Genesis 14 · Verse 1

Genesis 14:1

And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;
Genesis 14:1, King James Version

Genesis 14:1 in other translations

BSBIn those days Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim
WEBIn the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar; Arioch, king of Ellasar; Chedorlaomer, king of Elam; and Tidal, king of Goiim,
ASVAnd it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim,
YLTAnd it cometh to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goyim,
DARBYAnd it came to pass in the days of Amraphel the king of Shinar, Arioch the king of El-lasar, Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and Tidal the king of nations,
BBENow in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch, king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim,
WebsterAnd it came to pass in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;

What does Genesis 14:1 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

Ge 14:1-24. War.

1. And it came to pass--This chapter presents Abram in the unexpected character of a warrior. The occasion was this: The king of Sodom and the kings of the adjoining cities, after having been tributaries for twelve years to the king of Elam, combined to throw off his yoke. To chastise their rebellion, as he deemed it, Chedorlaomer, with the aid of three allies, invaded the territories of the refractory princes, defeated them in a pitched battle where the nature of the ground favored his army (Ge 14:10), and hastened in triumph on his homeward march, with a large amount of captives and booty, though merely a stranger.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Introduction

The war of four confederate kings against the five kings of Canaan, Gen 14:1-3. The confederate kings overrun and pillage the whole country, Gen 14:4-7. Battle between them and the kings of Canaan, Gen 14:5, Gen 14:9. The latter are defeated, and the principal part of the armies of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah slain, Gen 14:10; on which these two cities are plundered, Gen 14:11. Lot, his goods, and his family, are also taken and carried away, Gen 14:12. Abram, being informed of the disaster of his nephew, Gen 14:13, arms three hundred and eighteen of his servants, and pursues them, Gen 14:14; overtakes and routs them, and recovers Lot and his family, and their goods, Gen 14:15, Gen 14:16; is met on his return by the king of Sodom, and by Melchizedek, king of Salem, with refreshments for himself and men, Gen 14:17, Gen 14:18. Melchizedek blesses Abram, and receives from him, as priest of the most high God, the tenth of all the spoils, Gen 14:19, Gen 14:20. The king of Sodom offers to Abram all the goods he has taken from the enemy, Gen 14:21; which Abram positively refuses, having vowed to God to receive no recompense for a victory of which he knew God to be the sole author, Gen 14:22, Gen 14:23; but desires that a proportion of the spoils be given to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre, who had accompanied him on this expedition, Gen 14:24. Verse 1 In the days of Amraphel - Who this king was is not known; and yet, from the manner in which he is spoken of in the text, it would seem that he was a person well known, even when Moses wrote this account. But the Vulgate gives a different turn to the place, by rendering the passage thus: Factum est in illo tempore, ut Amraphel, etc. "It came to pass in that time that Amraphel, etc." The Chaldee Targum of Onkelos makes Amraphel king of Babylon, others make him king of Assyria; some make him the same as Nimrod, and others, one of his descendants. Arioch king of Ellasar - Some think Syria is meant; but conjecture is endless where facts cannot be ascertained. Chedorlaomer king of Elam - Dr. Shuckford thinks that this was the same as Ninyas, the son of Ninus and Semiramis; and some think him to be the same with Keeumras, son of Doolaved, son of Arphaxad, son of Shem, son of Noah; and that Elam means Persia; see Gen 10:22. The Persian historians unanimously allow that Keeumras, whose name bears some affinity to Chedorlaomer, was the first king of the Peeshdadian dynasty. Tidal king of nations - גוים goyim, different peoples or clans. Probably some adventurous person, whose subjects were composed of refugees from different countries.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 14:1-12
The wars of nations make great figure in history, but we should not have had the record of this war if Abram and Lot had not been concerned. Out of covetousness, Lot had settled in fruitful, but wicked Sodom. Its inhabitants were the most ripe for vengeance of all the descendants of Canaan. The invaders were from Chaldea and Persia, then only small kingdoms. They took Lot among the rest, and his goods. Though he was righteous, and Abram's brother's son, yet he was with the rest in this trouble. Neither our own piety, nor our relation to the favourites of Heaven, will be our security when God's judgments are abroad. Many an honest man fares the worse for his wicked neighbours: it is our wisdom to separate, or at least to distinguish ourselves from them, 2Co 6:17. So near a relation of Abram should have been a companion and a disciple of Abram. If he chose to dwell in Sodom, he must thank himself if he share in Sodom's losses. When we go out of the way of our duty, we put ourselves from under God's protection, and cannot expect that the choice made by our lusts, should end to our comfort. They took Lot's goods; it is just with God to deprive us of enjoyments, by which we suffer ourselves to be deprived of the enjoyment of him.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Genesis 14:1 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיְהִ֗יvay.Hiand it wasH1961
בִּימֵי֙bi.Meiin [the] days ofH3117
אַמְרָפֶ֣ל'am.ra.FelAmraphelH569
מֶֽלֶךְ\־Me.lekh-[the] king ofH4428
שִׁנְעָ֔רshin.'ArShinarH8152
אַרְי֖וֹךְ'ar.YokhAriochH746
מֶ֣לֶךְMe.lekh[the] king ofH4428
אֶלָּסָ֑ר'e.la.SarEllasarH495
כְּדָרְלָעֹ֙מֶר֙ke.da.re.la.'O.merKedorlaomerH3540
מֶ֣לֶךְMe.lekh[the] king ofH4428
עֵילָ֔ם'ei.LamElamH5867
וְתִדְעָ֖לve.tid.'Aland TidalH8413
מֶ֥לֶךְMe.lekh[the] king ofH4428
גּוֹיִֽם\׃go.YimGoyimH1471

