Genesis 14:5-7

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 14:1-12

We have here an account of the first war that ever we read of in scripture, which (though the wars of the nations make the greatest figure in history) we should not have had the history of if Abram and Lot had not been concerned in it. Now, concerning this war, we may observe, I. The parties engaged in it. The invaders were four kings, two of them no less than kings of Shinar and Elam (that is, Chaldea and Persia), yet probably not the sovereign princes of those great kingdoms in their own... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 14:5

And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer ,.... Not in the fourteenth year of their rebellion against him, as Jarchi, but from their becoming vassals to him: and the kings that were with him ; those kings before mentioned: and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim ; which were in their way to Sodom, &c.; and very probably were confederates with the five kings; the Targum, and so the Septuagint, render the word "giants", as it is in Deuteronomy 2:11 ; but they were one of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 14:6

And the Horites in their Mount Seir ,.... Or the Horim who dwelt in Mount Seir, so called from Seir the Horite, who continued here till they were drove out by the sons of Esau or Edom, from whom their country was afterwards called Edom or Idumea, see Genesis 36:20 Deuteronomy 2:12 , unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness ; so far these Horites inhabited, and the four kings smote all they met with unto this place, which was either the plain or oak of Paran, near a wilderness of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 14:7

And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh ,.... Pursuing their victories as far as Elparan by the wilderness, they had passed by the country of the Amalekites; wherefore they "returned", or came back to fall upon them, and they came to a place called Enmishpat, or the "fountain of judgment"; which was not its future name, as Jarchi thinks, because there Moses and Aaron were to be judged concerning the business of that fountain, even the waters of Meribah, with which agrees... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 14:5

Rephaims - A people of Canaan: Genesis 15:20 . Ashteroth - A city of Basan, where Og afterwards reigned; Joshua 13:31 . Zuzims - Nowhere else spoken of, unless they were the same with the Zamzummims, Deuteronomy 2:20 , as some imagine. Emims - A people great and many in the days of Moses, and tall as the Anakim. They dwelt among the Moabites, by whom they were reputed giants; Deuteronomy 2:10 , Deuteronomy 2:11 . Shaveh Kiriathaim - Rather, as the margin, the plain... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 14:6

The Horites - A people that dwelt in Mount Seir, till Esau and his sons drove them thence; Deuteronomy 2:22 . El-paran - The plain or oak of Paran, which was a city in the wilderness of Paran; Genesis 21:21 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 14:7

En-mishpat - The well of judgment; probably so called from the judgment pronounced by God on Moses and Aaron for their rebellion at that place; Numbers 20:1-10 . Amalekites - So called afterwards, from Amalek, son of Esau; Genesis 36:12 . Hazezon-tamar - Called, in the Chaldee, Engaddi; a city in the land of Canaan, which fell to the lot of Judah; Joshua 15:62 . See also 2 Chronicles 20:2 . It appears, from Song of Solomon 1:14 , to have been a very fruitful place. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:1-24

The kingdom of God in its relation to the contending powers of this world. I. GOD 'S JUDGMENTS ARE ALREADY BEGINNING TO FALL . War is made by confederate kings or princes against the people of the wicked cities of the plain, who by their propinquity would naturally be leagued together, but by their common rebellion against Chedorlaomer were involved in a common danger. Notice the indication of the future judgment given in the course of the narrative—"the vale of Siddim was full... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 14:5

And in (or during) the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote (because of actual or probable rebellion) the Rephaims . Γίγαντας ( LXX .) , a tribe of gigantic stature (from an Arabic root, to be high), the iron bed of whose last king, Og, measured nine yards in length and four in breadth ( Deuteronomy 3:11 ); forming a portion of the aboriginal inhabitants of Palestine prior to the invasion of the Canaanites, though existing as a remnant... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

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

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