God [Lone] who made heaven and earth.

And ·we praise [Lblessed be] God Most High,

who has ·helped you to defeat your enemies [Ldelivered your enemies into your hand]."

Then Abram gave Melchizedek a ·tenth [tithe] of everything he had brought back from the battle.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 And he gave him his blessing, and said,

Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, bless Abram; and you thank the Most High who gave you enemies into your hand.”

He then gave to him a tenth of all the spoil.

NET Bible®                             He blessed Abram, saying,

"Blessed be Abram by [The preposition לְ (lamed) introduces the agent after the passive participle.] the Most High God,

Creator [Some translate “possessor of heaven and earth” (cf. NASB). But cognate evidence from Ugaritic indicates that there were two homonymic roots קָנָה (qanah), one meaning “to create” (as in Gen 4:1) and the other “to obtain, to acquire, to possess.” While “possessor” would fit here, “creator” is the more likely due to the collocation with “heaven and earth.”] of heaven and earth [The terms translated "heaven" and "earth" are both objective genitives after the participle in construct.].

Worthy of praise is [Heb "blessed be." For God to be "blessed" means that is praised. His reputation is enriched in the world as his name is praised. ] the Most High God,

who delivered [Who delivered. The Hebrew verb מִגֵּן (miggen, “delivered”) foreshadows the statement by God to Abram in Gen 15:1, “I am your shield” (מָגֵן, magen). Melchizedek provided a theological interpretation of Abram’s military victory.] your enemies into your hand."

Abram gave Melchizedek [Heb "him"; the referent (Melchizedek) has been specified in the translation for clarity.] a tenth of everything.


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Complete Jewish Bible           ...so he blessed him with these words: "Blessed be Avram by El 'Elyon, maker of heaven of earth. and blessed be El 'Elyon, who handed your enemies over to you." Avram gave him a tenth of everything.

exeGeses companion Bible   ...and he blesses him and says,

Blessed is Abram of El Elyon,

who chattels the heavens and earth:

and blessed is El Elyon,

who bucklers your tribulators into your hand.

- and he gives him tithes of all.

Judaica Press Complete T.    And he blessed him, and he said, "Blessed be Abram to the Most High God, Who possesses heaven and earth. And blessed be the Most High God, Who has delivered your adversaries into your hand," and he gave him a tithe from all.

Kaplan Translation                 He blessed [Abram], and said, 'Blessed be Abram to God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.' [Abram then] gave him a tenth [Maaser in Hebrew, literally a tithe. See Genesis 28:22, Deuteronomy 14:22.] of everything.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And he blessed him, and said, Baruch Avram by El Elyon, Creator of Shomayim v'Aretz; And baruch El Elyon, Who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him ma'aser (tithe) of all.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

The Amplified Bible                And he blessed him and said, Blessed (favored with blessings, made blissful, joyful) be Abram by God Most High, Possessor and Maker of heaven and earth, And blessed, praised, and glorified be God Most High, Who has given your foes into your hand! And [Abram] gave him a tenth of all [he had taken].

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ he~ will~ much~ Kneel~ him and~ he~ will~ Say Kneel~ ed(ms) “Avram [Father raised]” to~ Mighty.one Upper Purchase~ ing(ms) Sky~ s2 and~ Land and~ Kneel~ ed(ms) Mighty.one Upper Which he~ did~ much~ Deliver.up Narrow~ s~ you(ms) in~ Hand~ you(masculine singular) and~ he~ will~ Give to~ him Tenth.part from~ All

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...and he respected him and he said, respected is “Avram [Father raised]” to the upper mighty one, the purchaser of the sky and land, and respected is the upper mighty one who delivered up your narrows in your hand and he gave to him a tenth part from all,...

Concordant Literal Version    And blessing is he Abram, and is saying, "Blessed is Abram by the El Supreme, Owner of the heavens and the earth. And blessed is the El Supreme, Who awards your foes into your hands.And giving is he to him tithes from all.

Context Group Version          And he esteemed him, and said, Esteemed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of the skies { or heavens } and land { or earth }: and esteemed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him a tenth of all.

New King James Version       And he blessed him and said:

"Blessed be Abram of God Most High,

Possessor of heaven and earth;

And blessed be God Most High,

Who has delivered your enemies into your hand."

And he gave him a tithe of all..

Syndein/Thieme                     {Melchizedek Provides Spiritual Blessing to Abram . . . as the Spiritually Greater!}

And he {Melchizedek} blessed him {Abram} {Melchizedek's priesthood was higher then Abram - from whom Levitical priests would come} and said, "Blessing . . . {to} Abram from/by the Most High God {'El} {God, Who is the} possessor of heaven and earth." {Note: This takes Abram's eyes off the wealth and glory and back on to the Lord . . . the source of all blessings!}

"And the Most High God {'El} has blessed you . . . Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he {Abram} gave him {Melchizedek} tithes {10%} of all {took the top 10% off of each pile of the booty - no purchase principal here - was a grace response by Abram for Melchizedek helping him in times of spiritual need.}. {Note: Melchizedek brings to Abram bread, wine, and blessings. These represent:

Bread - analogous to the humanity of Jesus Christ

Wine - analogous to the priestly function at the altar - speaking of the blood of Christ

(these are signs of the Royal Priesthood and are not used again until the Church Age) Blessings here are analogous to the communication of Bible doctrine.}.

Young’s Updated LT             And he blesses him, and says, “Blessed is Abram to God Most High, possessing heaven and earth; and blessed is God Most High, who has delivered your adversaries into your hand;” and he gives to him a tenth of all.

 

The gist of this verse:          Melchizedek, as priest, blesses Abram.


Genesis 14:19a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

bârake (בָּרַ) [pronounced baw-RAHKe]

to invoke God, to praise, to celebrate, to adore, to bless [God]; to bless [men], to invoke blessings; to bless [as God, man and other created things], therefore to cause to prosper, to make happy; to salute anyone [with a blessing]; to curse

3rd person masculine singular, Piel imperfect; with the 3rd person masculine singular suffix

Strong’s #1288 BDB #138


Translation: Melchizedek then blessed Abram [lit., and so he blesses him]... We are going to have two sets of blessings in this passage. Melchizedek will bless Abram and he will also bless God. The same verb will be used, but a different understanding is to be placed on the meaning of the verb.


Here, Melchizedek is blessing Abram. As a priest, Melchizedek represents man to God and stands between man and God.


Genesis 14:19b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

Although Owen calls this a wâw conjunction, I think it is a wâw consecutive instead.

ʾâmar (אָמַר) [pronounced aw-MAHR]

to say, to speak, to utter; to say [to oneself], to think; to command; to promise; to explain; to intend

3rd person masculine singular, Qal imperfect

Strong’s #559 BDB #55

bârake (בָּרַ) [pronounced baw-RAHKe]

blessed, blessed be [is], blessings to; happiness to [for], happiness [is]

Qal passive participle

Strong’s #1288 BDB #138

ʾAberâm (אַבְרָם) [pronounced abv-RAWM]

father of elevation, exalted father; and is transliterated Abram

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #87 BDB #4

lâmed (לְ) [pronounced le]

to, for, towards, in regards to, with reference to, as to, with regards to; belonging to; by

directional/relational preposition

No Strong’s # BDB #510

ʾÊl (אֵל) [pronounced ALE]

God, god, mighty one, strong, hero; transliterated El

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #410 BDB #42

ʿEleyôwn (עֶלְיוֹן) [pronounced ģele-YOHN]

high, higher; Most High, highest, Supreme

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #5945 BDB #751


Translation: ...and said, “Blessed is Abram by El the Most High,... Melchizedek calls for blessing to be upon Abram. We understand this to mean blessings from God as well as happiness. Happiness depends upon what is in the soul; not the possessions one has around one’s house. In my life, I have known a variety of different people, some with a great many possessions and some without. What a person owns is not a measure of that person’s happiness. However, if a person has true appreciation in his own soul—if he has the capacity to enjoy his blessings—then he will enjoy what God has given to him, because God is the perfect Giver.


Genesis 14:19c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

qânâh (קָנָה) [pronounced kaw-NAWH]

redeemer, purchaser, possessor

masculine singular? Qal active participle; construct form

Strong’s #7069 BDB #888

Owen does not list this as a masculine singular.

There is a far greater emphasis on this verb in the realm of possessing, buying or purchasing than there is in the realm of creating. There are some scholars who would eliminate the meanings to found, to originate, to create.

shâmayîm (שָמַיִם) [pronounced shaw-MAH-yim]

heaven, heavens, skies; the visible heavens, as in as abode of the stars or as the visible universe, the sky, atmosphere, etc.; Heaven (as the abode of God)

masculine dual noun

Strong’s #8064 BDB #1029

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʾerets (אֶרֶץ) [pronounced EH-rets]

earth (all or a portion thereof), land, territory, country, continent; ground, soil; under the ground [Sheol]

feminine singular noun

Strong's #776 BDB #75


Translation: ...Possessor of heaven and earth. The Qal active participle above does not mean creator or maker; it is found over 80 times in the Bible, and it refers to possessing something or to buying (redeeming) something.


The word in question here is qânâh (קָנָה) [pronounced kaw-NAWH], and it can mean to erect, to create (by extension), to procure, to purchase. Since God did not acquire the earth and the universe from anyone, He would be the Creator and Possessor of it. Blessed is, is not in the imperative, so blessed be, although found more often in English translations, is not necessarily the correct translation. Abram has been blessed and continues to be blessed. He has received great wealth and prosperity, a drop-dead beautiful wife, and guidance from God. He is victorious where five other kings were not. Melchizedek recognizes this in Abram and they recognize that they both worship the same God. They also both recognize that it was God who delivered Abram's enemies into his hand (i.e., he was victorious because of Jesus Christ).


We have to be careful here about using the word Redeemer; not because that is an inaccurate translation, but because Redeemer of heaven and earth implies that God has redeemed both angels and mankind. Now, without a doubt, Jesus Christ has redeemed mankind. Although I have heard excellent theologians speak tentatively of God redeeming the angels in some way, this is not clear that God has done this. At this point in time, I lean against that on two grounds: (1) I don’t know of any Scripture which would support this (apart from this passage) and (2) angels are quite a bit different from man. We as men are all related—we all come from Adam and Eve. So I believe that the redemption of the cross is partially possible because of this relationship that we all have, that we all inherit the old sin nature, so that we stand condemned at birth.


Gen 14:19 And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor [or, Redeemer, Purchaser] of heaven and earth;...


The final verb in v. 19 is the Qal active participle of qânâh (קָנָה) [pronounced kaw-NAWH], which means to get, acquire, obtain; [of God] to redeem [His people]; [of Eve] to acquire; to acquire [knowledge, wisdom]; to buy [purchase, redeem]. Strong’s #7069 BDB #888. In the participle, this means God the Most High is the redeemer, purchaser; although it can mean possessor, the emphasis is more upon owning or possessing something because you purchased it.


At this point in history, calling God the Redeemer [Purchaser] of heaven and earth should seem a little odd. God created the heavens and the earth, but what does it mean for Him to be the Purchaser of heaven and earth? Why is He purchasing the earth? What is the coin of the realm? By what means does He purchase heaven and earth?


We find this sort of thing over and over again in the Old Testament—particularly in Genesis—there will be a word used, a concept put forth, but not fully fleshed out. However, future authors will speak to this word or concept; and, in the New Testament, what this word means is completely defined.


When we read a novel, we do not think of the process involved in writing the novel, because that ruins the story for us. However, the writer in the novel often has a good idea as to the story arc ahead of time, and often throws in clues and incidents which inform us of what is to come. If you don’t read much, surely you have seen a television drama or comedy, and something is tossed out there at random, like the detective who says, “I used to play hockey;” and somehow, 30 min. later, this little fact becomes germane to the story. It is like that in the Bible to a much greater degree with the added oddity that, all of these clues and incidents which point toward the future are written by one man, and their fulfillment are written by another man 500 or a thousand years later. Here we have this blessing, said by Melchizedek, 4000 years ago and then recorded by Abraham; and the words of this blessing will have its meaning advanced and explained by Luke, Paul or Peter, all who wrote 2000 years later (even if you believe some of the goofy liberal theories about the Old Testament being written much later than it was, all historians know that the Old Testament was written hundreds of years before the New Testament, because those in the New Testament quoted from a translation made of the Old Testament).


In the New Testament, the word Redeemer makes complete sense—Jesus Christ will purchase us with His blood (i.e., His death on the cross). Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed [purchased] His people (Luke 1:68). Jesus is the Redeemer of Israel in Luke 24:21. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it stands written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree" (Gal. 3:13; Deut. 21:23). We understand fully how we were purchased in the Church Age; but these are words written 4000 years ago, where the God Most High is portrayed as the Possessor [by means of purchase or redemption] of heaven and earth.


Throughout the book of Genesis, we find the seed for nearly every major doctrine and theme which will be developed later in God’s Word. This makes the book of Genesis one of the most fascinating books in the entire Bible.

The Doctrine of Redemption

1.      The verb to redeem means to purchase, to buy.

2.      There are several Hebrew verbs related to this concept of purchasing:

         1)      In this verse, we have the verb qânâh (קָנָה) [pronounced kaw-NAWH], which means to get, acquire, obtain; [of God] to redeem [His people]; [of Eve] to acquire; to acquire [knowledge, wisdom]; to buy [purchase, redeem]. Strong’s #7069 BDB #888. The emphasis is more upon owning or possessing something because you purchased it.

         2)      In Gen. 48:16, we will be introduced to the verb gâʾal (גָּאַל) [pronounced gaw-AHL], which means to redeem, to purchase. Strong's #1350 BDB #145. The Mosaic Law will use this verb many times in Lev. 25 and 27 as well as Num. 35; and this verb will play a prominent role in the book of Ruth.

3.      Redemption in the New Testament refers to Jesus dying for our sins and purchasing our souls with His blood (i.e., His spiritual death on the cross). When He took upon Himself our sins and paid the penalty for our sins, that is redemption. That is what He paid for us. For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life which you inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things, like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish (1Peter 1:18–19). He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed (1Peter 2:24). In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace (Eph. 1:7). See also Col. 1:14 Gal. 3:13

4.      Jesus Christ paid for us; therefore, we belong to Him. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, Whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body (1Cor. 6:19–20). See also 1Cor. 7:23

5.      Jesus Christ is qualified to purchase us. In the next lesson, we will study the Slave Market of Sin, and Jesus could not be a slave Himself and purchase other slaves.

         1)      Jesus Christ is born without a sin nature. This is based upon the virgin birth, something which was telegraphed to us as far back as Gen. 3. Isa. 7:14 Matt. 1:23 1Tim. 3:16 Heb. 1:3

         2)      Jesus Christ did not commit any personal sin during His life. Isa. 53:9 John 8:46 19:4 2Cor. 5:21 Heb. 4:15 7:26–28

         3)      Since Jesus is born without imputed sin, without a sin nature and since He lived without personal sin in His life, He is qualified to redeem us.

6.      Redemption puts all men potentially in the Book of Life. Because Jesus has paid the price for us, our names are written in the Book of Life, unless we die without having believed in Jesus Christ. It is like a city registry. There is a registry of all citizens of a city until they die; and then their names are removed. When a person dies an unbeliever, his name is blotted out of the Book of Life. This understanding, by the way, indicates that Jesus provided unlimited atonement (He died for the sins of all mankind; not just for the sins of the elect). Philip. 4:3 Rev. 3:5

7.      God the Holy Spirit, as the divine Author of the Old Testament, portrays this act of redemption in the Old Testament as a shadow of what was to come.

         1)      In the context of our passage, Melchizedek refers to God as Possessor [by means of purchase, by means of redemption] of Heaven and Earth. In other words, in this verb is more than the idea, God made the world so it belongs to Him. This is related to the concept of redeeming, purchasing.

         2)      Jacob, when seeing Joseph again after many years, will speak of God as the Angel Who has redeemed him from all evil (Gen. 48:16).

         3)      The high priest offering up animal sacrifices was a portrait of Jesus offering Himself on the cross for our redemption. Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then...He entered once for all into the holy places [into the Presence of God the Father after the crucifixion], not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption (Heb. 9:11a, 12).

         4)      The blood of the animal sacrifices themselves represent the actual coin of the realm; the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Gen. 22:8 Ex. 12:21 Job 19:25–16 John 1:25 Heb. 9:22 1Peter 1:19

         5)      In the Law of Moses, there is a provision for the purchase of a relative who has fallen into slavery. One who is related to him may purchase him out of slavery. Although this is a real law which was actually used from time to time, its purpose was to look forward in time when we would be purchased from slavery to sin by our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, our Relative who can purchase us out of slavery. Like many things in the Old Testament, this is a real thing (in this case, a law); and yet, it is also representative of God’s plan. Lev. 25:48–49

         6)      The thrust of the Book of Ruth is the purchase of Ruth by a Kinsman-Redeemer, one who loves her and wants to take care of her, despite the fact that she has been married (this would be equivalent to being sullied by the sin nature and being purchased by God, Who loves us). Ruth 3:9–13 4:1–13 John 3:16

         7)      Job, in all of his suffering, when his friends comfort him little, finally gives his plaintive cry, “I know my Redeemer lives!” (Job 19:25). The God of Job has purchased him and he knew this.

         8)      Palmists call out to God to either redeem them or His people Israel. Psalm 69:18 77:15

         9)      The prophets speak of God as having redeemed Israel. Isa. 43:1 49:7 51:11 Jer. 31:11 Hosea 13:14

         10)    God’s redemption is related to the blotting out of our sins in Isa. 44:22, which reads: “I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.”

         11)    God’s people Israel would not be forsaken, they would be redeemed. Isa. 62:12.

         12)    Jehovah Elohim is called the Redeemer or the Redeemer of Israel throughout the Old Testament. Psalm 19:14 78:35 Isa. 43:14 44:6.

8.      The Book of Ruth (Ruth 3:9-13 4:1-11) is particularly important in illustrating Who our Redeemer is:

         1)      The redeemer must be a near kinsman. To fulfill this Christ took on human form.

         2)      The redeemer must be able to redeem. The price of man's redemption was the blood of Christ. Acts 20:28 1 Pet. 1:18–19

         3)      The redeemer must be willing to redeem (Heb. 10:4–10). Christ was willing to be our Redeemer.

         4)      The redeemer must be free from that which caused the need for redemption; that is, the redeemer cannot redeem himself. This was true of Christ, because He needed no redemption.

9.      When it comes to Old Testament and New Testament verses on redemption, this doctrine only scratches the surface.

10.    Redemption yields the following results:

         1)      Redemption purchases the forgiveness of our sins. Isa. 44:22 Eph. 1:7 Col. 1:14 Heb. 9:15

         2)      Because we have been redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God also justifies us. Rom. 3:24 5:9

         3)      Since we have been redeemed by the blood of our Lord, we are therefore sanctified. Heb. 10:10, 14, 29 13:12

                  (1)     There are 3 stages of sanctification. We are sanctified in Him through faith in Him and His death on the cross. This is positional sanctification. Acts 20:32 26:18 1Cor. 1:2 Heb. 10:10

                  (2)     We grow spiritually in time, by means of grace and the knowledge of God’s Word. John 17:17 1Thess. 4:3–7

                  (3)     We received ultimate sanctification when we are raised with Him in a resurrection body. Eph. 1:14 5:26–27 1Thess. 5:23

                  (4)     All 3 stages of sanctification find their basis in redemption.

         4)      Because we have been redeemed, we will receive an eternal inheritance. Heb. 9:15 1Peter 1:2–4

         5)      The purchase of us by Jesus’ death on the cross (redemption) is the basis for the strategical victory of Jesus Christ in the Angelic Conflict. Acts 2:32–35 Col. 2:13–15 Heb. 2:14–15 1Peter 3:18, 22

11.    Summary points on the doctrine of redemption:

         1)      Being born men, we find ourselves born into the slave market of sin. We were slaves to sin, unable to purchase ourselves from the slave market of sin (no more than a slave can purchase himself). I am of the flesh, sold [as a slave] under sin (Rom. 7:14b). See also John 8:34, where we are told, it we commit sin, then we are slaves to sin.

         2)      Our Redeemer is Jesus Christ, Who purchased us (redeemed us) with His blood on the cross. Luke 1:68 2Cor. 5:21 Gal. 3:13 Titus 2:14 1Peter 1:18–19 2:24 Rev. 5:9.

         3)      Under the Law, we were cursed. Jesus purchased us from being under the Law. Gal. 4:4–5

         4)      As believers, we have been purchased (redeemed) with a price; therefore, we are not our own. 1Cor. 6:20 7:23 1Peter 1:18–19

12.    Paul, in Colossians, speaks of God cancelling out the debt that we owe: And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross (Col. 2:13–14). Although the word redeem is not found here, the concept is summed up quite well in these verses: we are dead in our trespasses and sins, having a considerable debt to God. Jesus Christ, takes this debt and nails it to the cross, so that it has been paid off on our behalf.

Like many of the most fundamental doctrines in the Word of God, we find their origin in Genesis. Gen 14:19 And he [Melchizedek] blessed him [Abram] and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, the Possessor [or, Redeemer, Purchaser] of heaven and earth;... 4000 years ago, Abram recorded those words, and today, we fully understand what they mean.

The points on the Kinsman-Redeemer were taken from the following website:

http://www.realtime.net/~wdoud/topics/redemption.html

Additional places to study this doctrine:

http://www.versebyverse.org/doctrine/redemption.html

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/0181.htm

There are 2 booklets at rbthieme.org: The Barrier and The Slave Market of Sin (these books are free; there is no cost to order them; in The Slave Market of Sin, there is the Doctrine of Redemption in the appendix)

Scofleld: http://www.biblestudymanuals.net/redemption.htm

11 pages on reconciliation: http://pvccia.org/downloads/written/prep/basic/redemp.pdf


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


Gen 14:19 And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor [or, Redeemer, Purchaser] of heaven and earth;


In the previous lesson, we examined the Doctrine of Redemption. As we noted, it is odd, here in the early part of Genesis, for God to be called the Redeemer of heaven and earth. This word usually indcates ownership or possession based upon a purchase (or, redemption). We understand perfectly today how God the Most High is understood to be the Redeemer of Heaven and Earth, as Jesus Christ redeemed us (purchased us) through His blood (His spiritual death on the cross). If you understand that the Bible is the Word of God, inspired by God the Holy Spirit, then you would expect things like this to occur throughout Scripture—you would expect God to reveal Himself and His plan little by little (which is the Doctrine of Progressive Revelation).


