Genesis 14
1 וַיְהִ֗י בִּימֵי֙ אַמְרָפֶ֣ל מֶֽלֶךְ שִׁנְעָ֔ר אַרְי֖וֹךְ מֶ֣לֶךְ אֶלָּסָ֑ר כְּדָרְלָעֹ֨מֶר֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ עֵילָ֔ם וְתִדְעָ֖ל מֶ֥לֶךְ גּוֹיִֽם
2 עָשׂ֣וּ מִלְחָמָ֗ה אֶת בֶּ֨רַע֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ סְדֹ֔ם וְאֶת בִּרְשַׁ֖ע מֶ֣לֶךְ עֲמֹרָ֑ה שִׁנְאָ֣ב מֶ֣לֶךְ אַדְמָ֗ה וְשֶׁמְאֵ֨בֶר֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ צְבוֹיִ֔ים וּמֶ֥לֶךְ בֶּ֖לַע הִיא צֹֽעַר
3 כָּל אֵ֨לֶּה֙ חָֽבְר֔וּ אֶל עֵ֖מֶק הַשִּׂדִּ֑ים ה֖וּא יָ֥ם הַמֶּֽלַח
4 שְׁתֵּ֤ים עֶשְׂרֵה֙ שָׁנָ֔ה עָבְד֖וּ אֶת כְּדָרְלָעֹ֑מֶר וּשְׁלֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵ֥ה שָׁנָ֖ה מָרָֽדוּ
5 וּבְאַרְבַּע֩ עֶשְׂרֵ֨ה שָׁנָ֜ה בָּ֣א כְדָרְלָעֹ֗מֶר וְהַמְּלָכִים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִתּ֔וֹ וַיַּכּ֤וּ אֶת רְפָאִים֙ בְּעַשְׁתְּרֹ֣ת קַרְנַ֔יִם וְאֶת הַזּוּזִ֖ים בְּהָ֑ם וְאֵת֙ הָֽאֵימִ֔ים בְּשָׁוֵ֖ה קִרְיָתָֽיִם
6 וְאֶת הַחֹרִ֖י בְּהַרְרָ֣ם שֵׂעִ֑יר עַ֚ד אֵ֣יל פָּארָ֔ן אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל הַמִּדְבָּֽר
7 וַ֠יָּשֻׁבוּ וַיָּבֹ֜אוּ אֶל עֵ֤ין מִשְׁפָּט֙ הִ֣וא קָדֵ֔שׁ וַיַּכּ֕וּ אֶֽת כָּל שְׂדֵ֖ה הָעֲמָלֵקִ֑י וְגַם֙ אֶת הָ֣אֱמֹרִ֔י הַיֹּשֵׁ֖ב בְּחַֽצְצֹ֥ן תָּמָֽר
8 וַיֵּצֵ֨א מֶֽלֶךְ סְדֹ֜ם וּמֶ֣לֶךְ עֲמֹרָ֗ה וּמֶ֤לֶךְ אַדְמָה֙ וּמֶ֣לֶךְ צְבוֹיִ֔ם וּמֶ֥לֶךְ בֶּ֖לַע הִוא צֹ֑עַר וַיַּֽעַרְכ֤וּ אִתָּם֙ מִלְחָמָ֔ה בְּעֵ֖מֶק הַשִּׂדִּֽים
9 אֵ֣ת כְּדָרְלָעֹ֜מֶר מֶ֣לֶךְ עֵילָ֗ם וְתִדְעָל֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ גּוֹיִ֔ם וְאַמְרָפֶל֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ שִׁנְעָ֔ר וְאַרְי֖וֹךְ מֶ֣לֶךְ אֶלָּסָ֑ר אַרְבָּעָ֥ה מְלָכִ֖ים אֶת הַחֲמִשָּֽׁה
10 וְעֵ֣מֶק הַשִׂדִּ֗ים בֶּֽאֱרֹ֤ת בֶּאֱרֹת֙ חֵמָ֔ר וַיָּנֻ֛סוּ מֶֽלֶךְ סְדֹ֥ם וַעֲמֹרָ֖ה וַיִּפְּלוּ שָׁ֑מָּה וְהַנִּשְׁאָרִ֖ים הֶ֥רָה נָּֽסוּ
11 וַ֠יִּקְחוּ אֶת כָּל רְכֻ֨שׁ סְדֹ֧ם וַעֲמֹרָ֛ה וְאֶת כָּל אָכְלָ֖ם וַיֵּלֵֽכוּ
12 וַיִּקְח֨וּ אֶת ל֧וֹט וְאֶת רְכֻשׁ֛וֹ בֶּן אֲחִ֥י אַבְרָ֖ם וַיֵּלֵ֑כוּ וְה֥וּא יֹשֵׁ֖ב בִּסְדֹֽם
13 וַיָּבֹא֙ הַפָּלִ֔יט וַיַּגֵּ֖ד לְאַבְרָ֣ם הָעִבְרִ֑י וְהוּא֩ שֹׁכֵ֨ן בְּאֵֽלֹנֵ֜י מַמְרֵ֣א הָאֱמֹרִ֗י אֲחִ֤י אֶשְׁכֹּל֙ וַאֲחִ֣י עָנֵ֔ר וְהֵ֖ם בַּעֲלֵ֥י בְרִית אַבְרָֽם
14 וַיִּשְׁמַ֣ע אַבְרָ֔ם כִּ֥י נִשְׁבָּ֖ה אָחִ֑יו וַיָּ֨רֶק אֶת חֲנִיכָ֜יו יְלִידֵ֣י בֵית֗וֹ שְׁמֹנָ֤ה עָשָׂר֙ וּשְׁלֹ֣שׁ מֵא֔וֹת וַיִּרְדֹּ֖ף עַד דָּֽן
15 וַיֵּחָלֵ֨ק עֲלֵיהֶ֧ם לַ֛יְלָה ה֥וּא וַעֲבָדָ֖יו וַיַּכֵּ֑ם וַֽיִּרְדְּפֵם֙ עַד חוֹבָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר מִשְּׂמֹ֖אל לְדַמָּֽשֶׂק
16 וַיָּ֕שֶׁב אֵ֖ת כָּל הָרְכֻ֑שׁ וְגַם֩ אֶת ל֨וֹט אָחִ֤יו וּרְכֻשׁוֹ֙ הֵשִׁ֔יב וְגַ֥ם אֶת הַנָּשִׁ֖ים וְאֶת הָעָֽם
17 וַיֵּצֵ֣א מֶֽלֶךְ סְדֹם֮ לִקְרָאתוֹ֒ אַחֲרֵ֣י שׁוּב֗וֹ מֵֽהַכּוֹת֙ אֶת כְּדָרלָעֹ֔מֶר וְאֶת הַמְּלָכִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִתּ֑וֹ אֶל עֵ֣מֶק שָׁוֵ֔ה ה֖וּא עֵ֥מֶק הַמֶּֽלֶךְ
18 וּמַלְכִּי צֶ֨דֶק֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ שָׁלֵ֔ם הוֹצִ֖יא לֶ֣חֶם וָיָ֑יִן וְה֥וּא כֹהֵ֖ן לְאֵ֥ל עֶלְיֽוֹן
19 וַֽיְבָרְכֵ֖הוּ וַיֹּאמַ֑ר בָּר֤וּךְ אַבְרָם֙ לְאֵ֣ל עֶלְי֔וֹן קֹנֵ֖ה שָׁמַ֥יִם וָאָֽרֶץ
