Bereshis 14
14
1And it came to pass in the yamim of Amraphel Melech Shinar,#14:1 i.e., Babylon Aryoch Melech Ellasar, Kedorlaomer Melech Eilam, and Tidal Melech Goyim;
2That 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.
3All these were joined together in the Valley of Siddim which is the Yam HaMelach.#14:3 i.e., Dead Sea
4Twelve shanah they served Kedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
5And in the fourteenth year came Kedorlaomer, and the melachim that were with him, and they defeated the Repha'im in Ashterot Karnayim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-Kiryatayim,
6And the Chori in their Mt Se'ir, as far as Eil-Paran, which is near the midbar.
7And 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 Chatzetzon-Tamar.
8And there went out the Melech Sodom, and the Melech Amora (Gomorrah), and the Melech Admah, and the Melech Tzevoyim, and the Melech Bela;#14:8 the same is Tzoar and they joined in milchamah with them in the Valley of Siddim;
9With Kedorlaomer Melech Eilam, and with Tidal Melech Goyim, and Amraphel Melech Shinar, and Aryoch Melech Ellasar; four melachim against five.
10And 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.
11And they took all the possessions of Sodom and Amora (Gomorrah), and all their ochel, and went their way.
12And they took Lot, Avramʼs brotherʼs son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his possessions, and departed.
13And 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.
14And 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.
15And 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.
16And he recovered all the possessions, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his possessions, and the nashim also, and the people.
17And 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.
18And Malki-Tzedek Melech Shalem brought forth lechem and yayin and he was the kohen of El Elyon.#14:18 Ps 110:4
19And he blessed him, and said, Baruch Avram by El Elyon, Possessor of Shomayim va'Aretz;
20And baruch El Elyon, Who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him ma'aser (tithe) of all.
21And the Melech Sodom said unto Avram, Give me the nefesh and keep the possessions for thyself.
22And Avram said to the Melech Sodom, I have lifted up mine hand unto Hashem, El Elyon Possessor of Shomayim va'Aretz,
23That 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;
24Save 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.
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Bereshis 14: TOJB2011
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Genesis 14
14
Abram Rescues Lot
1During the reign of Amraphel # 14:1 Amraphel most likely means “speaker of dark secrets.” Some Assyriologists and scholars identify him as the famous King Hammurabi of Babylon. king of Babylon, # 14:1 Or “Shinar,” which means “country of two rivers.” he allied with three other kings: Arioch # 14:1 Arioch means “fierce lion.” king of Ellasar, # 14:1 Or “Larsa,” a city-state of lower Chaldea. It was the center of the cult of the sun-god Utu. It is recognized as modern Tell Senkereh in Iraq. Ellasar means “God is chastener.” Kedorlaomer # 14:1 Kedorlaomar means “the servant of the goddess Lagamar [no mercy].” king of Elam, # 14:1 Elam means “hidden” and was an ancient pre-Iranian kingdom in Persia. Susa was its principal city. and Tidal # 14:1 Tidal means “great son.” He was a chief (king) of various nomadic tribes in Mesopotamia. king of Goyim. # 14:1 Goyim was likely a country east of the Tigris in the lowlands of Mesopotamia called Gutium. Goyim is also the Hebrew word for “nations” or “peoples.” 2These four kings went to war against five kings: Bera # 14:2 Bera means “with evil.” king of Sodom, # 14:2 Sodom means “burning.” Birsha # 14:2 Birsha means “with wickedness.” king of Gomorrah, # 14:2 Gomorrah means “submersion.” Shinab # 14:2 Although some believe Shinab means “splendor of the father,” the Midrash (Ber. Rab. 42) explains Shinab as sho’-ebh mammon, “one who draws money [wherever he can].” king of Admah, # 14:2 Admah means “earth fortress.” Shemeber # 14:2 Shemeber likely means “known for being strong.” king of Zeboiim, # 14:2 Zeboiim means “gathering of troops” or “gazelles [beautiful ones]” and is recognized as modern Tsvoyim. and the king of Bela, # 14:2 Bela means “destruction.” which is Zoar. # 14:2 Zoar means “insignificant” or “small.” 3-4Kedorlaomer had oppressed these five kings for twelve years until they rebelled against him in the thirteenth year. They all became regional allies in the valley of Siddim, # 14:3–4 Siddim means “division” or “demons.” which is now the Dead Sea.
5In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer went to war with his allied kings. They defeated the Rephaites # 14:5 Or “giants.” See Deut. 3:11. The Hebrew word Rephaim also means “shades [ghosts]” or “spirits of the dead.” See Ps. 88:10; Isa. 26:14, 19. in Ashteroth-karnaim, # 14:5 Ashteroth was a Canaanite goddess of fertility and coupled with karnaim means “goddess of two horns.” Ashteroth-karnaim was the likely capital city of Og, king of Bashan, east of Lake Galilee. the Zuzites # 14:5 Or “Zuzim.” Zuzites means “roving creatures.” in Ham, # 14:5 The city of Ham may be the ancient name of the Ammonite capital Rabboth-Ammon. the Emites # 14:5 Or “Emim.” Emites means “terrors.” Emites is the Moabite name of a people of giants who once occupied Moab. See Deut. 2:10–11. in Shavah-kiriathaim, # 14:5 Shavah-kiriathaim means “the plain of the two cities.” 6and the Horites # 14:6 Horites means “cave dwellers.” Mt. Hor is the location where the first high priest, Aaron, was buried. Mt. Hor is near Petra in Jordan. See Num. 20:22–28. in the hill country of Seir, # 14:6 Seir means “hairy” or “shaggy” and refers to the mountainous area south of the Dead Sea located in Edom. as far as El Paran # 14:6 El Paran means “beautiful oaks.” near the desert. # 14:6 The invasion route began east of the Jordan, moved southward, and returned northward toward the Dead Sea, conquering as they went, finally defeating the five kings. 7Then they turned back and attacked En-mishpat # 14:7 En-mishpat means “the spring of decision” or “spring of judgment.” Kadesh means “sacred.” En-mishpat is identified as modern ‘Ayn Qadeis, fifty miles south of Beersheba. (that is, Kadesh) and subdued all the country of the Amalekites # 14:7 Amalekites means “warlike” or “valley dwellers.” and the Amorites # 14:7 Amorites means “sayers” or “mountain dwellers.” who lived in Hazazon-tamar. # 14:7 Hazazon-tamar means “dividing the date palm” and is identified in 2 Chron. 20:2 as En-gedi, a town on the western shore of the Dead Sea. The tribes mentioned in vv. 5–7 were likely some of the “giants” that were in the land. See Deut. 2:10–11, 20–21; 3:11–13; Josh. 12:4; 13:12; 15:8.
8Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar), marched out in battle formation in the valley of Siddim. 9There they faced off against Kedorlaomer, king of Elam; Tidal, king of Goyim; Amraphel, king of Babylon; # 14:9 Or “Shinar,” a name for ancient Babylon. and Arioch, king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and their armies retreated from the battle and fled, some of them fell into the tar pits, and the rest fled to the hill country. 11The four victorious kings captured all the possessions and all the food of Sodom and Gomorrah and left. 12They captured Lot, Abram’s nephew who had been living in Sodom, and took him and all his possessions.
13One who escaped came to Abram the Hebrew and told him what had happened to Lot. Abram was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite. Mamre had two brothers, Eshcol # 14:13 Eshcol means “cluster.” and Aner, who were allied by treaty with Abram. 14When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been taken captive by the four kings, he mobilized all the men in his camp, # 14:14 These were not only warriors but also disciples (Hb. hanikh, “trained ones”) of Abram. It was God who supernaturally won this battle, for Abram was facing numerous fierce tribal warriors. Abram realized that the battle would be won with God’s help. Abram was a noble man, for he could have easily left Lot, who chose to live in Sodom, in the hands of his captors. 318 in all who had been born and trained in his own household, and he pursued the invaders as far north as Dan. 15Then, during the night, Abram strategically divided his forces and defeated them. His forces attacked them and routed them as far as Hobah, # 14:15 Hobah means “hiding place.” north of Damascus. 16He recovered all the stolen possessions and brought back his nephew Lot, together with the women and all the prisoners.
Abram Blessed by Melchizedek
17After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet Abram at the valley of the Shaveh # 14:17 Shaveh means “level” or “equal [equalize].” (known as the King’s Valley). # 14:17 The King’s Valley later became known as the Kidron Valley. But the events of this chapter happened in the King’s Valley—the low place where we meet the King. 18And Melchizedek, # 14:18 There are varying viewpoints on the identity of Melchizedek; some scholars view Melchizedek as merely a type or picture of Christ or a Canaanite royal priest. Others believe that he was a Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ as both a priest of the Most High God and the King of Salem (peace). He appeared out of nowhere, with no genealogy or pedigree other than being a king-priest. Two Dead Sea scrolls dating back to at least the first century BC found in Cave 11 at Qumran (11Q13, 11QMelch), state that Melchizedek was a divine being, and was given the Hebrew title Elohim. According to this text, Melchizedek proclaimed the Day of Atonement as a day coming when one will atone for the sins of the people and will be their supernatural deliverer and their judge (see Wise, Abegg, Cook [1996]. The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation). See also footnote on Ps. 110:4; Heb. 4:14–15; 5:6, 10; 6:19–20; 7:1–21. In John 8:56, Jesus said that “Abraham . . . foresaw me coming and was filled with delight!” Abraham saw the day of Jesus as Melchizedek came out to meet him with bread and wine. who was both a priest of the Most High God and the king of Salem, # 14:18 Salem is the name of ancient Jerusalem. See Ps. 76:2. Melchizedek was a priest on behalf of whom? Not the Jews, for Abram was yet to have a son. Rather, it was on behalf of the gentiles. God established a priesthood over the gentiles before he brought forth a priesthood over the Jews. Melchizedek was a gentile king over a gentile city. Gentiles have been in the heart of God from the beginning. brought out to Abram bread and wine. # 14:18 Bread and wine is the substance of the Lord’s Table. Melchizedek brought a Communion service to Abram. 19He spoke over him a special blessing, saying,
“Blessed is Abram by God Most High, # 14:19 Or “El Elyon.”
Creator # 14:19 Or “Possessor.” of heaven and earth.
20And blessed be God Most High,
whose power delivered your enemies into your hands!” # 14:20 Abram was not a warrior; he was a prophet. Yet with God’s power behind him, he became a conqueror and won a battle against great odds. Only God gets the glory with every victory we experience.
Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all he possessed. # 14:20 See Heb. 7:4–10. 21Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Just give me the people you rescued; keep all the spoils for yourself.” 22But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I raised my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, and I pledged a solemn oath to the Possessor of heaven and earth 23that I would keep nothing for myself that belongs to you, not even a thread of a garment or sandal strap. That way, you will never be able to say, ‘I was the one that made Abram rich.’ # 14:23 Abram resisted the temptation for acquiring wealth apart from a relationship with God. He wanted God to be his boast and his true wealth. See Jer. 9:24; 1 Cor. 1:31; 10:13. 24I will take nothing except what my young men have eaten, and the share of those who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their share.”
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