Genesis/Bereshith 14: " Now Malki-Tzedek, king of Salem . . . he was priest of God Most-High, "

[To what lengths does Abraham go in looking after the safety and protection of his nephew Lot?  In this chapter, Abraham goes to war against four kings to rescue Lot, what a great uncle to have!

 

In this chapter, we meet that ‘mysterious’ king of righteousness that we, as Christian/Messianic teachers used to teach in connection with the NT book of Hebrews which claims that Jesus was a priest not in the order of Levi but of Melchizedek.  It is difficult not to keep looking back to teaching we regret, but what did we know then?  What we know now, we correct — hence, this series of ‘revisits’ and ‘reviews’ minus the Jesus factor in reading the Hebrew Scriptures.  Follow our lead and you’ll discover the same ‘old’ and ‘original’ truths that you miss when you wear ‘Christ-centered’ lenses reading ‘re-dogmatized’ OT to fit NT theology.  The ‘new’ should conform to the ‘old’ and ‘original’, not the other way around.

Commentary is from Pentateuch and Haftorah’s, ed. Dr. J.H. Hertz; translation is Everett Fox’s The Five Books of Moses with commentary designated by “EF”; additional commentary by “RA” Robert Alter from his translation, also titled The Five Books of Moses.—Admin1.]

Bere’shiyth 14

THE WAR OF THE KINGS

Much has been written on this chapter during the last century.  This chapter does not fit in with any of the so-called ‘sources’ of the Bible critics; hence their determined attacks on its veracity.  Its historical accuracy has, however, been strikingly confirmed by recent discoveries, which conclusively show that the age of Abraham was a literary age with a developed historic sense (Sayce).

 

[EF]  War and Rescue (14):  Abruptly Avram is presented in a new light:  that of successful warrior.  Consistent with his character as we will come to know it, he stands by his kinsman, acts intrepidly, and refuses the spoils of war.  Equally important, he is respected by foreigners, a theme that will return both in Genesis and later.  Perhaps this very different story has been included here as part of the early sections of the cycle in order to establish Avram’s status and stature.  He is no longer merely a wanderer but well on the road to becoming a powerful local figure.

 

Whether the events described in this chapter are historical or part of an elaborate symbolic or mythical scheme has been the subject of debate among biblical scholars.  The issue, barring unexpected archeological finds, is likely to remain unsolved.

 

The story is constructed around a geographical framework, using the formula “—that is now x—” to identify older sites for a contemporary audience.  The one place which is not identified, the “Shalem” of verse 18, may well be Jerusalem.  If so, this would substantiate the city’s claim to holiness.  Historically it was not conquered until King David’s reign in the tenth century B.C.E.

1-17.  ABRAM RESCUES LOT

1  Now it was in the days of Amrafel king of Shinar, Aryokh king of Ellasar, Kedoria’ omer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goyim:

Amraphel.  Usually identified with Hammurabi, a great and enlightened king of Babylon.  He finally united all the city-states of North and South   Babylonia into one strong centralized empire, defeated the Elamites, and extended his rule to the shores of the Mediterranean.  He undertook the codification of Babylonian law, and his Code was rediscovered at the beginning of this century.  The date of his reign is 1945-1902 before the Christian era.  The final consonant in the Heb. form of the name probably corresponds to the ending el, ‘God,’ in Biblical names.

Shinar. The Targum reads ‘Babylon’l it seems to have been one of the Egyptian names for Babylonia.  The word may possibly be identical with Sumir; see X,10.

Arioch king of Allasar. i.e. Eriaku, king of Larsa, midway between Babylon and the mouth of the Euphrates.

Chedorlaomer. A Hebraized form of Kudur, ‘servant of,’ and Lagamar, the name of an Elamite deity.

Elam. See on ,22.  It was at this time in possession of Babylonia, and therefore also of Canaan, which was under Babylonian supremacy.

Tidal king of Golim. Tudghula of the cuneiform texts, who was king of the ‘hordes’ of Northern Kurdish nations mentioned from time t time in the inscriptions as invading Assyria (Sayce).  Some explain Goiim as the Heb. form of Gutium, Kurdistan.