20 וּבָרוּךְ֙ אֵ֣ל עֶלְי֔וֹן אֲשֶׁר מִגֵּ֥ן צָרֶ֖יךָ בְּיָדֶ֑ךָ וַיִּתֶּן ל֥וֹ מַעֲשֵׂ֖ר מִכֹּֽל
21 וַיֹּ֥אמֶר מֶֽלֶךְ סְדֹ֖ם אֶל אַבְרָ֑ם תֶּן לִ֣י הַנֶּ֔פֶשׁ וְהָרְכֻ֖שׁ קַֽח לָֽךְ
22 וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אַבְרָ֖ם אֶל מֶ֣לֶךְ סְדֹ֑ם הֲרִימֹ֨תִי יָדִ֤י אֶל יְהוָה֙ אֵ֣ל עֶלְי֔וֹן קֹנֵ֖ה שָׁמַ֥יִם וָאָֽרֶץ
23 אִם מִחוּט֙ וְעַ֣ד שְׂרֽוֹךְ נַ֔עַל וְאִם אֶקַּ֖ח מִכָּל אֲשֶׁר לָ֑ךְ וְלֹ֣א תֹאמַ֔ר אֲנִ֖י הֶעֱשַׁ֥רְתִּי אֶת אַבְרָֽם
24 בִּלְעָדַ֗י רַ֚ק אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָֽכְל֣וּ הַנְּעָרִ֔ים וְחֵ֨לֶק֙ הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָלְכ֖וּ אִתִּ֑י עָנֵר֙ אֶשְׁכֹּ֣ל וּמַמְרֵ֔א הֵ֖ם יִקְח֥וּ חֶלְקָֽם
Notes
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Ruling 18
The names are printed in their familiar English forms; their Hebrew forms and meanings are in the names table. The four kings come from the east: Shinar is Babylonia (10:10; 11:2), Elam the land east of it, and the chapter is the Bible's first war. Older scholarship tied Amraphel to Hammurabi of Babylon, Arioch to Arriwuk of the Mari letters, Chedorlaomer to an Elamite Kudur-Lagamar, "servant of Lagamar," and Tidal to the Hittite throne-name Tudhaliya. None of the four has been found as a king in a text that names the others. Genesis Rabbah 42:4 hears in אַמְרָפֶל "he spoke (אָמַר) and threw down (הִפִּיל)," and makes him Nimrod.
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מֶלֶךְ גּוֹיִם is "king of nations," the home gloss of גּוֹי (KJV "king of nations"). The RSV and most moderns print a place-name, "Goiim." The Masoretic text gives no name. "Nations" may translate a foreign word (the Hittite or Hurrian peoples, or the Gutians), or describe a king over mixed peoples; Josh 12:23 has "the king of Goiim in Gilgal" in the same form. The home gloss keeps what the Hebrew says and leaves the identification to this note.
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The names of the five kings are not explained in the text, but the tradition hears them. Genesis Rabbah 42:5 and Rashi: Bera, "in bad" (בְּרַע), for he was bad to Heaven and to people; Birsha, "in guilt" (בְּרֶשַׁע); Shinab, "he hates the father" (שֹׂנֵא אָב); Shemeber, "he made himself wings" (שָׂם אֵבֶר) to fly up and rebel. Bera and Birsha set the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah under the "bad" of 13:13 and the CORE "guilt" of רֶשַׁע. English cannot carry the puns with the names printed in their familiar form (17), so they stay in this note. The names table has the forms.
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Ruling 2
חָבַר is "join," the root of Hebron (13:18), the city of the league: a sound the reader hears at the start of the war. "The valley of Siddim; that is the Salt Sea" is the narrator's gloss on an old name for a place that, in his day, lay under the Salt Sea, the Dead Sea. The chapter is full of such glosses: Bela "that is Zoar" (vv. 2, 8), En-mishpat "that is Kadesh" (v. 7), the valley of Shaveh "that is the King's Valley" (v. 17).
