Genesis 14:17

the king of Sodom See note on Genesis 14:10. The writer evidently assumes that this is the same king who had fallen in "the slime pits"; for only the king who had lost property and wealth, but saved his life, could suggest to Abram that the latter should keep the booty.

from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer Lit. "from the smiting of." We need not suppose that Chedorlaomer and his vassal kings were personally involved in the overthrow.

the vale of Shaveh(the same is the King's Vale)] "The King's Vale" is mentioned in 2 Samuel 18:18 as the site of the monument raised by Absalom, and was supposed in the days of Josephus to be two "stadia" from Jerusalem (Ant. vii. 10, 3). The word Shavehmeans "a plain," cf. Genesis 14:5.

The meeting of the king of Sodom with Abram is here strangely interrupted by the story of the appearance of Melchizedek, and is resumed at Genesis 14:21.