 

[RA] And it happened in the days of. This introductory formula (just two words in the Hebrew, wayehi biymey) signals a drastic stylistic shift to an annalistic narrative.  Because verse 2 has no explicit subject, E.A. Speiser followed by later scholars, has conjectured that the first two Hebrew words of the text are a somewhat awkward Hebrew translation of an Akkadian idiom used at the beginning of literary narratives that simply means “when.”  This solution is a little strained, and would compromise the effect of introducing the audience to a historical account that is conveyed by the formula “And it happened in the days of such-and-such a king, or kings.”  Scholarship is virtually unanimous in identifying this chapter as the product of a different literary source from the three principal strands out of which Genesis is woven.  The whole episode is in fact a prime instance of the technique of literary collage that is characteristic of biblical narrative.  Abram, having been promised national tenure in the land in the immediately preceding episode, is now placed at the center of a different kind of narrative that makes him a figure on the international scene, doing battle with monarchs from the far-flung corners of Mesopotamia and treating with the king of Jerusalem (Salem), one of the principal cities of Canaan.  The dating of the narrative is in dispute, but there are good arguments for its relative antiquity: at least four of the five invading kings have authentic Akkadian, Elamite, or Hittite names; and the repeated glossing of place-names (“Bela, that is, Zoar”) suggests an old document that invoked certain names which usage had replaced by the time this text was woven into the larger Abraham narrative.

2  They prepared for battle against Bera king of Sedom, Birsha king of Amora, Shinav king of Adma, Shemever king of Tzevoyim, and the king of Bela000that is now Tzo’ar.

Bera, etc. The names of these kings (like the ‘kings’ in Joshua, petty princes of Canaanite towns) are discussed in W.T. Pilter’s monumental work on Genesis XIV, ‘The Pentateuch, a Historicla Record, 1928,’ Chap. X..

3  All these joined together in the valley of Siddim/Limestone—

that is now the Sea of Salt.

vale of Siddim.  The name does not occur elsewhere.

Salt Sea. Deservedly so called.  Whereas ordinary seawater contains 6% of salt, its waters have four times that quantity.  the Church Fathers named it ‘the Dead Sea’.

[EF] The Sea of Salt: The Dead Sea.

[RA]  joined forces.  The verb is a technical military term and initiates a whole chain of military or political terms not evident in the surrounding Patriarchal narratives:  “had been subject,” “rebelled” (verse 4), “joined battle” (verse 8), “marshaled his retainers” (verse 14), “fanned out against them” (verse 15).  The narrative perspective is geostrategic, and there is no dramatic engagement of characters in dialogue until the rather ceremonial didactic exchange between Melchizedek and Abram at the end.

4  For twelve years they had been subservient to Kedorla’ omer,

and in the thirteenth year they had revolted,

they served.  i.e. they paid tribute; withholding the annual payment was the act of rebellion.

5.   but then in the fourteenth year came Kedorla’omer and the kings who were with him,

they struck the Refa’ites in Ashterot-Karnayim, the Zuzites

The peoples named in this verse—Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim, Horites—are the aboriginal inhabitants of the regions afterwards occupied by Edom, Moab and Ammon; see Deut. II,9.

Ashteroth-karnaim.  A hill 21 miles E. of the Sea of Galilee.  The names means ‘Astarte of the two horns’, derived in all probability from a local Sanctuary of that goddess, whose symbol was the crescent of the two-horned moon.

Ham.  The primitive name of the Ammonite capital Rabbah, 25 miles N.E. of the upper end of the Dead Sea.

Shaveh-kiriathaim.  Lit. ‘the plain of the two towns’. Usually identified with the modern Kureyat, 10 miles E. of the Dead Sea.

6. in Ham, the Emites to Shaveh-Kiryatayim,/and the Horites in their hill-country of Se’ir near El Paran,

which is by the wilderness.

Seir. The mountainous district S.E. of the Dead Sea.

El-paran. Probably the port at the Northern extremity of the Gulf of Akaba, Red Sea.

the wilderness.  The bare plateau of limestone between Canaan and Egypt.

7  As they returned, they came to EnMishpat/Judgment Spring—that is ow Kadesh,

and struck all the territory of the Amalekites and also the Amorites, who were settled in Hatzatzon-Tamar.

they turned back.  Their march had hitherto been towards the South; but they now turned to the N.W.

