Genesis 14:10

Gen 14:10 And the vale of Siddim [was full of] slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.

Ver. 10. And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits.] Chosen therefore on purpose by the five kings, who fled and fell there; or (as some understand the text) made haste to fall down there; {a} skulking and scouting, {b} till their enemies should pursue them, and so perish in those pits. But their cunning failed them; for as they had travailed with iniquity and conceived mischief, so they brought forth a lie. They "made a pit and digged it, but fell into the ditch that themselves had made". {Psa 7:15} The way of this world, saith one, is like the vale of Siddim, slimy and slippery, full of slime pits and pitfalls, springs and stumbling-blocks, laid by Satan to maim or mischieve us, to procure our ruin or ruth. To defeat him therefore (as these four kings did the five), let us tread gingerly, step warily, lift not up one foot till we find sure footing for the other: let us look ere we leap. Alioqui saliens antequam videat, casurus est antequam debeat , as St Bernard hath it. {c}

{a} Celeriter se deiecerunt . - Piscat.

{b} Eo consilio ut hostes ignari locorum ,& c. - Idem.

{c} Bern. De Bon. Deser.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, were discomfited.

And afterward was overwhelmed with water, and so was called the salt sea.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 10. Slime-pits] Places where asphaltus or bitumen sprang out of the ground; this substance abounded in that country.

Fell there] It either signifies they were defeated on this spot, and many of them slain, or that multitudes of them had perished in the bitumen-pits which abounded there; that the place was full of pits we learn from the Hebrew, which reads here בארת בארת beeroth beeroth, pits, pits, i.e., multitudes of pits. A bad place to maintain a fight on, or to be obliged to run through in order to escape.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled. Some expound that they had fallen into pits: but this is not probable, since they were by no means ignorant of the neighboring places: such an event would rather have happened to foreign enemies. Others say, that they went down into them for the sake of preserving their lives. I, however, understand them to have exchanged one kind of death for another, as is common in the moment of desperation; as if Moses had said, the swords of the enemy were so formidable to them, that, without hesitation, they threw themselves headlong into the pits. For he immediately afterwards subjoins, that they who escaped fled to the mountains. Whence we infer, that they who had rushed into the pits had perished. Only let us know, that they fell, not so much deceived through ignorance of the place, as disheartened by fear.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(10) The vale of Siddim was full of slimepits.—That is, of holes whence bitumen had been excavated. Layers of this natural asphalte, well known both to the Greeks and Romans as pia Judaica, Judean pitch, still exist on the western side of the Dead Sea; and the places whence it had been dug out, and which are often very deep, formed dangerous impediments in the way of the defeated side.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. full of slime pits] i.e. bitumen pits. Bitumen, or asphalt, is found in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea. Josephus speaks of the bitumen floating upon the surface of its waters. Here we are to suppose that the bitumen came out of large holes or pits in the earth, into which the confederates fell in their flight.

“Full of slime pits.” The Hebrew idiom gives be’erôth be’erôth ḥêmar, “pits, pits of bitumen” = “all bitumen pits.” Cf. 2Ki_3:16, “trenches, trenches” = “nothing but trenches.”

The narrative is so fragmentary, or condensed, that only the rout is recorded.

they fell] Referring to the fugitive troops generally. The king of Sodom appears again in Gen_14:17. It is implied that those who fell into the pits were lost.

to the mountain] i.e. to the mountains of Moab, the chain of hills on the east side of the Dead Sea.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits,.... Or "wells" or "fountains of slime" or bitumen (s); 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 Gen 11:3; so that this place was naturally prepared for what it was designed to be, a bituminous lake; and hence, when turned into one, it was called the lake Asphaltites, from this slime or bitumen, called by the Greeks "asphaltos". Brocardus (t) says, these pits or wells of bitumen are at this day on the shore of the lake, each of them having pyramids erect, which he saw with his own eyes; and such pits casting out bitumen, as fountains do water, have been found in other countries, as in Greece (u). Now this vale being full of such pits, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah chose it to fight in, and here drew up in a line of battle, hoping that the enemy, being ignorant of them, would fall into them and perish, and their ranks be broke and fall into confusion; but as it often is, that the pit men dig and contrive for others they fall into themselves, so it was in this case:

and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled: the battle going hard against them, and they not able to stand before their enemies:

and fell there, or "into them" (w); the slimepits, or fountains of bitumen, into which they precipitately fell, and many perished; or of their own accord they threw themselves into them for their own safety, as some think; though the sense may be this, that there was a great slaughter of them made there, as the word is frequently used, see Sa1 4:10; this is to be understood not of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah; for it is certain that they were preserved alive, at least the king of Sodom, for we hear of him afterwards, Gen 14:17; but of their soldiers:

and they that remained fled to the mountain: or mountains hard by, where Lot after went when Sodom was destroyed, Gen 19:30; hither such fled that escaped the sword of the enemy, or perished not in the slimepits, judging it more safe to be there, than to be in their cities, which would fall into the hands of their enemies, and be plundered by them, and where they would be in danger of losing their lives.

(s) "putei, putei bituminis", Vatablus, Piscator, Cartwright, Drusius, Schmidt; so Jarchi. (t) Apud Adricom. Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 44. (u) Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 13. c. 16. (w) "in eos", Cocceius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Of slime. Bituminis. This was a kind of pitch, which served for mortar in the building of Babel, Genesis xi. 3, and was used by Noe in pitching the ark. (Challoner) --- Moses does not make this remark without reason. This bitumen would easily take fire, and contribute to the conflagration of Sodom. (Calmet) --- Overthrown, not all slain, for the king of Sodom escaped, ver. 17.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The vale of Siddim was chosen by those five kings for the place of battle, that their adversaries being ignorant of the place might unawares fall into those pits, which they by their knowledge of it thought to escape.

Kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, i.e. their armies; a figurative speech, frequent in Scripture and other authors; for their persons escaped: see Gen 14:17. They either,

1. Fell into the pits which they designed for others; or rather,

2. Were slain, as this word is oft used, as Jos 8:24-25; Jdg 8:10; 12:6; and here too; for those that fell are here opposed to those that remained.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. Full of slimepits — Sept., φρεατα ασφαλτου, pits of asphaltum; Vulg., puteos multos bituminis, many pits of bitumen. The Hebrew may be rendered: The vale of Siddim was pits, pits of mineral pitch; that is, such bituminous pits abounded there; and this abundance of asphalt has given the Dead Sea the name Asphaltic Lake. These pits served as so many snares to the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, who, with their forces, were defeated, and fled, and fell there. These two kings seem to have taken the lead in the battle, and so are mentioned as representing all the rest. From Gen_14:17; Gen_14:21 we infer that the king of Sodom himself escaped capture, probably by fleeing to the mountains.

They that remained — That is, those who were neither killed in battle nor taken prisoners.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the vale of Siddim was full of slime-pits. Literally, was pits, pits (cf. 2Ki_3:16; Eze_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 Sodom escaped (Ver. 17), the language may only mean that they were overthrown there (Knobel, Rosenm Bush, "Speaker"s Commentary"). And they that remained fled to the mountain, of Moab, with its numerous defiles.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now

This word introduces background information about the valley of Siddim. Your language may have another way of introducing background information. (See: Background Information)

was full of tar pits

"had many tar pits." These were holes in the ground that had tar in them.

tar

a thick, sticky, black liquid that comes up from the ground. See how this is translated in Genesis 11:3.

the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah

Here the kings represent themselves and their armies. AT: the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah and their armies" (See: Synecdoche)

they fell in there

Possible meanings are 1) some of their soldiers fell in the tar pits or 2) the kings themselves fell in the tar pits. Since Genesis 14:17 says that the king of Sodom went to meet Abram, the first meaning is more likely correct. (See: Metonymy)

Those who were left

"Those who did not die in battle and did not fall in the pits"

the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah

The words "Sodom" and "Gomorrah" are metonyms for the people who lived in those cities. AT: "the wealth of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah" or "the property of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah" (See: Metonymy)

their provisions

"their food and drink"

went their way

"they went away"

they also took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who was living in Sodom, along with all his possessions

The phrases "Abram's brother's son" and "who was living in Sodom" remind the reader of things that were written earlier about Lot. AT: "they also took Lot, along with all his possessions. Lot was Abram's brother's son and was living in Sodom at that time" (See: Distinguishing versus Informing or Reminding)

translationWords

king

Sodom

Gomorrah

Lot

Abraham

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

בארת בארת חמר FULL OF BITUMEN PITS — There were many pits there from which they took earth as clay for building purposes. The Midrashic explanation is that the clay was closely kneaded together in them (was very sticky) so that it was only because a miracle was performed for the king of Sodom that he escaped from them. For amongst those nations there were some who did not believe that Abraham had been delivered from Ur-Kasdim — from the fiery furnace — but as soon as this one escaped from the slime they corrected their past disbelief regarding what had happened to Abraham (literally, they believed retrospectively in Abraham) (Genesis Rabbah 42:7).