Closely related to the Doctrine of Redemption is the concept of the Slave Market of Sin: before we move on, in our passage, we should stop and examine this slave market of sin.


You have heard the verse, “You will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.” The context of that verse is related to the Doctrine of Redemption (which we studied in the previous lesson) and to the Doctrine of the Slave Market of Sin.

The Illustration of the Slave Market of Sin

1.     Another way of illustrating the doctrine of redemption, is to picture yourself being sold as a slave in a slave market. You are unable to purchase yourself, as you do not have the wherewithal to purchase yourself. A slave does not have the money to purchase himself (he lacks the coin of the realm, so to speak). Only someone who is not inside of this slave market (a non-slave) can purchase you. No fellow slave can look you over and say, “I’d like to purchase this one.” This is because he is in the same boat that you are in. He cannot purchase himself and he certainly cannot purchase you.

        1)     This is why we cannot be redeemed by Mohammed, Moses, or Buddha. They are men; they are in the same slave market of sin that we find ourselves in.

        2)     They are unable to purchase themselves and they are unable to purchase us.

2.     There is a natural barrier between God and us:

        1)     We are born with Adam’s sin imputed to us. Therefore, one sin led to condemnation of all men (Rom. 5:18a). In Adam, all die (1Cor. 15:22a). Because of one man's sin, death reigned through that one man (Rom. 5:17a).

                 (1)    Paul provides the entire argument for the imputation of sin in Rom. 5:12–21: Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned-- for sin indeed was in the world before the Law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that One Man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation [on all mankind], but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through [or, because of] that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the One Man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the Law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

                 (2)    There are reasons why Adam’s original sin is imputed to us.

                 (3)    We have to be condemned first in order to be saved.

                 (4)    Babies are born condemned by God; which makes them eligible for redemption. Therefore, when a child dies, God has already redeemed that child, apart from the child’s volition (when a child dies prior to reaching God consciousness) by our Lord’s death on the cross. Therefore, that child is saved. 2Sam. 12:22–23

                 (5)    This is why the Book of Life has every person’s name in it. Since we are condemned from birth, we stand potentially purchased from the point of birth. Philip. 4:3 Rev. 3:5

                 (6)    Similarly, this allows for the salvation of those who lived prior to the Law of Moses. The Law defined sin, so that, man clearly knew when he had committed a sin. Rom. 5:12–14: Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned--for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. God did not require first having the Law of Moses in order to condemn man. God did not have to define sin in order for us to be sinners.

                 (7)    Again, man has to be condemned in order for God to redeem him; man must be in the slave market of sin in order for God to purchase him.

        2)     The second part of our barrier is the sin nature, which is the distorter of the soul. We inherit Adam’s sin nature, which is genetically passed down through the man in conception. The corruption of Adam’s sin is therefore genetically ingrained in all of us and it is the part of us which tempts us to sin. We were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind (Eph. 2:3b). That is, we are prone to sin against God. By the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners (Rom. 5:19a). For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin [= the sin nature] that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin [= sin nature] that dwells within me (Rom. 7:14–20). Often, in the Bible, the singular noun sin refers to the sin nature, which is actually a part of our cell structure (Rom. 7:14 1John 1:8). In short, all men are genetically disposed to sin.

        3)     No man, with a sin nature, goes through life apart from personal sin. At some point in our lives, we move out of child-like innocence and intentionally commit sins. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). See also Rom. 5:12.

                 (1)    At some point in time, we will commit a mental attitude sin; we will look at someone else and we will feel superior to them—arrogance. Or, someone rubs us the wrong way, and we hate them. Or, someone has something that we want, and we envy that person.

                 (2)    At some point in time, we will commit a verbal sin. We will do something wrong, and when questioned about it by our parents, we lie. We dislike someone, so we gossip behind their back.

                 (3)    At some point in time, we will commit an overt act of sin; some child has a toy we like, and we steal it from him. He cries, so we slug him.

                 (4)    I still recall one of the first sins which I committed around the age or 4 or 5—stealing toys from a friend, toys which my soul coveted. Obviously, I could not simply have them out in the open to play with them, so I hid them in front of my house behind some bushes. It was entirely illogical, because there was no way that I could actually play with these toys out in the open. I would have had more opportunities to play with these toys if they were his, because I would not have to hide anything. I was motivated by lust, which was entirely irrational about the end results.

        4)     There are other barriers which stand between God and us. Because of Adam’s original sin has been imputed to us and because we have sinned against God, we have a judgment against us, which judgment demands our death. The wages of sin is death (Rom. 3:23a).

        5)     Because we are born with a sin nature, we are born physically alive, but spiritually dead. This is something which we cannot fix on our own. We cannot decide one day to be spiritually alive; we have no way of establishing fellowship with God any more than we can physically ascend into heaven to be with God. Rom. 5:12–21

        6)     We have temporal life, God is eternal life. In Adam, all die (1Cor. 15:22a). Rom. 5:17, 21

        7)     As unbelievers, we are of our father the devil. We are not, by birth, children of God. We do not have, therefore, a familial relationship with God. Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear My word. You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.” (John 8:42–45).

        8)     We do not have a way of appealing to God, no more than a dead man can reach out and appeal to us who are alive on any matter. And you were dead in the trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1).

        9)     We have relative righteousness (we can usually find someone whom we view as a moral inferior to us); God is perfect righteousness. All our righteousnesses are as a menstruation cloth (Isa. 64:6b). That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith [Gentiles, without the Law, believe in Jesus Christ and were saved]; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law [Israel had the Law, but did not achieve righteousness]. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works (Rom. 9:30b–32a). Criminals serving life sentences for multiple murders feel morally superior to child molesters. That is relative righteousness as well as self-righteousness. One of the most amoral people I know is also the most self-righteous person I know; he is so incredibly self-righteous when it comes to liberalism, but without any reason to be, that it makes me smile. In any case, God has no interest in our own personally developed concepts of righteousness.

        10)   All of this puts us into a slave market, so to speak. Furthermore, these things are barriers between us and God. We have no means by which we can purchase our freedom; we have no way of removing these barriers which are between us and God.

3.     We have to be in the slave market of sin in order to be purchased by Jesus Christ. This is why condemnation from birth is important. It is what fundamentally separates us from God, yet, simultaneously qualifies us to be redeemed from the slave market.

4.     Now let’s look at that original passage, and see what Jesus is actually saying: As Jesus was saying these things, many believed in Him [therefore, they were born again, as per John 3:16]. So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in Him, "If you remain in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." There are two related concepts here: if you know Jesus—i.e., if you have believed in Him—you have been set free from bondage and sin. That is, you have been purchased from the slave market of sin. Secondly, if you continue learning God’s Word, you live as a free man (as a mature believer). They answered him, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. So, how is it that you say, 'You will become free'?" Many of those who are there, which includes some unbelievers (John 8:13), are confused by what Jesus is saying. They do not get the analogy. Sometimes, these unbelievers asked questions, hoping to catch Jesus in a contradiction or hoping that He would say something contrary to the Mosaic Law. Here, they connect freedom as being the opposite of enslavement. Jesus answered them, "Point of doctrine; listen: everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin [committing a sin also places you into the slave market of sin]. The slave does not remain in the [master’s] house forever; [however] the Son remains forever.” The slave does not have fellowship with the master; he is not a part of the family. He can be bought and sold at any time. Therefore, the slave does not necessarily remain in his master’s house forever. [Jesus continues] “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Jesus is able to purchase them from the slave market of sin. Jesus is the One who is able to provide them with real freedom. They are enslaved to their trespasses and sins; and Jesus is able to set them free. I know that you [the religious types in this crowd] are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill Me because My Word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have heard from your father [who is Satan]." They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works that your father [the devil] did." They said to him, "We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father--even God." [They mistakenly assert that, they are not of their father the devil because they were not born as a result of sexual immorality; Abraham was their forebearer] Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of My Own accord, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you are unable to hear My Word. You are of your father, the devil, and [therefore] your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.” (John 8:30–45). The religious types in this crowd were of their father, the devil, and their intent to kill Jesus proves this. Therefore, they are enslaved to sin. Later, many of these religious types will intentionally lie (or, support this false testimony) in order to send Jesus to the cross.

5.     Jesus Christ is the truth, and these religious types are filled with lies, like their father, the devil. One example of this is their assertion "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. So, how is it that you say, 'You will become free'?" (John 8:33).

        1)     This is the natural state of man, to be in denial of his (or her) real condition. These Jews are denying their enslavement. They are saying this, even though Jerusalem was under Roman rule at this time.

        2)     Secondly, they placed themselves under the Mosaic Law as a means of salvation, which is another form of enslavement.

        3)     Thirdly, they would violate the clear mandate of the Law not to bear false testimony by giving false testimony against Jesus. Those who did not give false testimony will go along with it without objection. They want our Lord to be crucified, no matter what the cost.

        4)     They were not just trying to keep the Mosaic Law for salvation, but there were a whole host of regulations which the Jews had developed over several centuries, which defined in great specificity how to keep the Mosaic Law. This in itself was enslavement.

        5)     FInally, they were enslaved to their own natural predilection for sin.

        6)     These religious Jews are essentially being sold as slaves at a slave auction, and they are in denial about their true status as slaves.

6.     The purchase price for a slave in the slave market of sin is the blood of Jesus: You were purchased [redeemed] from your empty manner of life which you inherited from your forefathers [Judaic religious traditions], not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot (1Peter 1:18–19). Peter pulls several things together here:

        1)     First is the concept of redemption, where we are purchased with the blood of Jesus.

        2)     The empty manner of life is the religious traditions of the Jews, which were meaningless, and tried to establish their own righteousness through keeping the Law of Moses.

        3)     Peter notes the purchase price as being the blood of Christ (His spiritual death on the cross).

        4)     FInally, Peter relates this purchase price to the Old Testament type of the sacrificial lamb—a lamb without spot or blemish, which represents Jesus has having no sin nature and as having committed no sin. Since Jesus is without spot and without blemish—meaning that He was sinless and without a sin nature, and therefore, He is qualified to purchase us—He is both able and willing to purchase us from the slave market of sin.

        5)     Peter was quite the amazing Apostle, able to fit into 2 short verses, 4 different but related fundamental doctrines of the faith.

7.     Since we are in Adam—born with his imputed sin and with a sin nature—we are born slaves to sin. By birth, we are slaves (which is common in the ancient world). We have no means by which we can counteract this. It is our birthright by being born in Adam (if you we recall an early lesson, we inherit the sin nature from Adam). We can only be purchased by someone who is not in the slave market of sin; we can only be purchased by someone who is not in Adam. Furthermore, this person must have the purchase price. One way a person could find himself in the slave market is being unable to pay his debts. So he would sell himself into slavery in order to pay this debt. This is analogous to our personal sins, which rack up a tremendous debt. Col. 2:13–14 You were dead in your trespasses [your actual sins] and the uncircumcision of your flesh [that is, being born with a sin nature and with Adam’s original sin imputed to us], God made us alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. Being indebted beyond your means to pay back, would put you under slavery to your creditor.

8.     We find this same doctrine and a similar analogy in Gal. 4. In the ancient world, a rich man or a man in power might look around at his near young relatives (sons and grandsons) and conclude, “These men are not fit to enjoy my fortune or to wield the power that I have.” What such a man might do is adopt a son—often a family slave. He may observe his own son out drinking all night and chasing women; and his personal servant, on the other hand, is faithful, sober, honorable and intelligent. So, he makes this slave his son. Or, the man might be childless, so he chooses his own heir by a process called adoption (Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan, the 13th Roman emperor, was adopted, and over 40 years old when adopted). Gal. 4:1–8 Now I say that as long as the heir is a child, he differs in no way from a slave, though he is the owner of everything [the analogy being drawn here is between those who were natural heirs to the kingdom—Jews; and those who were not natural heirs to the kingdom—gentiles]. Instead, he [the natural son] is under guardians and stewards [analogous to the prophets and priests] until the time set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were in slavery under the elemental forces of the world [gentiles are not natural heirs to God’s kingdom; so they were under slavery]. But when the fulfillment of time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those [born] under the law [Jesus purchased the Jews with His blood], so that we might receive adoption as sons [Jesus purchased the gentiles out of slavery]. And because you are [now potentially] sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "my dear Father [addressed to God]!" Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son [the Father has adopted one of the slaves as His son and His heir]; and if a son, then an heir through God. But in the past, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods.  

9.     Jesus is outside of the slave market of sin and He has the purchase price with which to purchase us from the slave market of sin.

10.   He purchases us from the slave market of sin, which is the Doctrine of Redemption. Also related to this doctrine, is the Doctrine of the Barrier (of the barrier between man and God, which is a sub-point of the doctrine of the slave market of sin).

11.   When God redeemed the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt, this was a picture of the slave market of sin. The Jewish people were slaves to the nation of Egypt, and God purchased them, bringing them out of Egypt. Ex. 6:6 15:13 Psalm 74:2 Micah 6:4

        1)     Again, note the tremendous cohesion of the Old and New Testaments.

        2)     The history recorded by Moses and the commentary written by psalmists and prophets afterward all appear to have been written by Jesus, who gave the illustration of the slave market of sin, or Paul who also uses the same illustration.

12.   The chapter that we are in, Gen. 14, illustrates this doctrine of the slave market of sin. The people of Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities have been taken by the eastern alliance, and will probably be slaves (some of the women might become mistresses of the alliance soldiers). But, insofar as they are concerned, they are relegated for a life of slavery and they cannot purchase themselves from this slave market (their goods were confiscated as well). Because there is a righteous man among them (Lot—2Peter 2:7), Abram rescues these people from the slave market. The analogy is, God the Father (represented by Abram) devises a plan by which we are all rescued from the slave market of sin (represented by these people of Sodom and Gomorrah) because of Jesus Christ Who died for our sins (represented by righteous Lot who was among them).

13.   To sum up: from birth, we are slaves, born into the slave market of sin. We cannot purchase our own freedom and no other slave (person born with a sin nature) can purchase our freedom either. This takes someone from outside the slave market of sin, which would be Jesus Christ, Who was born without a sin nature and without Adam’s imputed sin. He paid the penalty for our sins, thus redeeming us out of the slave market. Jesus taught this very doctrine (which is an illustration), Paul used it as a basis for what he wrote in his epistles, and Moses and the children of Israel illustrate this doctrine through real historical events.

Bear in mind that God adopting us as sons and Jesus purchasing us from the slave market of sin are illustrations; they are analogous situations. The Bible is filled with analogous situations. Much of the history recorded in the Bible is to teach spiritual truth via analogous situations. Jesus taught using analogous situations (called parables). Therefore, do not get bogged down in the details of an illustration and do not attempt to apply these illustrations as the reality of what is occurring. The history of Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt is true and accurate history; but it is also illustrative.

The slave market of sin will be illustrated in the very chapter that we are studying.

See also http://www.divineviewpoint.com/slave_market.pdf

R. B. Thieme, Jr., Slave Market of Sin, and The Barrier, both of which can be ordered for free through R. B. Thieme, Jr. Ministries (which is rbthieme.org).


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


As you read through the Slave Market of Sin, is it beginning to dawn on you just how interrelated the entire Word of God is? Everything that we have studied about Adam all relates to what Jesus taught a crowd of Jews, using the illustration of being a slave, thousands of years after Adam, yet implied in all that Jesus says is, Adam, his original sin, and the fact that this sin is imputed to us. Many similar theological concepts are more formally developed by Paul, in Romans and Ephesians. The Bible that you hold in your hand (or view on your computer screen) is over 1000 pages long, written by 40 different authors, over a period of at least 2000–3000 years (in my opinion); and yet, it all fits together as one cohesive whole. From the sin of Adam, to the use of the word Redeemer by Melchizedek, to the redemption of Israel from Egypt, to the illustration Jesus gives of a slave market, to the theological explanations by Paul which tie all of this together—it is all the Word of God, inspired by God the Holy Spirit.


The last verse that we studied was:


Gen 14:19 And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor [or, Redeemer, Purchaser] of heaven and earth;


This is Melchizedek blessing Abram after Abram has enjoyed a great military victory over the King’s Alliance from the east. This particular verse led to the Doctrine of Redemption which naturally led to the Slave Market of Sin.


As I work my way through Genesis with you, on other days, I am studying Psalm 51, and in it, are the exact same principles as we find elsewhere: God’s perfect righteousness and our sins against God (With regards to You—[and] to You alone—I have sinned; and I have done evil in Your eyes. So that You are righteous in Your declaration; [and] You are justified in Your judgment. Psalm 51:4); being born into sin (Listen, I was born in iniquity and my mother conceived me in sin. Psalm 51:5); the importance of Bible doctrine in the soul (Listen, You [God] desire [and take pleasure in] truth in the inner being; and You make me know wisdom in [my] hidden [being]. Psalm 51:6); and Jesus Christ bearing our sins and taking away the record of debt which is against us (You will bear my blame [or, take the consequences for my sin; make a sin offering for me] with hyssop and I will be cleansed; You will wash me and I will be made white more than snow. Psalm 51:7). This is because, this is the Bible, it is God’s Word, and its unique message to mankind permeates this book from cover to cover.


We do not learn everything that there is to learn about God in the book of Genesis; nor do we fully understand the doctrines which are introduced in the book of Genesis if we look only at the book of Genesis. This information is revealed to us progressively.


The concept of progressive revelation is, each additional truth builds upon, expands, and better explains that which was already taught. New revelation does not supercede, replace or nullify previous revelation, but it builds upon that which is past. That is, God does not teach a false doctrine early on, and then, explain, “Now you have enough theology so that you can throw away these old notions of things you learned in Genesis and replace them with correct theological information.” The Bible never teaches one thing in an early book, and then, later on, contradicts that old idea. What the Bible does is teach progressively; our Bible is not a 10 or 20 page pamphlet, but it is a 1000+ page document, recording God’s interaction with man, and, bit by bit, progressively teaching us what we need to know about God, His character, His plan, and our place in that plan.


On the other hand, this does not mean that practices do not change. In Genesis and throughout the Age of Israel, animal sacrifices are offered up. This is because they look forward to Jesus, the Lamb of God, dying for us on the cross. These practices were stopped because, the reality had come—what they looked forward to had come to pass. Therefore, there was no reason to continue to offer up animal sacrifices (Heb. 9:19–28).


Let’s look at some examples of doctrines whose seeds around found in the first 14 chapters of Genesis.

The Seeds of Genesis in the first 14 Chapters

1.      From the very beginning, we find the Trinity in the Bible.

         1)      The second noun in Gen. 1:1 is Elohim, which is a plural noun which we translate God or gods. This plural noun, when translated God, always takes a singular verb.

         2)      In Gen. 1:26, we read the words Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.” Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, we have a plural verb, which is expressed by the words let Us make.

         3)      We find this plurality continued in Gen. 3:22a: Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us in knowing good and evil.”

         4)      And again in Gen. 11:6–7 And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech."

         5)      As you probably know, the Jewish religion does not believe in the Trinity; and there are several Christian cults which do not believe in the Trinity. And yet, we find these verses, at the very beginning of the book of Genesis, which suggest the Trinity.

         6)      Then, thousands of years later, we have the words of God, recorded by Isaiah: “Draw near to Me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there." And now the Lord GOD [= Adonai Yehowah] has sent Me, and His Spirit.” (Isa. 48:16). The One speaking is God, which is clear from the preceding verses, yet the One speaking tells us that Jehovah Elohim both sent Him and His Spirit. That is the Trinity; the One speaking, the One sending, and the Spirit.

         7)      The New Testament more clearly reveals the Trinity, but without ever using the word Trinity (which is a legitimate theological word).

         8)      This is known as progressive revelation. It is doubtful that Noah or Abram fully understood or taught the Trinity and the different functions of the members of the Trinity. I went to liberal churches for years as a child and I must have heard the word Trinity, but it never stuck in my brain. Even when I was first saved, I did not realize that Jesus was God; I learned that soon after.

2.      We learn in Genesis that God created the heavens and the earth; and we learn in John 1 that our Lord Jesus was intimately involved in the creation of all things. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:3).

3.      We learn about the 2nd divine institution, which is work, as far back as Gen. 2:15, before there was sin. The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it (Gen. 2:15).

         1)      We find that work is continued in our lives, even after man sinned (Gen. 3:17–19).

         2)      Even though God had a system of welfare in the Mosaic Law, it required the poor to work to harvest their food. Lev. 19:9–10 23:22 Ruth 2

         3)      The book of Proverbs is filled with maxims about work, such as: Go to the ant, lazy one; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you indolent person? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man (Prov. 6:6).

         4)      Prov. 12:24 Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor.

         5)      Prov. 14:23 All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

         6)      We find out that work is a part of man’s satisfaction in life in Eccles. 2:24.

         7)      Paul even writes the Thessalonians and tells them, if someone does not work, then that person ought not to eat. (1Thess. 3:10)

4.      In Gen. 2–3, we learn about the 3rd divine institution, which is marriage; and this is the basis not only for the most important human relationship among men and women, but is the basis for explaining our Lord’s relationship to us.

5.      We meed Satan in Gen. 3:1–15

         1)      We learn that he is subtle and that he distorts the truth.

         2)      We learn that God has judged him.

         3)      But then, we learn a great deal more about Satan in Job 1–2 Isa. 14:12–16 and Ezek. 28:13–19, where we learn of his origins, his fall from grace and his present-day activity.

         4)      We meet Satan again in the temptation of our Lord in Matt. 4.

         5)      Paul tells us more about Satan in 2Cor. 4:4 Eph. 2:2

         6)      We find out more about Satan and his history (taking a third of the angels with him) and his fate (to be burned in the Lake of Fire forever) in Revelation (Rev. 12:3–4 20:10).

6.      We find out about our Savior and what He would do in Gen. 3.

         1)      As we have studied, God judged him with these words: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you will bruise His heel.” (Gen. 3:15). There is a distinction between the seed of Satan and the Seed of the woman, which is later explained in Isa. 7:14 and the virgin birth in Luke 1:35. As more is revealed, we begin to understand that the virgin birth is more than simply a fulfillment of prophecy, but it is the key to Jesus being born without a sin nature.

