Okay, this chapter might not quite sound like the others, does it? Genesis 14 is a bit of an oddball. Most of all we just read reads like an Assyrian or Babylonian chronicle, not at all the genre of literature we thought we'd been reading. Up until almost halfway through the chapter, we're wondering if somebody's pulled a fast one on us. For verse after verse is unrelated to anything around it. It comes across as a secular military history, which might be why Luther cautioned that “this chapter seems to be altogether barren.”1 Early Christians chalked it up to “the precision of Scripture.”2 Out of nowhere, this chapter has a “grandiose global scope” matched only by the Table of Nations.3 It's loaded with all sorts of names, and it seems like half the names have glosses to tell us how the names changed over time. And even if you ignore all the proper nouns, nearly one in every ten words in this chapter will be hard to find anywhere else in the whole Bible.4 It's like an alien record shuffled in among the pages of our Bibles. It's no wonder some scholars guess that it's a summary of the plot of an epic poem even older than Genesis.5 So this first half, read attentively, is still “a thrilling story in its own right.”6
We open with the mention of four foreign kings from out east, listed in alphabetical order (Genesis 14:1).7 Here comes Amraphel, a king in Shinar, which we know is Sumer. There's Arioch, king of a place called Ellasar. We don't know for sure where that is – some guess Assyria, more suggest Ilansura, a modest kingdom in southeast Turkey. As for his name, it's a solid and familiar one from the archives of the era; we meet an Arriyuk here, an Arriwuk there. Next is Chedorlaomer, king of Elam. Elam's a kingdom in south Iran, which during this time tended to have several leaders ruling. This one's got a solid Elamite name, Kutir-lagamal, which means 'servant of No-Mercy,' an underworld god. And finally there's Tidal, king of Goiim or 'king of nations.' Tidal is a Hittite royal name, Tudhaliya, and he's apparently leader of the Umman Manda, 'the horde from who-knows-where,' an obscure coalition of barbarians from the north.8 We haven't quite succeeded in pinning any of them down, but it isn't uncommon for the Bible's names for foreign leaders to be pretty different from what they liked to go by.9 The point is, this set of kings is from the distant east and north of Canaan; they're spread over large distances.
Next, we hear mention of five cities in the Jordan Valley plain: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela or Zoar (Genesis 14:2). Genesis doesn't bother recording the name of the littlest town's king, but we do get names for the four city kings. Listed in close to alphabetical order, they form two alliterative pairs, the B-kings (starting with the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet) and the S-kings (starting with the second-to-last letter).10 The king of Sodom is Bera, and the king of Gomorrah is Birsha, which is a Hebrew joke, since Bera can mean 'In Evil' and Birsha can mean 'In Wickedness' – two words that fairly describe those cities!11
So we've got this bunch of names, a collection of nine kings and their dominions. Only then do we start to get a story. “Twelve years they,” the Jordan Valley kings, “had served Chedorlaomer” (Genesis 14:4). The Elamites – all the way on the far side of Sumer – had gotten leverage over the Jordan Valley cities. This is about the only era in all of history when the Elamites meddled in anything this far west, or when big alliances between kings of the east were possible.12 Their motive? The lower Jordan Valley was known for copper mines, and the folks out east craved metals.13 So the Elamites made the Jordan Valley cities their vassals, imposing tribute on them; it'd all be fine if they kept paying their dues. “But in the thirteenth year, they rebelled” (Genesis 14:4). They opted to stop their subscription to servitude. And when the tribute didn't show up, Chedorlaomer began to plan. He marched to Sumer, joining up with Amraphel; they went north, persuading Arioch and then Tidal to join in. There were glory and riches to win in combat. “In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came” (Genesis 14:5). It's “the first biblical report of warfare.”14
