Abraham Defeats Chedorlaomer, the Proto-Persian King

When Abram and his nephew Lot part ways (Genesis 13), Lot chooses to settle in the lush lands of the Jordan River valley near Sodom, while Abram settles at the terebinth of Mamre, in Hebron. Shortly thereafter, four kings from the east initiate a war against the five kings of the cities in the plains of the Jordan valley.

There is much about this story that is unusual,^[1] including references to obscure people and places that are difficult to identify, some of which only appear in this narrative. Because of its unique style, vocabulary and content, which is not identifiable with any of the major Pentateuchal sources, most scholars view this story as an independent source.^[2]

The Four Kings from the East

Let’s begin by considering the names of the four kings of the east and their kingdoms.

^{בראשית יד:א} וַיְהִי בִּימֵי אַמְרָפֶל מֶלֶךְ שִׁנְעָר אַרְיוֹךְ מֶלֶךְ אֶלָּסָר כְּדׇרְלָעֹמֶר מֶלֶךְ עֵילָם וְתִדְעָל מֶלֶךְ גּוֹיִם.

^{Gen 14:1} Now, in the days of Amraphel King of Shinar, Arioch King of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer King of Elam, and Tidal King of Goiim,^[3]

These kings’ ancient patina derives in part from the list of nations in the Table of Nations (Genesis 10), which traces most of the nations that the author was aware of back to the family lines of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth after the flood,^[4] and in part from this author’s knowledge of foreign-sounding names.

Amraphel of Shinar sounds Babylonian, like Hammurabi, the famous king of Babylon.^[5] Shinar is the old name of Babylonia, mentioned as the land that Nimrod ruled:^[6]

^{בראשית י:ח} וְכוּשׁ יָלַד אֶת נִמְרֹד הוּא הֵחֵל לִהְיוֹת גִּבֹּר בָּאָרֶץ. ^י:ט הוּא־הָיָה גִבֹּר צַיִד לִפְנֵי יְ־הֹוָה עַל כֵּן יֵאָמַר כְּנִמְרֹד גִּבּוֹר צַיִד לִפְנֵי יְ־הֹוָה. ^י:י וַתְּהִי רֵאשִׁית מַמְלַכְתּוֹ בָּבֶל וְאֶרֶךְ וְאַכַּד וְכַלְנֵה בְּאֶרֶץ שִׁנְעָר.

^{Gen 10:8} Cush also begot Nimrod, who was the first man of might on earth. ^10:9 He was a mighty hunter by the grace of the YHWH; hence the saying, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter by the grace of YHWH.” ^10:10 The mainstays of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar.

Thus the king of Shinar is an ancient precursor of Babylonian kings and their military campaigns to the west.

Arioch of Ellasar sounds like a Hurrian name, like Araunah the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24).[7] But Ellasar is an imagined place, perhaps inspired by the ancient name of Cyprus, Elishah, with a touch of Tarshish added:

^{בראשית י:ב} בְּנֵי יֶפֶת גֹּמֶר וּמָגוֹג וּמָדַי וְיָוָן וְתֻבָל וּמֶשֶׁךְ וְתִירָס …^י:ד וּבְנֵי יָוָן אֱלִישָׁה וְתַרְשִׁישׁ כִּתִּים וְדֹדָנִים.

^{Gen 10:2} The descendants of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras…^10:4 The descendants of Javan: Elishah and Tarshish, the Kittim and the Dodanim.

Chedorlaomer of Elam has an Elamite sounding name, like Kudur-Nahhunte, the name of several Elamite kings in the second and first millennia B.C.E. Elam is the oldest son of Shem and thus is also an ancient place name:

^{בראשית י:כב} בְּנֵי שֵׁם עֵילָם וְאַשּׁוּר וְאַרְפַּכְשַׁד וְלוּד וַאֲרָם.

^{Gen 10:22} The descendants of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.

