Genesis 14 - Introduction
_FOUR KINGS, HAVING CONQUERED FIVE KINGS OF CANAAN, TAKE LOT CAPTIVE. ABRAM, WITH HIS SERVANTS, PURSUES AND VANQUISHES THEM, AND DELIVERS LOT. MELCHIZEDEK BLESSETH ABRAM._... [ Continue Reading ]
_FOUR KINGS, HAVING CONQUERED FIVE KINGS OF CANAAN, TAKE LOT CAPTIVE. ABRAM, WITH HIS SERVANTS, PURSUES AND VANQUISHES THEM, AND DELIVERS LOT. MELCHIZEDEK BLESSETH ABRAM._... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS, &C.— The Vulgate renders it, _and it came to pass in those days, that Amraphel,_ &c. a translation which Houbigant follows and approves. It is very difficult to give any satisfactory account of the persons here mentioned. For my own part, I cannot help being very strongly of opi... [ Continue Reading ]
MADE WAR WITH BERA, &C.— These five kings were lords of the country, called Pentapolis, from their five cities, which stood in that rich and then fertile valley of Siddim, _which is_ now _the Salt-sea;_ so called from the great quantity of salt or bitumen wherewith it is impregnated. We call it the... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REPHAIMS— The LXX and some others render this, _the giants:_ they dwelt in Ashteroth-Karnaim, which was in Bashan, Deuteronomy 1:4.Joshua 9:10. The word Karnaim signifying _horned,_ some have supposed that this was the city of Ashteroth or Diana, dedicated to the moon, which, is always represent... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY RETURNED, AND CAME— i.e.. The kings mentioned Genesis 14:5 _returned_ from the conquest of the people enumerated in the foregoing verses, and then came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, a city in the frontiers of Idumaea, near the place where the Israelites afterwards murmured for want of water,... [ Continue Reading ]
VALE OF SIDDIM WAS FULL OF SLIME-PITS, &C.— Pits of (חמר see Genesis 11:3.) _bitumen,_ which abounded much in that country. The Dead-sea, as we have observed before, contained a great quantity of this matter, and was thence called the Lake of Asphaltus, or Bitumen. See note on Genesis 11:2. The king... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY— That is, the victors. REFLECTIONS.—This is the first war recorded in sacred history. Chedorlaomer, with his confederates, attacks the kings who, refused to continue tributaries to him, routs their forces, plunders their cities, and, among the rest of the captives, carries away Lot, for wh... [ Continue Reading ]
ABRAM, THE HEBREW— It is disputed whether Abram was called the _Hebrew_ from his father _Eber,_ or as coming from _beyond_ the river Euphrates. Those who are inclined to the first, urge, that it was usual to denominate nations and people from some great progenitor; and as Eber was the father of this... [ Continue Reading ]
HE ARMED HIS TRAINED SERVANTS— The original word for armed, ירק _iarek,_ may signify to _lead_ or _draw forth to battle;_ but Houbigant thinks the Samaritan reading the true one, in agreement with the LXX, which renders it ηριθμησε, _he numbered;_ and might be rendered in French, says he, _faire la... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE KING OF SODOM, &C.— After Abram's return with conquest, the recovered captives, and the spoil, Bera the king of Sodom, Genesis 14:2 and Melchizedek the king of Salem, went out to meet him, at a place called the valley of Shaveh, which is the _king's dale;_ probably so called from the event o... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD, POSSESSOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH— קנה _Coneh,_ signifies _possessor_ by right of _creation;_ from which idea probably the translation of the LXX might be derived, for they have it, the _creator,_ ος εκτισε, who _created_ heaven and earth. Le Clerc, who approves the first sense, _possessor,_ thinks... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE LIFT UP MINE HAND, &C.— i.e.. I have sworn: a solemn act of religion usually accustomed with lifting up the hand, as it were, in appeal to God. Accordingly, _lifting up the hand_ and _swearing_ are put the one for the other, Exodus 6:8 compared with Deuteronomy 32:40. Psalms 63:4. The same ce... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT I WILL NOT TAKE, &C.— Fully to convince them, that he acted not from mercenary views, the patriarch declares in the most solemn manner, "I have lifted up my hand to the Most High, calling him in as a witness and an avenger, _if I take_ (for so the Hebrew runs) _from a thread to a shoe-latchet,... [ Continue Reading ]