Rounding the Fertile Crescent, they marched south through Syria, down past Damascus. And, east of the Jordan River, they began to attack the peoples they came across (Genesis 14:5-7). The first target were the Rephaim who lived in the land of Bashan, whose leading city was Ashtaroth near Karnaim, about twenty miles east of the Sea of Galilee. “All that portion of Bashan is called the land of Rephaim” (Deuteronomy 3:13). Moving about thirty-five miles south to Ham, they squared off with the Zuzim, elsewhere called the Zamzummim, and took them down. The eastern armies continued another seventy-two miles south, and when they were in the field outside Kiriathaim, about level with the north tip of the Dead Sea, the subdued a group called the Emim. Three for three. Continuing south, they skirted around their real targets and stuck to the hill country of Seir, where in the next 130 miles they fought and beat down the Horites. Veering west through the Negev to El-paran at the tip of the sea to secure trade route access, they then turned northwest to an oasis called En-mishpat, 'the Spring of Judgment.' There they fought a fifth foe, a semi-nomadic desert tribe called the Amalekites. Finally, turning northeast, at a place called Hazazon-tamar southwest of the Dead Sea, they fought some Amorites.15
What was the point of all this marching and fighting people who weren't even necessarily involved? Well, now they've looped back on the rebellious cities, and by beating down so many other peoples one by one, they've eliminated all the possible allies the Jordan Valley city-states could call on. “The invaders sought to secure their flanks, protect their supply lines, and ensure their retreat route by neutralizing the hostile forces in the area.”16 It's a sharp tactic, and probably pretty profitable, too. But what's the point in us having to hear about it?
Well, for one, it gives us an impression of how tough these invaders are. The enemies they're facing are very imposing adversaries. Canaanite legends tell of the Rephaim as a big royal family of flawless hero-warriors in chariots; the legends go so far as to label them mortal 'gods,' whom every noble of Canaan longed to join in the afterlife in the end.17 When later Jews translated this chapter into Greek, they rendered 'Rephaim' as 'giants.'18 Moses explains that the Zumim and Emim were Rephaim groups, and to both he applies the phrase “a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim” (Deuteronomy 2:10, 21), compared to whom the Israelites felt like bugs (Numbers 13:33). These three peoples were “the mighty ones..., the powerful ones..., the fearsome ones.”19 And so if these invaders could thrash all three and thirst for more, it'd take a miracle to stop them.20
But the list would've also caught Israel's attention, because Israel would deal with many of them later on.21 The Israelites in the desert, before even reaching the mountain, fought off the Amalekites (Exodus 17:8-16), who “attacked you on the way when you were faint and weary,” Moses says, “and cut off your tail, those who were lagging behind you, and he did not fear God” (Deuteronomy 25:17-18). Eleven days' march on the other side of the mountain brought Israel to Kadesh-barnea (Deuteronomy 1:2), the same place as En-mishpat. From there they launched a frightening expedition into Canaan, after which Moses led them northeast along the King's Highway through the Transjordan (Numbers 20:17). The Horites, Emim, and Zumim were all gone, already destroyed by the LORD at the hands of other peoples (Deuteronomy 2:10-12, 21-22). But this northward course led Israel to face the Amorite king Sihon, whom they “defeated with the edge of the sword” (Numbers 21:24), after which they had one last combat with King Og of Bashan (Numbers 21:33-35), who (according to Moses) was “the last of the remnant of the Rephaim” (Deuteronomy 3:11). On their march to the Promised Land, the Israelites traced the same route the eastern kings took, only in reverse.22
But for the eastern kings, their course now has them poised to crush their seventh and final foe: their real target, the Jordan Valley city-states. Maybe their hope was that this display of awesome force on every side would convince the Jordan Valley kings to get out of the rebellion business and back into the paying-tribute business.23 But instead, now “the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela which is Zoar went out” to make their stand “in the Valley of Siddim” (Genesis 14:8). And “the Valley of Siddim is the Salt Sea” (Genesis 14:3), a little plain, now submerged, at the Dead Sea's south end.24 The kings of the Jordan Valley “arrayed together in battle... with Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar – four kings against five” (Genesis 14:9).
