Genesis 14

Genesis 14 begins with a brief account of a military campaign: Chedorlaomer king of Elam and three allied kings subdue five kings of the cities of the plain, who had rebelled after twelve years of subjection. The battle in the Valley of Siddim goes against the five kings; the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah fall into bitumen pits, and the rest flee to the hills. The victors take the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and depart — including Lot, who was living in Sodom, and his possessions. A fugitive brings word to Abram, who is living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite. Abram arms his three hundred and eighteen trained men, pursues as far as Dan, divides his forces, defeats the coalition by night, and pursues to Hobah north of Damascus, recovering all the goods and people including Lot.

The chapter's theological heart is the encounter with Melchizedek at the Valley of Shaveh after the battle. Melchizedek is king of Salem — later identified with Jerusalem in the tradition — and priest of El Elyon, God Most High. He brings bread and wine and blesses Abram: blessed be Abram by El Elyon, maker of heaven and earth, and blessed be El Elyon who has delivered your enemies into your hand. Abram gives him a tenth of everything — a tithe. The king of Sodom then offers Abram all the goods, asking only for the people; Abram refuses on the grounds that the king of Sodom must not be able to claim credit for Abram's wealth. Melchizedek appears only here in Genesis; his two attributes — king and priest — and his city, and his blessing of Abram before any Levitical priesthood exists, make him a persistent symbol in later Jewish and Christian tradition.