3 All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.

4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

e Peat 3. 17. Num. 34. 12. Josh. 3. 16. Ps. 10. 34. fch. 9. 26.

5 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

k

g ch. 15. 20. Deut. 3. 11. h Josh. 12. 4. & 13. 12. i Deut 2. 20. k Deut. 2. 10. 11.

often happens, a lesser judgment was made the precursor of a greater.

3. All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim. That is, these last named kings, ruling the cities of the plain, having entered into a league or confederacy, for the defence of their territory, assembled their forces in the place mentioned. The original phrase for 'joining battle' v. 8, is different. It would seem from this text that the part of the valley of Jordan occupied by these cities and their territories, and which now forms the bed of the Dead Sea, was then called 'The vale of Siddim.' For observations on the overthrow of these cities and on the Dead Sea, see Notes on ch. 19. 24, 25.

Arab usages on both sides. That their force was not numerous is evident from the circumstance that the petty kings of the plain ventured to give them battle on their return flushed with success, and from the small body by which they were defeated. There are few sheikhs of the present time who can bring more than 300 horsemen into action; and if we suppose each of the four 'kings' brought such a number of men, lightly armed, and unencumbered with baggage, we have probably the highest estimate that can be allowed in the present instance. They were probably mounted on camels, and few things are more common in our own day than to hear of Arabs or Turcomans, in even much smaller numbers, 4. Twelve years they served Chedor traversing extensive deserts, scouring laomer. It would seem, therefore, on the country beyond, sacking villages, the whole, that the ascendancy of the menacing and entering large towns in kingdom of Babylon, founded by the the night, all with astonishing rapidity, sons of Ham under Nimrod, had at and return laden with captives and this time ceased or declined, and that spoil. The affair has the appearance Persia, settled by the descendants of altogether of a Turcoman chappow on Shem, had become the dominant naa large scale.' Pict. Bible. The five tion of the Eastern world. In this fact cities here mentioned stood near to- we see the incipient accomplishment of gether on the plain of Jordan, consti- the prediction, that Canaan should be tuting what is frequently termed the the servant of Shem.-¶ In the thir Pentapolis, or five-fold city, and, ex-teenth year they rebelled. That is, recept Zoar, were all afterwards destroy-fused to pay tribute, the usual sign of ed by fire from heaven. Sodom and Gomorrah are always so mentioned as to appear the principal of the five, and Bela was probably the least important. Had they heard the voice of the first rod, and humbled themselves in repentance, they might have escaped the stroke of the second; but as it was, as

subjection. Thus it is said of Hezekiah, 2 Kings, 18. 7, 'And he rebelled against the king of Assyria, and served him not,' i. e. withheld the tribute which had formerly been exacted of the kings of Judah.

5. Smote the Rephaims-Zuzims→ Emims. These would seem to have

6 And the Horites in their | king of Bela, (the same is Zoar); mount Seir, unto El-paran, which and they joined battle with them is by the wilderness. in the vale of Siddim;

7 And they returned, and came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt min Hazezon

tamar.

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

1 Deut. 2. 12, 22. m 2 Chron. 20. 2.

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.

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.

n ch. 11. 3. 0 ch. 19. 17, 30.

7. And they returned, and came to

after smiting the people above mentioned, and taking a northerly direction entered the valley of the Jordan, and attacked the inhabitants of the plain. En-mishpat, i. e. fountain of judgment, is so called by anticipation. This name was conferred in consequence of the circumstance recorded Num. 20. 10, where God gave judgment or sentence against Moses and Aaron for their offence thus committed.

been people of extraordinary stature inhabiting the country east of the Jor-En-mishpat. That is, turned about, dan and Dead sea. The country of the Rephaims is identified with that of Bashan, the last king of which, Og, so famous for his stature, was dispossessed by the Israelites, when the city of Ashteroth was given to the halftribe of Manasseh, whose allotment was east of Jordan. The Zuzims and Emims had been previously dispossessed of their territory by the children of Moab and Ammon, the sons of Lot. The invading chiefs appear to have - All the country of the Amaleoverrun the eastern bank of the Jor-kites. Heb. pyn nw all the dan, from near its source, to the desert south of Canaan, through which they proceeded westward toward the Mediterranean; and, after having made a near approach to that sea, returned, and on their re-ascent through the vale of the Jordan, gave battle to the kings of the plain. This account of their track will be readily understood by reference to any map in which the situtions of the early nations of this region are given.—¶ Shaveh_ Kiriathaim. Or, 'the plains or flats of Kiriathaim.'

6. And the Horites in their mount Seir. The name imports dwellers in caves, Troglodites. For an account of mount Seir and the land of Edom, see note on ch. 36. 9.

field of the Amalekite. This also by anticipation; as Amalek was not yet born. Gen. 36. 10, 11. Understand it of the country afterwards occupied by the Amalekites. The sacred writer speaks of places by the names most familiar in his own times.

10. And the vale of Siddim was full of slime-pits. Heb. OKI DOND was pits, pits, of slime; an idiom common to the Hebrew when it would convey the idea of a great number. So 'heaps, heaps,' Ex. 8. 14. 'Ranks, ranks (Gr.),' Mark, 5. 40. It denotes either places where asphaltum or bitumen oozed out of the ground, obstructing the flight of the discomfited host; or places which had been excavated in digging bitumen to be employ

q

11 And they took Pall the 12 And they took Lot, Abram's goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, a brother's son, r who dwelt in and all their victuals, and went Sodom, and his goods, and detheir way. parted.

p ver. 16, 21.

q ch. 12. 5. r ch. 13. 12.

