Genesis 14:8

Gen 14:8 And there went out 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;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;

Ver. 8. And there went out the king of Sodom, &c.] These five neighbouring kings were combined against the four kings that invaded them. It was not then a civil dissension, that worst of wars, such as was that of France (and is now, alas, of England), wherein the sons fought against their fathers, and brothers against brothers; and even women took arms on both sides for defence of their religion. {a} That was not more monstrous, that the Suevian women threw their young children at the Romans, their enemies, instead of darts, {b} than that other was piteous between the Romans themselves, those that were for Vitellius, and the other for Vespasian; that, when the women brought the Vitellians food by night, into the camp, they not only refreshed themselves, but their adversaries also, with food and drink. Each man called to his adversary by name, and said, Accipe, mi commilito, ede: Non enim tibi gladium proebeo, sed panem. Accipe rursum et bibe: Non enim tibi scutum, sed poculum trado: ut, sive tu me interficias, sive ego te, moriamur facilius: atque ut ne me, enervata atque imbecilla manu occidas, aut ego te. Hae nostrae sunt exequiae, nobis adhuc viventibus. {c} Thus they greeted over night, and the next day despatched one another; they gave wounds, and took wounds; they slew, and were slain, as the same author hath it. {d} Which as oft as I think on, I cannot but highly commend that speech of Otho the Emperor to his soldiers, a little before he took his end: I hate civil wars, though I were sure to overcome. {e} I know not why any Englishman should love it, that shall call to mind, that in the civil dissensions between the houses of York and Lancaster, there were slain (ere the quarrel ended) fourscore princes of the blood royal, and twice as many natives of England as were lost in the two conquests of France. {f} War is easily taken up, saith the wise historian, {g} but not so easily laid down again; neither is the beginning and the end of a war in any one man’s power. If the Scots should come in on the one side, and the French or Irish on the other, what an Aceldama should we soon become! what an Ireland, a seat of wrath, because a seat of war! It is never to be forgotten by us, that the dissension between England and Scotland consumed more Christian blood, wrought more spoil and destruction, and continued longer than ever quarrel we read of did between any two people of the world. Our Edward I adjured his son and nobles, that, if he died on his journey into Scotland, they should carry his corpse about Scotland, and not suffer it to be interred, till they had absolutely subdued the country. A desire more martial than Christian; a design of revenge beyond his life. Such spirits are raised in men "that delight in war". {Psa 68:30} "Oh! pray for the peace of Jerusalem." So saith David. {Psa 122:6} And so doth David in the next verse, "Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces." The Athenians, when they had gotten the better at sea of the Lacedemonians, were so overjoyed, that they then first set up altars to the public peace; and appointed a cushion to be laid thereon, for that goddess to rest upon. {h} Oh, would the Lord but once more grant us, that "righteousness and peace might kiss each other, and mercy and truth meet" in our land, {Psa 85:9-10} how happy should we hold ourselves; how infinitely obliged to sing, Servati sumus, ut serviamus !{ Luk 1:74} How should we prize our restored peace, and improve it as Abram did here, to the paying of tithes, in token of thankfulness; yea, to the setting up of altars, not to public peace, as those heathens, but to the God of peace, as Abram after this did, when he had concluded a peace with King Abimelech, and his general, Phichol! {Gen 21:32-33}

{a} Hist. of Counc. of Trent, 647.

{b} Heyl. Geog., p. 289.

{c} Dio in Vita Vitellii.

{d} ετιτρωσκον ετιτρωσκοντο: εφονευον, εφονευοντο. - Dio.

{e} Mισω πολεμον εμφυλιον, καν κρατων. - Dio in Vita Othonis.

{f} Daniel’s Chron. continued by Trussel., fol. 249.

{g} Omne bellum sumitur facile, caeterum aegerrime desin it. Non enim in eiusdem potestate est initium belli, eiusque finis . - Salust, in Jug.

{h} Tum primum arae Paci publicae sunt factae, eique Deae pulvinar institutum . - Cornel. Nepos.

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.

14:8-12 The five cities of the plain were close together at the south end of the Dead Sea. The Mesopotamian kings defeated the frail uprising, looted the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and carried off Lot with the other captives.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 8. Bela, the same is Zoar] That is, it was called Zoar after the destruction of Sodom, c., mentioned in Ge 19:24 Ge 19:25.

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

(8) They joined battle with them.—Heb., they set themselves in array against them. As the five kings left their cities to do battle with the invaders “in the vale of Siddim,” it is plain, as was said in Gen_14:3, that the vale embraces a far wider extent of country than merely the site of the five cities.

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

And there went out the king of Sodom,.... With his armed men to meet the four kings, and give them battle, being so near him, and in so much danger from them, that if they could not stand their ground, they might flee to the mountains, and not perish in the city:

and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the King of Zeboiim; whose names are before given, Gen 14:2,

and the king of Bela, the same is Zoar: as in Gen 14:2,

and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; where the five Canaanitish kings met, of which see Gen 14:3; and fought the four kings that were come forth against them, and whose names are repeated, and are as follow:

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

Vers. 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 Ver. 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 five.

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

The Capture of Lot

v. 8. And there went out 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;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;

v. 9. 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 five. Flushed with their recent conquests, by which they had eliminated all the possible confederates of the southern confederacy, the kings of the north poured their victorious hordes into the vale of Siddim, near the beautiful Sea of the Plain.

v. 10. And the vale of Siddim was full of slime-pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. This was the outcome of the battle: the five southern kings were routed by the armies of the north and sought to save their lives. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were familiar with the country and fell into one of the asphalt-pits which abounded in the neighborhood, that is, they quickly hid themselves there, while their allies fled to the secluded canyons of what was afterward the country of Moab, where the many hiding-places prevented their being found by the enemy.

v. 11. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their victuals, and went their way. Even in those days the spoils belonged to the victors; they plundered the cities of the conquered armies, down to the last remnant of food, and then marched on.

v. 12. And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. Thus Lot was obliged to suffer with the godless people among whom he lived, whose city he had chosen for his home, This was to prove an excellent chastisement and correction for him.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

ויצא מלך סדום...ויערכו אתם מלחמה. The five kings that went out from their cities and prepared plans for a battle were confident that they would win, and they may have thought that others might join them. Their rebellion had been inspired by the hope that other kingdoms that were similarly subservient to Kedorleomer would make common cause with them. They believed that they would enjoy a numerical advantage, seeing the opposing kings were only four in number. If the four kings proved victorious over greater numbers than themselves, this was due to G’d wanting that Avram acquire the reputation of being a mighty warrior, if need be. This is part of the way in which G’d fulfilled His promise to Avram “I will make your name great.” (12,2) It was also designed to demonstrate to the people at large Avram’s righteousness and his abiding trust in the Lord, without whose help such a victory by 318 men over the mightiest armies of that period had been inconceivable. Concerning Avram and men of his ilk, Solomon wrote in Proverbs 29,25: “ובוטח בה' ישגב, he who trusts in the Lord will be safeguarded.” In order to underscore the point still further, the Torah describes the victory of Kedorleomer as the “victory of four kings versus five.”

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.