The 4 kings came from countries that are east of *Canaan. They came with their armies to fight against 5 kings. These 5 kings ruled cities in the valley that is called Siddim. (See verse 3.) That valley is at the east edge of *Canaan. It is a part of the valley that Lot chose. (See Genesis 13:11.)... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD’S ANCIENT PEOPLE GENESIS _ALUN OWEN_ CHAPTER 14 THE FIGHT BETWEEN 4 KINGS AND 5 KINGS V1 At this time there were 4 kings. One was Amraphel and he was the king of Shinar. Another king was Arioch and he was the king of Ellasar. Another one was Chedor-laomer and he was the king of Elam. The o... [ Continue Reading ]
Chedor-laomer had an agreement with the 3 kings that were with him. Together they forced the 5 kings to pay taxes to them. Perhaps these taxes were money or perhaps they were goods. They did that for 13 years. But after that time the 5 kings refused to pay taxes.... [ Continue Reading ]
The 4 kings came for two reasons. They came in order to overcome several more nations. So they would rule over a larger area. And they came in order to seize money and goods from the 5 kings. The Horites were a tribe of people. For Amorites, see Genesis 10:16 and the comment on that verse. V8 Then... [ Continue Reading ]
The 5 kings did not wait until the 4 kings came. They heard that the 4 kings were near. So they joined their armies together (see verse 3). And they prepared to defend their land.... [ Continue Reading ]
The armies of the 4 kings were more skilful fighters than the armies of the 5 kings were. So the armies of the 5 kings ran away. Bitumen is a black substance that people find in the ground. In ancient times, builders used it. (See Genesis 11:3.) For ‘valley of Siddim’, see verses 1-3 and the commen... [ Continue Reading ]
They took Lot as a slave. And they also took other men and women as slaves. (See verses 16 and 21.) ABRAM RESCUES LOT V13 Then one person who had escaped came to Abram. He told Abram the *Hebrew what had happened. Abram the *Hebrew was near the big trees that belonged to Mamre. Mamre was an Amorit... [ Continue Reading ]
The Amorites were a *tribe of people. Mamre was the name of a town. (See Genesis 13:14.) But in this verse, Mamre is the name of a person who lived in that town. Genesis has other examples of this. • Haran was a man. He lived in the city that was called Ur. His relatives went to the city that was c... [ Continue Reading ]
Abram usually lived at peace with his neighbours. He did not usually fight. But because Lot was a prisoner, Abram had a good reason to fight. And he fought wisely. He and his servants attacked when most of the enemy were asleep. They attacked as two groups. One group attacked from one side and the o... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Salem’ was probably the city that is also called Jerusalem. Melchizedek was the king of Salem. The word ‘Melchizedek’ means ‘*righteous king’. ‘He produced bread and wine.’ Bread and wine were ordinary food. It was natural that Melchizedek should welcome Abram after his fight. It was natural that... [ Continue Reading ]
‘He has delivered your enemies to you.’ Melchizedek knew that God had given success to Abram. ‘Abram gave one thing out of every 10 things.’ Abram had brought back all the goods. (See verse 16.) It was not possible to return all the goods to their owners. Some of the goods had come from other citie... [ Continue Reading ]
We do not know why Abram did not take his share. He accepted goods from *Pharaoh in Egypt. (See Genesis 12:16.) And he accepted goods from Abimelech. (See Genesis 20:14; Genesis 20:16.) But he did not accept these goods. Perhaps Abram knew that the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah were wicked. (See... [ Continue Reading ]