Although Chedorlaomer here is third on the list, he is the leader of the four kings (v.9), and the only one mentioned by name throughout the story (v. 4, 5, 17). The Elamite king is the precursor of the king of Persia, whose capital Susa (Hebrew Shushan) was the old Elamite capital. The Persian king’s royal title “king of Anshan” referred to the old Elamite kingdom. I will return to this connection between King Chedorlaomer and the later Persian kings.

Tidal of Goiim, the fourth king, has a real-sounding Hittite name, like Tudhaliyu, the name of several Hittite kings.^[8] But Goiim is an imagined place – the word simply means “nations.” It might have been inspired by the designation “the maritime nations”:

^{בראשית י:ד} וּבְנֵי יָוָן אֱלִישָׁה וְתַרְשִׁישׁ כִּתִּים וְדֹדָנִים. ^י:ה מֵאֵלֶּה נִפְרְדוּ אִיֵּי הַגּוֹיִם …

^{Gen 10:4} The descendants of Javan: Elishah and Tarshish, the Kittim and the Dodanim. ^10:5 From these the maritime nations branched out….

The Five Kings of the Jordan Valley

The five kings of the Jordan Valley are similarly a combination of real and imagined details.

^{בראשית יד:ב} עָשׂוּ מִלְחָמָה אֶת בֶּרַע מֶלֶךְ סְדֹם וְאֶת בִּרְשַׁע מֶלֶךְ עֲמֹרָה שִׁנְאָב  מֶלֶךְ אַדְמָה וְשֶׁמְאֵבֶר מֶלֶךְ (צביים) [צְבוֹיִם] וּמֶלֶךְ בֶּלַע הִיא צֹעַר.

^{Gen 14:2} they made war on Bera King of Sodom, Birsha King of Gomorrah, Shinab King of Admah, Shemeber King of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.

Four of these cities are drawn from the Table of Nations:

^{בראשית י:יט} וַיְהִי גְּבוּל הַכְּנַעֲנִי מִצִּידֹן בֹּאֲכָה גְרָרָה עַד עַזָּה בֹּאֲכָה סְדֹמָה וַעֲמֹרָה וְאַדְמָה וּצְבֹיִם עַד לָשַׁע.

^{Gen 10:19} The [original] Canaanite territory extended from Sidon as far as Gerar, near Gaza, and as far as Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, near Lasha.^[9]

The personal names of King Bera (בֶּרַע; bera) of Sodom and King Birsha (בִּרְשַׁע; birsha) of Gomorrah are symbolic – they mean “with evil” (בְּרַע; bera) and “with wickedness” (בְּרֶשַׁע; beresha), revealing their bad moral character. The other two kings’ names, Shinab (שִׁנְאָב) and Shemeber (שֶׁמְאֵבֶר), are an alliterative sound-play on each other, but their meanings are obscure.

The fifth king is unnamed, but his city, Bela (בֶּלַע, bela, “swallow,” as in swallowed up), is an imagined ancient name for Zoar, the city where Lot seeks shelter after the destruction of Sodom (Genesis 19:20-22).^[10] These are kings of the well-watered Jordan valley, imagined כְּגַן יְ־הֹוָה, khegan-YHWH, “like the Garden of YHWH” (Genesis 13:10) – which will in the future turn into the blasted region of the Dead Sea when God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah.

^{בראשית יד:ג} כׇּל אֵלֶּה חָבְרוּ אֶל עֵמֶק הַשִּׂדִּים הוּא יָם הַמֶּלַח.

^{Gen 14:3} All the latter joined forces at the Valley of Siddim, now the Dead Sea.^[11]

The Rephaim, Zuzim, and Emim

After this, we would have expected an account of the battle, but instead we find an intervening section that contains an explanation for the war (v. 4, the five Jordan Valley kings are rebellious vassals of King Chedorlaomer) and an account of other conquests the four eastern kings made as they headed west on their way to the rebellious kings in the Jordan valley.

