EXCURSUS E: UPON ELAM AND THE CONQUESTS AND ROUTE OF CHEDORLAOMER (Genesis 14). Of Elam we lately knew nothing more than that it was a country called after a son of Shem, and this narrative, containing an account of a conquest of Canaan by Elamites, was a puzzle to thoughtful Bible readers, and a ma... [ Continue Reading ]
XIV. INVASION OF THE JORDAN VALLEY BY CHEDOR-LAOMER, KING OF ELAM. (1) IT CAME TO PASS. — Connected with the settlement of Lot in the Jordan valley is one of the most remarkable episodes in the whole of the Bible, derived either from Canaanite records, or, as Mr. Sayce thinks (_Chald. Genesis,_ p.... [ Continue Reading ]
BERA KING OF SODOM. — The failure of the attempt to explain the names of these five kings, and of the cities over which they ruled (with one or two exceptions), by the help of the Hebrew language makes it probable that the inhabitants of the Ciccar were either Canaanites who had come from the sea-co... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THESE WERE JOINED TOGETHER. — Were united in a confederacy, and so formed a pentapolis, or group of five allied towns, like the Philistine league with its five lords (1 Samuel 6:16). THE VALE OF SIDDIM. — Mr. Conder (_Tent-work,_ ii. 16) says that the name _Sidd_ is still given by the Arabs to t... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SERVED. — That _is, paid a yearly tribute,_ that they might be exempt from Chedorlaomer’s marauding expeditions (see 2 Kings 18:7). There must, therefore, have been envoys going from time to time to and from the Jordan valley to Shinar.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REPHAIMS. — Described as an Amorite tribe (Amos 2:9) of great stature, settled in Bashan, where Moses conquered them (Joshua 13:12). We find them also on the other side of Jordan, in Mount Ephraim (Joshua 17:15), on the western side of Jerusalem (Joshua 15:8; Joshua 18:16; 2 Samuel 5:18; 2 Samue... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY RETURNED. — More correctly, _they turned,_ as they did not go back by the same route, but wheeled towards the north-west. ENMISHPAT. — _The fountain of justice,_ because at this spring the ancient inhabitants of the country used to meet to settle their disputes. It was also called Kadesh, prob... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY JOINED BATTLE WITH THEM. — Heb., _they set themselves in array against them._ As the five kings left their cities to do battle with the invaders “in the vale of Siddim,” it is plain, as was said in Genesis 14:3, that the vale embraces a far wider extent of country than merely the site of the fi... [ Continue Reading ]
THE VALE OF SIDDIM WAS FULL OF SLIMEPITS. — That is, of holes whence bitumen had been excavated. Layers of this natural asphalte, well known both to the Greeks and Romans as _pia Judaica,_ Judean pitch, still exist on the western side of the Dead Sea; and the places whence it had been dug out, and w... [ Continue Reading ]
ONE THAT HAD ESCAPED. — Heb., _the escaped;_ not any one in particular, but the fugitives generally. As Sodom lay at the north-western end of the Dead Sea, the region where Abram was dwelling would be their natural place of refuge. ABRAM THE HEBREW. — That is, _the immigrant_ (from beyond the Euphr... [ Continue Reading ]
ABRAM... ARMED... — Heb., _led forth,_ or literally, _let them loose, let them pour forth,_ the verb indicating both their number and also their haste. The word for _trained_ comes from the same root as the name Enoch, for which see note on Genesis 4:17. As Abram’s cattle would often be exposed to d... [ Continue Reading ]
HOBAH... ON THE LEFT HAND OF DAMASCUS. — That is, _to the north,_ as the Hebrews looked eastward in defining the quarters of the heaven. The victory had thus been followed up with great energy, the pursuit having lasted, according to Josephus, the whole of the next day and night after that on which... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SLAUGHTER. — Heb., _the smiting,_ that is, the defeat of Chedorlaomer. THE VALLEY OF SHAVEN. — That is, the valley of the plain (see on Genesis 14:5). It was the place where Absalom erected his pillar (2 Samuel 18:18), and lay on the northern side of Jerusalem, probably where the Kedron valley... [ Continue Reading ]
MELCHIZEDEK KING OF SALEM. — There is a Salem near Scythopolis in the tribe of Ephraim, near to which John baptised (John 3:23, where it is called _Salim_)_,_ and Jerome mentions that some local ruins there were said to be the remains of Melchizedek’s palace. But such traditions are of little value,... [ Continue Reading ]
POSSESSOR. — Literally, _creator,_ or _framer._ It is a poetical word, as are also those for “delivered” and “enemies.” The form of the blessing, moreover, is poetical, as it is arranged in parallel clauses.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE GAVE HIM TITHES. — Abram thus consecrated the war by a thank-offering to God, Who had given him the victory. But he also, by paying tithes, acknowledged the priesthood of Melchizedek, and that the God Whom he served was the true God. See Hebrews 7:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
GRIVE ME THE PERSONS. — To this day it is the rule among the Arabs that, if a camp be plundered, anyone who recovers the booty gives up only the persons, and takes the rest for himself. But Abram, with noble generosity, will accept nothing. The “lifting up of the hand” to give solemnity to an oath i... [ Continue Reading ]
THE YOUNG MEN... THE MEN WHICH WENT WITH ME. — The former are Abram’s 318 servants, and they are to take only their food. The latter are the Amorites, and they are to have their fair share of the spoil. We must notice in Abram’s policy that, while Lot had joined himself to the Canaanites, he stood... [ Continue Reading ]