En-mishpat. That is, ‘the well of judgment,’ probably the seat of an oracle to which disputants resorted for the settlement of their claims.

the same is Kadesh.  Usually ‘Kadesh-Barnea’ (Deut. I,2,46). It is situated on the S.E. frontier of Judah.

all the country of the Amalekites. More accurately, ‘the field of the Amalekites,’ a nomad people living between Palestine and Egypt, and later on attempting to prevent the Israelites from entering the peninsula of Sinai (Exod. XVII,8).  The phrase, ‘all the country of the Amalekites,’ must be understood to mean, ‘the country afterwards inhabited by the Amalekites’ (Midrash, Rashi).  Esau’s grandson was named after a chieftain Amalek who had founded the Amalekite people (Nachmanides).

the Amorites. Denoting generally the pre-Israelite population of Canaan.

Hazazon-tamar.  At the mouth of the deep gorge which runs into the Dead Sea, about half-way down the western shore.

8  Then out marched the king of Sedom, the king of Amora, the king of Adma, the king of Tzevoyim, and the king of Bela—that is now Tzo’ar;

they set-their-ranks against them in war in the valley of Sddim,

9  against Kedorla’omer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amrafel king of Shinar, and Aryokh king of Ellasar—

four kings against the five.

10  Now the valley of Siddim is pit after pit of bitumen,

and when the kings of Sedom and Amora fled, they flung themselves therein, while those who remained fled to the hill-country.

full of slime pits.  i.e. wells of bitumen.  These pits hampered the flight of the defeated army.

and they fell there, etc. The subject of the verb is vaguely expressed.  The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fell into the pits, whereas the remainder (i.e. the other three kings) made good their escape.  From v. 17 we learn that the king of Sodom must have been rescued from the slime pits.

to the mountain. Of Moab, to the E. of the Dead Sea.

[EF] bitumen: Asphalt.  flung themselves: Others use “fell.”

[RA] the four kings.  The subject is supplied for clarity by the translation:  the Hebrew simply says “they.” A similar employment of a verb without a stipulated subject, not uncommon in biblical usage, occurs at the end of verse 20, where the Hebrew does not state what the context implies, that it is Abram who gives the tithe.

11  And they took all the property of Sedom and Amora and all their food, and went away.

12  and they took Lot and all his property—the son of Avram’s brother—and went away,

for he had settled in Sedom.

who dwelt in Sodom.  It was because of Lot’s willingness to live with evil-doers, that this misfortune befell him (Rashi).

[EF]—the son of Avram’s brother—: The Hebrew places the phrase after “property,” not after “Lot,” as would be comfortable in English.  for he had settled: The story abounds in similar explanatory phrases, which could almost be put in parentheses.

 

13  One who escaped came and told Avram the Hebrew—h

e was dwelling by the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner,

they were Avram’s covenant-allies.

 

the Hebrew.  This is the first time this word occurs in the Bible, where it is a title used of Israelites either by foreigners or in speaking of them to foreigners, or in contrast to foreigners.  After the exile of the Ten Tribes, when the tribe of Judah (Yehudah) remained the principal branch of Israel, the name Yehudim (translated Judaioi, Judaei, Juden, Jews) came into general use.  The Rabbis, also modern scholars, are divided as to the origin of the name Hebrew.  Either the word is to be connected with Eber (see X,21;XI,16) and signifies ‘a descendant of Eber’; or it means ‘one from the other side’, in accordance with the statement, ‘And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River (Euphrates)’ (Josh. XXIV,3).  It is also claimed that the name is identical with that of the Habiri, a nomad people mentioned in the Tell-el-Amarna Tablets (see on v. 18 below) as making war upon the Canaanite towns and population.

 

[RA]  Abram the Hebrew.  Only here is he given this designation.  Although scholars have argued whether “Hebrew” is an ethnic or social term or even the name for a warrior class, it is clear that it is invoked only in contexts when Abraham and his descendants stand in relation to members of other national groups.

