Genesis 14:1-9

The Blessing of Victory for God’s People

14:1 At that time ¹  Amraphel king of Shinar, ²  Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations ³  14:2 went to war ⁴  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). ⁵  14:3 These last five kings ⁶  joined forces ⁷  in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). ⁸  14:4 For twelve years ⁹  they had served Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year ¹⁰  they rebelled. ¹¹  14:5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who were his allies came and defeated ¹²  the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 14:6 and the Horites in their hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is near the desert. ¹³  14:7 Then they attacked En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh) again, ¹⁴  and they conquered all the territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.

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 prepared for battle. In the Valley of Siddim they met ¹⁵  14:9 Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, ¹⁶  Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar. Four kings fought against ¹⁷  five.

Genesis 14:2

14:2 went to war ¹⁸  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). ¹⁹ 

Genesis 15:19

15:19 the land ²⁰  of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,

Job 1:17

1:17 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “The Chaldeans ²¹  formed three bands and made a raid ²²  on the camels and carried them all away, and they killed the servants with the sword! ²³  And I – only I alone – escaped to tell you!”

Isaiah 11:11

11:11 At that time ²⁴  the sovereign master ²⁵  will again lift his hand ²⁶  to reclaim ²⁷  the remnant of his people ²⁸  from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, ²⁹  Cush, ³⁰  Elam, Shinar, ³¹  Hamath, and the seacoasts. ³² 

Isaiah 21:2

21:2 I have received a distressing message: ³³ 

“The deceiver deceives,

the destroyer destroys.

Attack, you Elamites!

Lay siege, you Medes!

I will put an end to all the groaning!” ³⁴ 

Isaiah 22:6

22:6 The Elamites picked up the quiver,

and came with chariots and horsemen; ³⁵ 

the men of Kir ³⁶  prepared ³⁷  the shield. ³⁸ 

Jeremiah 25:25

25:25 all the kings of Zimri; ³⁹  all the kings of Elam; ⁴⁰  all the kings of Media; ⁴¹ 

Jeremiah 49:34-39

Judgment Against Elam

49:34 Early in the reign ⁴²  of King Zedekiah of Judah, the Lord spoke to the prophet Jeremiah about Elam. ⁴³ 

49:35 The Lord who rules over all said,

“I will kill all the archers of Elam,

who are the chief source of her military might. ⁴⁴ 

49:36 I will cause enemies to blow through Elam from every direction

like the winds blowing in from the four quarters of heaven.

I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds.

There will not be any nation where the refugees of Elam will not go. ⁴⁵ 

49:37 I will make the people of Elam terrified of their enemies,

who are seeking to kill them.

I will vent my fierce anger

and bring disaster upon them,” ⁴⁶  says the Lord. ⁴⁷ 

“I will send armies chasing after them ⁴⁸ 

until I have completely destroyed them.

49:38 I will establish my sovereignty over Elam. ⁴⁹ 

I will destroy their king and their leaders,” ⁵⁰  says the Lord. ⁵¹ 

49:39 “Yet in days to come

I will reverse Elam’s ill fortune.” ⁵² 

says the Lord. ⁵³ 

Acts 2:9

2:9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia, ⁵⁴ 

[14:1]  ¹ tn The sentence begins with the temporal indicator וַיְהִי (vayÿhi) followed by “in the days of.”

[14:1]  ² sn Shinar (also in v. 9) is the region of Babylonia.

[14:1]  ³ tn 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”).

[14:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “made war.”

[14:2]  ⁵ sn On the geographical background of vv. 1-2 see J. P. Harland, “Sodom and Gomorrah,” The Biblical Archaeologist Reader, 1:41-75; and D. N. Freedman, “The Real Story of the Ebla Tablets, Ebla and the Cities of the Plain,” BA 41 (1978): 143-64.

[14:3]  ⁶ tn 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.

[14:3]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to join together; to unite; to be allied.” It stresses close associations, especially of friendships, marriages, or treaties.

[14:3]  ⁸ sn The Salt Sea is the older name for the Dead Sea.

[14:4]  ⁹ tn The sentence simply begins with “twelve years”; it serves as an adverbial accusative giving the duration of their bondage.

[14:4]  ¹⁰ tn This is another adverbial accusative of time.

[14:4]  ¹¹ sn 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.

[14:5]  ¹² tn 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.

[14:6]  ¹³ sn 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.

[14:7]  ¹⁴ tn 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.”

[14:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “against.”

[14:9]  ¹⁶ tn Or “Goyim.” See the note on the word “nations” in 14:1.

[14:9]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text has simply “against.” The word “fought” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[14:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “made war.”

[14:2]  ¹⁹ sn On the geographical background of vv. 1-2 see J. P. Harland, “Sodom and Gomorrah,” The Biblical Archaeologist Reader, 1:41-75; and D. N. Freedman, “The Real Story of the Ebla Tablets, Ebla and the Cities of the Plain,” BA 41 (1978): 143-64.

