John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 14:10
And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits ,.... Or "wells" or "fountains of slime" or bitumen F19 בארת בארת המר "putei, putei bituminis", Vatablus, Piscator, Cartwright, Drusius, Schmidt; so Jarchi. ; a liquid of a pitchy nature, cast out of fountains, and which was used for a cement in buildings; such fountains were near Babylon; see Gill on Genesis 11:3 ; so that this place was naturally prepared for what it was designed to be, a bituminous lake; and hence, when turned... 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