That clues us in to what the Jordan Valley kings are thinking.25 They're just counting the number of kings on each side. We've got five, and the easterners only have four; five's bigger than four, so we have the advantage! Well... that's like reasoning that New England's bigger than Alaska because New England has more states. The kings of the Jordan Valley rule a little cluster of city-states. Each one is basically a township supervisor; they don't even rise to the level of county commissioners. But the kings of the eastern coalition rule actual nations whose territory dwarfs the whole plain of the Jordan Valley. This is a case where five being greater than four is bad math, the kind of math that gets people dead.
At this point, we're told that “the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits” (Genesis 14:10), familiar to the local kings because it's their backyard but also to Amraphel because bitumen was the glue holding the Tower of Babel together (Genesis 11:3).26 And so here was battle joined, the petty princes against the armies of emperors. And it does not go well for the home team, who are “defeated quickly and decidedly,” so much so the Bible doesn't feel the need to even spell it out – it's just obvious.27 “Terror-stricken at [the easterners'] boldness and the might of their power,”28 Bera of Sodom and Birsha of Gomorrah both got scared, retreated, and fell into the bitumen pits. At this point, the Bible leaves us in suspense to think they fell in battle, dying. Only later, when the king of Sodom resurfaces, will we realize they dove into the bitumen pits to hide till the coast was clear.29 As for their armies, well, “many fell with wounds in the valley of Siddim,”30 so that “many of their number perished.”31 And those who didn't perish ran for the hills to the east (Genesis 14:10).
With the failure of the Jordan Valley kings and their little bitty armies, there was nothing to protect their cities. Chedorlaomer wanted to make it clear that resistance is futile, that refusing tribute doesn't pay. “Like a typical Mesopotamian king, he and his allies plundered the city after its conquest, taking booty and slaves.”32 “So they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and they went on their way,” mission accomplished (Genesis 14:11). And lest we feel bad for the losers here, “the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners before the LORD” (Genesis 13:13). Genesis doesn't say so, but it could well be that God had raised up Chedorlaomer to afflict the sinful cities, their harshness fulfilling the interests of divine justice.33
Now, up to now, almost nothing we've read has any obvious ties to anything that came before it. Except there's one thing. Last Sunday, we heard how Lot's eye fancied the well-watered Jordan Valley as a nice place to be, almost an Eden reopened (Genesis 13:10). So he'd moved there, separating himself from his uncle (Genesis 13:11). The last we saw of Lot, “Lot settled among the cities of the plain and moved his tent as far as Sodom” (Genesis 13:12). There's our connection. Sodom being the northernmost of these cities, Lot was, stage by stage, falling closer to their orbit. So naturally, we can't help but wonder what this war would mean for Lot. But, we comfort ourselves, Lot's settled north of Sodom, and Chedorlaomer's conquerors are plundering the cities from the south. Whatever they do in the city, at least Lot is outside, just out of range.
Except... no, he wasn't. By the time this war unfolds, we're now shocked to hear that “Lot... was dwelling in Sodom” (Genesis 14:12). In? As in, inside the city limits? Having traded in his tent for a house fixed in place? Oh, Lot, what have you done? Don't you know what a risk these people are to live with? Why have you traded your life of freedom to settle in the confines of Sodom? What will happen to you now?
Now we see that Lot was “far from being better off for his choice of the better parts” of the land.34 For when Chedorlaomer's men plundered the cities of the plain, “they also took Lot and his possessions..., and they went their way” (Genesis 14:12). Lot “had been taken captive” (Genesis 14:14), made a “captive along with the defeated Sodomites,”35 who were “taken to be slaves as the spoils of war.”36 Oh, Lot, what a horrid end for you!
