36 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO Genesis 14 This chapter gives an account of a war that was waged, and a battle fought between four kings on one side, and five on the other, and of the occasion and issue of it, who were the first kings, and this the first battle the Scriptures speak of, Genesis 14:1; Lot and his goods being taken and carried off, with those of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar,.... Or Babylon, as Onkelos, where Nimrod began his kingdom, Genesis 10:8. This was Nimrod himself, as the Jewish writers generally says; though more likely Ninyas the son of Ninus and Semiramis, and grandson of Nimrod; or rather some petty prince or deputy governor of Shinar, under the...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
We have four things in the story of this chapter. I. A war with the king of Sodom and his allies, ver. 1-11. II. The captivity of Lot in that war, ver. 12. III. Abram's rescue of Lot from that captivity, with the victory he obtained over the conquerors, ver. 13-16. IV. Abram's return from the expedition, (ver. 17), with an account of what passed,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
[That these] made war with Bera king of Sodom,.... A city in the plain of Jordan, which with the four following made the Pentapolis, or five cities of the plain. Strabo (y) says, in this place formerly were thirteen cities, the metropolis of which was Sodom, and which yet had remaining a compass of sixty furlongs; according to Dr. Lightfoot (z),...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim,.... Or "of fields", or "ploughed lands" (b), a fruitful vale abounding with corn; or of gardens or paradises, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, being full of gardens and orchards, and was as the garden of the Lord, even as Eden, see Genesis 13:10; though Aben Ezra thinks it had its name...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer,.... King of Elam, who was of the race of Shem, and so the prophecy of Noah began to be fulfilled, that Canaan should be servant to Shem, Genesis 9:26; for the kings of Sodom, c. and their subjects, were of the race of Ham in the line of Canaan, who had by violence seized on that part of the earth which was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer,.... Not in the fourteenth year of their rebellion against him, as Jarchi, but from their becoming vassals to him: and the kings that [were] with him; those kings before mentioned: and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim; which were in their way to Sodom, c. and very probably were confederates with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the Horites in their Mount Seir,.... Or the Horim who dwelt in Mount Seir, so called from Seir the Horite, who continued here till they were drove out by the sons of Esau or Edom, from whom their country was afterwards called Edom or Idumea, see Genesis 36:20 Deuteronomy 2:12; unto Elparan, which [is] by the wilderness; so far these Horites...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh,.... Pursuing their victories as far as Elparan by the wilderness, they had passed by the country of the Amalekites; wherefore they "returned", or came back to fall upon them, and they came to a place called Enmishpat, or the "fountain of judgment"; which was not its future name, as Jarchi...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And there went out the king of Sodom,.... With his armed men to meet the four kings, and give them battle, being so near him, and in so much danger from them, that if they could not stand their ground, they might flee to the mountains, and not perish in the city: and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the King of Zeboiim; whose names...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
With Chedorlaomer king of Elam,.... Who is here mentioned first, being the principal in the war, and against whom the kings of Sodom, c. had rebelled: and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar who were his allies, confederates, and auxiliaries: four kings with five; those four last mentioned, with the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the vale of Siddim [was full of] slimepits,.... Or "wells" or "fountains of slime" or bitumen (s); a liquid of a pitchy nature, cast out of fountains, and which was used for a cement in buildings; such fountains were near Babylon, [See comments on Genesis 11:3]; so that this place was naturally prepared for what it was designed to be, a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah,.... They entered these cities and pillaged them, and carried off everything valuable in them, that was portable or could be driven, as their cattle, c. they did not burn these cities, nor take possession of them, and leave garrisons in them, which shows them to be petty princes that came for...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son,.... The son of Haran, his elder brother, who was now, as the Jews say (x), fifty years of age: who dwelt in Sodom, or near it, in the country adjacent to it, see Genesis 13:12; and so being a neighbour of the men of Sodom, and a sojourner among them, he partakes of their punishment; and this was a just...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And there came one that escaped,.... Both the sword of the enemy and the slimepits; either one of the inhabitants of Sodom, who had an acquaintance with Lot and a friendship for him, and knew his relation to Abram; or one of Lot's family, that might escape being taken and carried captive: for not Michael the prince, so called, because when the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive,.... That is, his brother's son Lot, as in Genesis 14:12; which was contrary to the law of nations; since Lot was only a sojourner, and not an inhabitant n Sodom, and therefore had no concern in the quarrel between the kings, and this justified Abram's taking up arms on his behalf: he armed...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he divided himself against them, he and his servants by night,.... Together with his confederates; and very probably their whole three was divided into four parts, under their four leaders; and this might be done in order to attack the four kings and their soldiers, who might be in four separate bodies; or to fall upon their camp in the four...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he brought back all the goods,.... Taken from Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis 14:11; and also brought again his brother Lot; his brother's son, Genesis 14:12, for whose sake chiefly he engaged in this enterprise: and his goods; money, cattle, c. and the women also, and the people not only that belonged to Lot, but to Sodom and Gomorrah, who had...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king of Sodom went out to meet him,.... While Abram was in pursuit of the four kings, the king of Sodom came down from the mountain whither he and those that escaped with him fled, and came to Sodom: and from hence he went out, not alone, but accompanied with his retinue, to meet Abram: after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him,— In the name of God, Melchizedek blessed...