^{בראשית יד:ה} וּבְאַרְבַּע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה בָּא כְדׇרְלָעֹמֶר וְהַמְּלָכִים אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ וַיַּכּוּ אֶת רְפָאִים בְּעַשְׁתְּרֹת קַרְנַיִם וְאֶת הַזּוּזִים בְּהָם וְאֵת הָאֵימִים בְּשָׁוֵה קִרְיָתָיִם. ^יד:ו וְאֶת הַחֹרִי בְּהַרְרָם שֵׂעִיר עַד אֵיל פָּארָן אֲשֶׁר עַל הַמִּדְבָּר.

^{Gen 14:5} In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim at Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim at Ham, the Emim at Shaveh-kiriathaim, ^14:6 and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran, which is by the wilderness.

These names of the ancient peoples of the Transjordan are drawn from Deuteronomy. The Rephaim, also called Zamzumim (which our author shortened to Zuzim, perhaps accidentally), were the ancient inhabitants of Ammon:

^{דברים ב:כ} אֶרֶץ רְפָאִים תֵּחָשֵׁב אַף הִוא רְפָאִים יָשְׁבוּ בָהּ לְפָנִים וְהָעַמֹּנִים יִקְרְאוּ לָהֶם זַמְזֻמִּים. ^ב:כא עַם גָּדוֹל וְרַב וָרָם כָּעֲנָקִים וַיַּשְׁמִידֵם יְ־הֹוָה מִפְּנֵיהֶם וַיִּירָשֻׁם וַיֵּשְׁבוּ תַחְתָּם.

^{Deut 2:20} It (Ammon), too, is counted as Rephaim country. It was formerly inhabited by Rephaim, whom the Ammonites call Zamzummim, ^2:21 a people great and numerous and as tall as the Anakites. YHWH wiped them out, so that [the Ammonites] dispossessed them and settled in their place.

The Horites lived in Edom:

^{דברים ב:כב} כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לִבְנֵי עֵשָׂו הַיֹּשְׁבִים בְּשֵׂעִיר אֲשֶׁר הִשְׁמִיד אֶת הַחֹרִי מִפְּנֵיהֶם וַיִּירָשֻׁם וַיֵּשְׁבוּ תַחְתָּם עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה.

^2:22 As [YHWH] did for the descendants of Esau who live in Seir, when [YHWH] wiped out the Horites before them, so that they dispossessed them and settled in their place, as is still the case.

The Emim lived in Moab:

^{דברים ב:י} הָאֵמִים לְפָנִים יָשְׁבוּ בָהּ עַם גָּדוֹל וְרַב וָרָם כָּעֲנָקִים. ^ב:יא רְפָאִים יֵחָשְׁבוּ אַף הֵם כָּעֲנָקִים וְהַמֹּאָבִים יִקְרְאוּ לָהֶם אֵמִים.

^{Deut 2:10} It (Moab) was formerly inhabited by the Emim, a people great and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. ^2:11 Like the Anakites, they are counted as Rephaim; but the Moabites call them Emim.

Our author provided local places to situate these ancient peoples, deliberately omitting the “modern” monarch-era names Ammon, Moab, and Edom.^[12]

Abram Rescues Lot

After the interlude, our narrator returns to the story with a very brief statement that the battle occurred and the five kings are defeated and flee, so their territories are left vulnerable to the invading forces, who take full advantage of their absence. This has unfortunate consequences for Lot:

^{בראשית יד:יא} וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת כׇּל רְכֻשׁ סְדֹם וַעֲמֹרָה וְאֶת כׇּל אׇכְלָם וַיֵּלֵכוּ. ^יד:יב וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת לוֹט וְאֶת רְכֻשׁוֹ בֶּן אֲחִי אַבְרָם וַיֵּלֵכוּ וְהוּא יֹשֵׁב בִּסְדֹם.

^{Gen 14:11} [The invaders] seized all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions, and went their way. ^14:12 They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, and his possessions, and departed; for he had settled in Sodom.