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Expected: "in the thirteenth year they rebelled" (KJV, RSV)
The number is a cardinal, וּשְׁלֹשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה "and thirteen years," set beside "twelve years they served" in the same form. Read as a span it says that the defiance lasted thirteen years; read with v. 5 it is the year of the revolt, as the KJV, RSV and the LXX (τῷ δὲ τρισκαιδεκάτῳ ἔτει) take it. The number is printed as it stands (91). מָרַד is the revolt of a vassal against his overlord (2 Kgs 18:7, 20; 24:1, 20) and of Israel against Adonai (Num 14:9; Josh 22:16–19). "Rebel" is the CORE gloss of מָרָה, so מָרַד takes "defy." b. Pesahim 94b and the tradition hear the same root in Nimrod (10:8–9), "for he made the whole world rebel."
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The peoples struck are the old giant peoples of Deut 2–3. The Rephaim are named again at 15:20 and in Deut 2:11, 20 and 3:11 (Og "of the remnant of the Rephaim"). The same word is the shades of the dead in Isa 14:9 and 26:14 and Ps 88:11: "will the Rephaim rise to praise you?" The Zuzim are perhaps the Zamzummim of Deut 2:20, and the Emim, "the terrors" (אֵימָה, 15:12), are named in Deut 2:10–11. The name is printed, not translated (80 applies to cosmic places, not peoples).
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Expected: "Ham" (KJV, RSV)
The place is הָם, with he. Noah's son is חָם, with ḥet (5:32; 9:18; 10:1, 6), and he has the English form "Ham" already. Under ruling 110 the second name takes a distinguishing spelling that stays recognisable: "Hām." The town is probably modern Ham in northern Jordan, east of the Jordan river. The LXX read the consonants as בָּהֶם "with them" (ἅμα αὐτοῖς), and the Samaritan Pentateuch has בהם too.
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אֵיל פָּארָן is a name, El-paran, the edge of the wilderness of Paran near Elath on the Gulf of Aqaba (Deut 2:8). The first word may be a great tree, of the family of אֵלוֹן and אֵלָה "terebinth" (112): the Targums and the LXX (τῆς τερεμίνθου τῆς Φαραν) read "the terebinth of Paran." The name is printed, and the tree is left to this note. "The Horite" is singular with the article, collective, like "the Amorite" (10:16); Deut 2:12, 22 tell how the sons of Esau dispossessed them. The name has been heard as "cave-dweller" (חֹר "hole").
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Ruling 18
עֵין מִשְׁפָּט "En-mishpat" is "Spring of Judgment," the CORE מִשְׁפָּט, and its later name קָדֵשׁ Kadesh is "holy." It is the oasis of the wilderness years, where Israel came to the waters of Meribah, "Quarreling" (Num 20:1, 13), the word of 13:8. Rashi, after Genesis Rabbah 42:7, says the name looks ahead to the judgment given there on Moses and Aaron. "The field of the Amalekite" names a land by a people not yet born (Amalek is Esau's grandson, 36:12): Rashi reads it as the field that would later be Amalek's. Hazazon-tamar is En-gedi, on the shore of the Salt Sea (2 Chr 20:2).
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Ruling 2
עָרַךְ is to set in order: to lay out wood on an altar (22:9), to set a table (Ps 23:5), and to draw up a battle line (1 Sam 17:2, 8). "They arrayed war" keeps the noun מִלְחָמָה "war" of v. 2 and the verb of ordering.
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Expected: "slimepits" (KJV) / "bitumen pits" (RSV)
בְּאֵר is a well, dug or found: Hagar's well (16:14; 21:19), the wells of the patriarchs (21:25–30; 26:15–33). Here the wells are of bitumen, the tar that seeps up on the shore of the Dead Sea; "bitumen wells" are what English calls oil wells. The doubling, בֶּאֱרֹת בֶּאֱרֹת "wells, wells," is the Hebrew way of saying "full of" (2 Kgs 3:16, "pits, pits"). "The king of Sodom and Gomorrah" is singular in the Hebrew, with a plural verb, and is printed so. "They fell there" may mean they fell into the pits or flung themselves into them to hide. The king of Sodom is alive in v. 17, and Genesis Rabbah 42:7 has him rescued from the bitumen by a miracle, so that the nations would believe Abram's rescue from the furnace of Ur.
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Ruling 2
The phrase "the son of Abram's brother" stands after "his gains," where it is out of place in Hebrew as in English; the dash holds it there. The narrator says what Lot is to Abram (11:27) before saying where he was living: "dwelling in Sodom," the end of the move of 13:12.
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This is the first use of עִבְרִי "Hebrew," the name foreigners use for Israelites (39:14; Exod 2:6; 1 Sam 4:6) and Israelites use for themselves before foreigners (40:15; Jonah 1:9). It is the patronymic of Eber (10:21, 24–25; 11:14–17). The LXX translates it, τῷ περάτῃ, "the one who crossed over," from עָבַר "pass over"; Genesis Rabbah 42:8 takes it the same way: the whole world stood on one side (עֵבֶר) and Abram on the other. Abram is "tenting" (שֹׁכֵן) by the terebinths, the verb of 13:12–18 (96).
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Expected: "confederate with Abram" (KJV) / "allies of Abram" (RSV)
בַּעַל is "owner": the owner of an ox (Exod 21:28–29) or a house (Exod 22:7), a husband (20:3), and with a noun of quality, a man who has it: Joseph "owner of dreams" (37:19). "Owners of the covenant of Abram" are men who hold a covenant with him. The word is also the name of the god Baal, "Owner, Lord." The covenant, בְּרִית, is the word of 6:18 and 9:9–17, held without variation; here it is a covenant between men, as at 21:27 and 26:28, one chapter before Adonai cuts a covenant with Abram (15:18).
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Expected: "armed his trained servants" (KJV) / "led forth his trained men" (RSV)
וַיָּרֶק is the hiphil of רִיק "be empty": to empty out, as a sword from its sheath (Exod 15:9, "I will empty my sword"; Lev 26:33; Ezek 5:2, 12) or grain from sacks (42:35). Abram empties his house of its fighting men. The Samaritan Pentateuch has וידק, which may mean "crushed" or "mustered," and the LXX ἠρίθμησεν "numbered," from a reading with ד for ר. The Masoretic text is printed in its plain sense; "armed" and "led forth" are guesses at the sense from the context.