הרה נסו means THEY FLED TO A MOUNTAIN. The word הרה is the same as לְהַר. When a word requires a ל as a prefix one may put instead a ה as a suffix. There is a difference between הֶרָה and הָהָרָה, for the ה at the end takes the place of a לְ (with Shewa) prefixed (another version has: for the ה at the end does not take the place of a prefixed ל with Patach which would mean to “the”) so that הֶרָה is equal to לְהַר or to אֶל הַר to “a” mountain, without explaining which mountain — so that the meaning here is that each person fled to the first mountain he came across. When, however, a ה is prefixed to a word having this ה suffix so that it reads e. g., הָהרה or הַמדברה, it is the same as אל הָהר or לְהָהר (to “the” mount) signifying that mount which is well-known and has been definitely mentioned in the passage.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

‘BE’EROTH BE’EROTH CHEIMAR’ (FULL OF SLIME PITS). There were many pits there since they removed earth to be used as clay for building purposes. The Midrashic explanation is that the clay was closely kneaded together in them, [that is, it was very sticky], but a miracle happened to the king of Sodom and he escaped from there. This miracle occurred because there were some among the nations who did not believe that Abram had been delivered from the fiery furnace, but as soon as this one escaped from the slime, in retrospect they believed in Abram. Thus the language of Rashi.There is no doubt that the meaning of be’eroth cheimar is “pits containing mud and slime,” even as it is written, And in the pit there was no water, but mire, and Jeremiah sank in the mire, and it is further written, He brought me up out of the tumultuous pit, out of the miry clay. And it is possible that the king of Sodom went out from there naturally, without a miracle.And I wonder concerning the above Midrashic explanation, for those nations that did not believe that the Holy One, blessed be He, had performed a miracle for Abraham would not have their faith in the Holy One, blessed be He, augmented by witnessing the miracle which befell the king of Sodom. The king of Sodom was an idol worshipper, and his miracle would either strengthen the hands of the idol worshippers or it would cause them to believe that all miracles are done by witchcraft or are due to some remotely possible chance. His miracle would thus cast doubt into the hearts of those who believed in Abraham’s miracle! Perhaps [the Rabbis who authored this Midrashic explanation] will interpret the verse, And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, as implying that “he went out” from the pit when Abraham passed by for it was in honor of Abraham that a miracle was done to him so that he could go forth to meet him in order to honor and bless Abraham.And it is possible that Abraham, upon his return, looked into that pit for he wanted to save the kings and return their wealth to them, and then the miracle happened on his account. Now if a miracle was done to the king of Sodom in honor of Abraham, the nations could now believe all the more that a miracle would be done to Abraham himself in order to rescue him from death.We must further say that the king of Gomorrah had already died when Abraham passed him by or that he had fallen into another pit, as the word “there” The word “there” does not refer to the pit, in which case it would then imply that all five kings fell into one pit. Rather it refers to ‘the vale’ of Siddim. Thus the king of Gomorrah fell into a different pit, near which Abraham did not pass. refers to “the vale.”

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ועמק השדים בארות בארות חמר, the vowel pattern of the construct mode of the word בארות in our verse is different from the ordinary plural mode of the same word in Genesis 26,18 where it also appears in the construct mode, i.e. בארות המים, “the wells of water.”

The word חמר is equivalent to what we know as טיט, (11,3) where it means mortar. It is unbaked clay, binding bricks together, loam.

וינסו מלך סדום ועמורה, the other kings fled toward the mountains, as we are told והנשארים הרה נסו. “those remaining fled towards the mountain.” The letter ה at the end of the word הרה is equivalent to the prefix ל.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.