Abram gets word of Lot’s plight and takes swift and decisive action to rescue his nephew:

^{בראשית יד:יד} וַיִּשְׁמַע אַבְרָם כִּי נִשְׁבָּה אָחִיו וַיָּרֶק אֶת חֲנִיכָיו יְלִידֵי בֵיתוֹ שְׁמֹנָה עָשָׂר וּשְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת וַיִּרְדֹּף עַד דָּן. ^יד:טו וַיֵּחָלֵק עֲלֵיהֶם  לַיְלָה הוּא וַעֲבָדָיו וַיַּכֵּם וַיִּרְדְּפֵם עַד חוֹבָה אֲשֶׁר מִשְּׂמֹאל לְדַמָּשֶׂק. ^יד:טז וַיָּשֶׁב אֵת כׇּל הָרְכֻשׁ וְגַם אֶת לוֹט אָחִיו וּרְכֻשׁוֹ הֵשִׁיב וְגַם אֶת הַנָּשִׁים וְאֶת הָעָם.

^{Gen 14:14} When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he mustered his retainers, born into his household, numbering three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. ^14:15 At night, he and his servants deployed against them and defeated them; and he pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. ^14:16 He brought back all the possessions; he also brought back his kinsman Lot and his possessions, and the women and the rest of the people.

The depiction of Abram here is unusual. In the rest of Genesis, he is a wanderer, a husband and father, a man of obedience and argument, and occasionally deception, but not a warrior. Yet here he is a powerful, noble warrior-chief who defeats four mighty kings of the east and rescues not only his nephew Lot, but also all the other captives.^[13]

Yet there are a handful of clues that could suggest a warrior side for Abraham.

Abraham’s Warrior Side

When King Abimelech comes to negotiate a treaty with Abraham, who lives nearby (in a town that will be called Beersheba), he brings the general of his army with him.

^{בראשית כא:כב} וַיְהִי בָּעֵת הַהִוא וַיֹּאמֶר אֲבִימֶלֶךְ וּפִיכֹל שַׂר צְבָאוֹ אֶל אַבְרָהָם לֵאמֹר אֱלֹהִים עִמְּךָ בְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה עֹשֶׂה. ^כא:כג וְעַתָּה הִשָּׁבְעָה לִּי בֵאלֹהִים הֵנָּה אִם תִּשְׁקֹר לִי וּלְנִינִי וּלְנֶכְדִּי כַּחֶסֶד אֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתִי עִמְּךָ תַּעֲשֶׂה עִמָּדִי וְעִם הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר גַּרְתָּה בָּהּ. ^כא:כד וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָהָם אָנֹכִי אִשָּׁבֵעַ.

^{Gen 21:22} At that time Abimelech and Phicol, chief of his troops, said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything that you do. ^21:23 Therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my kith and kin, but will deal with me and with the land in which you have sojourned as loyally as I have dealt with you.” ^21:24 And Abraham said, “I swear it.”

This covenant–and the presence of Abimelech’s general–suggests that Abraham has the power to conduct armed raids. It also grants him a status roughly equivalent to a king and his general. Although not explicitly called a warrior-chief in this scene, the text suggests that Abraham has this function.

Military prowess is also associated with other patriarchs in Genesis. The warrior side of Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, is briefly revealed when he gives the city of Shechem to Joseph.^[14] He says that he acquired Shechem מִיַּד הָאֱמֹרִי בְּחַרְבִּי וּבְקַשְׁתִּי, miyad ha’emori becharbi ubeqashti, “from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and my bow” (Genesis 48:22).^[15] Jacob’s blessings of his sons make several references to warrior traits, including violence, weapons, battles, and conquests.^[16]

We can see why an antiquarian writer, seeing these warrior references, would be tempted to transpose them to the first patriarch, Abraham.

