Genesis 14:19 | 47
14:3 g Nu 34:3, 12; Dt 3:17; Jos 3:16;
15:2, 5
14:5 h Ge 15:20; Dt 2:11, 20 i Dt 2:10
14:6 j Dt 2:12, 22 k Dt 2:1, 5, 22 l Ge 21:21;
Nu 10:12 14:7 m 2Ch 20:2
14:8 n Ge 13:10; 19:17- 29 o Dt 29:23
14:10 p Ge 19:17, 30 14:13 q ver 24; Ge 13:18
14:14 r Ge 15:3 s Dt 34:1; Jdg 18:29
14:17 t 2Sa 18:18
14:18 u Ps 110:4; Heb 5:6 v Ps 76:2;
Heb 7:2
14:19 w Heb 7:6
Val ley of Sid dim( that is, the Dead Sea Val ley g). 4 For twelve years they had been sub ject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
5 In the four teenth year, Ked or la o mer and the kings al lied with him went out and defeated the Reph a ites h in Ash te roth Kar naim, the Zu zites in Ham, the Emites i in Sha veh Kiriathaim 6 and the Ho rites j in the hill coun try of Seir, k as far as El Pa ran l near the des ert. 7 Then they turned back and went to En Mish pat( that is, Ka desh), and they con quered the whole ter ri tory of the Am a lek ites, as well as the Am o rites who were liv ing in Haz e zon Tamar. m
8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Go mor rah, n the king of Ad mah, the king of Zeboyim o and the king of Bela( that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their bat tle lines in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shi nar and Ar i och king of El la sar— four kings against five. 10 Now the Val ley of Sid dim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Go mor rah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. p 11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Go mor rah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also car ried off Abram’ s nephew Lot and his pos ses sions, since he was liv ing in Sodom.
13 A man who had es caped came and re ported this to Abram the He brew. Now Abram was liv ing near the great trees of Mamre q the Am o rite, a brother a of Esh kol and Aner, all of whom were al lied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his rel a tive had been taken cap tive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his house hold r and went in pur suit as far as Dan. s 15 Dur ing the night Abram di vided his men to at tack them and he routed them, pur su ing them as far as Ho bah, north of Da mas cus. 16 He re cov ered all the goods and brought back his rel a tive Lot and his pos ses sions, to gether with the women and the other peo ple.
17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Val ley of Sha veh( that is, the King’ s Val ley). t
18 Then Melchizedek u king of Sa lem v brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, w saying, a 13 Or a relative; or an ally
tives, the kings of Sodom and Salem greet him. Abram’ s different responses to the two kings are exceptionally important, revealing how Abram rejects the spoils of battle in order to enhance his own standing within the land of Canaan. Although his defeat of the invading kings provides Abram with an opportunity to enrich himself further, he places his future hope in God, affirming through the gift of a tithe the truthfulness of Melchizedek’ s remarks. The events of this chapter portray Abram as worthy of royal status. 14:1 – 4 A dispute between two groups of kings results in a conflict in the Jordan Valley, where Lot is living. For 12 years the local kings have been subject to a foreign coalition composed of kings from the region of Mesopotamia and beyond. Although these kings are not known in existing extrabiblical sources, their names are typical of the territories associated with them. 14:1 Shinar. Region of southern Mesopotamia, later known as Bab ylonia( 10:10; see Josh 7:21 and NIV text note). Ellasar. Possibly northern Mesopotamia, the name“ Arioch” having been found in ancient texts from Mari and Nuzi. Elam. Region to the east of southern Mesopotamia. Only in the early second millennium BC is there evidence of Elamite armies advancing westward into Mesopotamia and possibly onward to Canaan. Tidal. The name may be of Hittite origin. The insertion of explanatory names in vv. 1 – 8( e. g., Zoar [ vv. 2,8 ] and Kadesh [ v. 7 ]) point to the antiquity of this account. 14:5 – 7 Before they arrive in the Jordan Valley, the foreign coalition defeats various tribal groups whose territories lie along the King’ s Highway in Transjordan. After reaching the Gulf of Aqabah, they travel northward to Hazezon Tamar, known as En Gedi in 2 Chr 20:2.
14:8 – 11 Unable to repel the invading coalition, the local kings flee in disarray, leaving the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to be plundered. 14:13 Hebrew. Against the background of all the different ethnic groups mentioned in the first part of this chapter, Abram is designated a Hebrew. This is the first occurrence of this term in the Bible. It may be associated with the name Eber, first mentioned in 10:21, from whom the Israelites are descended. Although similar sounding, the name Hebrew is not associated with the people referred to as habiru / hapiru in the el-Amarna tablets of the fourteenth century BC. 14:14 trained men. This translates a rare Hebrew word that possibly refers to those who have had some form of military training. Through a surprise attack at night, Abram’ s relatively small force successfully routs their opponents, who flee northward toward their own territories( v. 15). Dan. The name that the Israelites gave to the city of Laish after they captured it( Judg 18:27 – 29). See Introduction to the Pentateuch, p. 9. 14:17 – 24 The different responses of the kings of Salem and Sodom to Abram’ s victory contrast a God-centered approach to life with a human-centered one. Recognizing God’ s place in human affairs, Abram is not prepared to enhance his own status within the land of Canaan by taking what belonged to others, even when it is captured in battle. Abram distances himself from the“ winner takes all” attitude of the king of Sodom. Abram will not use the military power available to him to take control of the land of Canaan; rather, he waits on God to reward him( cf. 15:1). Genesis condemns the misuse of violence as a perversion of humanity’ s divinely given authority over the earth.
14:17 Valley of Shaveh. Later known as the King’ s Valley( 2 Sam 18:18), it was east of Jerusalem. 14:18 Melchizedek. This form of name was common among second-millennium BC Canaanites. Scholars debate its original meaning; it could possibly mean“ Melek is just,”“ Zedek is my king,” or“ My king is just”( cf. Malkiel, meaning“ El is my king,” in 46:17), where Melek and Zedek are divine names. By NT times, the name was understood to mean“ king of righteousness”( Heb 7:2). Although little is known of him, as a priestking of Jerusalem associated with both righteousness and peace, Melchizedek became a figure of special significance( see Ps 110:4). The author of Hebrews argues that Jesus Christ is a priest belonging to the“ order of Melchizedek”( Heb 5:6,10; 6:20; 7:11,17); because Abram gives him a tithe, Melchizedek’ s priestly order is superior to the priests associated with the tribe of Levi( see Heb 5:5 – 10; 6:20— 7:28 and notes). Salem. A shortened form of Jerusalem( Ps 76:2).“ Salem” also resembles the Hebrew word for peace( Heb 7:2). God Most High. This is one of several designations Genesis uses for God in which various attributes qualify“ El,” the common Semitic term for God( e. g., ʾēl rŏʾî,“ the God who sees me” [ 16:13 ]; ʾēl šadday,“ God Almighty” [ 17:1 ]; ʾēl ʿôlām,“ the Eternal God” [ 21:33 ]). 14:19 Creator of heaven and earth. Melchizedek’ s description of God implies that God is more than simply the creator of everything. He is also its possessor, a striking affirmation in the light of the human conflict over territory in the opening part of this chapter. Rejecting God’ s ownership of the earth lies at the heart of human sin.