         2)      We also understand the difference between how Satan would bruise our Lord’s heel (the cross—a nonfatal wound) but that Jesus would crush Satan’s head (a fatal wound).

         3)      Later in Gen. 3, we have Adam and the woman being clothed (covered) with animal skins, which means that animals would have had to die in order for these skins to be made. This is a picture of the cross, where our sins are poured upon our Lord, as the Lamb of God.

         4)      We find this substitutionary death taught again in Gen. 4, where the works of one’s hands are rejected, but the sacrificial offering of an innocent animal is not.

         5)      We will see this again in Gen. 22 Psalm 22 and Isa. 53, which there is more detail about the cross than is found in the New Testament recorded by eyewitnesses.

7.      As just noted, Gen. 4 looks forward to the cross, by distinguishing between the works of man’s hands and the work of God. Abel’s sacrifice of an animal, which looks forward to the death of our Lord on the cross; God found acceptable. However, Cain’s works were rejected by God, leading to the first murder.

8.      With Genesis 5, we begin a recording of the genealogies which will eventually take us all the way from Adam to Jesus. These genealogies are recorded by a number of different authors over a long period of time. Some genealogies dead end, but there is one line which continues all the way through, from Adam to Abraham to Moses to David to Jesus. In fact, interestingly enough, the final genealogical line, which goes from Adam to Jesus, is recorded by the only New Testament gentile author that we know of (we do not know who wrote the book of Hebrews, but if a gentile did, then it is reasonable that he would not indicate who he was).

9.      Although we begin to learn about the Angelic Conflict in Gen. 3, this becomes even a greater issue in Gen. 6, with the angelic corruption of mankind. This doctrine has become the subject of hundreds of books, as our understanding of our relationship to angels is progressively revealed in the rest of Scripture.

10.    During the flood, we have incidents recorded which seem to point logically to Noah or Shem as the author of the recording of this event. This helps us to understand the concept of the dual authorship of Scripture by both man and God, which doctrine is explained in greater detail throughout the Bible.

11.    In Gen. 9, we are exposed to the notion of a covenant, which is a dominant theme of Scripture, particularly in the Old Testament. Also, there are animal sacrifices and at least two mandates: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. And you, be fruitful and multiply, teem on the earth and multiply in it." (Gen. 9:6–7). This covenant theme continues with the Abrahamic covenant, and then is found throughout Scripture after that.

12.    In Gen. 10, we have the book of nations, and we learn the interrelationships of ancient peoples, almost all of whom can be identified today in accordance with specific land areas.

13.    In the passage where we have been for the past several weeks—Gen. 14—we understand God as our Redeemer, although this is not fully explained in Gen. 14.

         1)      The book of Ruth records an historical incident about Ruth’s kinsman-redeemer, Boaz, who is a type of Christ.

         2)      As we get into the New Testament, we fully understand that our redemption is by the blood of Christ.

         3)      This logically led us to the slave market of sin, which is illustrated by the real historical incidents recorded in Exodus, and later explained as a parable by Jesus, and then doctrinally by Paul.

         4)      You may think that we went pretty far afield with the slave market of sin, but, we will find this slave market illustrated in this chapter of Genesis.

14.    The original United Nations is found in Gen. 11.

15.    In Gen. 14, we see city-nations which are under the 4th stage of national discipline (they are paying tribute to a foreign nation) and they are about to go under the 5th stage of national discipline (called elsewhere, the 5th cycle of discipline), which is being removed from their homeland.

16.    In Gen. 14, we see the first illustration of the slave market of sin, where, based upon the plan of Abram, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are rescued from slavery because there is a righteous man among them (Lot—2Peter 2:7).

17.    Throughout the book of Genesis, we touch on fundamental doctrines of the faith, getting sometimes just the barest glimpse of these doctrines, in a book which I believe was recorded 3000–4000 years ago.

I did not cover all of the seeds of the doctrines found in the first 14 chapters of Genesis. I just covered enough so that you can see, it is as if there is this overlain story-line or story-arc, as if it was predetermined, and then various authors, over time, filled in the details.

When a television series is developed, a story arc is developed before the episodes are written, so that we meet our characters, see their interrelationships, situations are set up, and they all play out, with a grand finale at the end. In any series, there might be a dozen writers, and 3 or 4 of them are assigned specific episodes to write, which furthers the story arc. The characters of the show stay true to their personalities and drives, and ideally, everything fits together as a whole. The first show often introduces the main characters, the main themes, and introduces the story arc; the final show of the series often brings the story arc to a satisfying conclusion, bringing all of the program’s themes progressively through the show. Writers meet regularly—often daily—to confer, interact, and to make certain that all of their characters remain true to their essence in each episode.

This describes how the Bible is put together. There is an introduction, wherein all of the main characters and themes are introduced, with the story arc being set up (the Book of Genesis). There is a grand finale at the end, where all of the themes are brought to a satisfying climax and the story arc brought to an end (Revelation). In every book of the Bible, the characters retain their basic essence, the themes progress logically, and we move from the beginning of time to the end of time just as if there was a story arc developed, main characters developed, all of whom whose essence was pre-determined and brought out in each successive book (episode). God the Holy Spirit confers with the writers of Scripture during the time that they record human history and God’s interaction with man. Even though the writers of Scripture all had different backgrounds, personalities and vocabularies, their contribution fit into the story arc. They moved the plot forward, those in the Bible retained their essence throughout, so that, over a period of 2000 years or more, some 40 or so authors wrote, as guided by God the Holy Spirit, so that the end result is a cohesive whole.

What is amazing is, at any given time, there is enough divine revelation provided for that generation; and yet, the Bible is not completed until the book of Revelation.

The point of this doctrine was for you to see the seeds of all that would follow, how a little is revealed here in Genesis, after which more information would be layered upon that, progressively.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


I would hope that, as you read through the seeds of Genesis, listed in the previous doctrine, you would develop a profound respect and appreciation for the Word of God, along with the understanding that, this is the Word of God. Nothing else could explain it. If nothing else, you should begin to appreciate that the Bible does have a head Writer, God the Holy Spirit, Who developed the story arc, and assigned the writing of the various episodes to a plethora of various authors (most of whom were not writers); and God the Holy Spirit worked right along side of them, making certain that their episode remained true to the essence of the characters and that it correctly furthered along the story arc.


For prophecy was never produced by the will of man, but people spoke from God, as they were carried along [i.e., inspired] by the Holy Spirit (2Peter 1:21; AUV–NT).


For these words did not ever come through the impulse of men: but the prophets had them from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit (2Peter 1:21; Bible in Basic English).


The prophets did not think these things up on their own, but they were guided by the Spirit of God (2Peter 1:21; Contemporary English Version).


It was never man's impulse, after all, that gave us prophecy; men gave it utterance, but they were men whom God had sanctified, carried away, as they spoke, by the Holy Spirit (2Peter 1:21; Knox NT).


No prophecy ever originated from humans. Instead, it was given by the Holy Spirit as humans spoke under God's direction (2Peter 1:21; God’s Word).


The concept of progressive revelation is, each additional truth builds upon, expands, and better explains that which was already taught. New revelation does not supercede, replace or nullify previous revelation, but it builds upon that which is past.

This is how far we have gotten:


Gen 14:19 And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor [or, Redeemer, Purchaser] of heaven and earth;


The word Redeemer led us on quite a path, so that we examined the Doctrine of Redemption, the Illustration of the Slave Market of Sin, and other doctrines whose seeds are found in Genesis.


Much of this is based upon a concept known as progressive revelation, which is a true doctrine, but has been greatly distorted by various cults and religions.


Because the Bible is written over several thousand years by 40 or so authors, we would expect it to have more of the feel of an anthology. However, the more the Bible is studied and understood, the more it will seem like a seamless novel, throughout which the same themes and characters progress logically and reasonably.

Progressive Revelation

1.      It is important to note that, progressive revelation, properly understood, is, we are given the seeds of a doctrine, and, throughout human history, information is layered upon those seeds—information given to mankind in a variety of ways—until we have a complete set of fully realized doctrines.

2.      God reveals Himself to mankind in various ways by various means over a period of about 4000 years (from the creation of Adam to the completion of the canon of Scripture in a.d. 100). In the past God spoke to our ancestors at many different times and in many different ways through the prophets. In these last days He has spoken to us through His Son. God made His Son responsible for everything (Heb. 1:1–2 God’s Word™).

3.      The concept of progressive revelation is, each additional truth builds upon, expands, and better explains that which was already taught. New revelation does not supercede, replace or nullify previous revelation, but it builds upon that which is past.

4.      God did not reveal Himself all at once. He did not sit down with Adam (or Noah or Abram) and say, “Start writing; I am going to tell you everything that you need to know about Me.” A little is revealed here in Genesis, some of which is explained further in the Law, or in the history of Israel, or in the psalms or prophets. Many of these doctrines are explained in their final form by Paul in his epistles. Some of these doctrines are developed after the fact, after the Scripture has been completed, building line upon line, Scripture upon Scripture (Isa. 28:9–10).

         1)      As an aside, we have reason to believe that, Abram (and possibly other Old Testament saints of this era) and before had a more well-defined concept of right and wrong, not all of which was recorded in the book of Genesis. God says, in Gen. 25:6 “I will bless you because Abraham obeyed Me and completed the duties, commands, laws, and instructions I gave him."

5.      A good example of a doctrine that is reveal progressively is the doctrine of the Trinity, which is found throughout the Old and New Testaments, but never fully laid out or explained—not even by Paul. It is reasonable to suppose that we know, even better than Paul and John, about the Angelic Conflict (those of us who have studied this conflict). It is not that God is providing new revelation (He is not—Rev. 22:18–19); but that we are taking the revelation which He has given us and developing a complete theological understanding of our relationship to Him and our place on this earth. This is why theologians, 2000 years after the canon was closed, can develop a Systematic Theology (e.g., Chafer or Hodge) with spiritual information that is organized and categorized, even superior to that known by the saints in the 1st and 2nd centuries. And, even today, after hundreds or even thousands of books on systematic theology have been written, there are still pastors, teachers and theologians who are building upon these theological systems.

         1)      As an example, much of what R. B. Thieme, Jr. taught in the first 10–20 years of his ministry came right out of the pages of L. S. Chafer’s “Systematic Theology;” a theological set which Bob apparently returned to again and again in his teaching. However, Bob built upon this foundation that Chafer laid (which foundation was built upon the Bible), developing an updated theological vocabulary (much of which I and others use) along with some needed updates in theology. Bob did not receive additional revelation from God, which he hurriedly wrote down, but he took what he had learned from Dallas Theological Seminary and built upon that with additional studying of the Bible.

         2)      The foundation of divine knowledge is and always will be the Bible; but as we learn more, this logically leads us to a more complete system of doctrine.

         3)      Just as the final chapters of 2Samuel lay fallow for 3000 years before they were properly explained, there are still great chunks of the Bible waiting for theologians to sink their teeth into, and to fully explain.

         4)      However, let me clearly state that, even though theology, which is based upon the Bible, can progress, this does not mean that there is any new revelation which occurs after the closing of the canon of Scripture (as per Mormons, Pentecostals, Jehovah Witnesses, etc.); and all that which is discovered and taught theologically is (1) in accordance to orthodox Christianity and (2) based upon the revelation in the Bible.

         5)      In other words, there is no legitimacy in some cult surfacing with new doctrines which contradict the foundation which has been laid by Christian theologians over the past 2000 years. Jesus is and always will be the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of mankind. Our salvation is based upon faith in Him and His substitutionary death on the cross. Spiritually is based upon naming our sins to God; and we advance in the spiritual life through knowledge of God’s Word.

         6)      Sometimes, what happens is, truth is rediscovered based on the Bible, which has been there all along. Just as the Old Testament manuscripts were set aside in some generations and rediscovered by later generations (2Kings 22), so it is with the teachings of the faith. What comes to mind is, in my grandparents’ generation, there were huge number of people who had a real working knowledge of the Bible. Even reprobates and infidels knew the Bible and they would sometimes base arguments on the Bible. However, in my generation, I have known huge numbers of Christians whose knowledge of the Bible was based upon salvation (which they barely understood) and living a good, clean life. I even know a number of Christians who are liberals, and do not see any sort of contradiction between Christianity and their pagan-based political beliefs.

                  (1)     As an aside, this lack of knowledge of the Word of God has destroyed our society and its thinking.

                  (2)     Because our society does not know or understand Scripture, they believe in false teaching, like humanism, socialism, liberation theology and the worship of the earth (ancient Gaia worship which is today has morphed into environmentalism).

6.      Isaiah gives the principle of progressive revelation in Isa. 28:9–10 To whom will He teach knowledge, and to whom will He explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast? For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.

7.      Progressive revelation does not mean that, God reveals a truth on Tuesday that truth nullifies everything that He told us on Monday (e.g., what is taught in Islam). All that we learn progressively in the Bible is built upon what has come before, like a brick wall, being built upon successive brick rows. A brick on the 5th row of a brick wall does not negate the bricks below it, but depends upon them for its basis.

8.      The concept of dispensations does not negate or contradict the principles of progressive revelation. All that God promised Abraham and his seed will still be fulfilled. During the Church Age, Abraham’s seed are temporarily set aside as a national entity, but there continues to be a reality and meaning connected to the Jewish people. For instance, the United States is blessed because God has promised that He would bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel (Gen. 12:1–3). Even though we live in the Church Age and the nation Israel is set aside, this does not nullify or set aside God’s promises (like Gen. 12:1–3).

         1)      What nation do people of the world want to move to? The United States. This is, in part, because of our relationship to Israel and the Jewish people. Most of the people who move here do not understand or even know Gen. 12:1–3; they simply recognize the great blessings which are inherent in the United States.

         2)      What nations do people have little or no desire to go to? All of those nations who hate Israel (or the United States): Iran, Syria, or Jordan. When was the last time a member of your family spoke longingly of traveling to any of those countries? When have friends of yours said, “You know, we’re going to pack everything up and move to Syria to make our fortune”?

         3)      People come here to the United States because of the prosperity, but God draws them here so that they may have a better chance to understand Him. There is little or nothing being taught about God in Syrian, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, etc.

         4)      As an aside, this does not mean that the United States always acts sensibly as a nation. Even though our actions and intentions in Iraq and Afghanistan are noble, for the most part, we have deliberately impeded evangelization in those countries (which was not our approach in Japan, South Korea, or the Philippines). As a part of the degenerate path that we are on, we will be encouraging soldiers to express their homosexuality but not their Christianity. And it makes little sense to argue that suppressing the expression of Christianity shows respect for the Muslim nations where we are, at the same time, to argue for the repeal of “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” Those trends simply reveal Satanic thought creeping into our military.

9.      Many examples of progressive revelation were given in the previous lesson. We just took a look at the seeds of doctrines found in the first 14 chapters of Genesis, and we saw how these doctrines were built upon their foundation laid in Genesis.

10.    There is a sense in which progressive revelation is personal. That is, when you are saved, you understood barely a thimbleful of doctrine. Jesus Christ died for your sins, you believe in Him and you are saved. You heard that, you believed that, but then, since then, you have learned more and more about the Christian faith. For instance, you have learned that in order to grow, this takes the confession of your sins to God—which provides the filling of the Holy Spirit—coupled with the learning of Bible doctrine. No one just automatically grows as a Christian after they are saved.

         1)      As an aside, this is an area which perturbs innumerable Christians. They are saved, they go to some legalistic church each Sunday, and they try really hard to be good, so when you tell them that they have not progressed one iota spiritually, this offends them.

         2)      They point to 2Cor. 5:21 and say, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature;” and then note that they have stopped getting drunk, they have stopped chasing women, and they have settled down to a respectable life with a wife and children. They equate this to spiritual maturity. It is not.

         3)      What has happened is, they went from a point where they ignored or defied the laws of divine establishment (which are for believers and unbelievers) and have begun to learn and follow the laws of divine establishment (lessons #108–109).

         4)      Every person, believer or not, will have a better life if they follow the laws of divine establishment. For instance, if you are some layabout dope smoker, and you quit dope and start working hard, this is in accordance with the laws of divine establishment. You will have a better life as a result. That is totally unrelated to becoming a believer in Jesus Christ. Furthermore, such a change of behavior is not Christian growth. It is a good thing for you and society, but it is not Christian growth.

         5)      So, a better life is not necessarily a result of becoming a Christian; a better life can often result from self-regulated behavior and adherence to the laws of divine establishment.

         6)      This is why Mormons, some of whom are saved and some of whom are not, are very nice people to be around and people that you will often personally like. It is not that they are growing Christians; it is that they adhere to the laws of divine establishment.

11.    Back to our topic: implied in progressive revelation is, there is an order in which things happen in human history, and our understanding of theology is built progressively upon that timetable.

         1)      This is one of the reasons I have been fascinated about the Old Testament and have chosen to spend most of my time exegeting it.

         2)      Christians have boiled their faith down, in many cases, to a 5 page pamphlet which is mostly a description of moral behavior.

         3)      However, our faith is not based entirely upon the New Testament (I am using faith in the sense of our understanding of Christianity). Our faith has an historical basis, and that history ought not be ignored.

12.    Progressive revelation is found within the New Testament. The Apostles did not know all there was to know on day one of Pentecost. At that point in time, they taught the gospel, primarily, and how this was based upon what was found in the Old Testament.

13.    To sum up, progressive revelation simply means that God reveals Himself, to a limited degree, in the Bible, at a point in time, and later reveals more and more of Himself as time moves forward. Similarly, we learn more and more about our relationship to God, progressively in the Bible and progressively in our lives.

Again, progressive revelation means that, each additional truth builds upon, expands, and better explains that which was already taught. New revelation does not supercede, replace or nullify previous revelation, but builds upon that which is past.

Progressive revelation is integral to God’s plan. Otherwise, He would have revealed Himself all at once and, at salvation, we would know all that we need to know.

Other articles on this topic, which appear to be reasonable:

http://www.eldrbarry.net/clas/gb/b12progres.pdf

http://www.scionofzion.com/progressive_revelation.htm (They bring in many examples of modern-day cults that believe in continued revelations from God)

http://maranathabiblesociety.org/progressive_revelation

My listing of these sites is not an endorsement of their entirety; only of the information on this particular topic.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


Progressive revelation is also personal. The moment you are saved, you do not understand everything that there is to know about Christianity. You learn more and more, beginning with the foundation of faith in Christ, and building upon that. At no time will we learn some maxim of theology which contradicts the basic tenets of the faith (however, you may, from time to time, learn spiritual information which will cause you to set aside some previously held personal beliefs which were incorrect).


Gen 14:19 And he [Melchizedek] blessed him [Abram] and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor [or, Redeemer, Purchaser] of heaven and earth;


So, Melchizedek blesses Abram by the God Most High, the Redeemer of heaven and earth, the One Who will purchase us from the slave market of sin.


One of the things which I have learned, as I study the Bible, is patience. When I began to study and write, I had hoped to write a commentary on the entire Old Testament and possibly on some New Testament books. I’ve come to realize that, given my age and the time I have left, this is virtually impossible. However, at the same time, I have begun to appreciate more the ride, the trip, and the stops along the way, as opposed to only focusing upon the destination. It’s become far more fulfilling to stop, every now and again, and look around, to see how far we’ve come, and to appreciate where we are.


Gen 14:19 And he [Melchizedek] blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor [or, Redeemer, Purchaser] of heaven and earth;


Melchizedek recognizes that it was God Who blessed Abram and it was God Who gave these enemies into the hands of Abram.


Genesis 14:20a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

bârake (בָּרַ) [pronounced baw-RAHKe]

blessed, blessed be [is], blessings to; happiness to [for], happiness [is]

Qal passive participle

Strong’s #1288 BDB #138

ʾÊl (אֵל) [pronounced ALE]

God, god, mighty one, strong, hero; transliterated El

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #410 BDB #42

ʿEleyôwn (עֶלְיוֹן) [pronounced ģele-YOHN]

high, higher; Most High, highest, Supreme

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #5945 BDB #751


Translation: Furthermore, blessings to El the Most High... Here, we have exactly the same verb as was found in v. 19, but now the blessings are directed toward God. Blessing can also mean to praise, to salute. When God is able to give great blessings to Abram, it is God Who is glorified. When God is able to give great blessings to you, it is God Who is glorified by that. Mankind may or may not notice; but angels do.


Genesis 14:20b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

ʾăsher (אֲֹשֶר) [pronounced uh-SHER]

that, which, when, who, whom

relative pronoun

Strong's #834 BDB #81

mâgan (מָגַן) [pronounced maw-GAHN]

to deliver up [over]; to give; to make [anyone anything]

3rd person masculine singular, Piel perfect

Strong’s #4042 BDB #171

tsar (צַר) [pronounced tsar]

an adversary, an enemy; narrow, tight and therefore, distress, affliction, intense distress [caused by an adversary]

masculine plural noun with the 2nd person masculine singular suffix

Strong’s #6862 BDB #865

be (בְּ) [pronounced beh]

in, into, through; at, by, near, on, upon; with, before, against; by means of; among; within

a preposition of proximity

No Strong’s # BDB #88

yâd (יָד) [pronounced yawd]

hand; figuratively for strength, power, control

feminine singular noun with the 2nd person masculine singular suffix; pausal form

Strong's #3027 BDB #388


Translation: ...Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” God is praised because God delivered this huge army into Abram’s hand. These were Abram’s enemies, not because they attacked him, but because they attacked his nephew and took his nephew captive. So, by association, they have become Abram’s enemies. And by his association with God, they became God’s enemies. And when God is on your side, 1 man can send 100 men into a retreat, which is what has happened here.


Genesis 14:20c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

nâthan (נָתַן) [pronounced naw-THAHN]

to give, to grant, to place, to put, to set; to make

3rd person masculine singular, Qal imperfect

Strong's #5414 BDB #678

lâmed (לְ) [pronounced le]

to, for, towards, in regards to

directional/relational preposition with the 3rd person masculine singular suffix

No Strong’s # BDB #510

maʿăsêr (מַעֲשֵׂר) [pronounced mah-ģuhs-AIR]

tenth part, tithe, payment of a tenth part

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #4643 BDB #798

This is the first occurrence of this word in Scripture.

min (מִן) [pronounced min]

from, off, out from, of, out of, away from, on account of, since, than, more than

preposition of separation

Strong's #4480 BDB #577

kôl (כֹּל) [pronounced kohl]; also kol (כַּל) [pronounced kol]

all, all things, the whole, totality, the entirety, everything

masculine singular noun without the definite article

Strong’s #3605 BDB #481


Translation: Therefore, Abram [lit., he] gave him a tenth of all. Here, without having this mentioned before, Abram gives to Melchizedek a tenth of all. Now, there are no specifics here. Is this all the Abram recovered? Is this what Abram recovered and belonged to him (after returning all of the merchandise to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah).