14  When Avram heard that his brother had been taken prisoner,

he drew out his retainers, his house-born slaves, eighteen and three hundred, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

When Abram heard.  The Midrash describes his emotions on hearing the news, in the words of Psalm CXII,7, ‘He shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.’  With gentleness and reasonableness of disposition, there were united in Abraham the most conspicuous courage and decision.

his brother. i.e. his kinsman, as in XIII,8.

he led forth. ‘He emptied’: it therefore signifies that he called upon every one of his dependants to aid him in the attempt to rescue Lot.

born in his house. i.e. slaves reared in the Patriarch’s home; and, therefore, feeling a greater attachment to their master.

Dan. The name is given to the place by anticipation.  Formerly it was called Leshem (Josh. XIX,47) or Laish (Judg. XVIII,29).  It is in the extreme North of Palestine.

[RA]  he marshaled his retainers.  The noun and the verb in this particular sense occur only here.  The former may derive from a root that means “to train,” and thus might imply “trained fighters.”  The latter is applied elsewhere to unsheathing a sword, and thus may be metaphorically extended to the “unsheathing” of warriors.

three hundred and eighteen.  This number sounds quite realistic, whereas the geographical origins and the huge sweeping itinerary of the four kings, coming hundreds of miles to subdue five petty princelets in eastern Canaan, sound legendary.

15  He split-up (his forces) against them in the night, he and his servants, and struck them and pursued them as far as Hova, which is to the north of Damascus.

divided himself.  He formed his men into several bodies, which attacked the enemy in the dark from different directions.  The suddenness of the onslaught, and the assault in several places simultaneously would enable small bands of men to throw a far larger force into panic.  The same strategy was used by Gideon (Judg. VII,16).

Hobah. 50 miles N. of Damascus.

Damascus. An important political and commercial city from the earliest times; mentioned in Egyptian inscriptions of the 16th century B.C.E.

[EF] north: Lit. “left.”

16  But he returned all the property, and he also returned his brother Lot and his property, and also the women and the (other) people.

all the goods. As the captor, Abram could have taken undisputed possession of the spoils. The manner of their disposal affords fresh illustration of his magnanimous nature.

17  The king of Sedom went out to meet him upon his return from the strike against Kedorla’omer and against the kings that were with him, to the valley of Shaveh—that is now the King’s Valley.

the king of Sodom. See on v. 10.

from the slaughter of. Better, ‘from the smiting of.’ The Heb. only signifies the defeat of the enemy.

King’s Vale.  Mentioned in II Sam. XVIII,18, in connection with Absalom.

 

18-20. ABRAM AND MELCHIZEDEK.

18 Now Malki-Tzedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine,

—for he was priest of God Most-High, 

This name (which may mean ‘My King is righteousness’) is mentioned elsewhere in the Bible only in Psalm CX,4, ‘Thou art a priest for ever after the manner of Melchizedek,’ the reference being to the offices of king and priest combined in one man.  In the light of recent excavations, every reasonable doubt as to the authenticity of the account of Melchizedek is removed.  Among the ‘Tell-el-Amarna tablets are letters to the Egyptian government, written in the 15th pre-Christian century by the vassal king of Jerusalem, or ‘Urusalim’.  Like Melchizedek, he was a priest-king.  For the name ‘Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem’ (Josh.X,1).  (As repeated reference is made to the Tell-el-Amarna tablets or letters, a few words must be said of this most remarkable archeological find.  The last Pharaoh of the powerful and mighty 18th Dynasty was Amenophis IV or Ikhnaten, the so-called Heretic King, who undertook to replace the Egyptian religion by a monotheism in which the sun was to be worshipped as the sole god.  He moved his capital from Thebes to the modern Tell-el-Amarna in Middle Egypt.  His reformation was a failure; he died circa 1350 B.C.E. amidst the curses of his subjects.  The capital returned to Thebes, and the place where he dwelt was abandoned because it was regarded as haunted by evil demons.  And as a result of this belief, the complete royal archives, his own and his father’s diplomatic correspondence, were preserved in the ruins of Tell-el-Amarna, where they were found 3,200 years later in 1887).

Salem. An earlier, or poetic, designation for Jerusalem.

bread and wine. A token of friendship and hospitality.

God the Most High. Heb. El Elyon. The phrase occurs again in Scripture only in Psalm LXXVIII,35, but the Ras Shamra tablets show that it was quite a familiar appellation of Deity in pre-Mosaic Canaan.  Melchizedek was evidently a convert of Abraham’s.  A Talmudic tradition makes Melchizedek the head of a school for the propagation of the knowledge of God.

maker.  lit. ‘possessor’.  The word combines the ideas of making, creating, and owning.  The phrase “Maker of heaven and earth has been embodied in the Liturgy.

