Genesis 14:2

that they made war This anticipates and summarizes the contents of Genesis 14:5. As Hammurabi, the conqueror of Elam and founder of the Babylonian kingdom, terms himself king of Amurru= Amorites, or northern Palestine, there is nothing unhistorical in the representation of an invasion of this region by the Elamite suzerain.

Bera … Birsha The kings of the cities of the Plain mentioned in this verse are not otherwise known. Identifications with the Arabic Bariand Birshi, and with the Babylonian Sinabu, have been conjectured. The five cities here named, sometimes (e.g. Wis 10:6) called the Pentapolis, were, according to the tradition, situated at the southern end of the Dead Sea, and, with the exception of Zoar, were overwhelmed in the catastrophe of chap. 19. Each city has its king, as was the case with the cities of Canaan, according to the Book of Joshua and the Tel-el-Amarna tablets.

It is noteworthy that Bera and Birsha can, in the Hebrew letters, denote "with evil" and "with wickedness" respectively.

The LXX (Cod. A) reads "Balla" for "Bera," and "Sennaar" for "Shinab."

Admah, and … Zeboiim These towns are mentioned in Deuteronomy 29:23 and Hosea 11:8 as having been overthrown in the great catastrophe described in chap. 19.

the king of Bela The only king whose name is not given. The omission favours the accuracy of the list. The name "Bela," meaning "destruction," conceivably contains a local allusion. It has been suggested that we should read "Bela, king of Zoar." The reader, in reviewing these two verses, will be struck with the fact that Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, whose name is mentioned first in the list of Genesis 14:9, and who is evidently the supreme sovereign in Genesis 14:4, stands third in the list in Genesis 14:1. It is not easy to find an explanation. Some scholars suggest that the names are arranged in the order of their nearness to Palestine! Others, by a slight emendation of the text, reading the final "1" in "Amraphel" as a preposition, render as follows: "in the days of Amraph, when Arioch king of Ellasar was king over Shinar, then Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim made war with, &c." But the mention of the four kings in Genesis 14:9, where their order is different, does not favour the conjecture.

A relief on the upper part of the basalt steleon which is inscribed in cuneiform characters the famous Code of Laws.