Genesis 14:8

Genesis 14:8

 

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 king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;

 

a. NLT: Then the rebel kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (also called Zoar) prepared for battle in the valley of the Dead Sea. [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 there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar); and they set the battle in array against them in the vale of Siddim; [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 the king of Sodom goeth out, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboim, and the king of Bela, which isZoar; and they set the battle in array with them in the valley of Siddim, [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: Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela, that is, Zoar, went out and [together] they joined battle [with those kings] in the Valley of Siddim, [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

 

e. Septuagint: And the king of Sodom went out, and the king of Gomorrha, and king of Adama, and king of Seboim, and king of Balac, this is Segor, and they set themselves in array against them for war in the salt valley,

 

f. Stone Edition of the Chumash, Rabbinic Commentary: And the king of Sodom went forth with the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela, which is Zoar, and engaged them in battle in the Valley of Siddim: [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ldt.]

 

1. “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 king of Bela (the same is Zoar;)…”

 

a. [And there] went out [Strong: 3318 yatsa' yaw-tsaw'; a primitive root; to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proxim.:--X after, appear, X assuredly, bear out, X begotten, break out, bring forth (out, up), carry out, come (abroad, out, thereat, without), + be condemned, depart(-ing, -ure), draw forth, in the end, escape, exact, fail, fall (out), fetch forth (out), get away (forth, hence, out), (able to, cause to, let) go abroad (forth, on, out), going out, grow, have forth (out), issue out, lay (lie) out, lead out, pluck out, proceed, pull out, put away, be risen, X scarce, send with commandment, shoot forth, spread, spring out, stand out, X still, X surely, take forth (out), at any time, X to (and fro), utter.]

 

b. [the] king [4428 melek meh'-lek; from 4427; a king:--king, royal.]

 

c. [of] Sodom [Strong: 5467 Cdom sed-ome'; from an unused root meaning to scorch; burnt (i.e. volcanic or bituminous) district; Sedom, a place near the Dead Sea:-- Sodom.]

 

1). His name was Bera (Genesis 14:2).

 

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

 

e. [of] Gomorrah [Strong: 6017 `Amorah am-o-raw'; from 6014; a (ruined) heap; Amorah, a place in Palestine:--Gomorrah.]

 

1). His name was Birsha (Genesis 14:2).

 

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

 

g. [of] Admah [Strong: 126 'Admah ad-maw'; contracted for 127; earthy; Admah, a place near the Dead Sea:--Admah.]

 

1). His name was Shi’nab (Genesis 14:2).

 

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

 

i. [of] Zeboiim [Strong: 6636 Tsbo'iym tseb-o-eem' or (more correctly) Tsbiyiym {tseb-ee-yeem'}; or Tsbiyim {tseb-ee-yeem'}; plural of 6643; gazelles; Tseboim or Tsebijim, a place in Palestine:--Zeboiim, Zeboim.]

 

1). His name was Shem-e’ber (Genesis 14:2). 

 

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

 

k. [of] Bela [Strong: 1106 Bela` beh'-lah; the same as 1105; Bela, the name of a place, also of an Edomite and of two Israelites:--Bela.]

 

l. [the] same [Strong: 1931 huw' hoo; of which the feminine (beyond the Pentateuch) is hiyw {he}; a primitive word, the third person pronoun singular, he (she or it); only expressed when emphatic or without a verb; also (intensively) self, or (especially with the article) the same; sometimes (as demonstrative) this or that; occasionally (instead of copula) as or are:--he, as for her, him(-self), it, the same, she (herself), such, that (...it), these, they, this, those, which (is), who.]

 

m. [is] Zoar [Strong: 6820 Tso`ar tso'ar; from 6819; little; Tsoar, a place East of the Jordan:--Zoar.]

 

1). Knowing the inevitable was war, the five kings went out to battle in the vale of Siddim.

 

2. “…and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;”

 

a. and they joined [Strong: 6186 `arak aw-rak'; a primitive root; to set in a row, i.e. arrange, put in order (in a very wide variety of applications):--put (set) (the battle, self) in array, compare, direct, equal, esteem, estimate, expert (in war), furnish, handle, join (battle), ordain, (lay, put, reckon up, set) (in) order, prepare, tax, value.]

 

b. battle [Strong: 4421 milchamah mil-khaw-maw'; from 3898 (in the sense of fighting); a battle (i.e. the engagement); generally, war (i.e. warfare):--battle, fight(-ing), war((-rior)).]

 

c. with [them] [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.]

d. [in the] vale [Strong: 6010 `emeq ay'-mek; from 6009; a vale (i.e. broad depression):--dale, vale, valley (often used as a part of proper names).]

 

d. [of] Siddim [Strong: 7708 Siddiym sid-deem'; plural from the same as 7704; flats; Siddim, a valley in Palestine:--Siddim.]

 

1). The earliest description of this area is that it was comparable to the garden of the Lord, presumably the garden of Eden.

 

a). Genesis 13:10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

 

2). Jesus described the area as prosperous.

 

a). Luke 17:28 Likewise also int the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded.

 

3). In Genesis 14:10 Moses described the area as “was full of slimepits”, not a sea.

 

4). Genesis 14:3 All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.

 

a). This is a geographical reference inserted by Moses [Moses of course because he wrote Genesis], to point out the location of the battle. At the time all this occurred it was still just a “vale”, there was no Dead Sea. The Dead Sea formed as a result of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Before the Dead Sea was formed, the area was called the vale of Siddim, and during that time, the whole plain of Jordan “was well watered everywhere,” in fact Genesis 13:10 compares the area to “the garden of the LORD”, presumably the Garden of Eden. There are no descriptions in the Scripture that I know of that mention the area, pre-destruction, as having a sea or lake there. Looking at the little bit of information that we have, I speculate that the Jordan River flowed south through the whole “plain of Jordan”, with tributaries branching off southwest and southeast and at its southernmost end was the “vale of Siddim” a very well watered area. I personally believe that the Dead Sea formed as a result of the judgment/destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, i.e., it was not there previously.