14:1 Amraphel, the king of Shinar The identity of this person is unknown.

Shinar Another name for Babylonia (see Gen 11:2).

Arioch The name Arioch appears in the ancient Near Eastern Mari archives (18th century bc) and the Nuzi tablets (15th century bc).

Ellasar This may be the Hebrew equivalent of the Akkadian phrase al ashshur, which indicates “city of Ashur” (Assyria).

Kedorlaomer This name does not appear in the known lists of Elamite kings (roughly 40 kings). The first part of the name, however, may correspond to the Akkadian term kudur (kutir in Elamite, which means “a servant”). This element appears in several royal Elamite names.

Elam The ancient name for modern Khuzestan (southwestern Iran), east of Babylon.

Tidal This name may be a transcription of the Hittite royal name Tudchaliash. The name is attributed to four Hittite kings, the earliest of whom lived during the 17th century bc—chronologically too late to be identified with the king mentioned here.

Goiim The Hebrew reads goyim, which is the generic word for “nations.” This may be its meaning here, although the context suggests a specific region. If so, that region is unknown.

14:2 Bera, the king of Sodom, and Birsha, the king of Gomorrah Neither name is known. However, this may be a wordplay: Bera (bera' in Hebrew) and Birsha (birsha' in Hebrew) appear to play on the Hebrew words for “evil” (ra'ah) and “wicked” (rasha').

14:3 the sea of the salt The water of the Dead Sea has the highest salt content of any body of water in the world.

14:5 the Rephaim in Ashteroth-Karnaim The people groups listed in this verse were clans of giant people—much like the descendants of Anak (see Num 13:33; Deut 2:10–11; 3:11–13).

Giant Clans in the Old Testament

14:6 Horites The inhabitants of the region of Edom before it was taken over by the descendants of Esau (Gen 36:20–30).

Seir Refers to the mountainous region southeast of the Dead Sea. This name is often used as a synonym for Edom.

El-Paran Generally refers to the desert of the Sinai Peninsula southwest of Palestine (see 21:21; Num 10:12).

14:7 En-Mishpat (that is, Kadesh A location in the northern Sinai that later served as a regular campsite for Israel during their wilderness wanderings (Num 20:1). In Joshua, the site is referenced as a landmark for the southern border of Judah’s territory (Josh 15:1–3).

the Amalekites Refers to a nomadic or seminomadic tribe that later occupied parts of Canaan. Genesis portrays them as descendants of Esau, Abraham’s grandson (Gen 36:12; compare 1 Chr 1:36).

Amorites A nomadic people group. See note on Gen 10:16.

Hazazon-Tamar This location is later equated with En-gedi, a freshwater spring on the west side of the Dead Sea (2 Chr 20:2).

14:10 was full of tar pits Refers to pits of a dark, petroleum based substance composed mainly of hydrogen and carbon. The substance occurs naturally in the area of the Dead Sea.

14:12 And they took Lot Lot is kidnapped after the battle of Gen 14:8–11. This draws Abram into the conflict.

14:13 the Hebrew The Hebrew language word used here, ivri, could come from the Hebrew language preposition ever, meaning “beyond,” resulting in the translation “Abram, the one from beyond (the river Euphrates).” However, this phrase most likely refers to Abram being a descendant of Eber (see 10:21–31; 11:10–26)—whom Genesis seems to present as the forefather of the Hebrew people.

the oaks of See note on 12:6.

Mamre the Amorite Since his own people had been attacked in this war, Mamre had good reason to assist Abram.

allies with Abram The Hebrew text here may be literally rendered “those bound by treaty.” This phrase is not used elsewhere.

Covenants in the Old Testament Table

14:14 born in his house This is a common description of a slave whose parents were slaves.

three hundred and eighteen A realistic number for an armed force, but two extrabiblical examples suggest it may be a symbolic number indicating a large group. In an Egyptian text, Princess Giluchepa of Mitanni arrives with 317 harem attendants. In the Greek work Homer’s Iliad, 318 men die in a four-day battle. The number 318 is the sum of the 12 prime numbers from 7 to 47, so the number may have symbolic meaning.

14:17 the Valley of Shaveh This site is also mentioned in 2 Sam 18:18.

14:18 Melchizedek This name, which is malki-tsedeq in Hebrew, likely means “my king is righteous” or “king of righteousness” (compare Heb 7:2). It could also mean “Tsedeq is my king” with Tsedeq referring to a deity’s name. Melchizedek is only mentioned once more in the ot, in Psa 110:4, but features prominently in the nt book of Hebrews.

Salem This location may be, though not certainly, identified with Jerusalem. The name Salem is attested once in parallel with Zion in Psa 76:2, the location of the temple.

the priest Melchizedek was both a king and a priest. Some ancient Near Eastern civilizations combined the two offices, though most separated them.

God Most High The Hebrew text here uses the phrase el elyon; this is the first biblical occurrence of this phrase. The word el is both the generic word for “god” in Semitic languages and the name of the god El in the Canaanite pantheon (as seen in Ugaritic texts). Elyon could refer to the “most high” deity or mean “upper” or “highest.” In Gen 14:22, the title is combined in the Hebrew text with the name Yahweh (yhwh), so it seems that the narrator identified Yahweh with el elyon.

Names of God in the Old Testament Table

14:20 a tenth of everything This is a one-time payment (compare Num 31:25–41) and thus there is no basis for connecting this to the regular tithe of later law. A 10th payment to a king is known from Ugarit and later becomes the expectation of an Israelite king (1 Sam 8:15, 17).

14:23 I made Abram rich Abram wanted everyone to know he had not acted as a mercenary.