[EF] Malki-Tzedek: Trad. English “Melchizedek.”  The name is a Hebrew one, and the character appears as if from nowhere.  Shalem:  Identified with the later Jerusalem.  God Most-High: Heb. El Elyon.

[RA]  Melchizedek.  The name means “righteous king,” which has suggested to many commentators a Dividide agenda in this tale of the founder of the people of Israel in ceremonial encounter with a priest-king of Jerusalem.

19  and gave him blessing and said:

 Blessed be Avram by God Most-High,

Founder of Heaven and Earth!

and he blessed him. In his capacity as priest, Melchizedek invokes the Divine blessing upon Abram for his chivalrous action.

[RA] possessor.  Although conventional Semitic lexicography claims that the original meaning of this verb, qanah, is “to make,” the overwhelming majority of biblical occurrences reflect the meaning “to buy,” “to acquire,” “to gain possession,” which is the standard acceptation of the word in postbiblical Hebrew.

20  And blessed be God Most-High,

who has delivered your oppressors into your hands!  

He gave him a tenth of everything..

and he gave him a tenth. Abram acknowledges Melchizedek as priest of the Most High, and gives him tithe of the spoil as a thanksgiving offering.

[EF] a tenth: Like the tithe later given to Israelite priests.

[RA] 19-20.  El Elyon.  El is the proper name of the sky god in the Canaanite pantheon, and Elyon is evidently a distinct, associated deity, though there the two appear as a compound name.  But the two terms are also plain Hebrew words that mean “God the Most High,” and elsewhere are used separately or (once) together as designations of the God of Israel.  Whatever Melchizedek’s theology, Abram elegantly co-opts him for monotheism by using El Elyon in its orthodox Israelite sense (verse 22) when he addresses the king of Sodom.

21  The king of Sedom said to Avram:

Give me the persons, and the property take for yourself.

give me the persons.  As the victor, Abram had the right to dispose of the people he had rescued in any manner he desired.  He could have retained them as his slaves, sold them into bondage, or demanded a ransom.  But he spurns the doctrine, To the victor belong the spoils.

22  Avram said to the king of Sedom:  

I raise my hand in the presence of YHWH, God Most High,

Founder of Heaven and Earth,

I have lifted up my hand unto the LORD.  Malbim explains that the purpose of this act was to declare that ‘the victory is His, and the spoil therefore does not belong to me . . . . and it (my hand) shall not say: I have made Abraham rich’; Deut. VIII,17, ‘and thou say in thy heart: My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth.’

[EF] I raise my hand:  I swear.

23  if from a thread to a sandal-strap—if I should take from anything that is yours. . . !  

So that you should not say: I made Avram rich.

nor a shoe-latchet. His fine sense of independence would not permit him to benefit in the slightest degree by the rescue of his kinsmen.

[EF] from a thread to a sandal-strap:  As in “from A to Z,” or “anything at all.”

24  Nothing for me!  

Only what the lads have consumed,

and the share of the men who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre,

let them take their share.

He felt, however, that he had no right to penalize those who had shared the dangers of the campaign with him.  His followers should receive their rations, and an equitable share of the spoil should go to his confederates.

[EF] lads: Servants.

[RA] lads.  The primary meaning of the word is “lads” but it also has a technical military sense of picked fighters.  Its use here makes a neat contrast with “the men,” who do not belong to Abram’s household and are entitled to a share of the booty.

In all this, it is a little surprising that Abram should figure as a military hero, and some scholars (most forcefully, Yochanan Muffs) have seen this story as an Israelite adaptation of an old Akkadian literary form, the naru, a historical romance meant to glorify kings.  One should note, however, that the military exploit—apparently, a surprise attack by night—is dispatched very quickly while the main emphasis is placed on the victorious Abram’s magnanimity and disinterestedness.  Thus the idea of the patriarch’s maintaining fair and proper relations with the peoples of the land, already intimated in his dealings with Lot in the previous chapter, comes to displace the image of mere martial prowess.