But now we've heard something familiar, and it's not just Lot. Even in the midst of lamenting Lot's perilous plight, Genesis reminds us that Lot is “the son of the brother of Abram” (Genesis 14:12). That name, absent for far too many verses, comes roaring back. Where's Abram been? When we left him last week, he'd “moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre” (Genesis 13:18), a stark contrast to the city-life Lot adopted.37 Now we find out that Mamre is a fellow. “Abram the Hebrew... was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and of Aner” (Genesis 14:13). This is the first time the word 'Hebrew' shows up. Abram isn't ethnically or culturally quite the same as Mamre or Eshcol or Aner. That could be a source of tension, but they live instead in peace, even friendship. In fact, Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner “owned a covenant with Abram” (Genesis 14:13). This is the first time the word 'covenant' crops up in Abram's life. Before his relationship with God becomes a covenant, he's got a covenant of equals with these three Amorite brothers.38 And “the oaks of Mamre... are at Ḥebron” (Genesis 13:18), which sounds like the word for when the kings of the Jordan Valley 'unite,' ḥabar, in an alliance with each other (Genesis 14:3). Abram already has an alternative alliance.
Which is good, because his peace is about to be disturbed. “One who had escaped” from the catastrophe “came and told Abram the Hebrew” what had happened (Genesis 14:13). How did this guy know to go looking for Abram? Maybe Abram had gained a great reputation. Or maybe, as some Jews suggested, this man was one of Lot's herdsmen (Genesis 13:7).39 Whoever he was, from this survivor, “Abram heard that his brother had been taken captive” (Genesis 14:13). Sorrowful news, but oh, how amazing to hear Lot still described, not just as Abram's nephew, but as his brother! He hasn't written off Lot as an ingrate who's merely reaping what he's sown. And Abram's response to Lot's tragedy is “an outstanding example of brotherly love.”40
Two chapters ago, Abram had a different loved one 'taken' by a powerful foreign king – that was when his wife Sarai was taken by Pharaoh in Egypt (Genesis 12:15). On that occasion, Abram believed he could do nothing. Now, though, he seems to be a changed and wizened man. So as Abram's brother is 'taken' by four powerful foreign kings, Abram's response is, “Not again!”41 With a new boldness, love can triumph over caution.42
Abram doesn't hesitate for a moment to begin riding to the rescue. As it turns out, Abram now has a group of people who can help him. These are men who were “born in his house” (Genesis 14:14), not the servants lately picked up in Egypt. But then whom do they all know? Lot! One ancient reader even describes these as “men raised by Lot,” men with a strong personal investment in Lot's welfare, ready to fight for Lot with dedication.43 Nor are they amateurs who don't know how to help. These are “trained men,” armed and disciplined, prepared for such a time as this.44 Out by the oaks of Mamre, they've been honing their skills in front of Abram's altar.45
Like any truly great nomad chief, Abram has been training “his own private army.”46 But what stands out is the number of it: three hundred and eighteen trained men. If this is just those who are in Abram's private army, then when you add in other men plus the women and children, Abram's household ought to number over a thousand; it's effectively its own minor city in the land already! So Abram is, to our surprise, a force to be reckoned with.
So now Abram “emptied out his trained men, born in his house, 318 of them” (Genesis 14:13). He doesn't take half and leave half; he empties them fully out, unsheathing his sword completely. Abram is the shepherd who'll forsake the ninety-nine in the open country to venture out in quest of the lost and lonely one (Luke 15:4).47 This chief pours everything, everyone, into this quest, not willing to give anything less than his best, lest he find out in the hour of trial that he's done too little too late. Abram poured out his modest militia, and he draws on the similar strength of his three covenanted allies whose support is pledged.48 And Abram “went in pursuit” of the eastern armies “as far as Dan” (Genesis 14:14), which back then was called Laish (Judges 18:29). The city gate that would've silently watched Abram's approach still stands there to this day, nearly four millennia later.49
Now, from Hebron to Laish is no short trip; it's over a hundred miles, which means Abram is spending days on this intercept course of his, pushing as fast as they can go. But that long trip is itself a resolution. Remember last week that, to assert his ownership of Canaan, Abram was supposed to “arise, walk through the land to its length and its breadth” (Genesis 13:17). But we never heard for sure that Abram did that. We just heard that he moved south from Bethel to Hebron and settled there, stationary (Genesis 13:18). Now, though, Abram's got a new incentive to get moving. And so he pushes, he rides, he runs, he storms through the full length of the land; Laish, Dan, was at the northernmost edge of Canaan. So maybe this emergency has been providentially arranged to prod Abram to a fuller compliance with the generous will of God for his life.50
But along with this, in going forth in chase of kings, Abram is being sucked into international politics, into great affairs of state that always seemed far above and far away before.51 But the fact is, this international politics would be irrelevant, and the preceding story wouldn't have been told, unless Abram were involved. So it's not that he's finally stepping out on the big stage. It's that the big geopolitical picture only matters because it's being caught up in something bigger: God's plan for Abram!52 National history, world history – these things loom large in newspapers and radio and TV and history textbooks someday. But as fascinating as they might be, they serve as a backdrop for the real story: salvation-history, the tale of God's chosen ones, like Abram.
