John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 14:9
With Chedorlaomer king of Elam ,.... Who is here mentioned first, being the principal in the war, and against whom the kings of Sodom, &c.; had rebelled: and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar ; who were his allies, confederates, and auxiliaries: four kings with five ; those four last mentioned, with the other five before spoken of, that is, they fought with them; or rather four kings against five, as the Vulgate Latin and Tigurine... read more
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