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חֲנִיכִים is found only here. It is from חָנַךְ "train, dedicate" (Prov 22:6; Deut 20:5), the root of Enoch's name (4:17). A letter from Taanach (15th century BCE) uses ḫanakū for a chief's armed retainers, which supports "trained ones." "Born ones of his house," יְלִידֵי בֵיתוֹ, are slaves born in the household, not bought (17:12–13, 23, 27; Lev 22:11). The number is in Hebrew order (91), eighteen and three hundred. b. Nedarim 32a and Genesis Rabbah 43:2 note that the letters of Eliezer (15:2) add up to 318, and say Abram went out with Eliezer alone. The Epistle of Barnabas (9:8) reads the Greek numerals for 318, ΤΙΗ, as the cross (Τ) and the first letters of Jesus (ΙΗ).
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Ruling 18
Dan is the town that the tribe of Dan took and renamed when it moved north (Judg 18:29, "Laish before"), so the name is the later one, as "the field of the Amalekite" is (v. 7). דָּן is also the participle "holding court" (15:14; 30:6, "Elohim has held court for me"): the war is pursued to "Judgment."
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Expected: "divided himself against them" (KJV) / "divided his forces" (RSV)
וַיֵּחָלֵק is the niphal of חָלַק "divide, apportion," the verb of the noun חֵלֶק "portion" in v. 24. "Divide" is פָּלַג's (10:25). Abram "portioned himself": he split his men into parties, as Gideon (Judg 7:16) and Saul (1 Sam 11:11) did for a night attack. Genesis Rabbah 43:3 reads "the night was portioned" for him, the night of the Exodus, when at midnight Adonai struck the firstborn (Exod 12:29). The verb is set beside "the portion of the men" (v. 24), so that the men who went out in parts come back for their part. Hobah lies "on the left of Damascus," that is, to its north (see the note at 13:9).
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Ruling 34
עֲבָדָיו are the "born ones of his house" of v. 14: slaves born in the household. Ruling 34 prints "slave" when the person is owned, as here.
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Ruling 18
עֵמֶק שָׁוֵה "the valley of Shaveh," that is "the valley of the level," is glossed by the narrator as "the Valley of the King." Absalom set up a pillar there (2 Sam 18:18). Josephus places it near Jerusalem (Antiquities 7.243), which fits the next verse, where the king of Salem comes out.
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מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק is "my king is justice" or "king of justice," with the CORE צֶדֶק; Heb 7:2 reads it as "king of justice" and Salem as "peace" (שָׁלוֹם). A king of Jerusalem in Josh 10:1 is Adoni-zedek, "my lord is justice." Salem is Jerusalem in Ps 76:3 ("his tent is in Salem, his dwelling in Zion"); the Genesis Apocryphon (1QapGen 22:13) and Josephus (Antiquities 1.180) say so too. Melchizedek is named again only in Ps 110:4, "you are a priest to the age after the manner of Melchizedek," which Heb 5–7 takes up. Christian readers from Cyprian (Epistle 63.4) saw the bread and wine as a figure of the Eucharist. The rabbis saw them as provisions for a weary army, or as the showbread and the libations (Genesis Rabbah 43:6), and some made Melchizedek Shem, son of Noah (Targum Neofiti; b. Nedarim 32b). b. Nedarim 32b adds that the priesthood was taken from him and given to Abram, because he blessed Abram before he blessed El. The text says neither. It gives no father, no mother and no end, the silence on which Heb 7:3 builds.
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אֵל עֶלְיוֹן is printed "El Elyon," a divine name (9). אֵל is the common Semitic word for a god and the name of the high god of Canaan; עֶלְיוֹן is "uppermost," the adjective of the upper pool and the upper chamber (2 Kgs 18:17; Ezek 42:5) and, as a title, the Most High (Num 24:16; Deut 32:8; Ps 78:35, "El Elyon their redeemer"). The Phoenician history of Philo of Byblos names a god "Elioun, called the Most High." The WPRB prints "God Most High." Melchizedek is priest "to" El Elyon, the לְ of belonging.
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Melchizedek's blessing is two verbless clauses in parallel, "Blessed Abram to El Elyon… and blessed El Elyon." The clauses stay verbless, as blessings do (65; Ps 1:1). The verses are not lined: the Leningrad Codex writes them as prose, and v. 20 goes on with narrative, so ruling 81(b) is not used. The two halves turn on one word: the blessing passes from Abram to El Elyon. בָּרוּךְ … לְ, "blessed to," is the formula of Ruth 2:20 and 1 Sam 15:13, "blessed you to Adonai."
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Expected: "possessor of heaven and earth" (KJV) / "maker of heaven and earth" (RSV)
קֹנֵה is the participle of the CORE קָנָה "acquire," Eve's verb at 4:1. The KJV reads ownership; the RSV reads creation, from Ugaritic qny, which is used of the goddess Athirat, "creatress of the gods," and from the Phoenician of Karatepe, ʾl qn ʾrṣ, "El, qoneh of the land." The LXX has ὃς ἔκτισεν, "who created," and so the Vulgate qui creavit. The same choice divides the readers of Deut 32:6 ("is he not your father who acquired you?") and of Prov 8:22, where Adonai "acquired" wisdom. "Acquirer" is the core gloss, and it holds both getting by making and getting by owning, so the crux is not settled (1, 93). The phrase is used again by Abram in v. 22.
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Ruling 17
מִגֵּן "delivered" is the piel of a verb that sounds like מָגֵן "shield": Adonai's first words to Abram in the next chapter are "I am a shield (מָגֵן) to you" (15:1). Prov 4:9 and Hos 11:8 use the same verb of handing over. English cannot keep "deliver" and "shield" in one sound, so the pun stays in this note (17). צַר "foe" is the adversary who presses hard.