Now, as the eastern kings march north on the King's Highway east of the Jordan, Abram marches his forces speedily northward on the parallel watershed route west of the Jordan.53 And above the Sea of Galilee, whether Abram catches up at Laish or farther along, he finds the eastern army encamped. But was this a fool's errand? Even if Abram has a thousand men, what is that against four crushing armies? The captors are too strong for there to be any human chance of success against them. It's a dangerous situation now. Abram “risks his life in battle” if he really attacks this overwhelming foe, however tired or reduced they might be; and if Abram should fall before their swords or arrows, what hope would be left for the world?54 But, “trusting in the power of God, he was not cowed by the force of the enemy,” but rather put all fears out of his mind.55
Abram is crafty. He waits as night falls; armies don't march at night. Maybe some of Abram's men are past their bedtime, but so are the Elamites and Sumerians and whoever else is out there. An attack by night would afford Abram a chance of “surprising them before they had time to arm.”56 It was a time-honored Middle Eastern battle tactic.57 What's more, in the night, Abram divides up his forces. Why? To attack from multiple angles. Later Jews imagined Abram's men “swooped upon them at night from all four directions.”58 Blinded by darkness, the eastern troops will think Abram's got more military manpower than he has. Once again we see Abram shrewd as a serpent (Matthew 10:16), equipped with “responsibility, courage, daring, and cunning.”59 Abram may be a man of peace – he bent over backward to keep peace with Lot last chapter – and he didn't start this war; but Abram's got no qualms about finishing it and showing Gideon how it's done (Judges 7).
So what happened? “He attacked them,” “he defeated them” (Genesis 14:15) – it's the same verb for what the eastern armies did to the Rephaim and Zuzim and Emim and Horites and Amalekites and Amorites, only now the shoe's on the other foot. What they dished out, Abram gave 'em back! Soon he was in pursuit of them, not the other way around. But it wasn't by Abram's own craft and might that he got the upper hand. The truth was that “God... delivered [Abram's] foes into [Abram's] hand” (Genesis 14:20), a testimony to “how great the grace of the divine blessing is with which he was provided.”60 “The patriarch prevailed against them, not by physical strength, but through faith in God, and achieved all this under the protection of help from on high.”61
Having gotten the upper hand, Abram “pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus” (Genesis 14:15). Abram made sure that Chedorlaomer's and Amraphel's and Tidal's and Arioch's last steps out of Canaan weren't by their own free choice. Abram chased them, expelled the invaders – the leading powers, maybe, in the world.62 He didn't let up until they were past Mount Hermon, beyond even Damascus, and then a measure more. This is now probably sixty or seventy miles further north than Laish.63 They'd best not even think about Canaan again. Abram's a preview here of Joshua reconquering the Promised Land, of the judges raised up to liberate their people, of King David subduing the neighbor nations. An early medieval retelling of Genesis for a warrior culture exults in this story and closes the episode with this perfect line: “Never did any one of all those living here achieve a more worthy war venture, who rushed against so great a force with such a small troop.”64
But what has victory brought? What has it changed? Well, by the time Abram returned to the invaders' camp, now abandoned, Abram had retrieved plenty from enemy hands. “He brought back all the possessions” which had been stolen from Sodom, from Gomorrah, from the other cities, maybe even plunder from the Amorites and Amalekites and Horites and Emim and Zuzim and Rephaim (Genesis 14:16).65 Abram “brought back the spoil and their goods,” without letting any be taken away out of the land.66
But that's not the question we had. What about the one you came for, Abram? “He brought back... also Lot his brother” (Genesis 14:16). What a relief! For it was Lot he'd marched out to save, Lot who burdened his heart with cares. For all Lot's churlishness, Abram had been “willing to risk his own life in order to rescue” Lot.67 This, and not the stuff, is what most mattered. Lot was safe and sound! Lot was no worse for wear! Abram “brought back... Lot his brother, with his possessions” (Genesis 14:16). Lot won't even have to file a claim with his insurance company! Saved from the wreckage without a scratch – it's a miracle indeed.