Persians, who had also maltreated the inhabitants, who had afterwards fled to the mountains. The news of this transaction having been carried overnight to the next large village, about twenty miles distant, the Persians, on their arrival there the next day, found it completely deserted by the inhabitants, who had, in the short interval, removed with all their live stock and goods to the mountains. He found it in this condition a fortnight later; the inhabitants being afraid to come back till the soldiers should have returned from their expedition. Burckhardt, in his 'Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys,' p. 337, mentions that, when the Wahabys menaced Damascus in 1810, the inhabitants sent off all their valu able property to the mountains of Lebanon.' Pict. Bible.

11. Took all the goods. Or, all the

ed perhaps in the construction of their houses; a material which, from being strongly impregnated with sulphureous matter, would render their city a more easy prey to the devouring element. See note on ch. 19. 24, 25.- T Fell there. That is, fell in the sense of being completely routed, and for the most part slain, though these kings and others, it appears from v. 13, 17, 21, survived.- -T And they that remained fled to the mountain. Heb. 0178 the survivors. 'Mountain' is here to be understood as a collective singular for mountains or mountainous regions in the vicinity. "It is still a common practice in the East for the inhabitants of towns and villages to hasten for safety to the mountains in times of alarm and danger, or at least to send their valuable property away. The moveables of the Asiatics, in camps, villages, and towns, are aston-substance. The word is singular in the ishingly few compared with those which the refinements of European life render necessary. A few carpets, kettles, and dishes of tinned copper, compose the bulk of their property, which can speedily be packed up, and sent away on the backs of camels or mules, with the women and children mounted on the baggage. In this way a large village or town is in a few hours completely gutted, and the inhabitants, with every stick and rag belonging to them, can place themselves in safety in the mountains. The writer of this note travelled in Koordistan in 1829, following, in one part of the journey, the course which had recently been taken by the Persian troops in their march from Tabreez to Sulimanieh. He came to one large village which had been partially burnt by the

original, implying collectively all their moveable property. The Greek ren ders it somewhat strangely v OV racav all their horse-force; a kind of property which they were very unlikely to possess.- -¶ And all their vic tuals. "Fulness of bread,' was part of their sin, Ezek. 16. 49; and now 'cleanness of teeth' is made a piece of their punishment, in God's just judgment! Trapp.

12. And they took Lot, &c. A literal rendering of this verse, according to the order of the words in the original, is as follows;-' And they took Lot, and his goods, Abram's brother's son, and departed: and he was dwelling in Sodom.' 'He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but the companion of fools shall be destroyed.' Prov. 13. 20. The passage is so constructed

13 ¶ And there came one that | brother of Eschol, and brother of had escaped, and told Abram the Aner: and these were confedHebrew; for he dwelt in the erate with Abram. plain of Mamre the Amorite,

Septuagint, which is adopted by several of the early Greek fathers, principally no doubt on the authority of that version. The advocates of this opinion object to the derivation of the name from Eber or Heber, the great grandson of Shem, and one of the ancestors of Abraham, on the ground, that the Scriptures do not represent him as an historical personage of any special notoriety, and that no reason can be assigned why his name should now be first used as an appellative of Abraham, seeing that five generations had inter

as to give a sort of melancholy emphasis to the fact of Lot's dwelling in Sodom, which is entirely lost sight of in our translation. The unhappy man now begins to reap the bitter consequences of taking up his abode in the midst of the habitations of wickedness. 'That wealth, which was the cause of his former quarrels, is made a prey to merciless heathens; that place, which his eye covetously chose, betrays his life and goods. How many Christians, whilst they have looked at gain, have lost themselves!' Bp. Hall. 13. And told Abram the Hebrew.vened between him and Eber, during Heb. 83 77. Gr. ann- which we have no evidence that it was γειλεν Αβραμ τώ περατη told Abram the employed as a patronymic at all. But passenger. This is the first instance to this it may be answered, that no of the occurrence of the word 'He- other descendant of his sustained the brew.' It may perhaps be applied to same relation as did Abraham to the Abraham here for distinction' sake, to great promise made to Shem, ch. 9. intimate that however closely connect-26, 27, on which we would refer to the ed for a time by league or friendship with his Amoritish neighbours, Mamre and his brethren, he was still mindful of his extraction and his destiny, and had not suffered himself to become a naturalized Canaanite. As to the origin of the term, opinions are much divided. Modern interpreters, particularly of the German school, incline for the most part to have recourse to the etymology of the word, and as

considerations adduced in our note on that passage. But apart from this, the philological reasons appear to us sufficient to warrant this view of the origin of the name. For (1) had the originalibri been intended to convey the import of passer-over which the Sept. assigns to it, grammatical propriety would have required the participial form 1 ober, which has that distinct meaning. (2.) The analogy of proper names ending in yod (-) decidedly confirms this mode of understand

מאבי Thus

aber has the import of transition or passage, contend that the term was first applied to or taken by Abraham,ing it. Most of the patronymic and as an epithet to distinguish him as one gentile nouns in the language are formthat had come from beyond the Euphra- ed in the same way. According to this hypothesis Moabite from 'Abram the Hebrew' is equivalent to ite from 17 Dan; 'Abrain the Transfluvian, or Trans-3 Caleb; euphratean.' In this they are plainly Elon: and so in

tes.

Moab; Dan3 Calebite from Elonite from a multitude of sim

countenanced by the rendering of the ilar cases. Why not suppose then

14 And when Abram heard | vants, ▾ born in his own house, that his brother was taken cap- three hundred and eighteen, and tive, he armed his trained ser- pursued them unto Dan.