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"And he gave him a tithe from all" has no named subject. The reading of Heb 7:2–6 and of the Genesis Apocryphon (1QapGen 22:17), that Abram gave the tithe to the priest, is the common one, and the Abram of v. 23, who takes nothing from the spoils, is the giver of a tithe of them. The Hebrew allows Melchizedek as the giver, and a few modern readers take it so. English "he… him" keeps the Hebrew's openness. מַעֲשֵׂר is the tithe of Jacob's vow (28:22) and of the law (Lev 27:30–32; Num 18:21).
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Expected: "the persons" (KJV, RSV)
הַנֶּפֶשׁ is singular, a collective: the living people taken in the raid, as "the soul they had made in Harran" (12:5). The CORE gloss "soul" is held. The WPRB has "the people" (mechanical rule 4). The king of Sodom offers Abram the goods and asks for the souls, the reverse of what a victor would expect.
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Expected: "I have lift up mine hand" (KJV) / "I have sworn" (RSV)
הֲרִימֹתִי is the hiphil of רוּם "be high": "I have made high my hand," the gesture of an oath. Adonai swears the same way with נָשָׂא "lift" (Exod 6:8; Deut 32:40, "I lift my hand to the sky"); the man in linen raises both hands to swear (Dan 12:7). The RSV's "I have sworn" gives the sense and loses the hand. Abram swears by "Adonai, El Elyon": he names his own god by the name the priest of Salem has used. The LXX (πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τὸν ὕψιστον) and the Genesis Apocryphon (1QapGen 22:21) do not have the Tetragrammaton here, and the Samaritan Pentateuch has הָאֱלֹהִים.
- Decision↩ Back to the text
Expected: "That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine" (KJV) / "that I would not take a thread or a sandal-thong or anything that is yours" (RSV)
Ruling 21
אִם … וְאִם is the oath formula: "if I do this—" with the curse left unspoken (21; 1 Kgs 1:51). An oath with אִם is a denial: "if I take" means "I will not take." The KJV and RSV supply the negative. The literal "if" is printed and the oath stops where the Hebrew stops. The span מִחוּט וְעַד שְׂרוֹךְ נַעַל is a range opened by מִן, "from a thread to a sandal strap" (103): from the least to the least but one.
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Ruling 2
הֶעֱשַׁרְתִּי "I made rich," the hiphil of עָשַׁר. The emphatic אֲנִי, "I, I," is kept. Abram will not owe his wealth (13:2) to Sodom. When Adonai speaks to him next, it is about a wage (15:1).
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Ruling 2
בִּלְעָדַי "apart from me" is an exclamation: "Not for me!" Joseph answers Pharaoh with the same word, "Apart from me! Elohim will answer" (41:16). The exceptions follow: what the lads have eaten, and the portion of the allies of v. 13. נַעַר "lad" is a young man, and also a young man in service (22:3; Judg 7:10).
Tables
Names in Genesis 14 (ruling 18; reached from ).
| WPB | Hebrew | Meaning and reference |
|---|---|---|
| Amraphel | אַמְרָפֶל ʾAmrafel | Unexplained; once linked to Hammurabi; Genesis Rabbah 42:4 makes him Nimrod |
| Shinar | שִׁנְעָר Shinʿar | Babylonia (10:10; 11:2) |
| Arioch | אַרְיוֹךְ ʾAryokh | Compare Arriwuk at Mari; also Nebuchadnezzar's captain (Dan 2:14) |
| Ellasar | אֶלָּסָר ʾEllasar | Unidentified; perhaps Larsa in Babylonia |
| Chedorlaomer | כְּדָרְלָעֹמֶר Kedorlaʿomer | Elamite in form, Kudur-Lagamar, "servant of Lagamar" |
| Elam | עֵילָם ʿElam | The land east of Babylonia (10:22) |
| Tidal | תִּדְעָל Tidʿal | Compare the Hittite throne-name Tudhaliya |
| Bera | בֶּרַע Beraʿ | Heard as "in bad" (Genesis Rabbah 42:5) |
| Birsha | בִּרְשַׁע Birshaʿ | Heard as "in guilt" (Genesis Rabbah 42:5) |
| Shinab | שִׁנְאָב Shinʾav | Heard as "he hates the father" (Rashi) |
| Shemeber | שֶׁמְאֵבֶר Shemʾever | Heard as "he made himself wings" (Rashi) |
| Admah | אַדְמָה ʾAdmah | With Zeboiim, overthrown with Sodom (Deut 29:22; Hos 11:8) |
| Zeboiim | צְבֹיִים Ṣevoyim (qere) | Written צביים, read צְבוֹיִים (19) |
| Bela | בֶּלַע Belaʿ | "Swallowing" (בָּלַע); the old name of Zoar |
| Siddim | שִׂדִּים Siddim | Unexplained; the valley under the Salt Sea |
| Rephaim | רְפָאִים Refaʾim | An old giant people (Deut 2:11; 3:11); also the shades of the dead (Isa 14:9) |
| Ashteroth-karnaim | עַשְׁתְּרֹת קַרְנַיִם ʿAshterot Qarnayim | "Astartes of the two horns"; in Bashan (Deut 1:4) |
| Zuzim | זוּזִים Zuzim | Perhaps the Zamzummim (Deut 2:20) |
| Hām | הָם Ham | With he, distinct from חָם Ham, son of Noah (110) |
| Emim | אֵימִים ʾEmim | "Terrors" (Deut 2:10–11) |
| Shaveh-kiriathaim | שָׁוֵה קִרְיָתַיִם Shaweh Qiryatayim | "Plain of the twin towns" |
| Horite | חֹרִי Ḥori | Singular, collective; heard as "cave-dweller" (Deut 2:12, 22) |
