Gen 14:1 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;
Gen 14:2 That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.
Gen 14:3 All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.
Gen 14:2 That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.
Gen 14:3 All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.
Gen 14:4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
Some say that Amraphel is Nimrod. That he was mad that Abram wouldn't follow idol warship. Chedorlaomer AKA Elam son of Shem, was the leader of this alliance,
For 12 years Chedorlaomer and his allies dominated the regain and a wide array of lesser kings paid them tribute, or taxes.
Some think the rebellion lasted 13 years. Only in the 13th year, did the alliance asserted their authority, and crushed the the revolt.
others say it was not until the 13th year that the rebellion started. They point to the gathering of the 9 kings as a sort of peace conference. Where knowing they were out numbered, and lest able to fight, the 4 kings, gave in and paid the tribute demanded by Nimrod.
Gen 14:5 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that
were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,
Gen 14:6 And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which
is by the wilderness.
Gen 14:7 And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which
is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar.
As this would seen to back the idea that for a time, everyone paid their tribute, for at lest 13 years, Most do follow that this was following a peace treaty, and when it was broken war soon followed. They returned, points to the idea that when they opened this war to crush the rebellion, they went to the furthers point first. This does help one to understand the meted of war they had in mind. To start further from home, would mean they couldn't pull back and join with their friends. True they could still do this, only if we are looking at the stronger nation being the furthest away, they would not be building in strength. Numbers maybe, that doesn't mean they are stronger.
Gen 14:8 And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same
is Zoar
and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;
Gen 14:9 With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.
Gen 14:10 And the vale of Siddim
was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.
Gen 14:11 And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.
Gen 14:12 And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
When picking your feild of batle, the terain is always tacken into account. It can be used for or againest you. Here it would seem they intended to use the pits, to their advantage. Yet when they lost ground, or the will to fight, they ran. This lead to the pits being used againest them, and not in their faver. So the stronger of the alliances won the war, and took what they wanted. However, takeing Lot, turned into a bad move on their part. Yet why would they think that a small people like Abram had at hand would have any chance at defeating them?
I can't speak for any of you, yet had it been me leading an alliance of 5 kings, with an untold number of fighting men. Then I look up and find that 318 men were after me, I would have had a good lauigh. Even if it was my last.
Gen 14:13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these
were confederate with Abram.
Gen 14:14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained
servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued
them unto Dan.
He armed his trained survents. One may note that even in the Hebrew, we are not told what they are trained in. Some think it was HaShems Law, and this is why Isreal spent 400 yers of servitude in Egypt. Others say they were trained in war, as haveing trained fighting nem was not just a want, it was a need. If one wished to stay safe, and keep their family safe, they had to know how to fight, and other nations had to understand you are good at it. Think about it, in a dog eat dog world, onlythe meanest dog eats.
Gen 14:15 And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which
is on the left hand of Damascus.
Though this tells us little of what happened, we can get the idea that it was resounding win for Abram. He freed Lot as was his intent. Why Lot was not killed out right, we may never know. Yet we can say for sure that HaShem didn't want that, He had a use for Lot. And so useing Lot, HaShem had something to teach us.
Gen 14:17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that
were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which
is the king's dale.
Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he
was the priest of the most high God.
Though little is ever said about Melchizedek, we are told he was king of Selam. This today is known as Jeruasmel. Some say he was Yeshua, a tail I will not debate. Yet others think this may have been Shem, the most honored of Noah's sons. As we know, Shem was given the highest blessing, and from that one can assume that he followed after HaShem in all his ways. Thus when we see that Melchisedek was a priest of the most high, this story comes to mind. Also one can look at the world as it was then, and see that to follow HaShem was not a common thing to do.
Gen 14:19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed
be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
Gen 14:20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
And he gave him tithes. Though we are not told who gave the tithes, the most common teaching is that Abram, gave tithes to Melchizedek. In so doing, Abram gave us a hint as to the Law he lived by. As we will see, HaShem did give the order that a tithe was to be given to the Levits. In this case, the priest was not a Levit, as they had yet come to be, still it was given to a priest.
Gen 14:21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.
Gen 14:22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
Gen 14:23 That I will not
take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that
is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
Gen 14:24 Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.
The king of Sodom, would may have meant well his offer. Yet Abram, understanding men, seen that it may someday be used to place guilt on him, refused to take any part, no matter how small it was. This is made clealr in Abram's reply. He lifted up his hand to HaShem. This makes it clear to anyone around that Abram is for real. When he tells the king, lest you say you made me ritch. He letting it be known that the king now has no hold over Abram, and will not have one at time in life. This also frees His blood line of an obligation, weath real or implied.
Abram does how ever say that the men that went with him, (thoughs not of his own house anyway) should get what they have earned.