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 14:1

  • Genesis 10:10

    And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

  • Genesis 10:22

    The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.

  • Isaiah 37:12

    Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?

  • Genesis 11:2

    And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

  • Isaiah 11:11

    And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

  • Jeremiah 25:25

    And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,

  • Daniel 1:2

    And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.

  • Jeremiah 49:34-39

    The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might. And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies, and before them that seek their life: and I will bring evil upon them, even my fierce anger, saith the Lord; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them: …

  • Isaiah 22:6

    And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.

  • Ezekiel 32:24

    There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain, fallen by the sword, which are gone down uncircumcised into the nether parts of the earth, which caused their terror in the land of the living; yet have they borne their shame with them that go down to the pit.

  • Isaiah 21:2

    A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.

  • Zechariah 5:11

    And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1 The battle of four kings against the king of Sodom and his allies.
12 Lot is taken prisoner.
14 Abram rescues him.
17 Melchizedek blesses Abram at his return, who gives him tithes.
21 The rest of the spoil, his partners having had their portions he restores to the king of Sodom.

A.M. 2091. B.C. 1913.
Shinar.
10:10; 11:2; Isa 11:11; Da 1:2; Zec 5:11
Ellasar.
Isa 37:12
Elam.
10:22; Isa 21:2; 22:6; Jer 25:25; 49:34-39; Eze 32:24

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 14:1

    And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;

  • Genesis 14:2

    That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.

Read all of Genesis 14

Genesis 14:1 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y ACONTECIÓ en los días de Amraphel, rey de Shinar, Arioch, rey de Elazar, Chêdorlaomer, rey de Elá, y Tidal, rey de naciones,
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		*Et il arriva, aux jours d’Amraphel, roi de Shinhar, d’Arioc, roi d’Ellasar, de Kedor-Laomer, roi d’Élam, et de Tidhal, roi des nations,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und es geschah in den Tagen Amraphels, des Königs von Sinear, Ariochs, des Königs von Ellasar, Kedorlaomers, des Königs von Elam, und Thidhals, des Königs von Gojim,
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Factum est autem in illo tempore, ut Amraphel rex Sennaar, et Arioch rex Ponti, et Chodorlahomor rex Elamitarum, et Thadal rex gentium