Genesis 14:5

Genesis 14:5

 

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,

 

a. NLT: One year later Kedorlaomer and his allies arrived and defeated the Rephaites at Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites at Ham, the Emites at Shaveh-kiriathaim, [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 in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, [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 in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings who are with him, and they smite the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, [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: And in the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him attacked and subdued the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

 

e. Septuagint: And in the fourteenth year came Chodollogomor, and the kings with him, and cut to pieces the giants in Astaroth, and Carnain, and strong nations with them, and the Ommaeans in the city Save.

 

f. Stone Edition of THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary:: In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and struck the Rephaim at Sshteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim at Shaveh-kirathaim. [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ldt.]

 

1. “And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him,…”

 

a. [And in the] fourteenth [Strong: 702 'arba` ar-bah' masculine oarbaah {ar-baw-aw'}; from 7251; four:--four.]

b. fourteenth [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).

 

c. year [Strong: 8141 shaneh shaw-neh' (in plura or (feminine) shanah {shaw-naw'}; from 8138; a year (as a revolution of time):--+ whole age, X long, + old, year(X -ly).]

 

d. came [Strong: 935 bow' bo: a primitive root; to go or come (in a wide variety of applications):--abide, apply, attain, X be, befall, + besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, X certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, X doubtless again, + eat, + employ, (cause to) enter (in, into, -tering, -trance, -try), be fallen, fetch, + follow, get, give, go (down, in, to war), grant, + have, X indeed, (in-)vade, lead, lift (up), mention, pull in, put, resort, run (down), send, set, X (well) stricken (in age), X surely, take (in), way.]

 

e. Chedorlaomer [Strong: 3540 Kdorla`omer ked-or-law-o'-mer; of foreign origin; Kedorlaomer, an early Persian king:--Chedorlaomer.]

f. [and the] kings [Strong: 4428 melek meh'-lek: from 4427; a king:--king, royal.]

g. that [Strong: 834 'aher ash-er' a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:--X after, X alike, as (soon as), because, X every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), X if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), X though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(- soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

h. [were] with him [Strong: 854 'eth ayth probably from 579; properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), near; hence, generally, with, by, at, among, etc.:--against, among, before, by, for, from, in(-to), (out) of, with. Often with another prepositional prefix.]

1). It took a year for Chedorlaomer to get his army together and to make the long trip to Canaan. Instead of coming from the direct east, these four kings came down from the north. Why? There were only two known roads that led from the area north of the Persian Gulf to the area around the cities of the plain.. One led west across hundreds of miles of the Arabian and Eastern deserts. The other went north following the Euphrates River. Given the fact they came down from the north into the area east of the valley of Shaveh, it is certain they followed the roads north following the Euphrates River  and south toward Damascus. It was probably the same route Abram took when he came into the land of Canaan, north to Haran and then south through Damascus. 

 

2. “…and smote the Rephaims, in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim.”

 

a. [and] smote [Strong: 5221 nakah naw-kaw': a primitive root; to strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively):--beat, cast forth, clap, give (wounds), X go forward, X indeed, kill, make (slaughter), murderer, punish, slaughter, slay(-er, -ing), smite(-r, -ing), strike, be stricken, (give) stripes, X surely, wound.]

 

b. [the] Rephaims [Strong: 7497 rapha' raw-faw' or raphah {raw-faw'}; from 7495 in the sense of invigorating; a giant:--giant, Rapha, Rephaim(-s).] [Ungers: spirits of the deceased, giant aborigines.]

 

c. Ashteroth Karnaim [Strong: 6255 `Ashtroth Qarnayim ash-ter-oth' kar-nah'-yim: from 6252 and the dual of 7161; Ashtaroth of (the) double horns (a symbol of the deity); Ashteroth-Karnaim, a place East of the Jordan:--Ashtoreth Karnaim.]

 

1). Harper Collins Bible Dictionary gives its significance of hundreds of years later: Ashteroth: “The capital city of Og, king of Bashan, whom the Israelites under Moses defeated in battle (Deuteronomy 1:4; Joshua 9:10; 12:4). It is later mentioned as a city of refuge given to the Gershomites, a Levitical group, from the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh (1 Chronicles 6:71). It was located east of the Sea of Galilee.”

 

d. Zuzims [Strong: 2104 Zuwziym zoo-zeem': plural probably from the same as 2123; prominent; Zuzites, an aboriginal tribe of Palestine:--Zuzims.]

 

1). Zuzims were giants.

 

a). Deuteronomy 2:20, 21 (That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims; A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead:

 

e. [in] Ham [Strong: 1990 Ham hawm: of uncertain derivation; Ham, a region of Palestine:--Ham.]

 

f. [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).]

g. [and the] Emims [Strong: 368 'Eymiym ay-meem': plural of 367; terrors; Emim, an early Canaanitish (or Maobitish) tribe:--Emims.]

 

1). Strong lists them as a “Moabitish tribe” but this is before the Moabites came into existence, decades later. It is better listed as pre-Moabitish. The Emims were giants.

 

a). Deuteronomy 2:10,11 “The Emims dwelt therein  in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims.”

 

h. Shaveh Kiriathaim [Strong: 7741 Shaveh Qiryathayim shaw-vay' kir-yaw-thah'-yim; from the same as 7740 and the dual of 7151; plain of a double city; Shaveh-Kirjathajim, a place East of the Jordan:--Shaveh Kiriathaim.] [Unger’s: A plain near the city of Kirjathaim of Moab.]

 

1). While on their way to punish their subjects they made war upon many of the nation/cities on their way.