Gen 14:20 and blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand!" And Abram gave him [Melchizedek] a tenth of everything.


Abram is so impressed by this meeting with Melchizedek, that he gives him a tenth of everything. A tenth means tithe, so we ought to understand what tithing actually is.


We need to keep the dispensations separated in our minds; furthermore, some doctrines have been misrepresented over the years.

The Doctrine of Tithing

1.     The Hebrew word here is: maʿăsêr (מַעֲשֵׂר) [pronounced mah-ģuhs-AIR], which means tenth part, tithe, payment of a tenth part. Strong’s #4643 BDB #798. There are several related Hebrew words.

2.     Pre-Mosaic occurrences: A system of giving:

        1)     In this passage, Abraham gives a tenth to Melchizedek, which we can reasonably see as spiritual giving (although there is very little discussion of what this means). Gen 14:19–20 Heb 7:2, 6

        2)     Jacob promised to give a tenth, although it is unclear to whom this would be given (he promised to give this to God). Gen. 28:20–22

3.     For Priest-nation Israel, during the Age of Israel, a tithe was income tax for both believers and unbelievers. All people of Israel paid tithes; yet, it is reasonable to suppose that not all Israelites were believers in Jehovah Elohim.

4.     There was no graduated system of taxation in Israel; the percentages here were applied straight across the board, whether you were rich or poor.

5.     Categories of tithing:

        1)     The people of Israel gave a tenth of what they had for the maintenance of the tribe of Levi. The Levites were given this rather than land. The idea was, they had their inheritance with God. Lev. 27:30 Num. 18:21, 24

        2)     Israelites set aside 10% of their new crops and animals to take with them to the feast days. So these things were not given to some outside entity, but set aside as God’s, so to speak, and eaten outside of their own city limits, in whatever city God had them gather. Deut. 12:17–19 14:22–27 2Chron. 31:5

        3)     There was a tithe, also, every third year for the Levite, the foreign resident, orphans and widows. Deut 14:28-29

        4)     In addition to this, when crops were harvested, a portion of the field was to be left unharvested so that the poor could come and harvest these crops themselves.

        5)     So, altogether, because Israel was a priest-nation to God, it paid 13⅓% in taxes and an additional 10% was set aside to be consumed by the family itself out of town on feast days (this could almost be called a vacation fund).

        6)     This is how Israel functioned when not under a king, which was the first 400 years of Israel’s existence. When a king was on the scene, the taxation was less well-defined, as the king had to be paid for, along with a standing army. Although this certainly could have been subsidized, in part, by the conquering of other nations and collecting tribute from them; there is an indication that Solomon, with all of his building projects, put a very difficult burden on the people (meaning that, he taxed them excessively). 1Kings 12:3–11 2Chron. 10:10–11

6.     In addition to tithing, there was free will (spiritual) giving. Lev. 22:18 Deut. 12:17

7.     Therefore, Old Testament tithing was more closely related to taxation and a vacation fund rather than to free will giving (which, again, was a separate category).

8.     There were periods of Israel’s history when they stopped paying tithes and stopped their freewill giving, and the Tabernacle (or Temple, depending upon the time) fell into disrepair. Hezekiah’s reform saw a return to tithing. 2Chron. 31:5–6, 12

9.     Because Israel was a priest-nation to God (it represented man to God), refusing to tithe was equivalent to robbing God. Mal. 3:8, 10

        1)     However, it ought to be made clear that the passage cited belongs to a very particular place and time. “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me. But you say, In what have we robbed You? In the tithe and the offering! Bring all the tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. And test Me now with this, says Jehovah of Hosts, to see if I will not open the windows of Heaven for you, and pour out a blessing for you, until there is not enough room.” (Mal. 3:8, 10).

        2)     This is a time when there was a storehouse in the Temple of God and this storehouse held grain which was used for the Levites as well as for the poor.

10.   The New Testament references to tithing refer to the legalism of the pharisees, as they simultaneously ignored to the justice, compassion and doctrine of God. Matt 23:23 Luke 11:42

11.   In the Church Age, we are no longer under the Mosaic Law, but under grace. John 1:17 Rom. 6:14 2Cor. 3:6

12.   We all should to pay our taxes, regardless of whether we think they are fair or not. Matt 22:17–21 Mark 12:13–17 Rom. 13:7

13.   Tithing is not a part of New Testament giving. 1Cor 16:1-2 2Cor. 8–9

14.   The basis for giving is not tithing, but giving from a generous soul, in both the Old and New Testaments. Prov. 11:24–26 2Cor. 8:1–3 9:7–12

References:

http://www.swordofthespiritbibleministries.com/images/simplelists//NOTESSZ/Tithing.pdf

http://www.biblelife.org/tithing.htm

http://phrasearch.com/Trans/DBM/setup/Genesis/Gen086.htm


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


We are able to learn from what we find in the Old Testament, even if we do not apply it directly.

Modern Applications of Tithing

1.      There is an ideal tax rate. This does not mean that we rebel against a tax rate that is too low or too high, but that a nation functions best within certain parameters.

2.      Art Laffer, economic advisor to Ronald Reagan, gave us the Laffer curve, which simply explains that, the best tax rate is somewhere between 0 and 100%. At the 100% tax rate, the government will get nothing, because no one will work; and at 0%, the government will get nothing. The application of Calculus tells us that there is a maximum somewhere between 0 and 100%. Furthermore, as you get closer and closer to 100% (or to 0%) the tax revenue becomes less and less. For those who understand such curves, this does not mean that the number right in the middle, 50%, is the ideal tax rate—it is not.

3.      That a tax rate can be too high is found in 1Kings 3–11, where those who grew up with Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, came to him and complained of the excessive taxation of Solomon. Part of the reason that God the Holy Spirit placed this in the Bible was to indicate that a government can pile on too much by way of taxes. Over and over, we find the Bible speaking to both sides of an issue or to both sides of a controversy: the Bible speaks to the rich and the poor, to the slave and the slave owner, to the employee and the employer, to the government and to its citizens.

4.      We have, by trial and error, seen our own country’s economy function best under certain percentages. We have seen government spending (related to taxation) have an effect upon the economy. In the past, when government spending was held at 16–18%, we tend to have a very prosperous economy. However, at 25% spending, where we are now (I write this in July of 2011), we have an economy which is growing very slowly and appears as if it may stall out at any time.

         1)      People falsely argue that we had a 90% tax rate for much of our history, but that is not strictly true. For the very, very rich, they paid 90% of their income to the government after a certain point. That is (and I do not know the actual numbers here), once they made $1 million, then 90% of their earnings after that million went to the federal government (again, I do not know the exact number of when the 90% kicked in).

         2)      Associated with this were great tax breaks for these same people, many of which are still available today. They could develop some sort of a non-profit organization of foundation, give massive amounts of money to that organization, and that organization, in turn, would have to give about 4% of their total monies to whatever they were dedicated to doing. The rest could be eaten up in expenses and remuneration, even to the person donating his money to this tax-sheltered foundation. Michael Moore, the very liberal film maker, has one of these which is related to film making, so that he does not have to send so much of his money to the government.

         3)      Many people simply did not work past a certain tax bracket. Ronald Reagan would often do just 2 films a year, even if offered more work. His salary for the 3rd film would end up going mostly to the government, so why work? This is one of the reasons that President Reagan cut tax rates to about half of what they were—he knew that he himself, as a liberal, would not work in order to send most of that money to the government. Therefore, high graduated tax rates essentially reduced productivity.

5.      That a tax rate which is too high and a government which spends too much is a drag on the economy is not a difficult proposition to prove. Our economy is built upon productivity. If potentially productive members of society do not work and receive a check from the government, that reduces productivity, by definition. If the government is taking too much capital out of the system, that leaves less for the free enterprise system to use and invest. I personally have a very small business and most of what I make gets put back into my business. When I am taxed, that money is not put back into my business and that money is not used in the free market economy.

6.      The Bible appears to be in favor of a 23⅓% tax rate, but this is not quite correct. Bear in mind that, much of this tax provided for the Levites, who provided a spiritual service for Israel at that time. 10% of that was spent by the family on itself and on animal sacrifices for attending religious feast days.

7.      Governments today ought not to pay for churches. We have seen how that has gone so far awry in the Middle Ages in Spain, England and more recently in Muslim countries.

8.      However, a tax exempt status for churches seems to be a reasonable approach. This is based upon Israel supporting the Levites and the feast days.

9.      The 10% every 3rd year combined with private businesses providing some assistance is an ideal approach to helping the poor. Obviously, a compassionate nation is not going to allow its poor to die in the streets. There are many examples in Scripture about God requiring that Israel take care of its poor.

10.    God often encouraged people to look out for the poor, the needy, the widow, the orphan and the stranger. Genuine compassion was expected along with some measure of support. Although the Bible was rarely specific here, it is quite obvious that God expects for us to look after the poor and the helpless. However, only a small part of Israel’s budget (3⅓%) was designated for this. Furthermore, private landowners allowed the poor to come into their fields to harvest crops for themselves. God expected people to act individually in this respect.

11.    Bear in mind that, if a government attempts to do too much, then people no longer have a reason to give, and giving is important both to the recipient and to the giver. The person who is able to give has to realize that, his life is not made up simply of the possessions which he has. Luke 12:22–34

12.    However, less obvious to many, a compassionate nation ought not to simply give money away to a point where, not working and living on the government dole becomes a persistent, alternative lifestyle. This violates the 2nd divine institution, which is work.

13.    Therefore, it is reasonable that each year for approximately 3⅓% of our budget and revenue be devoted to the poor, in one way or another and then allow private individuals and businesses to provide for the poor in their own way from their own free will.

14.    No one appeared to be exempt from taxation in the Jewish Age. Today, in America, 51% of people are exempt from taxation.

         1)      As an aside, the inadequate amounts collected as FICA taxes are not really taxes, but monies used for social security and medicare.

         2)      If these are reduced or eliminated for some, that means that one set of people are working to support the retirement and medicare benefits for another set of people.

         3)      Whereas, people in the Old Testament were encouraged to give to the poor, they were also encouraged to take care of themselves, putting monies aside for their own retirement. Prov. 6:6–8 (the Scripture speaks of putting aside crops for the winter, but this is certainly applicable to retirement as well)

15.    Also, in the Bible, the people claimed that King Solomon made them pay too much in taxes (1Kings 12:4). We do not know how much that is, but we know from Ecclesiastes that Solomon spend a lot of money on building projects. Since we find this in the Bible, we can reasonable assume that a government can tax too much.

16.    Based upon all of this, it seems reasonable that our taxation ought to fall between 3⅓% and 23⅓%.

17.    There is no graduated tax system in the Bible. The rich do not pay a higher percentage.

18.    However, a rich man with a large field would, by the law, leave portions of this field unharvested (like the corners) and allow for the poor to come in and harvest. This approach ought to appeal to both liberals and conservatives. The successful farmer-landowner has a large field which he harvests, and, therefore, he provides a great deal for the poor—more than the smaller landowner who is a small-time farmer. At the same time, the poor are required to come and actually do work in order to eat, which is in keeping with conservative and Biblical values.

19.    One of the additional taxes I strongly support is the gas tax, as long as this is used to pay for roads and bridges. The more miles a person drives, the more he ought to pay for the use of these public roads. Since the government collects more than it needs for roads and bridges through this gas tax, there ought not to be calls for more money to pay for roads and bridges.

20.    All of this does not mean that we can refuse to pay our taxes if they exceed 25%. The Bible, in several places already noted, requires all believers (and unbelievers) to pay taxes, regardless of their amount.

21.    However, we have enough information in the Bible to set an ideal tax rate, which works best for a country’s prosperity—somewhere between 3⅓% and 23⅓%.

22.    What about social security and medicare?

         1)      The Bible speaks of working hard and setting aside a portion of your labor for the future.

         2)      The Bible never speaks of the government doing this on our behalf, even when this government was under God’s rulership (Israel).

         3)      We have found out, the hard way, that politicians, when given charge over great sums of money, will just squander that money without regards for the hard work related to providing it—no matter what their political persuasion is.

         4)      In our own social security system, there has never been a “lockbox.” These monies collected go into the general fund and politicians spend these monies for a variety of reasons, which can include political payoffs as well as actual compassion.

         5)      The end result is, too little is collected much of the time. When there is an excess of funds collected, politicians always manage to find things to spend this excess on. Therefore, we stand before a social security and medicare debt chasm which is staggering and could possibly even break this country economically (future entitlement monies which are not that far exceed the national debt—by trillions).

         6)      The intelligent way to deal with this is to have a national discussion about these funds and various alternatives, with the understanding that, whatever monies politicians will collect, they will spend, waste or embezzle. However, since we are dealing with Washington D.C., intelligence rarely plays a part when it comes to policy. Power and greed nearly always outweigh practical considerations.

         7)      In any case, for we taxpayers, the Bible is clear—no matter what our opinions are with regards to social security and medicare, we still have to pay the taxes which the government requires.

23.    In the Bible, what is taught is, we work hard, we set aside for a rainy day, and children provide for their parents and grandparents when necessary. A very small amount of relief funds are provided directly by the government; and private enterprise takes up any additional slack (the Biblical example, again, is leaving a part of a field unharvested, so that the poor could work and harvest these fields themselves).

24.    Never, in the Bible, is there any sort of a welfare system set up where young and healthy people simply live off the government dole. As Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: If a man does not work, then he does not eat (2Thess. 3:10).

         1)      As an aside, people often point to the early church in Jerusalem, and how they held all things in common (Acts 4:32). This was a rare situation where the early church in Jerusalem was heavily persecuted and many people were cut off from the free enterprise because of their faith. Furthermore, the book of Acts tells what the early church did; it is not a book which is prescriptive (that is, it is not telling us, you must do the exact same thing). Also, the saints in Jerusalem expected that Jesus was going to return within a matter of days. If we knew for a fact that Jesus was going to return a week from Tuesday, our relationship to material things would be changed dramatically.

         2)      Because of being cut off from the free enterprise system of that day, and possibly because of their way of dealing with that (holding all goods in common), the Jerusalem church never recovered financially, and they were supported by other churches (which did not hold all their private possessions in common) until Jerusalem fell in a.d. 70. Rom. 15:26 1Cor. 16:3

What I have found interesting is, most liberals are unable to define what ought to be a maximum tax rate (apart from those who think we ought to be paying 70–90%, and many of them are embarrassed to state that). Many conservatives can give you a range and/or a maximum for what they believe is a correct tax rate.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


Related to taxation is one of the most misunderstood passages in the Bible, where Jesus speaks to the rich young ruler and asks him to give away everything that he has. Liberals often latch onto this passage, and somehow think that the government needs to take away the money of rich people for this reason.


Matt. 19:16–21: Just then someone [Luke tells us that he is a ruler of some sort] came up and asked Him, "Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?" "Why do you ask Me about what is good?" He said to him. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." "Which ones?" he asked Him. Jesus answered, “Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; [Mark adds, “Do not commit fraud”] honor your father and your mother; and love your neighbor as yourself. "I have kept all these," the young man told Him. "What do I still lack?" "If you want to be perfect," Jesus said to him, "go, sell your belongings and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me."


The first thing to bear in mind is, one cannot be good enough to enter into the Kingdom of God. There is not some good thing which we can do in order to enter into the Kingdom of God. However, this man believes that he is good enough for God, and Jesus is going to show him that he is not.


The rich young ruler would be nodding his head as Jesus ticked off the commandments: commandment #6: Do not commit murder; commandment #7: do not commit adultery; commandment #8: do not steal; commandment #9: do not bear false witness in court. The rich young ruler knows the Ten Commandments and he would be nodding his head up and down, ticking off his obedience to these commandments. Then, all of a sudden, Jesus, rather than going to commandment #10 (do not desire that which belongs to your neighbor; and the rich young ruler had pretty much anything that he wanted, so he did not need to desire what his neighbor had), suddenly, Jesus says, “Do not commit fraud.” That ought to get your attention. After ticking off commandments 6–9 in order, one would expect Jesus to then name the 10th commandment. However, Jesus then tells this man not to commit fraud. This would suggest that this rich young ruler is involved in some sort of fraudulent transaction. However, he may not see it as fraudulent.


At this time, there was what is known by some as the corban gimmick, where a rich person could dedicate his wealth to God, and thereby protect his wealth. That is, no one could compel the rich young ruler to do something like support his parents or to give to the poor because his wealth was corban. This would mean that all of it or a percentage of it would go to the Temple after his death. So, this rich young ruler protected his money from being charitable by this corban gimmick, which is essentially fraud in a priest nation. So, what is the next commandment that Jesus says to the rich young ruler? Honor your mother and father, which is the 5th commandment. The order in which these commandments are given indicates what the problem with this man was. Jesus had to show this man that he was not perfect; that God would not accept him for his good works. What he was apparently doing was, not supporting his parents and using the korban gimmick to get around that. This is because he was inordinately in love with his own riches.


Then Jesus gave him a fairly simple command: “Sell all your things, give the proceeds to the poor, and then follow Me.” The idea is not that, this was the final thing necessary for this rich young ruler to do to be saved; it was the chink in his armor. The Law tells us that we have sinned; the Law does not save us. For, by the Law is the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20). For, by the works of the Law, no man is saved (Gal. 2:16).


Jesus did not tell the rich young ruler to sell everything and give it to the poor because this was his ticket into heaven. Jesus told him that because that revealed where he had sinned against God. The rich young ruler thought that he was good enough for God to accept him, and Jesus showed him, that was not the case.


We know that we are not expected to sell everything and give it to the poor because of Matt. 26:7–13, where a woman takes a very expensive ointment and pours it out upon the feet of Jesus. When she is upbraided by Jesus’ disciples for not selling this ointment and giving the proceeds to the poor, Jesus sets His disciples straight.


The rich young ruler is told to sell everything and give it to the poor because this reveals to him very clearly why he cannot be saved by works. The woman is defended for not selling her expensive ointment to provide for the poor, because she recognized the importance of Who Jesus was and that He would not be with them for very long.


These passages, taken together with Acts 5:3–4, indicate that God does not expect us to sell all that we have and give it to the poor. However, almost invariably, each of us will face situations where God will expect us to provide for someone in need.


We have almost completed our study of Abram’s meeting with Melchizedek. Surprisingly enough, we have spent about 180 pages on the following 3 verses:


Gen 14:18–20 Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High. And he [Melchizedek] blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor [or, Redeemer, Purchaser] of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand!" And Abram gave him [Melchizedek] a tenth of everything.


There is one last thing to look at in this passage, which is a fascinating phrase that is found throughout the Bible, but is rarely discussed: Blessed be God. Most of us have an idea as to what it means for God to bless us, and most of us believe that we have experienced that blessing at various times in our lives. Many of us have uttered the words, “God bless you” to someone else, often as part of a prolonged good-bye. But how are we to understand someone saying, “Blessed be God”? Blessed here is the Qal passive participle of bârake (בָּרַך׃) [pronounced baw-RAHKe], which means, to bless; to kneel down, to bend the knees, and therefore to invoke God, to ask for a blessing, to bless. It also means to praise, to salute, to curse. Strong’s #1288 BDB #138. The gist of the phrase God is [continually] blessed is, God is [continually] happy; God is continually praised [for His plan and His essence]; or, perhaps this may be loosely understood to mean Let us continue to be thankful to God and to recognize His perfect essence.


Melchizedek, in saying this, recognizes that God delivered Abram’s enemies into his hand and saying Blessed [is] God is recognizing God’s deliverance and thanking Him for it. In studying the battle itself, the fact that Abram was victorious is quite amazing, because he was so vastly outnumbered by the armies of the kings of the east.


It is fascinating that Melchizedek’s name is only mentioned one time here, but we find it again in Psalm 110:4 and then 9 times in the book of Hebrews (all occurrences of his name have already been studied).


Now we leave Abram and Melchizedek (the King of Salem) and see the interaction between Abram and the king of Sodom. He is a part of the western coalition which was soundly defeated in battle by the eastern alliance, which Abraham and company have just sent packing.


As a heads-up, you are going to learn exactly why this portion of Gen. 14 is in the Word of God, something which, to the best of my knowledge, has never been taught before. Everything that we have studied in the past 180 pages or so are going to fit like a glove with what we are about to study, and yet, insofar as I know, this has never been taught before.


——————————


In the dispensation of the Gentiles (as it is called) there was a system of worship which involved the priesthood and animal sacrifices (which spoke of Jesus Christ). The priesthood had to be supported and Abram recognized this and gave to Melchizedek a tenth of his great wealth. There was some kind of a moral code that went beyond you will not murder; we know this because the Sodomites have already been called very sinful and in the NT, Lot is said to be vexed by their wickedness. My thinking is, Adam and the woman understood the moral code of God perfectly, and each successive generation, less so. But still, in the time of Abram, there were those who understood, through the teaching of their parents, a fairly accurate moral code. This was so important to a segment of the population that kings attempted to assemble a perfect code for society. However, that was not the case in Sodom.


This chapter makes is appear as if Abram was confronted by the King of Salem and the King of Sodom at the same time, and he chose to first interact with the King of Salem. But now the King of Sodom speaks up again, uncertain about all this worship of God and tithes. He does not appear to be the least bit interested. He has a different agenda in mind. It is not necessarily some sort of evil agenda, but it is separate from the worship of God that occurs with Abram and Melchizedek.


And so says a king of Sodom unto Abram, “Give to me the soul and the substance take to yourself.”

Genesis

14:21

The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the people [lit., the soul] to me and take the wealth for yourself.”

The king of Sodom said, to Abram, “Give me the people but you may take the wealth that you recovered.”


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:

 

Targum of Onkelos                And the king of Sedom said to Aram, Give me the souls of the men of my people whom thou hast brought back, and the substance take to thyself [JERUSALEM. And the treasure take to thee.].

Latin Vulgate                          And the king of Sodom said to Abram: Give me the persons, and the rest take to thyself.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so says a king of Sodom unto Abram, “Give to me the soul and the substance take to yourself.”

