Genesis 14:14

Genesis 14:14

 

And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.

 

a. NLT: When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

 

b. ASV:  And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan. [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Young’s Literal Translation: And Abram heareth that his brother hath been taken captive, and he draweth out his trained domestics, three hundred and eighteen, and pursueth unto Dan. [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

 

d. Amplified Bible: When Abram heard that [his nephew] had been captured, he armed (led forth) the 318 trained servants born in his own house and pursued the enemy as far as Dan. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

 

e. Septuagint: And Abram having heard that Lot his nephew had been taken captive, numbered his own home-born servants three hundred and eighteen, and pursued after them to Dan.

 

f. Stone Edition of the CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: And when Abram heard that his kinsman was taken captive, he armed his disciples who had been born in his house—three hundred and eighteen—and he pursued them as far as Dan. [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ldt.]

 

1. “And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen,…”

 

a. [And when] Abram [Strong: 87 'Abram ab-rawm'; contracted from 48; high father; Abram, the original name of Abraham:--Abram.]

 

b. heard [Strong: 8085 shama` shaw-mah'; a primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.):--X attentively, call (gather) together, X carefully, X certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, X diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear(-ken, tell), X indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim(-ation), publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, X surely, tell, understand, whosoever (heareth), witness.]

 

c. that [Strong: 3588 kiy kee a primitive particle (the full form of the prepositional prefix) indicating causal relations of all kinds, antecedent or consequent; (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed:--and, + (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-)as, assured(-ly), + but, certainly, doubtless, + else, even, + except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, + nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, + (al- )though, + till, truly, + until, when, whether, while, whom, yea, yet.]

d. his brother [Strong: 251 'ach awkh; a primitive word; a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relationship and metaphorical affinity or resemblance (like 1)):--another, brother(-ly); kindred, like, other.]

 

e. was taken captive [Strong: 7617 shabah shaw-baw'; a primitive root; to transport into captivity:--(bring away, carry, carry away, lead, lead away, take) captive(-s), drive (take) away.]

 

f. [he] armed [Strong: 7324 ruwq rook; a primitive root; to pour out (literally or figuratively), i.e. empty:--X arm, cast out, draw (out), (make) empty, pour forth (out).]

 

g. [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

h.  [his] trained [servants] [Strong: 2593 chaniyk kaw-neek'; from 2596; initiated; i.e. practiced:--trained.]

 

g. born [Strong: 3311 Yaphletiy yaf-lay-tee'; from 3205; born:--((home-))born, child, son.]

 

h. [in his own]  house [Strong: 1004 bayith bah'-yith; probably from 1129 abbreviated; a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etc.):--court, daughter, door, + dungeon, family, + forth of, X great as would contain, hangings, home(born), (winter)house(-hold), inside(-ward), palace, place, + prison, + steward, + tablet, temple, web, + within(-out).]

 

i. three [Strong: 7969 shalowsh shaw-loshe' or shalosh {shaw-loshe'}; primitive number; three; occasionally (ordinal) third, or (multipl.) thrice:--+ fork, + often(-times), third, thir(-teen, -teenth), three, + thrice.]

 

j. hundred [Strong: 3967 me'ah may-aw' or metyah {may-yaw'}; properly, a primitive numeral; a hundred; also as a multiplicative and a fraction:--hundred((-fold), -th), + sixscore.]

 

k. and eighteen [Strong: 6240 `asar aw-sawr'; for 6235; ten (only in combination), i.e. -teen; also (ordinal) -teenth:--(eigh-, fif-, four-, nine-, seven-, six-, thir-)teen(-th), + eleven(-th), + sixscore thousand, + twelve(-th).]

 

l. eight [Strong: 8083 shmoneh shem-o-neh' or shmowneh {shem-o-neh'}; feminine shmonah {shem-o-naw'}; or shmownah {shem-o-naw'}; apparently from 8082 through the idea of plumpness; a cardinal number, eight (as if a surplus above the "perfect" seven); also (as ordinal) eighth:--eight((-een, -eenth)), eighth.]

 

1). These 318 were just the men from Abram’s group. It is probable that the three Amorite brothers, Mamre, Eschol, and Aner also brought their men with them also. We must remember they were in covenant with Abram. There could have been upwards of one thousand men pursuing this army.

 

2. “…and pursued them unto Dan.”

 

a. [and] pursued [them]  [Strong: 7291 radaph raw-daf'; a primitive root; to run after (usually with hostile intent; figuratively (of time) gone by):--chase, put to flight, follow (after, on), hunt, (be under) persecute(-ion, -or), pursue(-r).]

 

b. unto [Strong: 5704 `ad ad properly, the same as 5703 (used as a preposition, adverb or conjunction; especially with a preposition); as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with):--against, and, as, at, before, by (that), even (to), for(-asmuch as), (hither-)to, + how long, into, as long (much) as, (so) that, till, toward, until, when, while, (+ as) yet.]

c. Dan [Strong: 1835 Dan dawn; from 1777; judge; Dan, one of the sons of Jacob; also the tribe descended from him, and its territory; likewise a place in Palestine colonized by them:--Dan.]

 

1). Dan is about 120 miles north of Mamre. It probably took about 6-7 days to catch up to this army. These kings and their army were on their way back to Mesopotamia. They would follow basically the same route they used when they came. North through Damascus and then southeast following the Euphrates River.