| Seir | שֵׂעִיר Seʿir | "Hairy," the hill country of Edom (32:4; 36:8) |
| El-paran | אֵיל פָּארָן ʾEl Paran | Perhaps "terebinth of Paran" (LXX) |
| En-mishpat | עֵין מִשְׁפָּט ʿEn Mishpaṭ | "Spring of Judgment"; Kadesh |
| Kadesh | קָדֵשׁ Qadesh | "Holy"; Kadesh-barnea (Num 20:1; 32:8) |
| Amalekite | עֲמָלֵקִי ʿAmaleqi | Descended from Esau's grandson Amalek (36:12) |
| Hazazon-tamar | חַצְצֹן תָּמָר Ḥaṣṣon Tamar | "Hazazon of the palm"; En-gedi (2 Chr 20:2) |
| Hebrew | עִבְרִי ʿIvri | Patronymic of Eber (10:21); LXX "the one who crossed over" |
| Eshcol | אֶשְׁכֹּל ʾEshkol | "Cluster" (of grapes; Num 13:23–24) |
| Aner | עָנֵר ʿAner | Unexplained |
| Dan | דָּן Dan | "Judge, hold court" (30:6); the later name of Laish (Judg 18:29) |
| Hobah | חוֹבָה Ḥovah | Unidentified; north of Damascus |
| Damascus | דַּמֶּשֶׂק Dammeseq | The Aramean city; see the note at 15:2 |
| Shaveh | שָׁוֵה Shaweh | "Level"; the King's Valley (2 Sam 18:18) |
| Melchizedek | מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק Malki-Ṣedeq | "My king is justice" or "king of justice" (Heb 7:2; Ps 110:4) |
| Salem | שָׁלֵם Shalem | Jerusalem (Ps 76:3); "peace" (Heb 7:2), and the root of שָׁלֵם "complete" (15:16) |
Words in this chapter (134)
| Word | Gloss | Instead of | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| אַרְיוֹךְ | Arioch | Arioch | Names table |
| אַמְרָפֶל | Amraphel | Amraphel | Names table |
| תִּדְעָל | Tidal | Tidal | Names table |
| שִׁנְעָר | Shinar | Shinar | Babylonia. Names table |
| כְּדָרְלָעֹמֶר | Chedorlaomer | Chedorlaomer | Names table |
| עֵילָם | Elam | Elam | Names table |
| הָיָה | be; become (with לְ) | be | "Let light be," "and it was thus"; the LXX version has γίνομαι "come to be". With לְ of the result, "become" by construction: "became a living soul" (2:7), "become a flood" (9:15) |
| יוֹם | day | day / night | |
| אֶלָּסָר | Ellasar | Ellasar | Names table |
| גּוֹי | nation | nation | The peoples of the Table (10:5, 20, 31–32); "a great nation" (12:2). Kept apart from עַם "people" (11:6) |
| מֶלֶךְ | king | king | The noun; the verb מָלַךְ "reign" is H4427. made reign" belongs to the verb and is not adopted |
| סְדֹם | Sodom | Sodom | Names table |
| עָשָׂה | make / do | make / do | Split by construction: "make" with an object made, "do" with an act or "thus." Declared in the guide §3.4 |
| אַדְמָה | Admah | Admah | Names table |
| מִלְחָמָה | war | war / battle | "Made war" (14:2); "arrayed war" (14:8) |
| בֶּרַע | Bera | Bera | Names table |
| בֶּלַע | Bela | Bela | The old name of Zoar. Names table |
| שִׁנְאָב | Shinab | Shinab | Names table |
| עֲמֹרָה | Gomorrah | Gomorrah | Names table |
| צְבֹיִים | Zeboiim | Zeboim / Zeboiim | Names table |
| בִּרְשַׁע | Birsha | Birsha | Names table |
| צֹעַר | Zoar | Zoar | "Small" (19:20–22); also Bela (14:2, 8). Names table |
| שֶׁמְאֵבֶר | Shemeber | Shemeber | Names table |
| מֶלַח | salt | salt | The Salt Sea (14:3; Num 34:3); a pillar of salt (19:26) |
| חָבַר | join | join | The root of Hebron (13:18) |
| יָם | sea, seas | sea, seas | |
| עֵמֶק | valley | vale / valley | A broad valley (14:3, 8, 10, 17; Josh 10:12) |
| שִׂדִּים | Siddim | Siddim | Names table |
| מָרַד | defy | rebel | Revolt against an overlord (14:4; 2 Kgs 18:7) or against Adonai (Num 14:9; Josh 22:16–19). "Rebel" is the CORE gloss of מָרָה |
| שָׁלוֹשׁ | three | three | |
| עָשָׂר | -teen (in 11–19) | -teen | Only in compound numbers 11–19; printed as the English teen numeral ("twelve," "fifteen," 5:8, 10). See the note at 5:3 |
| עָבַד | serve | till / dress | Ruling 34 keeps the verb "serve" with every object. With "the ground" (2:5; 3:23; 4:2, 12) the collocation is tilling; with "keep" (2:15) it is the Levites' service of the tent (Num 3:7–8; 18:5–7). The chain wins (37); notes give the local sense. |
| שָׁנָה | year | year | |
| שְׁנַיִם | two | two | |
| הָם | Hām | Ham | A distinguishing spelling under ruling 110, against חָם Ham. Names table |
| בּוֹא | come (qal); bring (hiphil) | bring | Split by stem. "Bring out" is יָצָא hiphil, "bring up" עָלָה hiphil |
| זוּזִים | Zuzim | Zuzims / Zuzim | Names table |
| נָכָה | strike (hiphil) | kill / smite | A blow that may or may not kill (Exod 21:12, 15, 18–19). Kept apart from הָרַג "kill." "Bruise" and "crush" are left for 3:15 |
| עַשְׁתְּרֹת | Ashteroth-karnaim | Ashteroth Karnaim | Names table |
| קִרְיָתַיִם | Kiriathaim | Kiriathaim | In Shaveh-kiriathaim (14:5). Names table |
| אֵימִים | Emim | Emims / Emim | Names table |
| שָׁוֵה | Shaveh | Shaveh | "Level." Names table |
| אַרְבַּע | four | four | |
| רְפָאִים | Rephaim | Rephaims / Rephaim | A people (14:5; 15:20; Deut 2:11), and the shades (Isa 14:9; 26:14). Names table |