But as if that weren't great enough for God to do through Abram, “he brought back also the women and the people” (Genesis 14:16). Abram had “rescued the Sodomite prisoners,”68 whose own king wasn't even coming to help them.69 If Lot was earlier collateral damage in the easterner's vengeance on Sodom, now the people of the Jordan Valley city-states, including the residents of Sodom, are collaterally redeemed.70 “All those whom they had taken captive, he brought back,”71 missing not a one, with a special focus on the women.72 Abram thus seals his new role: he's become “a liberator of captives held hostage by an aggressive force.”73 He's a savior.
Which brings us to the rather obvious point. You knew where this story was really aimed, didn't you? Which of us hasn't been in Lot's shoes? For “before faith came, we were held captive under the law” (Galatians 3:23), and unhappily discovered “another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Romans 7:23). “You were slaves of sin” (Romans 6:20). Those are the Apostle's words. An unbearable, unbeatable army of temptations descended on our city. Our best defenses, evil as they were, failed in the frailty of flesh. And we and all we had, we and all we prided ourselves in, were swept away along “futile ways” (1 Peter 1:18). The power of sin and shame were hauling us away from home, to a distant exile, there to be put on display. The demons mocked our impotence before their might – for had not great powers succumbed to their trickery and fear in times past?
But then there appeared for us a Savior. “The LORD is a man of war” (Exodus 15:3). “The LORD goes out like a mighty man, like a man of war he stirs up his zeal; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes” (Isaiah 42:13). Though the powers of the world and beneath the world “make war on the Lamb,” yet “the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings” (Revelation 17:14). So it is written, and so it must be. For “in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire..., he is clothed in a robe dipped in blood..., from his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron” (Revelation 19:11-15).
This very Lord came to earth, was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and made man, “is not ashamed to call us brothers” (Hebrews 2:11), because his Father had sent him “to proclaim liberty to the captives” (Luke 4:18). So Jesus said himself! The whole reason for Abram's conquest was “so that he might mystically prefigure” the One who would come to “recall the world from death by the passion of the cross.”74 Out of his unfathomable love, this Lord saw our need of saving – and he rode to the rescue, to snatch us from the jaws of all his foes.
Suddenly we have been born in Christ's house. We have a new role to play – no longer Lot, not the men and women of Sodom and Gomorrah, but the servants of the Lord. “Those with him are called and chosen and faithful” (Revelation 17:14). Called to what, chosen for what? To be trained men and women. To be made ready to embark with the Lord on his mission of mercy. To be filled with his blazing love for the stolen-away. To march forth in “the full armor of God,” knowing that we're called into combat with “the cosmic powers over this present darkness” (Ephesians 6:11-12). Therefore “the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” and set the captives free (2 Corinthians 10:4). As one medieval monk remarked, the story of Abram's 318 is but a preview of “our spiritual fight” for the redemption of souls and of the world.75 So let us ride to their rescue behind our Savior-Brother, who has carried us into his light to conquer the dark. Amen.
1 Martin Luther, Lectures on Genesis 14:1-2, in Luther's Works 2:364.
2 John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 35.8, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 82:309.
3 Joshua G. Mathews, Melchizedek's Alternative Priestly Order: A Compositional Analysis of Genesis 14:18-20 and Its Echoes Throughout the Tanak (Eisenbrauns, 2013), 56.
