Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 14
CHAP. XIV. Four kings, having conquered five kings of Canaan, take Lot captive. Abram, with his servants, pursues and vanquishes them, and delivers Lot. Melchizedek blesseth Abram. read more
Genesis 14
Thomas Coke
Thomas Coke
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 14:1
Genesis 14:1. And it came to pass, &c.— The Vulgate renders it, and it came to pass in those days, that Amraphel, &c. a translation which Houbigant follows and approves. It is very difficult to give any satisfactory account of the persons here mentioned. For my own part, I cannot help being very strongly of opinion, that these four kings were only petty monarchs, like those mentioned in the next verse; and not such illustrious princes as those of Persia and Babylon. Or, if we suppose... read more
Thomas Coke
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 14:2
Genesis 14:2. Made war with Bera, &c.— These five kings were lords of the country, called Pentapolis, from their five cities, which stood in that rich and then fertile valley of Siddim, which is now the Salt-sea; so called from the great quantity of salt or bitumen wherewith it is impregnated. We call it the Dead-sea (Deuteronomy 29:23.); for it is of so strong a consistence, that the winds have not so much power over it, as over the waters, in common. The Hebrews call any large body of... read more
Thomas Coke
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 14:5
Genesis 14:5. The Rephaims— The LXX and some others render this, the giants: they dwelt in Ashteroth-Karnaim, which was in Bashan, Deuteronomy 1:4.Joshua 9:10; Joshua 9:10. The word Karnaim signifying horned, some have supposed that this was the city of Ashteroth or Diana, dedicated to the moon, which, is always represented horned. The Zuzims are supposed to have lived in the country afterwards inhabited by the Ammonites, east of Canaan, Deuteronomy 2:20. The Emims joined on the south to the... read more
Thomas Coke
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 14:7
Genesis 14:7. They returned, and came— i.e.. The kings mentioned Gen 14:5 returned from the conquest of the people enumerated in the foregoing verses, and then came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, a city in the frontiers of Idumaea, near the place where the Israelites afterwards murmured for want of water, and where God supplied them with water out of the rock En-mishpat, which signifies the fountain of judgment, might probably be so called, because judgment was there administered to the... read more
Thomas Coke
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 14:10
Genesis 14:10. Vale of Siddim was full of slime-pits, &c.— Pits of (חמר see Genesis 11:3.) bitumen, which abounded much in that country. The Dead-sea, as we have observed before, contained a great quantity of this matter, and was thence called the Lake of Asphaltus, or Bitumen. See note on Genesis 11:2. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, in their flight, fell into some of these pits, whence one of them at least, the king of Sodom, was preserved, as we read of him again, Genesis 11:17. read more
Thomas Coke
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 14:11
Genesis 14:11. And they— That is, the victors. REFLECTIONS.—This is the first war recorded in sacred history. Chedorlaomer, with his confederates, attacks the kings who, refused to continue tributaries to him, routs their forces, plunders their cities, and, among the rest of the captives, carries away Lot, for whose sake this victory is recorded. And now Lot began to see the folly of his choice, and to share in the evil of his bad fellow-citizens. Observe, 1. Pride and ambition are the great... read more
Thomas Coke
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 14:13
Genesis 14:13. Abram, the Hebrew— It is disputed whether Abram was called the Hebrew from his father Eber, or as coming from beyond the river Euphrates. Those who are inclined to the first, urge, that it was usual to denominate nations and people from some great progenitor; and as Eber was the father of this branch, it was natural to denominate Abram, and so his faithful descendants, from him: that if Abram had been so called only from passing the Euphrates, the name would not have descended to... read more
Thomas Coke
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 14:14
Genesis 14:14. He armed his trained servants— The original word for armed, ירק iarek, may signify to lead or draw forth to battle; but Houbigant thinks the Samaritan reading the true one, in agreement with the LXX, which renders it ηριθμησε, he numbered; and might be rendered in French, says he, faire la revue, to make a review. He renders it in his translation recensuit. According to this, Abram made a review of his servants or domestics, who had been born in his house, and whom he had trained... read more
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Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Genesis 14:21-24
ABRAM AND THE KING OF SODOM"And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lifted up my hand unto Jehovah, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread nor a shoe-latchet nor aught that is thine, lest thou shouldst say, I have made Abram rich: save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of them that went with me, Aner, Eschol, and Mamre; let them take their... read more