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the people, and take the goods for yourself.

Septuagint (Greek)                And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the men, and take the horses to yourself.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Contemporary English V.       The king of Sodom said to Abram, "All I want are my people. You can keep everything else."

Easy-to-Read Version            Then the king of Sodom told Abram, “Give me my people that the enemy took away. But you can keep all these other things.”

Good News Bible (TEV)         The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Keep the loot, but give me back all my people."

The Message                         The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me back the people but keep all the plunder for yourself."

New Berkeley Version           The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Allow me the persons and you keep the goods for yourself,” ...

New Century Version             The king of Sodom said to Abram, "You may keep all these things for yourself. Just give me my people who were captured."

New Life Bible                        And the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, but take the riches and food for yourself."

New Living Translation           The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give back my people who were captured. But you may keep for yourself all the goods you have recovered."

The Voice                               King of Sodom (to Abram): 21 Give me the people, and you can take all of the spoils for yourself.


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          And the king of Sodom said to Abram: 'Let me take all the men. you can keep the horses for yourself.'

New Advent (Knox) Bible       As for the king of Sodom, he said to Abram, Give me these living souls; all the rest thou mayest take for thyself.

New American Bible (R.E.)    The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the captives; the goods you may keep."

NIRV                                      The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people. Keep everything else for yourself."

Revised English Bible            The king of Sodom said to Abram, ‘Give me the people, and you can take the livestock.’


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Bible in Basic English             And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the prisoners and take the goods for yourself.

The Expanded Bible              The king of Sodom said to Abram, "You may keep ·all these things [the goods/possessions] for yourself. Just give me my people who were captured."

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 The king of Sodom also said to Abram, “You have given me my life, so take all the wealth to yourself.”

NET Bible®                             Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people and take the possessions for yourself."


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Complete Jewish Bible           The king of S'dom said to Avram, "Give me the people, and keep the goods for yourself."

exeGeses companion Bible   And the sovereign of Sedom says to Abram,

Give me the souls

and take the acquisitions to yourself.

Kaplan Translation                 The king of Sodom said to Abram, 'Give me the people. You can keep the goods.'

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And the Melech Sodom said unto Avram, Give me the nefesh and keep the possessions for thyself.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

The Amplified Bible                And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the persons and keep the goods for yourself.

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ he~ will~ Say King “Sedom [Secret]” To “Avram [Father raised]” !(ms)~ Give to~ me the~ Being and~ the~ Goods !(ms)~ Take to~ you(fs)

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...and the king of “Sedom [Secret]” said to “Avram [Father raised]”, give to me the being and the goods take for you,...

Concordant Literal Version    And saying is the king of Sodom to Abram, "Give to me the souls, yet the goods you take.

Darby updated Translation     And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the souls, and take the property for yourself.

Syndein/Thieme                     {Abram Ready for the Spiritual Attack by the King of Sodom}

And the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the persons, and take the goods to yourself." {Note: If Abram said ok, then this act would be distorted into greed being the motivation of his grace saving of Lot. This is a real test of millions and millions of dollars being offered by Satan's man. Abram had his eyes clearly on the Lord and refused the 'reward'! And, note there would have been no sin in accepting the wealth per se. This was typical of the day. But this is the Law of Supreme Sacrifice. You give up what is rightly due to you in order to benefit others. Either in helping them to believe or to grow spiritually.}.

World English Bible                The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, and take the goods to yourself."

Young’s Updated LT             And the king of Sodom says unto Abram, “Give to me the persons, and the substance take to yourself.”

 

The gist of this verse:          The king of Sodom asks for his people back, but tells Abram that he can keep all of the plunder.


Genesis 14:21a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

ʾâmar (אָמַר) [pronounced aw-MAHR]

to say, to speak, to utter; to say [to oneself], to think; to command; to promise; to explain; to intend

3rd person masculine singular, Qal imperfect

Strong’s #559 BDB #55

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

Çedôm (סְדֹם) [pronounced sehd-OHM]

burning; which is transliterated Sodom

masculine singular locative noun

Strong’s #5467 BDB #690

ʾel (אֶל) [pronounced ehl]

unto; into, among, in; toward, to; against; concerning, regarding; besides, together with; as to

directional preposition (respect or deference may be implied)

Strong's #413 BDB #39

ʾAberâm (אַבְרָם) [pronounced abv-RAWM]

father of elevation, exalted father; and is transliterated Abram

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #87 BDB #4


Translation: The king of Sodom said to Abram,... Assuming that Abram dealt with these two men in the order that is given here, the king of Sodom is able to observe, right here, two men whose relationship is established by God, and whose blessing is given by God. Sodom is on a bad road; this king needs to recognize this and help to lead his people out of their sin.


Application: People often follow the lead of their leader, if they like or respect him. This is, in part, what a leader does. He says, “This is the pathway; here is why it is the pathway. Now, will you follow me?” Ronald Reagan was a leader in that way. He presented to problems and the solutions and led the people of the United States in that direction, and was one of the most popular presidents in our nation’s history; and certainly the most popular president in my time.


Application: Some people take a position which they believe is advantageous to them. In 1996, state senator Barack Obama favored same sex marriage. In 2004, candidate Obama for the U.S. Senate believes that marriage is between a man and a woman. In 2008, as a presidential candidate, not only did candidate Obama believe that marriage was between a man and a woman, but “God is in the mix” (he just happened to be answering the questions of a popular minister of a very large church). Throughout 2010–2012, Obama’s views on same-sex marriage evolved to where he favored it. That is not a leader; that is a man who desires power. Good men can change their minds on an issue (Reagan on abortion), but they do not tend to change their minds with each new election.


The king of Sodom is not a bad man. He wants to restore his people and he is willing to pay for it. But, the key to Sodom’s restoration—going on right in front of this king—is spiritual.


Genesis 14:21b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

nâthan (נָתַן) [pronounced naw-THAHN]

to give, to grant, to place, to put, to set; to make

2nd person masculine singular, Qal imperative

Strong's #5414 BDB #678

lâmed (לְ) [pronounced le]

to, for, towards, in regards to

directional/relational preposition with the 1st person singular suffix

No Strong’s # BDB #510

nephesh (נֶפֶש) [pronounced NEH-fesh]

soul, life, living being; breath; mind; desire, volition; will

feminine singular noun with the definite article

Strong’s #5315 BDB #659


Translation:...“Give the people [lit., the soul] to me... Although the word soul can stand for person (Num. 5:6 31:19), it is less often used in the collective sense (I could not find a single example elsewhere except when numbered, as in Deut. 10:22). What this suggests to me is, a difference in the language and possibly that the king, observing the relationship between Abram and this priest, an attempt to use holy language. This does not mean that the king is a bad guy; it simply means that he is not going to lead his people away from their sin (which will become quite apparent when we get to Gen. 19).


Genesis 14:21c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

rekûwsh (רְכוּש) [pronounced rehk-OOSH]

that which is acquired; substance, wealth; [moveable, transportable] property, goods; possessions; livestock

masculine singular noun with the definite article

Strong’s #7399 BDB #940

lâqach (לָקַח) [pronounced law-KAHKH]

take, seize, take away, take in marriage; send for, fetch, bring, receive

2nd person masculine singular, Qal imperative

Strong’s #3947 BDB #542

lâmed (לְ) [pronounced le]

to, for, towards, in regards to

directional/relational preposition with the 2nd person masculine singular suffix

No Strong’s # BDB #510


Translation: ...and take the wealth for yourself.” Abram, in defeating the kings of the east, was legitimately entitled to all that he took in this battle. It was understood in that day, when A plundered B, A gets all that B has. Even if this stuff belonged to C originally, it is now A’s (hope that was not too algebraic for you).


Simply speaking, the king of Sodom, now free of the tyranny of the kings of the east, can built up his country again. He can tax his people, and he can grow in wealth more quickly than they can. Furthermore, a king is not a king without a people. So, this king is being fairly realistic here more than he is being altruistic.


Gen 14:21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, but take the goods for yourself."


The king of Sodom reveals a common Old Testament period tradition. A person who delivered you or who protected you ought to be paid. They did not necessarily live where there was a standing army or where there was police protection. This will help us better understand future incidents where a young David and his men function as protectors for some people, and they are due remuneration for this protection. This is not some protection racket (as one misguided author described it) but a long-standing tradition of remunerating those who protect you, simply because there is no local police force. After the time of Christ, many provinces were glad to be conquered by the Romans, because that meant law and order, with police protection.


The king of Sodom understood that it was legitimate for Abram to keep all that he took in his defeat of the eastern kings. In fact, Abram could have legitimately kept these people as his slaves.


I want you to note that this king is an honorable man. He is concerned for the safety and freedom of his people. We do not know if this was Bera (Gen. 14:2) or the next in line and we do not know if he is among the captives who were taken. Because of what Abram has done, this king recognizes that Abram has claim upon all of the goods taken in this attack (which, strictly speaking, includes the people as well).


The Stages of National Discipline insert


One might call the book of Genesis, the Book of Seeds, because there are so many seeds of fundamental doctrines found in Genesis. One of the doctrines found in this chapter is called the Cycles of Discipline or the Progression of National Discipline, which sequence is are laid out more specifically in Lev. 26:14–44. The 4th stage of national discipline is when a country is ruled over or controlled by an outside power. This is often because the people have become so degenerate that the authority and guidance of an outside power is necessary in order to provide structure for the society. This is known as enforced humility.


This is what has happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. Chedorlaomer, a king from the east, had conquered their country, and was taxing it. In order to be taxed by another country, there is some order that must be enforced by this outside power. This is what had gone on for over a decade (Gen. 14:4). Chedorlaomer had conquered Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as several other city-states in that area, and soldiers would have been left behind to provide some law and order, so that the tax could be collected.


If this nation in the 4th stage of discipline does not change its ways, which would mean to go from enforced humility to genuine humility, then they would be further disciplined, which could involve being enslaved and removed from their country, or being destroyed (which is the 5th and final stage of discipline).


These cycles of discipline (or stages of national discipline) are applied to a priest-nation because of its spiritual state; and they can be applied to a heathen nation for a variety of reasons, mostly related to the laws of divine establishment.


What has happened is, these city-states have gone from the 4th stage of discipline (being controlled and taxed by an outside entity) to the 5th stage of national discipline (being defeated and enslaved as a people, and then removed from their homeland).


When a people have gone into deep degeneracy, so that God will allow them to be under the 4th and even 5th stage of discipline, what is the best way for them to recover? Military discipline and military training followed by the application of military training (war). This has been an underlying theme of this chapter.


God will spell out these stages of discipline to the nation Israel in Lev. 26, and the history of Israel is going to be all about a nation going into degeneracy and then being subjected to these stages of discipline. In fact, the Northern Kingdom of Israel will go into captivity (the final stage of discipline) in 721 b.c. and the Southern Kingdom of Israel will go into captivity in 596 b.c.


Gen 14:21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, but take the goods for yourself."


Now, this king sounds like a reasonable guy; in fact, a very nice guy. He wants his people back, he recognizes Abram’s ability to make the call here, and so is making a pretty forceful request (it is in the imperative mood). I suspect that, this king of Sodom is too nice of a guy. He is possibly too indulgent with his people. With all nations, there must be a system of law and order imposed, and it is possible that enforcement of these laws (or the outright lack of these laws) is part of the reason God took these people into the 4th and 5th stages of national discipline. This will be borne out when we get to Gen. 19, when the degeneracy of Sodom and Gomorrah will be laid bare—such degeneracy that this nice king should have kept under control.


There is one more great theme at work here, and I don’t know if this has been taught before. This is a great opportunity for the Sodomite people. They were taken in war, about to face a lifetime of slavery; and here we have the king of Sodom, who appears to be a decent man, speaking with Abram, being not too far from Melchizedek. This is their opportunity. They can believe in the God of Abram. They know just how bad their lives could have been, as they witnessed the slaughtering of their fellow Sodomites in war and, for a short time, had a lifetime of slavery staring them in the face. They have just been purchased out of slavery by Abram and by Abram’s God. Remember the slave market of sin that we recently studied? These people are the slaves God has purchased from the slave market of sin. They are themselves an illustration of this doctrine.


The people of Sodom and Gomorrah have seen with their very own eyes the army of Abram, and how this few hundred men just defeated the greatest national alliance of that day. They now know the power of God. The God of Abram has delivered them. They could potentially learn about this God, both through Abram and through Melchizedek. Here they are, a people about to go into slavery, and miraculously, this tiny army of God defeats their captors and sets them free. The Spirit of the LORD God has taken control of me! The LORD has chosen and sent me to tell the oppressed the good news, to heal the brokenhearted, and to announce freedom for prisoners and captives (Isa. 61:1 CEV; which passage was quoted by our Lord in Luke 4:18).


However, instead, 20 years or so in the future, they will become one of the most degenerate peoples on earth and God will destroy them as a part of their final stage of discipline. God has delivered them—they know that this is no ordinary deliverance—and yet, they will not turn to Him. The God of Abram purchased them from the slave market of sin and has given them their freedom, and now they are at the crossroads of their national life.


They are without excuse. God is, at this time, offering them grace before judgment, which God often does. The entire salvation package is before their eyes: they themselves were the slaves just purchased from the slave market of sin by the God of Abram, a God Who is more powerful than any heathen god; and now, they have to choose. Sadly, their future indicates that they did not choose to believe in Abram’s God.


Now Abram will witness to this king about his God. Abram will tell this king about his God.


——————————


And so says Abram unto a king of Sodom, “I have raised up my hand unto Yehowah, El Most High, possessor of [two] heavens and earth, if from a thread and as far as a thong of a sandal and I will not take from all which [is] to you and you will not say, ‘I have made rich Abram.’ Apart from me only which have eaten the young men who they went out with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they will take their share.”

Genesis

14:22–24

Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised up my hand [as a vow] unto Yehowah, the El Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, not from a thread to the thong of a sandal [will I take]; in fact [lit., and], I will not take from anything that [is] yours, so that you can never say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ Apart from me, only the young men have eaten. Also, a portion [for] the men who went out with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they will take their share.”

Abram then proclaimed to the king of Sodom, “I made a vow to Jehovah, God the Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a single thing that belongs to your or to your people. I made this vow so that you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ However, I did have men who also fought, apart from me, and they have eaten some of the food. Aner, Eshcol and Mamre, the leaders of the men who went out with me, they will take their fair share.”


Here is how others have translated this verse:


Ancient texts:


 

argum of Onkelos                  And Abram siad to the king of Sedom, I have uplifted my hands in an oath before the Lord God the Most High, who for the just possesseth his possession of the heavens and the earth, if from a thread to the latchet of a sandal I receive any thing of all that is thine; lest thou magnify thyself in saying, I have enriched Abram from mine own. Have I not power over all the spoil? Apart from what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre, they also receiving their portion. [JERUSALEM. If from a thread to the latchet of a sandal I receive of all that is thing: that thou magnify not thyself and say, I have enriched Abram.]

Latin Vulgate                          And he answered him: I lift up my hand to the Lord God the most high, the possessor of heaven and earth, That from the very woof thread unto the shoe latchet, I will not take of any things that are your, lest you say: I have enriched Abram. Except such things as the young men have eaten, and the shares of the men that came with me, Aner, Escol, and Mambre: these will take their shares.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so says Abram unto a king of Sodom, “I have raised up my hand unto Yehowah, El Most High, possessor of [two] heavens and earth, if from a thread and as far as a thong of a sandal and I will not take from all which [is] to you and you will not say, ‘I have made rich Abram.’ Apart from me only which have eaten the young men who they went out with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they will take their share.”

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hands to the God Most High, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take of anything that belongs to you, from a thread to a shoestring, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich; Save that which the young men have eaten and the portions of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portions.

Septuagint (Greek)                And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I will stretch out my hand to the Lord, the Most High God, who made the heaven and the earth, that I will not take from all your goods, from a string to a sandal strap, lest you should say, I have made Abram rich. Except what things the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men that went with me, Eschol, Aner, Mamre, these shall take a portion.

 

Significant differences: 


Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

 

Common English Bible           But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I promised the Lord, El Elyon, creator of heaven and earth, that I wouldn't take even a thread or a sandal strap from anything that was yours so that you couldn't say, `I'm the one who made Abram rich.' The only exception is that the young men may keep whatever they have taken to eat, and the men who went with me-Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre-may keep their share."

Contemporary English V.       Abram answered: The LORD God Most High made the heavens and the earth. And I have promised him that I won't keep anything of yours, not even a sandal strap or a piece of thread. Then you can never say that you are the one who made me rich. Let my share be the food that my men have eaten. But Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre went with me, so give them their share of what we brought back.

Easy English                          But Abram said this to the king of Sodom: `I have promised this to the Most High *Lord God, who made the sky and the earth. I promised that I would not take anything from you. I would not take even a *thread. And I would not take even a piece that people fasten a shoe with. So then you cannot say that you made Abram rich. I will take only what the young men have eaten. And I will take the share for my men. Let Aner, Eshcol and Mamre take their share.'

Easy-to-Read Version            But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I promise to the Lord, the God Most High, the One who made heaven and earth—I promise that I will not keep anything that is yours—not even a thread or a shoestring! I don’t want you to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ The only thing I will accept is the food that my young men have eaten. But you should give the other men their share. Take the things we won in battle and give some to Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. These men helped me in the battle.”

Good News Bible (TEV)         Abram answered, "I solemnly swear before the LORD, the Most High God, Maker of heaven and earth, that I will not keep anything of yours, not even a thread or a sandal strap. Then you can never say, 'I am the one who made Abram rich.' I will take nothing for myself. I will accept only what my men have used. But let my allies, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, take their share."

The Message                         But Abram told the king of Sodom, "I swear to GOD, The High God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, this solemn oath, that I'll take nothing from you, not so much as a thread or a shoestring. I'm not going to have you go around saying, 'I made Abram rich.' Nothing for me other than what the young men ate and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; they're to get their share of the plunder."

New Century Version             But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I make a promise to the Lord, the God Most High, who made heaven and earth. I promise that I will not keep anything that is yours. I will not keep even a thread or a sandal strap so that you cannot say, `I made Abram rich.' I will keep nothing but the food my young men have eaten. But give Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre their share of what we won, because they went with me into battle."

New Living Translation           Abram replied to the king of Sodom, "I solemnly swear to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will not take so much as a single thread or sandal thong from what belongs to you. Otherwise you might say, `I am the one who made Abram rich.' I will accept only what my young warriors have already eaten, and I request that you give a fair share of the goods to my allies-Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre."

The Voice                               Abram: I have pledged a solemn oath to the Eternal One-the Most High God, Creator of the heavens and earth. I promised that I would not keep any shred of what belongs to you-not a thread of a garment or a strap of a sandal. That way you could never take credit for any wealth of mine. I will take nothing except the food my men have eaten. As for the men who fought with me-Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre-let them take their shares, but I will take nothing more.


Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

 

American English Bible          But Abram said to the king of Sodom: 'I swear by Jehovah, the Most High God who made the heavens and the earth, that I won't take anything from you - from a piece of string to a shoe lace - so you won't be able to say, It was I who made Abram wealthy. [I will take] nothing other that what the young men have eaten, and the share that belongs to the men who went with me. Eschol, Aunan, and MamRe. they will each take a portion.'.

Christian Community Bible     Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I raise my hand to Yahweh God Most High, creator of heaven and earth, to swear that not one thread or thong of a sandal, or anything that is yours, would I take. Lest you say, ‘Abram became rich at my expense,’ I claim nothing for myself! Only what the young men have eaten and the share that is due to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre, the men who came with me.”

God’s Word                         But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I now raise my hand and solemnly swear to the LORD God Most High, maker of heaven and earth, that I won't take a thread or a sandal strap. I won't take anything that is yours so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.' I won't take one single thing except what my men have eaten. But let my allies Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share."

New Advent (Knox) Bible       But Abram answered, By this hand, which I lift up to the Lord God, the prince of heaven and earth, I will take nothing of thine, though it were but a thread from the woof or the strap of a shoe. Never shalt thou say, Abram got his wealth from me. Take all, except the food my men have already eaten, and the share that falls to the three who came out with me, Aner, Escol, and Mambre; let them have their part.

New American Bible              But Abram replied to the king of Sodom: "I have sworn to the LORD, God Most High [Abraham uses the name of the Canaanite god el-elyon ("God, the Most High") in apposition to the name of his God, yahweh ("the LORD").], the creator of heaven and earth, that I would not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap from anything that is yours, lest you should say, 'I made Abram rich.' Nothing for me except what my servants have used up and the share that is due to the men who joined me - Aner, Eshcol and Mamre; let them take their share."

New American Bible (R.E.)    But Abram replied to the king of Sodom: "I have sworn to the LORD, God Most High,* the creator of heaven and earth, that I would not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap from anything that is yours, so that you cannot say, `I made Abram rich.' Nothing for me except what my servants have consumed and the share that is due to the men who went with me-Aner, Eshcol and Mamre; let them take their share." In vv. 22-24, Abraham refuses to let anyone but God enrich him. Portrayed with the traits of a later Israelite judge or tribal hero, Abraham acknowledges that his victory is from God alone.

NIRV                                      But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the Lord. He is God Most High. He is the Creator of heaven and earth. I have taken an oath. I have said that I won't accept anything that belongs to you. I won't take even a thread or the strap of a sandal. You will never be able to say, `I made Abram rich.'

"I'll accept only what my men have eaten and what belongs to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Those three men went with me. Let them have their share."

New Jerusalem Bible             But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, 'I swear by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth: not one thread, not one sandal strap, will I take of what is yours, for you to be able to say, "I made Abram rich." For myself, nothing -- except what the troops have used up, and the share due to the men who came with me, Eshcol, Aner and Mamre; let them take their share.'


Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

 

Ancient Roots Translinear      Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I uplift my hand to Yahweh, the supreme God, the constructor of heaven and land. If I never take any-thing from you, if a thread unto a sandal latchet, you can not say, 'I enriched Abram', apart from taking only what the lads eat, and the portion for the men going with me, and a portion for Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre."

Bible in Basic English             But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have taken an oath to the Lord, the Most High God, maker of heaven and earth, That I will not take so much as a thread or the cord of a shoe of yours; so that you may not say, I have given wealth to Abram: Give me nothing but the food which the fighting-men who went with me have had; but let Aner and Eshcol and Mamre have their part of the goods.