4 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 102; Peter Dubovský, “Elam and the Bible,” in Javier Álvarez-Mon, Gian Pietro Basello, and Yasmina Wicks, eds., The Elamite World (Routledge, 2018), 31.
5 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 102.
6 John Goldingay, Genesis (Baker Academic, 2020), 232.
7 Jonathan Grossman, Abraham: The Story of a Journey (Maggid Books, 2023), 49.
8 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 103-104; Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17 (Eerdmans, 1990), 400; Kenneth A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (Eerdmans, 2003), 320; Tremper Longman III, Genesis (Zondervan Academic, 2016), 189; Stephanie Dalley, The City of Babylon: A History, c.2000 BC-AD 116 (Cambridge University Press, 2021), 320-321.
9 Brian Neil Peterson, Genesis: A Pentecostal Commentary (Brill, 2022), 137.
10 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 102; Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17 (Eerdmans, 1990), 401.
11 John Goldingay, Genesis (Baker Academic, 2020), 233.
12 Kenneth A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (Eerdmans, 2003), 320-321; Craig Olson, How Old Was Father Abraham? The Genesis Lifespans in Light of Archaeology (Trowel Press, 2023), 29.
13 Bill T. Arnold, Genesis (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 146; Dale Ralph Davis, Faith of Our Faith: Expositions of Genesis 12-25 (Christian Focus, 2015), 41; Brian Neil Peterson, Genesis: A Pentecostal Commentary (Brill, 2022), 137.
14 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 102.
15 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 105-106; Tremper Longman III, Genesis (Zondervan Academic, 2016), 185; Peter Dubovský, “Elam and the Bible,” in Javier Álvarez-Mon, Gian Pietro Basello, and Yasmina Wicks, eds., The Elamite World (Routledge, 2018), 31; Alex Varughese and Christina Bohn, Genesis 12-50: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition (Beacon Hill Press, 2019), 56-57; John Goldingay, Genesis (Baker Academic, 2020), 234.
16 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 105.
17 Jonathan Yogev, The Rephaim: Sons of the Gods (Brill, 2021), 97-99.
18 Genesis 14:5 LXX, in Susan Brayford, Genesis (Brill, 2007), 69.
19 Targum Onqelos Genesis 14:5, in Aramaic Bible 6:66.
20 John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 35.9, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 82:310.
21 Terence E. Fretheim, Abraham: Trials of Family and Faith (Fortress Press, 2024; reprint of University of South Carolina Press, 2007), 24.
22 Zvi Grumet, Genesis: From Creation to Covenant (Maggid Books, 2017), 151; Jonathan Grossman, Abraham: The Story of a Journey (Maggid Books, 2023), 50.
23 Zvi Grumet, Genesis: From Creation to Covenant (Maggid Books, 2017), 149-151.
24 Alex Varughese and Christina Bohn, Genesis 12-50: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition (Beacon Hill Press, 2019), 56.
25 Jonathan Grossman, Abraham: The Story of a Journey (Maggid Books, 2023), 53.
26 Joshua G. Mathews, Melchizedek's Alternative Priestly Order: A Compositional Analysis of Genesis 14:18-20 and Its Echoes Throughout the Tanak (Eisenbrauns, 2013), 57.
27 Bill T. Arnold, Genesis (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 147.
28 John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 35.10, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 82:310.
29 Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17 (Eerdmans, 1990), 403.
30 Jubilees 13.22, in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 2:83.
31 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 1.175, in Loeb Classical Library 242:87.
32 Peter Dubovský, “Elam and the Bible,” in Javier Álvarez-Mon, Gian Pietro Basello, and Yasmina Wicks, eds., The Elamite World (Routledge, 2018), 32.
33 Bede, On Genesis 14:1-2, in Translated Texts for Historians 48:260.
34 John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 35.11, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 82:311.
35 Augustine of Hippo, The City of God 16.22, in The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century I/7:211.
36 Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra on the Pentateuch 2.4.2, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 137:107.
37 Bill T. Arnold, Genesis (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 148.
38 Alex Varughese and Christina Bohn, Genesis 12-50: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition (Beacon Hill Press, 2019), 58; Jonathan Grossman, Abraham: The Story of a Journey (Maggid Books, 2023), 58.
