Genesis 14
1 In those days Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim 2 went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela ( that is, Zoar). 3 The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim ( that is, the Salt Sea). 4 For twelve years they had been subject to Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in the area of Mount Seir, as far as El-paran, which is near the desert. 7 Then they turned back to invade En-mishpat ( that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar. 8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela ( that is, Zoar) marched out and arrayed themselves for battle in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. Abram Rescues Lot 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some men fell into the pits, but the survivors fled to the hill country. 11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food, and they went on their way. 12 They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since Lot was living in Sodom. 13 Then an escapee came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were bound by treaty to Abram. 14 And when Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men born in his household, and they set out in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night, Abram divided his forces and routed Chedorlaomer’s army, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He retrieved all the goods, as well as his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the rest of the people. Melchizedek Blesses Abram (Psalms 110:1–7; Hebrews 7:1–10) 17 After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh ( that is, the King ’s Valley). 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine —since he was priest of God Most High — 19 and he blessed Abram and said: “ Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 20 and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything. 21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “ Give me the people, but take the goods for yourself.” 22 But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “ I have raised my hand to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not accept even a thread, or a strap of a sandal, or anything that belongs to you, lest you should say, ‘ I have made Abram rich.’ 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share for the men who went with me — Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. They may take their portion.”
✦ What the text says
## Summary
Genesis 14 narrates a coalition of four eastern kings led by Kedorlaomer defeating five kings of the Jordan plain, including Sodom and Gomorrah, and capturing Lot along with the city's goods. Abram pursues the raiders with his own men, retrieves Lot and the possessions, and afterward is blessed by Melchizedek, priest-king of Salem, to whom he gives a tenth of everything, while refusing any share of spoil from the king of Sodom.
## Key words
- *chavru* ("they joined together", H2266) — verb qal perfect, describing the five kings uniting at the valley of Siddim (v.3); marks the formation of the opposing coalition.
- *rekhush* ("possession", H7399) — masculine singular construct, repeated across vv.11-12,16,21, tracking the goods seized and later restored; its recurrence structures the plot around property, not only people.
- *ma'aser* ("a tenth", H4643) — masculine singular, the amount Abram gives to Melchizedek (v.20), the single concrete cultic act in the chapter.
- *heirimoti* ("I raise", H7311A) — hiphil perfect, first-person, in Abram's declaration *heirimoti yadi* ("I raise my hand", v.22), a gesture-verb used idiomatically for swearing an oath.
- *koneh* ("creator of / possessor of", H7069) — qal participle construct, applied to *El Elyon* both by Melchizedek (v.19) and by Abram (v.22), linking the two speeches through identical phrasing.
## What the text says
The chapter is built almost entirely from narrative-vav chains (*va-yehi*, *va-yakku*, *va-yashov*, etc.), the standard Hebrew mechanism for sequencing consecutive past events, giving the campaign an unbroken, report-like pace from v.1 through v.17. Numerals are frequent and precise — twelve years of service, thirteen of rebellion, the fourteenth year of invasion (v.4-5), and Abram's 318 men (v.14) — anchoring the account in specific chronological and numerical detail rarely found elsewhere in the patriarchal narratives.
The direct-speech section (vv.18-24) shifts register: Melchizedek's blessing and Abram's reply both use the participle *koneh* ("creator/possessor") attached to *El Elyon* ("God Most High", H0410J/H5945H), verbally linking blessing and oath. Abram's oath formula, built on the verb *heirimoti* ("I raise"), functions as a legal gesture of self-binding rather than a simple statement.
## Differences between versions
In v.22, the Hebrew has Abram swear "to *YHWH*, *El Elyon*" — combining the divine name with the epithet Melchizedek used. The LXX renders this only as "to the God
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.