Genesis 14:10-16

14:10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. ¹  When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into them, ²  but some survivors ³  fled to the hills. ⁴  14:11 The four victorious kings ⁵  took all the possessions and food of Sodom and Gomorrah and left. 14:12 They also took Abram’s nephew ⁶  Lot and his possessions when ⁷  they left, for Lot ⁸  was living in Sodom. ⁹ 

14:13 A fugitive ¹⁰  came and told Abram the Hebrew. ¹¹  Now Abram was living by the oaks ¹²  of Mamre the Amorite, the brother ¹³  of Eshcol and Aner. (All these were allied by treaty ¹⁴  with Abram.) ¹⁵  14:14 When Abram heard that his nephew ¹⁶  had been taken captive, he mobilized ¹⁷  his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders ¹⁸  as far as Dan. ¹⁹  14:15 Then, during the night, ²⁰  Abram ²¹  divided his forces ²²  against them and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, which is north ²³  of Damascus. 14:16 He retrieved all the stolen property. ²⁴  He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of ²⁵  the people.

[14:10]  ¹ tn Heb “Now the Valley of Siddim [was] pits, pits of tar.” This parenthetical disjunctive clause emphasizes the abundance of tar pits in the area through repetition of the noun “pits.”

[14:10]  ² tn Or “they were defeated there.” After a verb of motion the Hebrew particle שָׁם (sham) with the directional heh (שָׁמָּה, shammah) can mean “into it, therein” (BDB 1027 s.v. שָׁם).

[14:10]  ³ tn Heb “the rest.”

[14:10]  ⁴ sn The reference to the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah must mean the kings along with their armies. Most of them were defeated in the valley, but some of them escaped to the hills.

[14:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the four victorious kings, see v. 9) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[14:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “Lot the son of his brother.”

[14:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “and.”

[14:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:12]  ⁹ tn This disjunctive clause is circumstantial/causal, explaining that Lot was captured because he was living in Sodom at the time.

[14:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the fugitive.” The article carries a generic force or indicates that this fugitive is definite in the mind of the speaker.

[14:13]  ¹¹ sn E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103) suggests that part of this chapter came from an outside source since it refers to Abram the Hebrew. That is not impossible, given that the narrator likely utilized traditions and genealogies that had been collected and transmitted over the years. The meaning of the word “Hebrew” has proved elusive. It may be related to the verb “to cross over,” perhaps meaning “immigrant.” Or it might be derived from the name of Abram’s ancestor Eber (see Gen 11:14-16).

[14:13]  ¹² tn Or “terebinths.”

[14:13]  ¹³ tn Or “a brother”; or “a relative”; or perhaps “an ally.”

[14:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “possessors of a treaty with.” Since it is likely that the qualifying statement refers to all three (Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner) the words “all these” have been supplied in the translation to make this clear.

[14:13]  ¹⁵ tn This parenthetical disjunctive clause explains how Abram came to be living in their territory, but it also explains why they must go to war with Abram.

[14:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “his brother,” by extension, “relative.” Here and in v. 16 the more specific term “nephew” has been used in the translation for clarity. Lot was the son of Haran, Abram’s brother (Gen 11:27).

[14:14]  ¹⁷ tn The verb וַיָּרֶק (vayyareq) is a rare form, probably related to the word רֵיק (req, “to be empty”). If so, it would be a very figurative use: “he emptied out” (or perhaps “unsheathed”) his men. The LXX has “mustered” (cf. NEB). E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103-4) suggests reading with the Samaritan Pentateuch a verb diq, cognate with Akkadian deku, “to mobilize” troops. If this view is accepted, one must assume that a confusion of the Hebrew letters ד (dalet) and ר (resh) led to the error in the traditional Hebrew text. These two letters are easily confused in all phases of ancient Hebrew script development. The present translation is based on this view.

[14:14]  ¹⁸ tn The words “the invaders” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:14]  ¹⁹ sn The use of the name Dan reflects a later perspective. The Danites did not migrate to this northern territory until centuries later (see Judg 18:29). Furthermore Dan was not even born until much later. By inserting this name a scribe has clarified the location of the region.

[14:15]  ²⁰ tn The Hebrew text simply has “night” as an adverbial accusative.

[14:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:15]  ²² tn Heb “he divided himself…he and his servants.”

[14:15]  ²³ tn Heb “left.” Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.

[14:16]  ²⁴ tn The word “stolen” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:16]  ²⁵ tn The phrase “the rest of “ has been supplied in the translation for clarification.