39 1QapGen 22.1-2, in Daniel A. Machiela, The Dead Sea Genesis Apocryphon: A New Text and Translation (Brill, 2009), 81.
40 Martin Luther, Lectures on Genesis 14:14, in Luther's Works 2:372.
41 Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17 (Eerdmans, 1990), 403.
42 Leon R. Kass, The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis (Free Press, 2003), 259-260.
43 John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 35.15, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 82:314.
44 Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17 (Eerdmans, 1990), 405.
45 R. R. Reno, Genesis (Brazos Press, 2010), 153.
46 James McKeown, Genesis (Eerdmans, 2008), 87.
47 Matthew R. Schlimm, Fratricide and Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis (Eisenbrauns, 2011), 146.
48 1QapGen 22.7, in Daniel A. Machiela, The Dead Sea Genesis Apocryphon: A New Text and Translation (Brill, 2009), 82.
49 Kenneth A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (Eerdmans, 2003), 335; Stephen K. Ray, Genesis: A Bible Study Guide and Commentary (Ignatius Press, 2023), 140.
50 Joshua G. Mathews, Melchizedek's Alternative Priestly Order: A Compositional Analysis of Genesis 14:18-20 and Its Echoes Throughout the Tanak (Eisenbrauns, 2013), 54-55.
51 Bill T. Arnold, Genesis (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 145.
52 Dale Ralph Davis, Faith of Our Father: Expositions on Genesis 12-25 (Christian Focus, 2015), 41-42.
53 Chaim Herzog and Mordechai Gichon, Battles of the Bible: A Military History of Ancient Israel (Greenhill Books, 1997), 34.
54 Nahum M. Sarna, Genesis (Jewish Publication Society, 1989), 101.
55 John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 35.14, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 82:313.
56 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 1.177, in Loeb Classical Library 242:87.
57 Kenneth A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament (Eerdmans, 2003), 322.
58 1QapGen 22.8, in Daniel A. Machiela, The Dead Sea Genesis Apocryphon: A New Text and Translation (Brill, 2009), 82.
59 Zvi Grumet, Genesis: From Creation to Covenant (Maggid Books, 2017), 154.
60 Bede, On Genesis 14:1-2, in Translated Texts for Historians 48:260.
61 John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis 35.15, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 82:314.
62 James McKeown, Genesis (Eerdmans, 2008), 87.
63 David W. Baker, “The Migrations and Wanderings of the Patriarchs,” in Barry L. Beitzel, ed., Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Pentateuch (Lexham Press, 2023), 113.
64 Old English Genesis A, lines 2075-2095, in Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library 7:147.
65 Brian Neil Peterson, Genesis: A Pentecostal Commentary (Brill, 2022), 139.
66 Ephrem the Syrian, Commentary on Genesis 11.1, in Fathers of the Church: A New Translation 91:150.
67 Peter Dubovský, “Elam and the Bible,” in Javier Álvarez-Mon, Gian Pietro Basello, and Yasmina Wicks, eds., The Elamite World (Routledge, 2018), 32.
68 Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 1.179, in Loeb Classical Library 242:89.
69 Jonathan Grossman, Abraham: The Story of a Journey (Maggid Books, 2023), 55.
70 Joshua G. Mathews, Melchizedek's Alternative Priestly Order: A Compositional Analysis of Genesis 14:18-20 and Its Echoes Throughout the Tanak (Eisenbrauns, 2013), 60.
71 1QapGen 22.11-12, in Daniel A. Machiela, The Dead Sea Genesis Apocryphon: A New Text and Translation (Brill, 2009), 82.
72 John Goldingay, Genesis (Baker Academic, 2020), 236.
73 Alex Varughese and Christina Bohn, Genesis 12-50: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition (Beacon Hill Press, 2019), 61.
74 Bede, On Genesis 14:14, in Translated Texts for Historians 48:265.
75 Bede, On Genesis 14:14, in Translated Texts for Historians 48:265.
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