The Expanded Bible              But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I ·make a promise [Llifted my hand; Ca gesture of swearing] to the Lord, the God Most High, who made heaven and earth. I promise that I will not keep anything that is yours. I will not keep even a thread or a sandal strap [Cthat is, not the smallest thing] so that you cannot say, `I made Abram rich.' I will keep nothing but the food my young men have eaten. But give Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre their share of what we won, because they went with me into battle."

NET Bible®                             But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, "I raise my hand [Abram takes an oath, raising his hand as a solemn gesture. The translation understands the perfect tense as having an instantaneous nuance: "Here and now I raise my hand."] to the Lord, the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth, and vow [The words "and vow" are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.] that I will take nothing [The oath formula is elliptical, reading simply: ".if I take." It is as if Abram says, "[May the Lord deal with me] if I take," meaning, "I will surely not take." The positive oath would add the negative adverb and be the reverse: "[God will deal with me] if I do not take," meaning, "I certainly will."] belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal. That way you can never say, `It is I [The Hebrew text adds the independent pronoun ("I") to the verb form for emphasis.] who made Abram rich.' I will take nothing [The words "I will take nothing" have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.] except compensation for what the young men have eaten [Heb "except only what the young men have eaten."]. As for the share of the men who went with me - Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre - let them take their share.".

NIV, ©2011                             But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, `I made Abram rich.' I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me-to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.".


Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

 

Complete Jewish Bible           But Avram answered the king of S'dom, "I have raised my hand in an oath to ADONAI, El 'Elyon, maker of heaven and earth, that I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal thong of anything that is yours; so that you won't be able to say, 'I made Avram rich.' I will take only what my troops have eaten and the share of the spoil belonging to the men who came with me -'Aner, Eshkol and Mamre; let them have their share."

exeGeses companion Bible   And Abram says to the sovereign of Sedom,

I lift my hand to Yah Veh, El Elyon,

who chattels the heavens and earth,

that I not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet

and that I not take aught of yours,

lest you say, I enriched Abram!

- except only what the lads eat

and the allotment of the men who go with me

- Aner, Eshcol and Mamre;

they take their allotment.

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I swear [Lit., “lift up my hand.”] to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth: I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap of what is yours; you shall not say, ‘It is I who made Abram rich.’ For me, nothing but what my servants have used up; as for the share of the men who went with me—Amer, Eshkol, and Mamre—let them take their share.”

Kaplan Translation                 Abram replied to the king of Sodom, 'I have lifted my hand [in an oath] to God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth! Not a thread nor a shoelace [Or 'shoestrap.' Cf. Isaiah 5:27.]! I will not take anything that is yours! You should not be able to say, 'It was I who made Abram rich.' The only exception is what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them take their share.'.

Orthodox Jewish Bible           And Avram said to the Melech Sodom, I have lifted up mine hand unto Hashem, El Elyon Creator of Shomayim v'Aretz, That I will not take from a thread even to the thong of a sandal, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Avram rich; Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the chelek of the anashim which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their chelek.


Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

 

Benner Mechanical Trans1    and~ he~ will~ Say “Avram [Father raised]” To King “Sedom [Secret]” i~ did~ make~ Raise Hand~ me To “YHWH [He exists]” Mighty.one Upper Purchase~ ing(ms) Sky~ s2 and~ Land If from~ Thread and~ Until Lace Sandal and~ If i~ will~ Take from~ All Which to~ you(fs) and~ Not you(masculine singular)~ will~ Say I i~ did~ make~ Be.rich At “Avram [Father raised]” Apart.from~ me Only Which they~ did~ Eat the~ Young.man~ s and~ Portion the~ Man~ s Which they~ did~ Walk At~ me “Aner [Answer]” “Eshkol [Cluster]” and~ “Mamre [Bitter place]” They(m) they(m)~ will~ Take Portion~ them(m)

Benner Mechanical Trans2    ...and “Avram [Father raised]” said to the king of “Sedom [Secret]”, I made my hand rise to “YHWH [He exists]” the upper mighty one, purchaser of the sky and land, if not from a thread and also not a lace of a sandal and if I do not take from all of the ones which are yours then you will not say, I made “Avram [Father raised]” be rich, apart from me only which the young men ate and the portion of the men which walked with me, “Aner [Answer]”, “Eshkol [Cluster]” and “Mamre [Bitter place]”, they will take their portion,...

English Standard V. – UK       But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted my hand[c] to the Lord, God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, `I have made Abram rich.' I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share."

New King James Version       But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, `I have made Abram rich'- except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion."

Syndein/Thieme                     And Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have been caused {by bible doctrine} to salute/'lift up my hand' unto Jehovah/God, the Most High God {'El}, the possessor of heaven {shamayim} and earth {'erets} {this is an idiom meaning he has recognized the authority of God and will not get his 'reward' from the man of Satan- M sermon was short but effective}, therefore, I will not take even to a thread or even to a thong of a sandal {the smallest thing of all that was recovered} . . . even if I take anything that belongs to you, then you will say {'amar}, "I {king of Sodom, instead of God} have caused Abram to be rich." {Note: Melchizedek only reminded Abram about the source of the blessings. Abram then applied the doctrine in his soul to the situation . . . and wanted the credit only to go to Whom it belongs!}

{4th Victory of Abram - Victory over Self-Righteousness}

"Except/'Apart from' {bil`adey} that which the young men have eaten {rations for the soldiers} and the portion of the men which went with me - Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre {Abram's stand is for himself, not for his allies who are new believers - no self-righteousness - temptation to impose his high standards on other believers}. Let them take their portion." {Note: Abram did not impose his standards of spiritual maturity on his friends and men - no self-righteousness!}.

Young’s Updated LT             And Abram says unto the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up my hand unto Jehovah, God Most High, possessing heaven and earth— from a thread even unto a shoe-latchet I take not of anything which you have, that you say not, I—I have made Abram rich; save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who have gone with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they take their portion.”

 

The gist of this verse:          Abram tells the king of Sodom that he can keep the material goods as well; his own allies will just take out their share.


Genesis 14:22a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

wa (or va) (וַ) [pronounced wah]

and so, and then, then, and; so, that, yet, therefore, consequently; because

wâw consecutive

No Strong’s # BDB #253

ʾâmar (אָמַר) [pronounced aw-MAHR]

to say, to speak, to utter; to say [to oneself], to think; to command; to promise; to explain; to intend

3rd person masculine singular, Qal imperfect

Strong’s #559 BDB #55

ʾAberâm (אַבְרָם) [pronounced abv-RAWM]

father of elevation, exalted father; and is transliterated Abram

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #87 BDB #4

ʾel (אֶל) [pronounced ehl]

unto; into, among, in; toward, to; against; concerning, regarding; besides, together with; as to

directional preposition (respect or deference may be implied)

Strong's #413 BDB #39

meleke (מֶלֶ) [pronounced MEH-lek]

king, ruler, prince

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #4428 BDB #572

Çedôm (סְדֹם) [pronounced sehd-OHM]

burning; which is transliterated Sodom

masculine singular locative noun

Strong’s #5467 BDB #690


Translation: Abram said to the king of Sodom,... The conversation between Abram and the king of Sodom is cordial; we find the use of the respectful preposition.


Genesis 14:22b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

rûwm (רוּם) [pronounced room]

to raise, to lift up [something], to make high; to elevate, to exalt; to erect, to build a house; to take away; to offer sacrifices

1st person masculine singular, Hiphil perfect

Strong's #7311 BDB #926

yâd (יָד) [pronounced yawd]

hand; figuratively for strength, power, control

feminine singular noun with the 1st person singular suffix

Strong's #3027 BDB #388

ʾel (אֶל) [pronounced ehl]

unto; into, among, in; toward, to; against; concerning, regarding; besides, together with; as to

directional preposition (respect or deference may be implied)

Strong's #413 BDB #39

YHWH (יהוה) [pronunciation is possibly yhoh-WAH]

transliterated variously as Jehovah, Yahweh, Yehowah

proper noun

Strong’s #3068 BDB #217

ʾÊl (אֵל) [pronounced ALE]

God, god, mighty one, strong, hero; transliterated El

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #410 BDB #42

ʿEleyôwn (עֶלְיוֹן) [pronounced ģele-YOHN]

high, higher; Most High, highest, Supreme

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #5945 BDB #751

qânâh (קָנָה) [pronounced kaw-NAWH]

redeemer, purchaser, possessor

masculine singular? Qal active participle; construct form

Strong’s #7069 BDB #888

Owen does not list this as a masculine singular.

There is a far greater emphasis on this verb in the realm of possessing, buying or purchasing than there is in the realm of creating. There are some scholars who would eliminate the meanings to found, to originate, to create.

shâmayîm (שָמַיִם) [pronounced shaw-MAH-yim]

heaven, heavens, skies; the visible heavens, as in as abode of the stars or as the visible universe, the sky, atmosphere, etc.; Heaven (as the abode of God)

masculine dual noun

Strong’s #8064 BDB #1029

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

ʾerets (אֶרֶץ) [pronounced EH-rets]

earth (all or a portion thereof), land, territory, country, continent; ground, soil; under the ground [Sheol]

feminine singular noun

Strong's #776 BDB #75


Translation: ...“I have raised up my hand [as a vow] unto Yehowah, the El Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth,... The implication is that Abram, before he went to war, made a vow to God, and here, His personal name of Yehowah is used for the first time in this chapter.


Gen 14:22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I had lifted my hand to Yehowah, God Most High, Possessor [or, Redeemer, Purchaser; Creator] of heaven and earth,


Notice what Abram doesn’t say: “I know that we are a small army, but we are tough and well-trained, and we used the correct strategy to minimize the numerical difference between our armies.” All of that is true, but Abram, instead, speaks about the God who delivered them, the Purchaser of heaven and earth, the God who just purchased this people from a lifetime of slavery.


Abram’s God is a personal God; He is a God who will listen to Abram. Abram faced an impossible situation and Abram went to his God for guidance and for power.


Lifting up one’s hand to God is making a vow to God (Deut. 32:40 Daniel 12:7). The perfect tense of the verb indicates that this is an action already completed. The content of this vow is given in the next verse:


Genesis 14:23a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

ʾîm (אִם) [pronounced eem]

if, though; lo, behold; oh that, if only; when, since, though when (or, if followed by a perfect tense which refers to a past event)

primarily an hypothetical particle

Strong's #518 BDB #49

The particle ʾîm (אִם) can be used as a demonstrative (lo, behold), an interrogative (usually expecting a negative response and often used with other particles and rhetorically), and as a conditional particle (if, though); an indication of a wish or desire (oh that, if only; this is a rare usage).

min (מִן) [pronounced min]

from, off, out from, of, out of, away from, on account of, since, than, more than

preposition of separation

Strong's #4480 BDB #577

chûţ (חוּט) [pronounced khoot]

thread, string, cord, line

masculine singular noun

Strong’s #2339 BDB #296

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though

wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #253

ʿad (עַד) [pronounced ģahd]

as far as, even to, up to, until

preposition

Strong’s #5704 BDB #723

Together, min...wa ʿad (וְעַד ... מִן) mean from...to or both...and; as in from soup to nuts or both young and old.

serôwke (שְׂרוֹ) [pronounced sehr-OAK]

[sandal] thong, latchet of a shoe

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #8288 BDB #976

naʿal (נַעַל) [pronounced NAH-ģahl]

sandal, shoe; a shoe thong, a shoe latchet; a pair of shoes; metaphorically for something of little value

feminine singular noun

Strong’s #5275 BDB #653


Translation: ...not from a thread to the thong of a sandal [will I take];... Abram took an oath not to take even the smallest item from whatever was recovered. His intent was to rescue Lot, not to plunder the kings from the east. When they went to war, this is exactly what they were doing, was to plunder those they attacked.


Genesis 14:23b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and; even; in particular, namely; when, while; since, seeing, though; so, then, therefore; or, but yet; who, which; or; that, in that; with; also, in addition to, at the same time

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

I would suggest that in fact and as well as are reasonable translations for the wâw conjunction.

ʾîm (אִם) [pronounced eem]

if, though; lo, behold; oh that, if only; when, since, though when (or, if followed by a perfect tense which refers to a past event)

primarily an hypothetical particle

Strong's #518 BDB #49

When following an oath, either stated or implied, ʾîm, by itself, functions as an emphatic negative. According to the Geneva Bible: The Hebrews in swearing begin commonly with "If" and understand the rest, that is, that God will punish him who breaks the oath: here the wicked show that they are afraid lest that happen to them which they would do to others.

lâqach (לָקַח) [pronounced law-KAHKH]

to take, to take away, to take in marriage; to seize

1st person singular, Qal imperfect

Strong’s #3947 BDB #542

min (מִן) [pronounced mihn]

from, away from, out from, out of from, off, on account of, since, above, than, so that not, beyond, more than, greater than

preposition of separation

Strong's #4480 BDB #577

kôl (כֹּל) [pronounced kohl]

every, each, all of, all; any of, any

masculine singular construct not followed by a definite article

Strong’s #3605 BDB #481

Literally, they mean from all... However, together, various literal translations give the following renderings: about all, of all (1Sam. 23:23); over all, more than all, above all (Gen. 3:14).

ʾăsher (אֲֹשֶר) [pronounced uh-SHER]

that, which, when, who, whom

relative pronoun; sometimes the verb to be is implied

Strong's #834 BDB #81

lâmed (לְ) [pronounced le]

to, for, towards, in regards to

directional/relational preposition with the 2nd person masculine singular suffix

No Strong’s # BDB #510


Translation: ...in fact [lit., and], I will not take from anything that [is] yours,... Again, this is a vow that Abram has already made to God; this is before he meets and speaks to the king of Sodom.


Genesis 14:23c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

lôʾ (לֹא or לוֹא) [pronounced low]

not, no

negates the word or action that follows; the absolute negation

Strong’s #3808 BDB #518

ʾâmar (אָמַר) [pronounced aw-MAHR]

to say, to speak, to utter; to say [to oneself], to think; to command; to promise; to explain; to intend

2nd person masculine singular, Qal imperfect

Strong’s #559 BDB #55

ʾânîy (אָנִי) [pronounced aw-NEE]

I, me; in answer to a question, it means I am, it is I

1st person singular, personal pronoun

Strong’s #589 BDB #58

ʿâshar (עָשַר) [pronounced ģaw-SHAHR]

to make rich, to cause one to be rich

1st person singular, Hiphil perfect

Strong’s #6238 BDB #799

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

untranslated generally; occasionally to, toward

indicates that the following substantive is a direct object

Strong's #853 BDB #84

ʾAberâm (אַבְרָם) [pronounced abv-RAWM]

father of elevation, exalted father; and is transliterated Abram

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #87 BDB #4


Translation: ...so that you can never say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ I don’t take this as being personal. Abram is blessed by God, and he is blessed far more than he deserves (example of his dishonesty in Egypt, and yet he is still blessed). Abram’s blessings depend completely upon Who God is, and not upon anyone else. So, had Abram pocketed that great wealth to which he was entitled, it would be possible for others to scoff and say that his great wealth was a result of this military fluke. They could say that the king of Sodom was gracious toward him.


Abram went after the kings of the east because they took Lot; not because he was looking to become rich.


Gen 14:23 [I vowed] that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, so that no one will say, 'I have made Abram rich.'


Abram had vowed to God, prior to this battle, that he would not take anything from his raid for himself, apart from a reasonable remuneration for his men. Although Abram led them, they did all of the work, and they were due payment for their work.


Why would Abram make this vow to God? Why not rescue these men and pocket a lot of goods and money? He obviously deserves it.


3 times, already, God has appeared to Abram and has promised to bless him. At the end of Gen. 13, God told Abram to look in all directions (he was apparently on the Judæan mountains with a clear view of the area about him), and God said, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever.” (Gen. 13:14b–15). Abram does not need the spoil from this battle; God has already promised him the very land he is standing on, as far as Abram’s eye could see and farther than that.


Abram looked to God to be able to save Lot, his nephew. He did not look upon this attack on the eastern alliance as a means by which he could be made richer. So, prior to his attack, Abram spoke to God and determined what he expected out of victory and what he was not after in this military victory.


What is occurring here is, Abram is enjoying a great spiritual victory. Not only has he defeated an army which is at least 10X the size of his own (if not 100X), but, more important than that is his choice of what to do with all that he captured. By ancient world standards, all of the people and goods which Abram took from the kings of the east belonged to him. Abram could have added all of the goods to his treasury and kept all of the people as his slaves. However, Abram was not really interested in anything other than rescuing his nephew.

The Contents of Abram’s Spiritual Victory

1.      Abram recognized that God would bless him and his family with a great land grant, so there is no reason for him to take the things which the King of Sodom is offering.

2.      Abram recognized this war as being of God, and he went to God with a vow concerning the war.

3.      This vow indicated that Abram was not greedy. He did not 90% want to rescue Lot and 10% want the resultant loot from this battle. Abram’s motivation is pure.

4.      Abram was willing to risk his life for his nephew Lot.

5.      Abram recognizes that God has promised him a son, and he did not yet have a son; therefore, he could expect to live through this war.

6.      Abram knows Who God is; Abram knows What God is capable of doing. Abram knows that he can depend upon his God.

7.      Abram applies this knowledge (this doctrine, if you will) to his life and situation.

8.      We have already seen that Abram can be a lousy witness for his God when he lied to the King of Egypt about his wife. However, at this point, Abram is a great witness to the King of Sodom, as to Who his God is and What his God can do.

We are seeing Abram depend upon God and put his trust in God. He is now acting in accordance with that faith. He is applying the truth that he knows to the situation.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


As we come to the end of Gen. 14, we are going to look at a lot of application from this chapter. What we have studied so far:


Gen 14:21–23 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, but take the goods for yourself." But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I had lifted my hand to Yehowah, God Most High, Possessor [or, Redeemer, Purchaser; Creator] of heaven and earth, [I vowed] that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, so that no one will say, 'I have made Abram rich.'


After spending time with Melchizedek, the King of Salem, a type of Christ, Abram speaks with the King of Sodom. Recognizing the customs of his day, the King of Sodom asked for his people to be returned to him (using the imperative mood), but was willing to let Abram keep the vast wealth which had been taken. This is legitimate, as we studied; Abram could have kept all the wealth and possessions which he rescued and he could have kept the people as slaves, if he so chose. However, prior to this battle, Abram made a vow to God not to take any of the plunder. Abram wanted it to be clear that God prospered him, and not this battle in which he engaged to free Lot.


Abram is blessed directly by God. He wants that to be clearly understood by any who come in contact with him. He does not allow an increase his wealth through campaigns of war and plunder; he is not a mercenary who has rescued some Sodomites for all the wealth that he could carry. He is not interested in the king of Sodom giving him any wealth whatsoever. The king of Sodom is a wicked man who runs a wicked kingdom. Their evil is not yet to the point that God will remove them from history, but, at some point, He will. Abram cannot compromise at this point. He takes no wealth for himself for what he has done.


However, Abram does not apply his own standards to his allies. There are some Christians who give sacrificially all their lives and they have families and their families do without because they are giving sacrificially. Abram does not expect his people to have the same values or be in the same stage of growth as himself. Abram does not force them to do the same things as he does; he does not expect them to behave as mature believers and allows his men who ran the pursuit to be paid for what they did.


Abram continues speaking to the King of Sodom in the final verse.


Genesis 14:24a

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

bileʿădêy (בִּלְעֲדֵי) [pronounced bille-uh-DAY]

 apart from, except, without, besides

particle of depreciation; adverb/preposition; with the 1st person singular suffix

Strong’s #1107 BDB #116

There is a slightly different spelling for this word.

raq (רַק) [pronounced rahk]

only, provided, altogether, surely—this adverb carries with it restrictive force

adverb

Strong’s #7534 & #7535 BDB #956

ʾăsher (אֲֹשֶר) [pronounced uh-SHER]

that, which, when, who, whom

relative pronoun; sometimes the verb to be is implied

Strong's #834 BDB #81

ʾâkal (אָכַל) [pronounced aw-KAHL]

to eat; to devour, to consume, to destroy

3rd person plural, Qal perfect

Strong’s #398 BDB #37

naʿar (נַעַר) [pronounced NAH-ģahr]

boy, youth, young man; personal attendant; slave-boy

masculine plural noun with the definite article

Strong’s #5288 & #5289 BDB #654

This is the first time that this word is found in Scripture; but it is found in the book of Job as well.


Translation: Apart from me, only the young men have eaten. Abram has already expressed his views on this matter. However, he also points out that, after the battle, the young men certainly feasted on the food that had been left behind—much of which probably belonged to the people of Sodom.


Genesis 14:24b

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

chêleq (חֵלֶק) [pronounced KHAY-lek]

portion, tract, territory, share, allotment; smoothness

masculine singular construct

Strong’s #2506 (and #2511) BDB #324

ʾănâshîym (אֲנָשִים) [pronounced uh-NAW-sheem]; also spelled ʾîyshîym (אִישִים) [pronounced ee-SHEEM]

men; inhabitants, citizens; companions; soldiers, followers

masculine plural noun

Strong's #376 BDB #35

ʾăsher (אֲֹשֶר) [pronounced uh-SHER]

that, which, when, who, whom

relative pronoun; sometimes the verb to be is implied

Strong's #834 BDB #81

hâlake (הָלַךְ) [pronounced haw-LAHKe]

to go, to come, to depart, to walk; to advance

3rd person masculine plural, Qal perfect

Strong’s #1980 (and #3212) BDB #229

ʾêth (אֶח) [pronounced ayth]

with, at, near, by, among, directly from

preposition (which is identical to the sign of the direct object); with the 1st person singular suffix

Strong's #854 BDB #85


Translation: Also, a portion [for] the men who went out with me... Also, the men who went with Abram were entitled, because of this war, to the spoils. So Abram would see that they get a generous portion of the spoil. This would not be a problem for the king of Sodom, as he told Abram that he could take it all.


Genesis 14:24c

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

ʿÂnêr (עָנֵר) [pronounced ģaw-NARE]

necklace; transliterated Aner

masculine singular proper noun:

Strong’s #6063 BDB #778

ʾEshekôl (אֶשְכֹּל) [pronounced esh-KOHL]

cluster; transliterated Eshcol

masculine singular proper noun

Strong’s #812 BDB #79

we (or ve) (וְ or וּ) [pronounced weh]

and, even, then; namely; when; since, that; though; as well as

simple wâw conjunction

No Strong’s # BDB #251

Mamerêʾ (מַמְרֵא) [pronounced mahm-RAY]

strength; fatness; transliterated Mamre

proper singular noun/location

Strong’s #4471 BDB #577


Translation:...—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—... Abram did not attack the forces of the east with only these 3 men; these 3 men would have been his allies and his commanding generals. They were mentioned earlier in this narrative.