| מִדְבָּר | wilderness | wilderness | Open grazing land, not desert sand: the wilderness of Paran, Sinai, Judah |
| שֵׂעִיר | Seir | Seir | "Hairy"; Edom (32:4; 36:8). Names table |
| עַד | until; to (מִן…עַד range); as far as (space) | till / until | Split by construction (20): "from human to beast" (6:7; 7:23); "as far as" elsewhere in space; "until" in time |
| הַר | mountain | mountain | |
| אֵיל | El-paran | El-paran | The first word may be a great tree (112). Names table |
| חֹרִי | Horite | Horites | Singular with the article, collective. Names table |
| חַצְצֹן | Hazazon-tamar | Hazezon-tamar | En-gedi (2 Chr 20:2). Names table |
| שׁוּב | return (qal) | return | Going back to where one came from: "to dust you shall return" (3:19); in the prophets the verb of turning back to Adonai, which "return" keeps |
| עֲמָלֵקִי | Amalekite | Amalekites | Singular with the article, collective. Names table |
| אֱמֹרִי | Amorite | Amorite | Singular with the article, collective (10:16), as in the Hebrew. Names table |
| שָׂדֶה | field | field | Open country, tilled or wild; חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה "the living thing of the field" is the wild animal (3:1, 14) |
| עֵין | En-mishpat | En-mishpat | "Spring of Judgment." Names table |
| קָדֵשׁ | Kadesh | Kadesh | "Holy." Names table |
| יָשַׁב | sit (posture); dwell (with a place) | dwell | Split by construction (20). "Settle" is H3240's; שָׁכַן will need its own word |
| יָצָא | go out (qal) / bring out (hiphil) | bring forth | Split by stem. The hiphil is the Exodus verb (Exod 20:2 "who brought you out"); here the land is its first subject |
| עָרַךְ | array | join battle / set in order | To set in order: wood (22:9), a table (Ps 23:5), a battle line (1 Sam 17:8) |
| חָמֵשׁ | five | five | |
| חֵמָר | bitumen | slime / bitumen | The tar of the pits of Siddim (14:10) and of the basket of Moses (Exod 2:3) |
| נוּס | flee | flee | 14:10; 39:12 |
| בְּאֵר | well | pit / well | A dug or found well (16:14; 21:19, 25–30; 26:15–33); bitumen wells (14:10) |
| שָׁאַר | be left | remain | The remnant word (7:23; Isa 4:3; 11:11) |
| נָפַל | fall (qal); make fall (hiphil) | cause to fall | Split by stem. A trance "falls" on Abram (15:12) and on Saul's camp (1 Sam 26:12) |
| אֹכֶל | food | victuals / provisions | "Eating" is אָכְלָה's, "fare" מַאֲכָל's (see אָכַל) |
| יָלַךְ | go | go | The forms Strong's files apart from הָלַךְ (H1980): one verb, so it takes הָלַךְ's qal gloss |
| לָקַח | take | take | The verb of 2:21–23 ("taken from the man," "from Man this one was taken") and 3:19, 23 ("from it you were taken"); 5:24, "Elohim took him" |
| רְכוּשׁ | gains | substance / possessions | Movable goods and herds (12:5; 13:6; 15:14). Cognate with רָכַשׁ; the pair is raised in the report |
| אָח | brother | brother | Seven times for Abel in 4:2–11; "my brother's keeper" (4:9); also kinsman (13:8; 29:15) |
| אַבְרָם | Abram | Abram | "The father is exalted"; Abraham from 17:5. Names table |
| לוֹט | Lot | Lot | Names table |
| בֵּן | son | son / children | Wave lexicon. The plural is also children of both sexes; the gloss is held, and "sons and daughters" (5:4) are named apart. See the note at 3:16 |
| עָנֵר | Aner | Aner | Names table |
| פָּלִיט | escapee | one that had escaped / fugitive | One who has got away (14:13; Ezek 24:26) |
| אֶשְׁכֹּל | Eshcol | Eshcol | "Cluster" (Num 13:23–24). Names table |
| אֵלוֹן | terebinth | plain / oak | A great tree at a holy place (12:6; 13:18; 18:1; Judg 9:37). The field is fixed as a set (112): אֵלוֹן and אֵלָה "terebinth" (one family, declared), אַלּוֹן "oak" |
| מַמְרֵא | Mamre | Mamre | The terebinths near Hebron, and the Amorite ally (14:13, 24). Names table |
| שָׁכַן | tent (qal); make tent (hiphil) | dwell / place | The sanctuary's verb (Exod 25:8; 29:45–46) and its noun מִשְׁכָּן; John 1:14 ἐσκήνωσεν. "Dwell" is יָשַׁב's (96). See the note at 3:24 |
| בְּרִית | covenant | covenant | A binding agreement, between humans (21:27; 1 Sam 18:3) and from Elohim (6:18; 9:9–17; 17). Held through 9:9–17 without variation. "Make stand" a covenant (hiphil of קוּם, 6:18); "cut" one (15:18) |
| נָגַד | tell | tell | To put in front of, to declare: the verb of נֶגֶד "opposite" (2:18); "who told you?" (3:11) |
| בַּעַל | owner | lord / husband / ally | Owner of an ox (Exod 21:28), husband (20:3), "owner of dreams" (37:19); "owners of the covenant" (14:13). Also the god Baal |
| עִבְרִי | Hebrew | Hebrew | Patronymic of Eber (10:21); LXX "the one who crossed over." Names table |
| חָנִיךְ | trained one | trained servant | Only here; from חָנַךְ "train" (Prov 22:6). See the note at 14:14 |
| מֵאָה | hundred | hundred | Singular "a hundred," plural forms "hundred" (eight hundred). Written in the Hebrew order of its number (see the note at 5:3) |
