Genesis 14

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:6

And the Horites . Literally, dwelling in caves ; from char, a cave. In their mount Seir. Literally, wooded (Gesenius); hairy (Furst); rugged (Lange); probably with reference to the thick brushwood and forests that grew upon its sides. The cave men of Seir were the earlier inhabitants of the region lying between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Elam, afterwards taken possession of by the Edomites ( Deuteronomy 2:12 ; Jeremiah 49:16 ; Obadiah 1:3 , Obadiah 1:4 ). Unto El-paran I ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:7

And they returned —from the oak of Paran, the southernmost point reached by the invaders— and came to En-mishpat —the Well of Judgment, regarded as a prolepsis by those who derive the name from the judgment pronounced on Moses and Aaron ( À Lapide); but more probably the ancient designation of the town, which was so styled because the townsmen and villagers settled their disputes at the well in its neighborhood (Kalisch)— which is Kadesh , of which ( Numbers 20:14 ) the exact site... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:8-9

And there went out (to resist the onslaught of the victorious Asiatics) the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar ); ( i.e. the five revolted monarchs of the Pentapolis) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim ( vide Genesis 14:3 ); with Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:10

And the vale of Siddim was full of slime-pits . Literally, was pits, pits (cf. 2 Kings 3:16 ; Ezekiel 42:12 for examples of repeated nouns) of slime, bitumen or asphalte, and therefore unfavorable for flight. "Some of the wells near the Dead Sea are 116 feet deep, with a stratum of bitumen fifteen feet in depth, and as black as jet" (Inglis). And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell there. Stumbled into the pits and perished (Keil, Lange, Murphy), though if the king of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:11

And they (the conquering kings) took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way, ascending up the valley of the Jordan en route for Damascus. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:12

And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom. The last view of Lot saw him driving off his flocks and herds from Bethel. It betokens a considerable declension in spiritual life to behold him a citizen of Sodom. And his goods (all the property he had acquired through his selfish choice of the Jordan circle), and departed. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:12

The capture of Lot, or Nemesis pursuing, sin. I. AN EXAMPLE OF THE BITTER FRUITS OF WAR . 1. War is sometimes justifiable in its origin and objects . When undertaken to achieve or preserve national independence, to vindicate the liberties and secure the rights of men, or to repel the aggressions of ambitious despots, even war with all its bloody horrors may become an imperious and fierce necessity. It is difficult to determine whether on either side the campaign in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:13

And there came one that had escaped . Literally, the fugitive party , the article denoting the genus, as in "the Canaanite,'' Genesis 12:6 . And told Abram the Hebrew. "The immigrant" trans fluvialis , ὁ περάτης, from beyond the Euphrates, if applied to the patriarch by the inhabitants of Palestine ( LXX ; Aquila, Origen, Vulgate, Keil, Lange, Kalisch); but more probably, if simply inserted by the historian to distinguish Abram from Mature the Amorite, "the descendant of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:13-16

The kinsman deliverer, or Abram's military expedition. I. ABRAM 'S ELEVATED PIETY . 1. Self-forgetful magnanimity . Had the patriarch possessed a less noble soul, the tidings of his nephew's capture would almost certainly have kindled in his breast a secret feeling of complacency. But not only in his behavior on the occasion was there the complete absence of any such revengeful disposition as gloats with satisfaction over the punishment of a wrong-doer, there was something... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:13-16

Abram's expedition a sermon for the New Testament Church. I. THE LITTLE ARMY ; emblematic of the handful of Christ's disciples at the first, and of the comparative feebleness of the Church still; yet "God's strength is ever made perfect in weakness," and so "the weakness of God becomes stronger than men." II. THE TRUSTY CONFEDERATES ; regarding the Amorite chieftains as possessors of the true faith, suggestive of the united purpose and action by which the Church of Christ... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:6

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:7

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:8-9

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:10

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:11

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:12

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:12

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:13

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:13-16

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:13-16

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