Genesis 14:24d

Hebrew/Pronunciation

Common English Meanings

Notes/Morphology

BDB and Strong’s Numbers

hêm (הֵם) [pronounced haym]

they, those; themselves; these [with the definite article]

3rd person masculine plural personal pronoun; sometimes the verb to be is implied

Strong’s #1992 BDB #241

lâqach (לָקַח) [pronounced law-KAHKH]

to take, to take away, to take in marriage; to seize

3rd person masculine plural, Qal imperfect

Strong’s #3947 BDB #542

chêleq (חֵלֶק) [pronounced KHAY-lek]

portion, tract, territory, share, allotment; smoothness

masculine singular noun with the 3rd person masculine plural suffix

Strong’s #2506 (and #2511) BDB #324


Translation: ...they will take their share.” As generals, they would get their fair share, as would the soldiers under them.


This, to me, is a wonderful verse. There is nothing more insufferable than self-righteous Christians who have certain standards and they impose these standards upon everyone else, Christian or not, mature or not. Only the most foolish of parents expect exceptional table manners from a 2 year old child (just as only the most foolish of parents do not expect table manners at age 6). Abram has his high standards and he lives by them. He does not, however, superimpose and enforce these standards upon others; this is why he had a staff that was loyal enough to follow him into battle.

 

The New Berkeley Bible: Abram did not demand from his allies the loyalty to God that motivated him.


Gen 14:24 I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share."


A few words of explanation—there were some nations which loathed farming and even looked down upon that profession. However, they, as warriors, would take the produce of other nations. If a nation had 3 or 4 subservient nations, they could collect enough tribute, which would include agricultural produce, for their nation to get by with little or no farming. Although we do not know if those in the eastern alliance eschewed farming, this verse indicates that they took foodstuffs after defeating the western coalition. So, what was taken from Sodom was also produce, some of which was eaten by the soldiers that Abram had with him.


800px-the_british_empire.gifFrom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_British_Empire.png

Map of the British Empire:


Enjoying the spoils of victory in war is not just some ancient custom, but this is part of today’s standards as well. England, when it was a client nation to God, conquered about a fourth of the world’s population (beginning around the 1600;s and extending into the early 1900's). To see tiny England compared to all that it controlled is awesome. On the map above, you can barely see England, and all of the nations it controlled at one time or another are in pink.


Why did God allow such imperialism? Most American schools teach that imperialism is bad, and even our President returned a bust of Winston Churchill to England because of England’s control of Kenya. During the 1950's, while the United States was enjoying somewhat of a blissful existence, Kenya was under martial law because of the rebellions against British control. When control of Kenya was seized away from the Brits, there were elections, but Kenya was ruled then by elected dictators and continued to suffer unrest, attempted coups, one-party rule, and many unopposed elections for the next 40+ years. Even after what appeared to be a legitimate election in 2002, the people continue with a fairly rebellious attitude, and protests turned into violence in 2007, where 1000 people were killed and 600,000 displaced. As has happened in many African countries, throwing off the yoke of imperialism did not result in a great Jeffersonian democracy. It resulted in far greater social unrest and political tyranny.


Imperialism by an honorable power is a good thing. England brought both law and order (the laws of divine establishment) and the gospel to all of the places above in pink. The land that England controlled, it civilized and evangelized. Millions of people are in heaven today because of the tremendous expansion of the British Empire. If you ever want to know the power of the Word of God, look at tiny England and all that it controlled. And as England became more and more secular, its control over this great empire began to be challenged.


In all of the places that England controlled, the gospel went, and there have been large pockets of believers throughout the great British Empire—India, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, Rhodesia, South Africa, Canada and the American colonies. Many of these nations still have significant Christian populations because of Great Britain’s imperialism.


Why do you think there is so much propaganda against imperialism? Our very own current president, Barrack Obama, does not understand or appreciate the greatness of the British empire. Why do you think Gandhi is glorified even here as some great hero? Why do you think there was such a concentrated attack against the British control of Rhodesia and South Africa a few decades ago? All of these rebellions and wars for control have a spiritual connotation to them.


Gandhi was not some great hero who rescued India for subjugation and tyranny. The only reason Gandhi could do what he did was because India was controlled by the British. If India had been controlled by China, for instance, we would not know who Gandhi was. Day one: Gandhi announces his intention to rebel against China’s control of India; day two: Gandhi has gone missing, along with all of his family and friends. End of story. Gandhi was able to do what he did because of the civilized nature of the British; because they believed in Jesus Christ, and because they respected human life and human dignity (this does not mean that there were not some abuses of power; all men have sin natures).


When I was new in the faith, my pastor, R. B. Thieme, Jr., would rail on and on about the immorality of what was being done to Rhodesia and to South Africa. Quite frankly, I knew about zilch when it came to those countries. I knew they were in Africa, and I knew that every media outlet was telling me that these nations needed to throw off the shackles of apartheid, and move forward as a people. One church that I used to clean as a janitor had literature all over their foyer about this horrible apartheid in Rhodesia and South Africa, and how this is so evil, and yet, there was one lone voice, the voice of my pastor, saying that these were great nations and their lives were good. They had law and order and they had the gospel of Jesus Christ because of British imperialism.


In Rhodesia, there was a rebellion, and one of the rebel leaders was a man named Robert Mugabe, and white rule was thrown off, the nation’s name was changed to Zimbabwe, and it has been ruled by tyrant Robert Mugabe ever since. Because these people were in rebellion against white rule—the legitimate authority in the land—they were, therefore, in rebellion against their God. What has been the result? Rulership by a tyrant, Robert Mugabe, continued civil unrest, including many rebellions against Mugabe, and AIDS has infected as much as 25% of their population. I can personally guarantee that the percentage of Christians under apartheid, among Blacks and whites, was much greater than it is today.


Let’s make an application to recent American history. At the end of World War II, the allies had defeated the axis forces. The allied forces were therefore able to divide up the world, and to take for themselves whatever spoils of war there was (recall, that was our original topic). Stalin, our evil ally at the time, salivated over all the lands which had been defeated, and he took a great deal of land and peoples which would be subjugated to the Soviet Union. In fact, the conference at Yalta placed as much as a third of the world into Soviet slavery, and only a few people batted an eye over this. To the victor belongs the spoils


On the other hand, the United States did something which was unprecedented in human history. We went into Germany, Japan and elsewhere, not as conquerors to take these lands as our spoils and to exploit them, but as a benevolent conquering power. When Rome conquered a land, it was brought into the Roman empire, and given (generally speaking) good governance and law and order, under the S.P.Q.R. banner. Great Britain did much the same thing when it expanded the British empire. But the United States, after World War II did something brand new in the world. We essentially rebuilt Japan, and guided them into national indecence and an allied relationship—the very ones who attacked us at Pearl Harbor—and turned them into an independent and prosperous allied nation. This was an amazing step in international relations, and one which is virtually ignored in modern American history books (along with the Christian evangelism which took place, at the request of great military figures like General Douglas MacArthur). This was true greatness of a nation.


Let’s make an even more recent application: Iraq and Afghanistan. Going into 2 countries which were antagonistic toward us and turning them into allies was a good and reasonable thing to do. After 9/11, we could not simply do nothing. The message that, if you attack us, we may take over one of your countries was a reasonable message to send to our enemies. However, our shortcoming was in not evangelizing the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. There were pockets of positive volition, and many people in those nations wanted to know the God of America. However, our military literally burned Bibles which were taken over their to evangelize, and severely limited soldiers evangelizing the people. And, to make things worse, when we had the ability to throw our weight around in those countries, we could have demanded a Bill of Rights be introduced as a part of their governance, which would have included freedom of religion.


President George W. Bush was a great student of history and recognized that what we did in Japan and South Korea was good and honorable. However, he left out the most important ingredient, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this reason, our alliances with Iraq and Afghanistan will be short-lived.


Communist propaganda falsely labels the United States as an imperialistic nation because you can find a McDonald’s in almost every civilized country in the world, and this sort of nonsense is taught in many of our schools and believed by many of our young people (the ignorance of many of our youth today is astounding; most would identify the United States as being an imperialistic country, but would not say the same about Russia).


At Yalta, the U.S.S.R. grabbed every bit of land and people that they could, and enslaved them. On the other hand, the United States took upon herself the responsibility for these nations under its control, and, through a benevolent leader (Douglas MacArthur), turned Japan around and restored them to their independence. As a result, Japan had become, until very recently, the second highest producing country in the world and a great ally and trading partner of the United States.


There are even those who complain about English imperialism today, by which they mean, people in other countries today learn the English language. For all intents and purposes, the English language has become a common language throughout the world, and some people, from different nations will speak to one another using English—not their native language—because they both know it. To pretend that this is some sort of imperialism is simply lying propaganda. The English language, which is common to so many nations, is the blessing of Christianity. Now, with the internet, people from all over the world are able to access so much of the great theology which has been developed in the United States over the past 50 years, because they speak English.


Gen 14:24 I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share."


It is legitimate for Abram to keep all that he rescued; in fact, he could have kept all of the people as his slaves, if he so chose. That is his right because of his military victory. Both he and the king of Sodom understood this.


For the believer in Jesus Christ, we have certain freedoms, but we are supposed to self-regulate, even when we are free to do otherwise. That is, we do not take our freedoms and apply them in each and every situation. The example that Paul gives in 1Corinthians is, believers had the right to eat meat that had been sacrificed at a heathen temple; because, after all, it is just meat. However, there are some circumstances in which, the believer who is hungry for a heathen steak might take a pass on it, if it adversely affects a weak believer. In the past year or so, we have had several examples of this. A so-called moderate Muslim imam wants to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City. This man has the right to do so (although the okay for this mosque seemed to go through the bureaucratic system at light speed, as there is a church destroyed by the 9/11 attack which still does not have the go-ahead to rebuild). However, when it became clear that this was a vastly unpopular idea, the imam should have backed off, and sought land elsewhere to build his new mosque (he oversees another mosque about 12 blocks from the proposed Ground Zero mosque and there are well over a hundred mosques in NYC). A believer in Jesus Christ with some doctrine would understand that having the right to do something does not mean that you just go ahead and do it.


The radio personality Dr. Laura used the N-word several times during one call. Dr. Laura had the freedom to use this word and she probably could have weathered the storm caused by what she said (I believe that she retired); but, she should have self-regulated here, and chosen not to say the word out loud.


There was a pastor of what appears to be a very small congregation down in Florida who threatened to burn the Koran, something which he has every right to do. However, such an action may have put American soldiers in danger and fractured an uneasy alliance that we have with Iraq, Afghanistan and other Arab countries. This pastor, although he had the right to do so, chose not to (however, since then, I think he has burned a Koran or two, but with much less news coverage).


Abram has the right to these spoils that he has taken in war, but he chooses not to exercise that right.


Gen 14:24 I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share."


Abram had an alliance with Aner, Eshcol and Mamre (Gen. 14:13). Abram could have taken and kept all that he captured—including the people. However, instead, he requests only a reasonable remuneration for what was done, and that would go to his people and his allies.


There is an additional lesson that we should take from this. Abram does not force others to live by his standards. He chooses not to take any of this wealth for himself. However, his allies rightfully deserved share of the spoils, and they receive their share. Abram did not self-righteously declare that he would not take any of the spoils and that his allies would not either. He let them take what was rightfully theirs.


Let’s look at a modern application of this. In this past year, I have seen a great many people, overflowing with self-righteousness, brimming with self-righteous pride, saying about how we need to provide free healthcare for everyone because healthcare is a fundamental right. But, in reality, there is no we. The people I have heard this from do not anticipate actually paying for this right of healthcare themselves. They believe it is a right, and they believe that the rich ought to pay for it. I will guarantee you that if these same self-righteous twits who believe that healthcare is a right, saw their next month’s check cut in half to pay for other people’s healthcare policy, and all subsequent checks were cut in half, that they would change their minds mighty quick about this right. If the money came out of their pockets; if they worked 10–20 hours a week to pay for someone else’s healthcare—particularly if this was someone who chose not to work—I know that their feelings about healthcare being a fundamental right would suddenly change. That self-righteous support for healthcare would suddenly change. Such people are very generous with other people’s money, and they are very insistent when it comes to imposing their own values upon others.


You may say, “What about Warren Buffet? He’s a billionaire and he wants to pay more taxes.” To the best of my knowledge, even though Buffet can pay as much as he wants to in additional taxes, he has never chosen to do so. Furthermore, since he does not receive a salary, Warren Buffet would not be affected by raising the tax rates, which he supports. Buffet is involved in many charitable organizations. Personally, I would rather that those who are rich choose the charitable organizations to which they want to belong or those they wish to found, rather than this money be given over to the government. There are a huge number of generous millionaire liberals. Do any of them say, “We should stop giving to our pet charities and give this money instead to the government of the United States.” No, of course not! Nor do they give huge sums of money to the government, because they know, deep in their liberal hearts, that the government is just going to piss this money away anyway. They would prefer to direct their money toward worthy causes that they believe in (hospitals and medical research) as well to many unworthy causes as well (liberal educational institutions and global warming organizations).


So, even though there is an organization of millionaires who think they ought to be taxed more, few if any of these millionaires give any money to the government.


In our passage, Abram does not force his standards on others—he does not require that Aner, Eshcol or Mamre to forgo being paid for risking their lives—he applies this only to himself.


Chapter Outline

 

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines

Forward

Doctrines Covered and Alluded to

Chapters of the Bible Alluded To

Psalms Appropriately Exegeted with this Chapter

Other Chapters of the Bible Appropriately Exegeted with this Chapter

Definition of Terms

Introduction

Text

Addendum

www.kukis.org

 

Exegetical Studies in Genesis


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Addendum


We have actually come to the end of Genesis 14. Originally, I anticipated spending 2 or 3 lessons on this chapter. From the outset, I had not the slightest clue how much was packed into this chapter.


I knew a lot about many chapters of Genesis because of having been taught them by R. B. Thieme, Jr. and others, but I had no real background in this particular chapter. I think it would behoove us to take one last look at the entire chapter, and see just how many doctrines and seeds of doctrine are found within it.

A Retrospective of Genesis 14

Scripture

Commentary

Gen.14:1–3 At that time four kings—King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and King Tidal of Goiim—went to war against five kings—King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, King Shemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). The five kings joined forces and met in the valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea).

At this point, we introduce what appears to be the world’s first world war. Chedorlaomer of the east (where Iraq is today) had conquered various portions of the west, which included Sodom and Gomorrah.


Being under the control of another country will be taught at the 4th stage of national discipline (or the 4th cycle of discipline). These stages of national discipline are fundamental to understanding the history of Israel.


This sort of imperialism was common in the ancient world. A greater power would control a smaller nation, and exact tribute from them on a regular basis. Military posts would be set up within the nation to keep order and to collect tribute for the conquering nation. Generally speaking, in exchange, there would be a modicum of protection from other world powers. What came out of such arrangements is the suzerain-vassal treaties, which parallel, in many ways, the covenants of God with man (which treaties have been alluded to, but not yet taught).

Gen.14:4 For 12 years they had been subject to Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

For 12 years, these western nations paid tribute to Chedorlaomer—for 12 years they were in the 4th stage of national discipline. In the 13th year, this western coalition rebelled against him. Consequently, Chedorlaomer gathered up his allies and they went to put this rebellion down.

Gen.14:5–7 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and his allies came and defeated the Rephaim at Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim at Ham, the Emim at Shaveh Kiriathaim, and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, going as far as El Paran on the edge of the desert. On their way back, they came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites and also the Amorites who were living at Hazazon Tamar.

The army of the eastern alliance is quite powerful, and they do not come west simply to quell this little revolt. Along the way, they defeated the Rephaim, the Zuzim, the Emim and the Horites. So, with this great alliance, they also brought other nations into their fold. Because this is the 4th stage of national discipline, we can assume that many of these nations had become quite depraved.


Not many people appreciate ancient history, but this chapter will reveal the power of the Word of God in the soul of one man, Abram. Abram is changing world history at this point in time. This eastern alliance is about to establish the greatest world empire at this time, and Abram will change all of that. One believer with doctrine in his soul can change world history (David will do the same in the latter half of 2Sam. 10). Interestingly enough, the Bible is quite subtle in these matters. You will never read, “And by these actions, Abram changed the course of world history.” I suspect that 99% of those who have read or studied this chapter do not realize that this is a world-changing event.

Gen.14:8–9 Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and prepared for battle in the valley of Siddim. They fought against King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Shinar, and King Arioch of Ellasar-four kings against five.

The eastern alliance then pulls off a surprise attack against the very western coalition which is waiting for them. They would have been expected to come around the Dead Sea, either from the north going south, or at the tip of the Dead Sea, from the east moving west. This eastern alliance comes at them from the southwest.


The western coalition obviously had no G2 force working, so they were unprepared. Surprise is one of the greatest tactical weapons in war, and this eastern alliance managed to come at the western coalition from a different direction, throwing them off their game.

Gen.14:10 The valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. As the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell because of the tar pits, but the other kings fled to the hills.

This general area, where the men of the western coalition live, had the unusual feature of tar pits, which could have been used by the western coalition to their own advantage. Key to any ground war is terrain, knowledge of the terrain, and the exploitation of that knowledge (which is a key component of Taliban resistence in Afghanistan). We are on the home turf of the western coalition, and they are beaten, in part, because of the very land that they live on. What should have been used to their advantage played a part in their own defeat.


The army that the west organized was cowardly and poorly trained, and, when they faced-off the well-trained army from the east, they fell apart, scattering. The very own tar pits that they lived around all of their lives, that they could have used to their own advantage, they fell into themselves and they ran from the eastern alliance.


What is the problem with the people of Sodom and Gomorrah? They are a degenerate people, which will be borne out by subsequent chapters. You cannot properly organize and train a degenerate people into a strong fighting force.


Key to any war is training and preparation; knowledge of terrain, the element of surprise, and information (provided by a G2 force). The eastern alliance used all of these factors of war to their own advantage. The degenerate troops of the western coalition had no advantage because of who they were and what they were.

Gen.14:11 So the four kings took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as all their food, and left.

The degeneracy of the western coalition results in them going from the 4th stage of national discipline to the 5th stage, where they are removed from their own land.


These stages of national discipline will be fundamental to the history of Israel. And found both in Lev. 26 and throughout the books of Kings and Chronicles.

Gen.14:12 They also took Abram's nephew Lot and his possessions since he was living in Sodom.

There is blessing by association and cursing by association. Lot chose to associate with these cities in the west, despite their degeneracy (which will become apparent a few chapters from now). Therefore, Lot suffers in this association. He is taken by the eastern coalition along with all of his possessions.


Who does not suffer loss? Abram and the people that associate with him. This eastern alliance came across these western lands conquering people after people, but they don’t touch Abram and they don’t touch Abram’s allies. Blessing by association.


What we are not told here, but becomes clear in v. 16 is, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities had been taken into slavery. By analogy, these men and women now found themselves in the slave market of sin. They had nothing by which they could buy their freedom (all their things had been taken), and they were destined to remain in slavery for the remainder of their lives.

Gen.14:13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew what had happened. He was living next to the oak trees belonging to Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner. (These men were Abram's allies.)

God is a part of all this, although He is not mentioned for the first half of this chapter; and He allows one man to escape to tell Abram what was going on.


Just as Lot had alliances with a pretty flaky group of people, Abram has alliances with some noble people, who had likely become believers in Abram’s God.


The people of Sodom and Gomorrah enjoyed few benefits by their association with Lot (and vice versa). These people that Abram knows are blessed in their association with Abram and they appear to be people of great character. You may have heard the expression water seeks its own level.


The one who escaped knew who to go to for deliverance—Abram, a man of God. Somehow, this man knew who to go to, whether this was based upon Abram’s reputation or he learned this from Lot. In any case, God’s man is the man for the crisis.

Gen.14:14–15 When Abram heard that his nephew had been captured, he armed his 318 trained men, born in his own household, and they pursued the four kings all the way to Dan. He split up his men to attack them at night. He defeated them, pursuing them all the way to Hobah, which is north of Damascus.

Abram has a ridiculously small army, yet he follows out this huge professional army, which is weighed down with goods and slaves. Abram waits for the right time, and commits his troops to a nighttime surprise attack.


We know that Abram waits for the right time, studying this opposing army. Abram pulls off a surprise attack at night, and he attacks his enemies from several directions (his troops were split up). Strategy and tactics.


This tiny army sends the huge eastern alliance running. We have no idea as to many of the particulars, but it seems fairly obvious that the eastern army had no idea as to the actual size of Abram’s army.


The book of Genesis is a book of seeds; later in Lev. 26:8 and Deut. 32:30 (and elsewhere), God promises that a small army will be able to defeat a large one, as long as God is with the small army.

Gen.14:16–17 Abram [lit., he] brought back everything they had, including women and soldiers [literally, people]. He also brought back his relative Lot and his possessions. After Abram came back from defeating Chedorlaomer and his allies, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King's Valley).

Because God is with Abram, he defeats this great army with a tiny company, and brings back with him all of the people and possessions taken by the Chedorlaomer and his allies.


Now note the parallel, because of the plan of Abram and because a righteous man (Lot) was among the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, they were removed from the slave market. These people were destined to be slaves for the rest of their lives. There was nothing that they could do about it.


The analogy is, of course, that we find ourselves in the slave market of sin. There is nothing which we have by which we can purchase our freedom from the slave market. It is the plan of God the Father executed by the Righteous One Who walks among us, which plan rescues us from this slave market.


The King of Sodom comes out to meet Abram. This all takes place near Jerusalem.

Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)

Seemingly out of nowhere comes Melchizedek, the King of Salem (Jerusalem), who is a priest of Abram’s God. As we have studied, Melchizedek is a type of Jesus Christ.


You will note that nothing is said of Salem being attacked either. Again, this is the power of the Word of God. This eastern alliance came to put down a rebellion, and, along the way, they defeated several other peoples. Notice who is missed in all of this conflict—the people of Salem. Right in the midst of a world war, the people of Salem have peace.


