1 ¶ And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; “and it came to pass”… this opening verse of words is repeated many times in the bible. This verse lists a whole bunch of kings and the places they ruled. These places and names are mentioned in secular tablets that archeologists have found in the Mideast.
2 That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.
3 All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. Vale = valley. The salt sea is the current Dead Sea.
4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. Chedorlaomer is mentioned quite a bit in ancient documents, so he must have been very powerful. The other kings paid him lots of money for 12 years, and in the 13th year, they rebelled.
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, Chedorlaomer waited a year after the rebellion, and then in the 14th year he took the kings, the giants of the time and went to the rebels to punish them and make them start paying again.
6 And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness.
7 And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar. The Amalekites is another race of giants in that time, no less than 7 feet tall............. |
