1And it came to pass in the days of Am´raphel king of Shinar, Ar´i-och king of Ella´sar, Chedorla-o´mer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; 2that these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomor´rah, Shinab king of Admah, and Sheme´ber king of Zeboi´im, and the king of Bela, which is Zo´ar. 3All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. 4Twelve years they served Chedorla-o´mer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5And in the fourteenth year came Chedorla-o´mer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Reph´a-im in Ash´teroth–karna´im, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiri-atha´im, 6and the Horites in their mount Se´ir, unto El–pa´ran, which is by the wilderness. 7And they returned, and came to En–mish´pat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amal´ekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Haz´azon–ta´mar. 8And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomor´rah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboi´im, and the king of Bela, (the same is Zo´ar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; 9with Chedorla-o´mer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Am´raphel king of Shinar, and Ar´i-och king of Ella´sar; four kings with five. 10And the vale of Siddim was full of slime pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomor´rah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. 11And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomor´rah, and all their victuals, and went their way. 12And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

13And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram. 14And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. 15And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. 16And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

Melchizedek Blesses Abram

17And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorla-o´mer and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale. 18#Heb 7.1-10. And Melchiz´edek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19And he blessed him, and said,

Blessed be Abram of the most high God,

possessor of heaven and earth:

20and blessed be the most high God,

which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.

And he gave him tithes of all. 21And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. 22And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 23that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: 24save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

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Genesis 14

1At that time Amraphel was king of Shinar,#14:1. “Shinar”: an old name for Babylonia. and he allied himself with Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim. 2They attacked Bera, king of Sodom, Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (otherwise known as Zoar).

3All these in the second group#14:3. “In the second group” supplied for clarity. joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (the Dead Sea valley). 4They had been under the rule of Chedorlaomer for twelve years, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled against him. 5In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer invaded, along with the kings in his alliance. They defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6and the Horites in their hill country of Seir, all the way to El-paran, near the desert. 7Then they swung back through and attacked En-mishpat (otherwise known as Kadesh) and conquered the whole country belonging to the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.

8Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (otherwise known as Zoar) marched out and prepared for battle in the Valley of Siddim. 9They fought Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, Tidal, king of Goiim, Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Ellasar—four kings on one side against five on the other.

10There were many tar pits in the Valley of Siddim, and as the defeated kings of Sodom and Gomorrah ran away, some of their men#14:10. “Some of their men”: while the text seems to suggest that the kings fell into the tar pits, verse 17 makes it clear that at least the king of Sodom had not died. fell into them while the rest ran to the hills. 11The invaders took from Sodom and Gomorrah all their possessions and food and left. 12They also captured Lot, Abram's nephew, and his possessions, because he was living in Sodom. 13But one of those captured escaped and went and told Abram the Hebrew#14:13. “Abram the Hebrew”: this is the first time Abram is called a Hebrew, and may be the way he was identified by the people of the time. what had happened. Abram was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, whose brothers were Eshcol and Aner. All of them were Abram's allies.

14When Abram found out that his nephew had been captured, he called together 318 fighting men who had been born in his household and chased after them all the way to Dan. 15There he divided his men into groups and attacked at night, defeating the enemy and chasing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16Abram recovered all that had been taken, including Lot and his possessions, and also brought back the women and others who had been captured.

17When Abram returned after defeating Chedorlaomer and his allies, the king of Sodom came out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (or Valley of the King). 18Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of the Most High God. 19He blessed Abram, telling him, “May Abram be blessed by the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth. 20May the Most High God be praised, who handed your enemies over to you.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek one tenth of everything.

21The king of Sodom told Abram, “Let me have the people back, and you can keep everything else for yourself.”

22But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I raise my hand, making a solemn promise to the Lord, the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth, 23that I refuse to take anything belonging to you, not a single thread or a sandal strap. Otherwise you might claim, ‘It was me who made Abram rich!’ 24I won't take anything except what my men have eaten, and the share for those who accompanied me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them have their share.”

Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com

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Genesis 14

Genesis 14