This is the picture of the mature believer; in the midst of a crisis, he has peace in his soul.

Gen 14:19 And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor [or, Redeemer, Purchaser] of heaven and earth;

Melchizedek calls for the blessing of Abram by God the Most High, and then refers to God as Possessor by Redemption of heaven and earth, which is a seed of one of the great doctrines of the Word of God: Jesus Christ, the Great Redeemer. This also logically leads us to notion of the slave market of sin, which just so happens to be one of the themes of this chapter. The wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah find themselves in the slave market, destined for a lifetime of slavery, and yet, God overrules this because of the plan of Abram and their association with Lot.

Gen 14:20 and blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand!" And Abram gave him [Melchizedek] a tenth of everything.

We are told very little about Melchizedek. However, Abram gives him a tenth of everything, which indicates that Abram recognizes the legitimacy and preeminence of Melchizedek’s priesthood. I suggested that Melchizedek possessed or knew the Word of God to that point in time and gave it to Abram (whether in written or spoken form). This would be the first 10 or 11 chapters of the Bible.


It was obvious that Abram and Melchizedek worshiped the same God; but there is more going on here than that simple recognition of that fact, based upon Abram’s tithe to Melchizedek.

Gen 14:21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give me the people, but take the goods for yourself."

The king of Sodom is a different matter. He demands to have his people back, but acknowledges that Abram can keep the spoils of war (which is commonly understood throughout world history, but not currently in the United States).

Gen 14:22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I had lifted my hand to Yehowah, God Most High, Possessor [or, Redeemer, Purchaser; Creator] of heaven and earth,

Abram reveals that he took a vow before Jehovah God, the Most High, the Redeemer of heaven and earth. You will note that Abram’s vocabulary is in synch with Melchizedek’s—they both speak of God in the same way; they both understand God in the same way.

Gen 14:23 [I vowed] that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, so that no one will say, 'I have made Abram rich.'

Abram had a duty to rescue Lot and this sense of duty was pure, unadulterated by a lust for things, which would be a part of Abram’s victory. Abram vowed to God that he would take nothing from this war, apart from Lot and his family.

Gen 14:24 I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share."

You will note that Abram does not hold his allies to the same standard that he lives by in his own vow. They entered the war because they are allies of Abram. They deserved to take a share of the spoils of war.

There are so many seeds of doctrines in this chapter: the 4th and 5th stages of national discipline; blessing by association, cursing by association; the power of God when He is behind an army; strategy and tactics in war; warfare; the importance of having God on your side in war; redemption, the slave market of sin, the priesthood, typology, vocabulary, and personal integrity. All of these topics are found in this one great chapter of Genesis, a chapter many people read or skim over in about 5 minutes, if that.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


Do not miss these principles. If you studied this chapter carefully, every single one of these should ring true.

What We Learn from Genesis 14

1.      Once mankind has gotten to a certain level of population, there will be wars and rumors of wars. There is no avoiding this.

2.      If you are a degenerate nation, then you have been defeated internally before you are defeated by an external army.

3.      Gen. 14 lays out the pattern for the 4th and 5th stage of national discipline. These stages remained true to history for thousands of years, although divine discipline to a national entity today might be somewhat different. However, the principle of divine discipline to a nation remains the same.

4.      It is very difficult if not impossible to beat a profession army with sound strategy and tactics. They can only be defeated if God is on the other side.

5.      The military men from the east were brilliant, they were tough, and they had a well-planned out strategy.

6.      War involves a great many variables, and the kings of the east were brilliant in their approach to war. They showed sound tactics and used and land of the west to their own advantage. This showed great brilliance.

7.      God looks out for His Own; and when a believer is mature or maturing, God often looks out for that person’s friends and kin.

8.      God gives us what we need to accomplish the tasks which he puts before us.

9.      Abram needed to be mentally tough to go to war against the kings of the east.

10.    Abram used great strategy and tactics against the kings of the east, and defeated them because of these tactics (obviously, God was involved here).

11.    Although prior to entering into the war, God was not mentioned; near the end of this chapter, it became plain that Abram had petitioned God concerning his aggressive action.

12.    After the victory, Abram kept his priorities straight. He dealt with spiritual matters first and then politics. Lot, after this, will turn to politics and forget about spiritual matters.

13.    We meet Melchizedek in this chapter, a wonderful type of the Lord Jesus Christ. The bread and wine looked forward to the Eucharist.

14.    There is possibly a spiritual handoff in this chapter; it is possible that the Word of God, as it then existed, went from the hand of Melchizedek to the hand of Abram (or mind of Melchizedek to the mind of Abram).

15.    When dealing with political issues, Abram applied spiritual principles. Abram did not avoid or ignore political issues or realities—he faced them straight on. But he did not think as a man thinks; he thought as God thinks.

16.    Abram considered how others would view him, and he acted accordingly, so that it would be clear that God prospered him and war did not.

17.    Abram did not hold his allies to the same standards that he held himself to.

There was so much for us to get in this chapter.


Chapter Outline

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines


The ancient historian Josephus seems to take the Old Testament texts at face value and uses them to record the history of this era.

Josephus’ History of this Time Period

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE WORLD AND THE DISPOSITION OF THE ELEMENTS.

CHAPTER 9.


THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SODOMITES BY THE ASSYRIAN WALL.

AT this time, when the Assyrians had the dominion over Asia, the people of Sodom were in a flourishing condition, both as to riches and the number of their youth. There were five kings that managed the affairs of this county: Ballas, Barsas, Senabar, and Sumobor, with the king of Bela; and each king led on his own troops: and the Assyrians made war upon them; and, dividing their army into four parts, fought against them. Now every part of the army had its own commander; and when the battle was joined, the Assyrians were conquerors, and imposed a tribute on the kings of the Sodomites, who submitted to this slavery twelve years; and so long they continued to pay their tribute: but on the thirteenth year they rebelled, and then the army of the Assyrians came upon them, under their commanders Amraphel, Arioch, Chodorlaomer, and Tidal. These kings had laid waste all Syria, and overthrown the offspring of the giants. And when they were come over against Sodom, they pitched their camp at the vale called the Slime Pits, for at that time there were pits in that place; but now, upon the destruction of the city of Sodom, that vale became the Lake Asphaltites, as it is called. However, concerning this lake we shall speak more presently. Now when the Sodomites joined battle with the Assyrians, and the fight was very obstinate, many of them were killed, and the rest were carried captive; among which captives was Lot, who had come to assist the Sodomites.

CHAPTER 10.


HOW ABRAM FOUGHT WITH THE ASSYRIANS, AND OVERCAME THEM, AND SAVED THE SODOMITE PRISONERS, AND TOOK FROM THE ASSYRIANS THE PREY THEY HAD GOTTEN.

1. WHEN, Abram heard of their calamity, he was at once afraid for Lot his kinsman, and pitied the Sodomites, his friends and neighbors; and thinking it proper to afford them assistance, he did not delay it, but marched hastily, and the fifth night fell upon the Assyrians, near Dan, for that is the name of the other spring of Jordan; and before they could arm themselves, he slew some as they were in their beds, before they could suspect any harm; and others, who were not yet gone to sleep, but were so drunk they could not fight, ran away. Abram pursued after them, till, on the second day, he drove them in a body unto Hoba, a place belonging to Damascus; and thereby demonstrated that victory does not depend on multitude and the number of hands, but the alacrity and courage of soldiers overcome the most numerous bodies of men, while he got the victory over so great an army with no more than three hundred and eighteen of his servants, and three of his friends: but all those that fled returned home ingloriously.


2. So Abram, when he had saved the captive Sodomites, who had been taken by the Assyrians, and Lot also, his kinsman, returned home in peace. Now the king of Sodom met him at a certain place, which they called The King's Dale, where Melchisedec, king of the city Salem, received him. That name signifies, the righteous king: and such he was, without dispute, insomuch that, on this account, he was made the priest of God: however, they afterward called Salem Jerusalem. Now this Melchisedec supplied Abram's army in an hospitable manner, and gave them provisions in abundance; and as they were feasting, he began to praise him, and to bless God for subduing his enemies under him. And when Abram gave him the tenth part of his prey, he accepted of the gift: but the king of Sodom desired Abram to take the prey, but entreated that he might have those men restored to him whom Abram had saved from the Assyrians, because they belonged to him. But Abram would not do so; nor would make any other advantage of that prey than what his servants had eaten; but still insisted that he should afford a part to his friends that had assisted him in the battle. The first of them was called Eschol, and then Enner, and Mambre.

From: http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/ant-1.htm accessed July 10, 2013. Josephus Antiquities of the Jews; Book 1, Chapters 9–10.


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Alfred Edersheim wrote a book called The Bible History, Old Testament, which is very similar to Josephus, where he simply rewrites much of what is in the Bible, and adds in notes and comments as he deems to be relevant.

This comes from Chapter , entitled The Flood.

Edersheim Summarizes Genesis 14

Meanwhile Lot had taken up his abode in a district which, like the rest of Canaan at the time of Joshua's conquest, was subdivided among a number of small kings, each probably ruling over a city and the immediately surrounding neighborhood. For twelve years had this whole district been tributary to Chedorlaomer. In the thirteenth year they rebelled; and, in the fourteenth, the hordes of Chedorlaomer and of his three confederates swept over the intervening district, carrying desolation with them, till they encountered the five allied monarchs of the "round of Jordan," in the vale of Siddim, the district around what afterwards became the Dead Sea. Once more victory attended the invaders - two of the Canaanitish kings were killed, the rest fled in wild confusion; Sodom and Gomorrah were plundered, and their inhabitants - Lot among them - carried away captives by the retreating host. This was the first time - at least in Scripture history - that the world - kingdom, as founded by Nimrod, was brought into contact with the people of God, and that on the soil of Palestine. For Chedorlaomer and his confederates occupied the very land and place where afterwards the Babylonian and Assyrian empires were.34 It became necessary, therefore, that Abram should interfere. God had given him the land, and here was its hereditary enemy; and God now called and fitted him, though but a stranger and a pilgrim on its soil, to become its deliverer; while alike the mode and the circumstances of this deliverance were to point forward to those realities of which it was the type.

One who had escaped from the rout brought Abram tidings of the disaster. He immediately armed his own trained servants, three hundred and eighteen in number; and being joined by Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, the chieftains to whom the district around Hebron belonged, followed in pursuit of Chedorlaomer and his allies. Probably, as is common in such warfare, victory had made them careless. They may have feasted, or their bands, laden with captives and spoil, may have been straggling, and without order. Certainly they were ignorant of any coming danger, when Abram, having divided his force, fell upon them, in the dead of night, from several sides at the same time, inflicted a great slaughter, and pursued them to close by Damascus. All the spoil and all the captives, among them Lot also, were rescued and brought back. As the returning host of Abram entered the valley of Shaveh, close under the walls of what afterwards became Jerusalem, they were met by two persons bearing very different characters, and coming from opposite directions. From the banks of Jordan the new king of Sod om, whose predecessor had fallen in battle against Chedorlaomer, came up to thank Abram, and to offer him the spoils he had won; while from the heights of Salem - the ancient Jerusalem - the priest - king Melchizedek descended to bless Abram, and to refresh him with "bread and wine." This memorable meeting seems to have given the valley its name, "the king's dale;" and here, in later times, Absalom erected for himself a monumental pillar.(2 Samuel 18:18) But now a far different scene ensued, and one so signif icant in its typical meaning as to have left its impress alike on the prophecies of the Old and in the fulfillment of the New Testament. Melchizedek appears like a meteor in the sky - suddenly, unexpectedly, mysteriously, - and then as suddenly disappears. Amid the abundance of genealogical details of that period we know absolutely nothing of his descent; in the roll of kings and their achievements, his name and reign, his birth and death remain unmentioned. Considering the position which he occupies toward s Abram, that silence must have been intentional, and its intention typical; that is, designed to point forward to corresponding realities in Christ. Still more clearly than its silence does the information which Scripture furnishes about Melchizedek show the deep significance of his personality. His name is "King of Righteousness," his government that of the "Prince of Peace;" he is a priest," neither in the sense in which Abram was, nor yet "after the order of Aaron," his priesthood being distinct and uni que; he blesses Abram, and his blessing sounds like a ratification of the bestowal of the land upon the patriarch; while Abram gives "him tithes of all." There is in this latter tribute an acknowledgment of Melchizedek both as king and priest - as priest in giving him "tithes," and as king in giving him these tithes of all the spoil, as if he had royal claim upon it; while Abram himself refuses to touch any of it, and his allies are only allowed to "take their portion."

This is not the place to discuss the typical meaning of this story; yet the event and the person are too important to pass them unnoticed. Twice again we meet Melchizedek in Scripture: once in the prophecy of Psalm 110:4: "Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek;" the other time in the application of it all to our blessed Savior, in Hebrews 7:3. That Melchizedek was not Christ Himself is evident from the statement that he was "made like unto the Son of God" (or "likened unto" Him, Hebrews 7:3); while it equally appears from these words, and from the whole tenor of Scripture, that he was a type of Christ. In fact, we stand here at the threshold of two dispensations. The covenant with Noah had, so to speak, run its course, or rather was merging into that with Abram. As at the commencement of the New Testament, John gave testimony to Jesus, and yet Jesus was baptized by John; so here Melchizedek gave testimony to Abram, and yet received tithes from Abram. If we add, that in our view Melchizedek was probably the last representative of the race of Shem in the land of Canaan, which was now in the hands of the Canaanites, who were children of Ham, as well as that he was the last representative of the faith of Shem, in the midst of idolatry - being a "priest of the most high God," - the relation between them will become more clear. It was the old transferred to the new, and enlarged in it; it was the rule and the promise of Shem, solemnly handed over to Abram by the last representative of Shem in the land, who thus gave up his authority in the name of "the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth," "which hath delivered" Abram's enemies into his hands. It has been well observed, that "Abram's greatness consisted in his hopes, that of Melchizedek in his present possession." Melchizedek was both a priest and a king, - Abram only a prophet; Melchizedek was recognized as the rightful possessor of the country, which as yet was only promised to Abram. True, the future will be infinitely greater than the present, - but then it was as yet future. Melchizedek owned its reality by blessing Abram, and transferring his title, as it were, to him; while Abram recognized the present, by giving tithes to Melchizedek, and bending to receive his blessing. Thus Melchizedek, the last representative of the Shemitic order, is the type of Christ, as the last representative of the Abrahamic order. What lay in germ in Melchizedek was to be gradually unfolded - the priesthood in Aaron, the royalty in David - till both were most gloriously united in Christ.

Melchizedek was, however, only a shadow and a type; Christ is the reality and the antitype. It is for this reason that Scripture has shut to us the sources of historical investigation about his descent and duration of life, that by its silence it might point to the heavenly descent of Jesus. For the same reason also Abram, who so soon afterwards vindicated his dignity and position in the language of superiority with which he declined the king of Sodom's offer of the spoils, bent lowly before Melchizedek, that in his blessing he might receive the spiritual inheritance which he now bequeathed him. Nor will the attentive reader fail to remark the language in which Melchizedek spake of God as "the most high," and the "possessor of heaven and earth" - terms which Abram adopted, but to which he added the new name of "Jehovah," as that of "the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth" - a name which indicated that covenant of grace of which Abram was to be the representative and the medium. It is quite in accorda nce with this whole transaction that Abram put aside the offer of the king of Sodom: "Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself." Assuredly, it had not been as an ally of the king of Sodom, but to vindicate his position, and that of all connected with him, that the Lord had summoned Abram to the war, and given him the victory. And so these figures part, never to meet again: the king of Sodom to hasten to the judgment, already lingering around him; the king of Salem to wait for the better possession promised, which indeed was already commencing.

34 Genesis 10:10. There is frequent reference to the kingdom of Elam on the Assyrian monuments, confirmatory of Scripture, and Mr. Smith inserts the names of Chedorlaomer and his three confederates in his "list of Babylonian monarchs" (see Assyrian Discoveries, pp. 441, 442.

From http://www.levendwater.org/books/v1bhot.pdf accessed July 10, 2013.


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It may be helpful to see this chapter as a contiguous whole:

A Complete Translation of Genesis 14

A Reasonably Literal Translation

A Reasonably Literal Paraphrase

The alliances in this great war of nations

And it was in the days of Amraphel, the king of Shinar; Arioch, the king of Eliasar; Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam and Tidal, the king of Goiim—they made war with Bera, the king of Sodom; and Birsha, the king of Gomorrah; [and] Shinab, the king of Admah; and Shemeber, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that (is) Zoar). These joined forces in the valley of Siddim, which [is near] the Salt Sea.

And it was in the days of Amraphel, the king of Shinar; Arioch, the king of Eliasar; Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam and Tidal, the king of Goiim—that they made war with Bera, the king of Sodom; and Birsha, the king of Gomorrah; [and] Shinab, the king of Admah; and Shemeber, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (which is Zoar). These latter kings formed an alliance in the Valley of Siddim, which is near the Salt Sea.

The eastern alliance conquers many city-states along the way

[The peoples of the Valley of Siddim] served Chedorlaomer [for] 12 years, and [in] the thirteenth year, they rebelled [against him].

The people of the Valley of Siddim served Chedorlaomer for 12 years, but in the 13th year, they rebelled against him.

In the 14th year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who [are] with him came and they conquered the Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emin in Shavey-Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their mountain Seir, [going] as far as El-Paran, which is adjacent [to] the wilderness.

In the 14th year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who are with him came and they conquered the Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emin in Shavey-Kiriathaim, and the Horites in their mountain Seir, going as far as El-Paran, which is adjacent to the wilderness.

Then they turned back and came to Eyn Mishpat (that [is], Kadesh) and they defeated the entire country of the Amalekite as well as [lit., and also] the Amorite, the dwellers of Hazazon Tamar.

Then they turned back around and came to En Mishpat (which is today known as Kadesh), where they defeated the entire territory of the Amorites and then went on to defeat the Amorites, who were living in Hazazon Tamar.

The 4 kings of the east defeat the 5 king coalition

They went out—the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (which [is] Zoar]. They organized [themselves] in battle [array] with their enemies [lit., with them]—Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, Tidal the king of Goiim, Amraphel the king of Shinar and Arioch the king of Ellasar—four kings against [lit., with, near] the five.

The king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (also known as Zoar) went out and organized themselves in battle array with the four kings of the East: Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, Tidal the king of Goiim, Amraphel the king of Shinar and Arioch the king of Ellasar.

[There were] pits—pits of bitumen— [in] the Valley of Siddim. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah retreated, [many in their armies] fell there [into these pits]; and those who remained fled to the mountains.

There were pits of bitumen all over the Valley of Siddim. Therefore, when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah retreated, many from their armies fell into these pits; and those who did not, fled to the mountains.

They took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as all their food; and they departed. They also took Lot (Abram’s brother’s son) and all of his wealth, and they departed ([Lot was] the one living in Sodom).

The kings of the east took anything of value out of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as all of their food; and they departed. They also took Lot and all of his wealth and departed (Lot was Abram’s nephew and he lived in Sodom).

Abram is told about Lot, and his army defeats the eastern alliance of kings

An escaped man came in and he makes [this] known to Abram the Hebrew. [At this time] he [is] living near the Oaks of Mamre, the Amorite [who is] the brother of Eshcol and the brother of Aner—[in fact] these [men] are in league with Abram [lit., (are) possessors of a covenant of Abram].

A man who escaped the kings of the east came to Abram and made this information known to Abram the Hebrew. At this time, Abram was living near the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, who is the brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of these men being confederates with Abram.

When Abram heard that his brother had been taken captive, he led forth [lit., emptied out] his trained men, those born in [lit., of] his house, 318 [men], and they pursued [them] as far as Dan. Abram [lit., he] divided [his troops] against them at night—he and his servants. He attacked them and then pursued them as far as Hobah, which [is] south of Damascus.

When Abram heard that Lot had been taken captive, he took 318 of his trained men, those of his household, and they pursued the kings of the east as far as Dan. Abram divided his troops at night and then attacked the kings of the east, pursuing them as far as Hobah, which is south of Damascus.

Abram [lit., he] brought back all of the wealth as well as Lot, his relative, and his wealth. He also brought back the women and the people.

Abram brought back all of the wealth that had been taken, as well as Lot, Lot’s possession, and all of the women and the people of that area who were to be enslaved.

Abram interacts with the Priest-King of Salem and with the king of Sodom

Consequently, the king of Sodom went out to meet him after he returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings that [were] with him in the Valley of Shaveh (that [is], the Valley of the King).

Consequently, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram after he returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the Valley of the King).

Also, Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He [was] a priest to El the Most High. Melchizedek then blessed Abram [lit., and so he blesses him] and said, “Blessed is Abram by El the Most High, possessor of heaven and earth. Furthermore, blessings to El the Most High Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Therefore, Abram [lit., he] gave him a tenth of all.

Also, Melchizedek, the king of Salem, came out with bread and wine. He was a priest for that city to God the Most High. Melchizedek then blessed Abram, saying, “Blessing be to Abram by God the Most High, the Possessor and Redeemer of heaven and earth. Furthermore, let God the Most High be blessed—God Who has delivered your enemies into your hand in battle. Therefore, Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all he had.

The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the people [lit., the soul] to me and take the wealth for yourself.”

The king of Sodom said, to Abram, “Give me the people but you may take the wealth that you recovered.”

Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised up my hand [as a vow] unto Yehowah, the El Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, not from a thread to the thong of a sandal [will I take]; in fact [lit., and], I will not take from anything that [is] yours, so that you can never say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ Apart from me, only the young men have eaten. Also, a portion [for] the men who went out with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—they will take their share.”

Abram then proclaimed to the king of Sodom, “I made a vow to Jehovah, God the Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a single thing that belongs to your or to your people. I made this vow so that you can never say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ However, I did have men who also fought, apart from me, and they have eaten some of the food. Aner, Eshcol and Mamre, the leaders of the men who went out with me, they will take their fair share.”


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The following Psalms would be appropriately studied at this time: Psalm 33.


Chapter Outline

 

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Forward

Doctrines Covered and Alluded to

Chapters of the Bible Alluded To

Psalms Appropriately Exegeted with this Chapter

Other Chapters of the Bible Appropriately Exegeted with this Chapter

Definition of Terms

Introduction

Text

Addendum

www.kukis.org

 

Exegetical Studies in Genesis