[15:19]  ²⁰ tn The words “the land” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[1:17]  ²¹ sn The name may have been given to the tribes that roamed between the Euphrates and the lands east of the Jordan. These are possibly the nomadic Kaldu who are part of the ethnic Aramaeans. The LXX simply has “horsemen.”

[1:17]  ²² tn The verb פָּשַׁט (pashat) means “to hurl themselves” upon something (see Judg 9:33, 41). It was a quick, plundering raid to carry off the camels.

[1:17]  ²³ tn Heb “with the edge/mouth of the sword.”

[11:11]  ²⁴ tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[11:11]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[11:11]  ²⁶ tc The Hebrew text reads, “the sovereign master will again, a second time, his hand.” The auxiliary verb יוֹסִיף (yosif), which literally means “add,” needs a main verb to complete it. Consequently many emend שֵׁנִית (shenit, “a second time”) to an infinitive. Some propose the form שַׁנֹּת (shannot, a Piel infinitive construct from שָׁנָה, shanah) and relate it semantically to an Arabic cognate meaning “to be high.” If the Hebrew text is retained a verb must be supplied. “Second time” would allude back to the events of the Exodus (see vv. 15-16).

[11:11]  ²⁷ tn Or “acquire”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV “recover.”

[11:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the remnant of his people who remain.”

[11:11]  ²⁹ sn Perhaps a reference to Upper (i.e., southern) Egypt (so NIV, NLT; NCV “South Egypt”).

[11:11]  ³⁰ tn Or “Ethiopia” (NAB, NRSV, NLT).

[11:11]  ³¹ tn Or “Babylonia” (NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[11:11]  ³² tn Or perhaps, “the islands of the sea.”

[21:2]  ³³ tn Heb “a severe revelation has been related to me.”

[21:2]  ³⁴ sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.

[22:6]  ³⁵ tn Heb “[with] the chariots of men, horsemen.”

[22:6]  ³⁶ sn A distant region in the direction of Mesopotamia; see Amos 1:5; 9:7.

[22:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Kir uncovers” (so NAB, NIV).

[22:6]  ³⁸ sn The Elamites and men of Kir may here symbolize a fierce army from a distant land. If this oracle anticipates a Babylonian conquest of the city (see 39:5-7), then the Elamites and men of Kir are perhaps viewed here as mercenaries in the Babylonian army. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:410.

[25:25]  ³⁹ sn The kingdom of Zimri is mentioned nowhere else, so its location is unknown.

[25:25]  ⁴⁰ sn See further Jer 49:34-39 for judgment against Elam.

[25:25]  ⁴¹ sn Elam and Media were east of Babylon; Elam in the south and Media in the north. They were in what is now western Iran.

[49:34]  ⁴² tn Or “In the beginning of the reign.” For a discussion of the usage of the terms here see the translator’s note on 28:1. If this refers to the accession year the dating would be 598/97 b.c.

[49:34]  ⁴³ tn Heb “That which came [as] the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet about the Elam.” See the translator’s note on 14:1 for the construction here and compare also 46:1; 47:1; 50:1.

[49:35]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “I will break the bow of Elam, the chief source of their might.” The phrase does not mean that God will break literal bows or that he will destroy their weapons (synecdoche of species for genus) or their military power (so Hos 1:5). Because of the parallelism, the “bow” here stands for the archers who wield the bow, and were the strongest force (or chief contingent) in their military.

[49:36]  ⁴⁵ tn Or more simply, “I will bring enemies against Elam from every direction. / And I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds. // There won’t be any nation / where the refugees of Elam will not go.” Or more literally, “I will bring the four winds against Elam / from the four quarters of heaven. / I will scatter….” However, the winds are not to be understood literally here. God isn’t going to “blow the Elamites” out of Elam with natural forces. The winds must figuratively represent enemy forces that God will use to drive them out. Translating literally would be misleading at this point.

[49:37]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “I will bring disaster upon them, even my fierce anger.”

[49:37]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:37]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “I will send the sword after them.”

[49:38]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “I will sit in judgment over Elam”; Heb “I will set up my throne in Elam.” Commentators are divided over whether this refers to a king sitting in judgment over his captured enemies or whether it refers to formally establishing his rule over the country. Those who argue for the former idea point to the supposed parallels in 1:15 (which the present translation understands not to refer to this but to setting up siege) and 43:8-13. The parallelism in the verse here, however, argues that it refers to the Lord taking over the reins of government by destroying their former leaders.

[49:38]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “I will destroy king and leaders from there.”

[49:38]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[49:39]  ⁵² tn See Jer 29:14; 30:3 and the translator’s note on 29:14 for the idiom used here.

[49:39]  ⁵³ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[2:9]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.