Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 14

It came to pass. — Connected with the settlement of Lot in the Jordan valley is one of the most remarkable episodes in the entire Bible, derived either from Canaanite records or, as Mr. Sayce thinks (Chald. Genesis, p. 72), from those of Babylon. The latter view is made more probable by the fact that Amraphel, though only a subject king, is placed first. Furthermore, the way the patriarch is described in it, as “Abram the Hebrew,” certainly seems to suggest that we are dealing with a narrative of foreign origin.

Its incorporation into the history admirably sets forth the consequences of Lot’s choice in the troubles, and even ruin, that overtook him, as well as the bravery and power of Abram, and his generosity to the rescued kings. It is also most interesting, as it shows Abram’s relationship with the Amorites, among whom he lived, and the existence in Palestine of a Semitic population who still worshipped the most high God, and over whom one of the noblest figures in the Old Testament was king.

The narrative is Jehovistic, because Abram calls God Jehovah El Elyon. Nevertheless, it is of such ancient date that it forbids accepting the theory that regards the occurrence of the name Jehovah as proof of later authorship. For information on Elam and the conquests and route of Chedorlaomer, see the Excursus at the end of this book.

Amraphel. — This is an Accadian name, which Lenormant found on Babylonian cylinders, and which he explains as meaning “the circle of the year.”

Shinar. — See the commentary on Genesis 10:10.

Arioch. — That is, Eriaku, which in Accadian means “servant of the moon-god.” He was king of Ellasar, that is, Al-Larsa, the city of Larsa, now called Senkereh. It is situated on the left bank of the Euphrates, in Lower Babylonia, and has contributed some very ancient tablets to the collection in the British Museum. The name occurs again in Daniel 2:14.

Tidal. — More correctly in the Septuagint, Thargal; that is, Tur-gal, meaning the great son (Sayce). In the Syriac he is called “Thargil, king of the Gelae,” this latter term being a mistake resulting from reading Gelim for Goim. This word does not mean “nations” but is a proper name, spelled Gutium in the inscriptions, “by which the Accadians designated the entire tract of country that extended from the Tigris to the eastern borders of Media, including the district afterwards known as Assyria” (Chald. Gen., p. 197).

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-coast, or men of some Hamite stock who had colonised this region from the east. The latter is the more probable view, as they do not seem to have had much affinity either with the Amorites or with the Jebusites, their neighbours.

The Horites. — Cave-men, the aboriginal inhabitants of Mount Seir, subsequently conquered by the Edomites (Deuteronomy 2:12; Deuteronomy 2:22). The miserable condition of these earth-men is described in Job 30:3-8.

El-paran. — This forest of oaks (or terebinths) was on the edge of the great wilderness, and reached to within three days’ journey of Sinai (Numbers 10:12; Numbers 10:33).

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.

The Rephaims. — They are described as an Amorite tribe (Amos 2:9) of great stature, settled in Bashan, where Moses conquered them (Joshua 13:12). We also find them on the other side of the Jordan, in Mount Ephraim (Joshua 17:15), on the western side of Jerusalem (Joshua 15:8; Joshua 18:16; 2 Samuel 5:18; 2 Samuel 5:22), and even among the Philistines (2 Samuel 21:16; 2 Samuel 21:18). In many of these places, the word is wrongly translated as giants. From this wide dispersion, we may safely conclude that they belonged to the earlier settlers in the land and that only their rulers, like Og (Joshua 9:10), were Amorites.

Ashteroth Karnaim. — This name refers to The two-horned Astarte, the Phoenician Venus, whom the Rephaim identified with the moon. Her worship had, no doubt, been introduced by the Amorites. This city was Og’s capital (Deuteronomy 1:4) and is called Be-Eshtera, meaning “the house of Astarte,” in Joshua 21:27. Its remains have been found at Tell-Ashtereh, in the Hauran, about two leagues from the ancient Edrei.

The Zuzim. — They are called Zamzummim in Deuteronomy 2:20, where they are identified with the Rephaim, of whose stock they were an inferior branch. Their capital, Ham, has been identified with Hameitât, about six miles to the east of the lower part of the Dead Sea (Tristram, Land of Moab, p. 117).

The Emims. — We also read of them in Deuteronomy 2:10-11: The Emim ... also were accounted Rephaim, as the Anakim.

In Shaveh Kiriathaim. — This more probably means in the plain of Kiriathaim. This city, given to the tribe of Reuben (Numbers 32:37), was, following the decline of the Israelites on the east of the Jordan, reoccupied by the Moabites (Jeremiah 48:1), who had taken it from the Emim.