| רָדַף | pursue | pursue | 14:14–15; 31:23; Exod 14:4–9 |
| שָׁמַע | hear | hear / hearken | Wave lexicon. שָׁמַע לְקוֹל "hear the voice of" (3:17; 16:2); "Hear, Israel" (Deut 6:4) |
| בַּיִת | house; within (מִבַּיִת) | house / within | Split by construction (20): "house" and household (7:1); מִבַּיִת "from within" (6:14; Exod 25:11) |
| שְׁמֹנֶה | eight | eight | |
| שָׁבָה | capture; be captured (niphal) | take captive | 14:14; 31:26; 34:29 |
| רִיק | empty out (hiphil) | arm / lead forth | To empty a sword from its sheath (Exod 15:9; Ezek 5:2) or a sack (42:35). See the note at 14:14 |
| דָּן | Dan | Dan | The town; also "hold court" (דִּין, 30:6). Names table |
| יָלִיד | born one | born | A slave born in the household (14:14; 17:12–13); "born" is of the root of יָלַד |
| לַיְלָה | night | day / night | |
| חָלַק | portion (v.); be portioned (niphal) | divide | The verb of חֵלֶק "portion." "Divide" is פָּלַג's. See the note at 14:15 |
| שְׂמֹאל | left (the hand and the side) | left hand | Facing east, the left is the north (14:15) |
| דַּמֶּשֶׂק | Damascus | Damascus | Names table; the sound play at 15:2 |
| חוֹבָה | Hobah | Hobah | Names table |
| עֶבֶד | slave (owned, acquired, sold); servant (deferential, royal, divine service) | servant | "a slave of slaves" (9:25). The verb עָבַד stays "serve" |
| עַם | people | people | Kept apart from גּוֹי "nation" (10:5) |
| אִשָּׁה | woman | husband; wife | |
| קִרְאָה | meet (to meet) | meet / against | Only in לִקְרַאת "to meet," "toward" (14:17; 15:10) |
| אַחַר | after (time); behind (place) | after | Split by construction (20): of time with an infinitive or a noun ("after he produced Seth," 5:4); of place ("behind the wilderness," Exod 3:1) |
| כֹּהֵן | priest | priest | Melchizedek (14:18), Potiphera (41:45), Jethro (Exod 2:16), Aaron's line |
| מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק | Melchizedek | Melchizedek | "My king is justice" (Heb 7:2; Ps 110:4). Names table |
| אֵל | El | God | A divine name (9): El Elyon (14:18–22), El Shaddai (17:1), El Roi (16:13), El Bethel (35:7). The WPRB has "God" |
| יַיִן | wine | wine | |
| לֶחֶם | bread | bread | Bread, and food in general (3:19; Ps 104:14–15; 1 Kgs 5:2); the concrete word is kept |
| שָׁלֵם | Salem | Salem | Jerusalem (Ps 76:3). Names table |
| עֶלְיוֹן | Elyon (as a divine name); upper (adj.) | most high / upper | Split by construction (20): with אֵל or alone as a title, the name Elyon (14:18–22; Num 24:16; Deut 32:8); of places and things, "upper" (2 Kgs 18:17). The WPRB has "Most High" |
| בָּרַךְ | bless | bless | Core table |
| אֶרֶץ | land | earth | |
| קָנָה | acquire | buy; possess | |
| שָׁמַיִם | sky, skies | heaven | |
| אָמַר | say | say | |
| צַר | foe | enemy | The adversary who presses hard; "enemy" is left for אֹיֵב |
| נָתַן | give | give / set / put | Home gloss held through the chapter (vv. 17, 29). Departures allowed with a note where "give" would create a false sense |
| מַעֲשֵׂר | tithe | tithes / tenth | The tenth given (14:20; 28:22; Lev 27:30–32). "Tenth" is the ordinal עֲשִׂירִי |
| יָד | hand | hand | Wave lexicon. Also power and agency ("from the hand of," 9:5); to "send the hand" is to reach for or against (3:22; 22:10) |
| מָגַן | deliver (piel) | deliver | Sounds like מָגֵן "shield" (15:1); Prov 4:9; Hos 11:8 |
| נֶפֶשׁ | soul | life; creature | |
| רוּם | be high (qal); make high (hiphil) | be lifted up | Split by stem (120): "I have made high my hand" (14:22). "High and lifted up" (Isa 6:1). The run lexicon's seed "thrones were thrown" belongs to Aramaic רְמָה (Dan 7:9); departed from, see the report |
| עָשַׁר | be rich (qal); make rich (hiphil) | make rich | 14:23; 1 Sam 2:7 |
| חוּט | thread | thread | The scarlet thread (Josh 2:18; Song 4:3) |
| שְׂרוֹךְ | strap | latchet / thong | A sandal strap (14:23; Isa 5:27) |
| נַעַל | sandal | shoe / sandal | "Take your sandal from your foot" (Exod 3:5) |
| רַק | solely | only | Restrictive particle (6:5). "Only" is kept for אַךְ (by frequency, 33) |
| הָלַךְ | go (qal); walk about (hithpael) | go | Split by stem. Kept apart from יָצָא "go out" and עָלָה "go up." The hithpael is Adonai Elohim "walking about" in the garden (3:8) and Enoch and Noah walking with Elohim (5:22, 24; 6:9) |
| נַעַר | lad | young man | A boy, a young man, a young man in service (22:3; 37:2; Judg 7:10) |
| חֵלֶק | portion | portion | A share of spoil, land or lot (14:24; 31:14; Num 18:20 "I am your portion") |
| בִּלְעֲדֵי | apart from | save / nothing but | "Apart from me!" (14:24; 41:16) |
| אִישׁ | man | husband; wife | |
| אָכַל | eat | eat | Infinitive absolute kept: "eating you may eat" (2:16; Gen 1. "Eating" as a noun is אָכְלָה, "fare" מַאֲכָל, "food" אֹכֶל |