Melchizedek, King of Salem

Upon his return, not only with all the captives but also with all the property that was plundered, Abraham is greeted by the grateful king of Sodom and receives a blessing from another king, Melchizedek:

^{בראשית יד:יח} וּמַלְכִּי צֶדֶק מֶלֶךְ שָׁלֵם הוֹצִיא לֶחֶם וָיָיִן וְהוּא כֹהֵן לְאֵל עֶלְיוֹן. ^יד:יט וַיְבָרְכֵהוּ וַיֹּאמַר בָּרוּךְ אַבְרָם לְאֵל עֶלְיוֹן קֹנֵה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ׃ ^יד:כ וּבָרוּךְ אֵל עֶלְיוֹן אֲשֶׁר מִגֵּן צָרֶיךָ בְּיָדֶךָ וַיִּתֶּן לוֹ מַעֲשֵׂר מִכֹּל.

^{Gen 14:18} And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High. ^14:19 He blessed him, saying, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. ^4:20 And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your foes into your hand.” And [Abram] gave him a tenth of everything.

Melchizedek, king of Salem, is another archaizing combination of name and place, drawn from an obscure verse in Psalms that suggests that the king in Jerusalem was also a priest:

^{תהילים קי:ד} נִשְׁבַּע יְ־הֹוָה  וְלֹא יִנָּחֵם אַתָּה כֹהֵן לְעוֹלָם עַל דִּבְרָתִי מַלְכִּי צֶדֶק.

^{Ps 110:4} You are a priest forever after the manner of Melchizedek.

Melchizedek is thus a precursor of Israelite kings, and Salem is used as an alternative – perhaps archaic-sounding – name of Jerusalem. The name Salem is equated with Jerusalem elsewhere:

^{תהילים עו:ב} נוֹדָע בִּיהוּדָה אֱלֹהִים בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל גָּדוֹל שְׁמוֹ. ^עו:ג וַיְהִי בְשָׁלֵם סוּכּוֹ וּמְעוֹנָתוֹ בְצִיּוֹן.

^{Ps 76:2} God has made Himself known in Judah, His name is great in Israel. ^76:3 Salem became His abode; Zion, His den.

King Melchizedek’s ritual blessing of Abraham in Salem positions the patriarch as the noble ancestor of the kings of Jerusalem, who here visits – and in a sense justifies – Jerusalem, their royal home.^[17]

A Persian Political Subtext

To this end, the writer, who had a sophisticated grasp of his task, repurposed details from other biblical texts and concocted a number of personal and place names, giving the story an archaic patina with a remarkable blend of realistic and imaginary details. By all indications, including its reliance on a range of biblical texts and its non-classical grammar, it must be a relatively late text in Genesis.

The story fills out Abraham’s character and makes him a worthy precursor to David and the other kings who descend from him. But is there any other more subtle aim for this composition?

Taking up some clues pointed out previously, this text is likely from the Persian period,^[18] and thus the image of Abraham the warrior-chief defeating the mighty eastern kings headed by King Chedorlaomer of Elam has a notable bite.

As the ancient Near Eastern historian Amélie Kuhrt (1944-2023) observes, the “‘Persian’ dynasty perceived itself to be ruling part of the old Elamite realm, using a venerable Elamite title” (king of Anshan).^[19] In their royal ideology, the Achaemenids were the heirs of Elamite kings.^[20]

If Chedorlaomer of Elam is in some sense a precursor of the kings of the Persian empire, with Elam serving as an ancient name for Persia (notice that Persia is not listed in the Table of Nations), then Abraham’s defeat of the eastern kings might be a projection – or hope – of Israel’s defeat of its Persian overlords.

This subtext is not explicit in the story but might be seen as a “hidden” transcript, a way that subjected peoples tend to criticize or resist the ruling imperial power. This interpretation is not certain, because this polemical sentiment is concealed lest it provoke the Persian powers. But a biblical writer can include such hints of resistance in stories, as in the implicit critique of Babylonian power in the Tower of Babel story.^[21] Yairah Amit traces other cases of “hidden polemics” in biblical narrative.^[22]

In this case, Abraham the warrior not only fights a glorious battle against eastern kings in the distant past but also strikes a blow against eastern kings in the Persian era, the “now-time” of the story’s composition. It provides a memory that such things once happened and might happen again, giving hope or solace in a difficult time.