Above: Saturn Devouring his Son – Francisco Goya
This is part of a continuing discussion about Genesis. I try to make each of these readable as a stand alone post so that new readers can follow along. This thread, sporadically peppered in my blog, has moved to a depth where this may no longer be possible. I will be referring to points made in the links listed below.
Genesis chapter 14 is about events that occur after the argument between Abraham and his nephew Lot (Genesis ch 13) where they part ways. These events are before the attack of the burning arrows on Sodom and Gomorrah where Lot is killed while being replaced by a fake Lot who is then seduced by the real Lot’s daughters (Genesis ch 19). See what I mean?
The chapter is about warfare between city states in the Plains of Jordan where Lot resided and those in the lands of Canaan where Abraham lived.
Genesis 14:8 And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar, came forth, and they engaged them in battle in the valley of Siddim. 9 With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam and Tidal the king of Goyim and Amraphel the king of Shinar and Arioch the king of Ellasar, four kings against the five.
Genesis 14:10 Now the valley of Siddim was [composed of] many clay pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and they fell there, and the survivors fled to a mountain. 11 And they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food, and they departed 12 And they took Lot and his possessions, the son of Abram’s brother, and they departed, and he was living in Sodom. The Tanakh
Lot was kidnapped by Canaanites where Abraham lived. When Abraham was informed of Lot’s plight he went after the offending party, ambushed them and pursued them toward Damascus. That’s a long way. He was able to free Lot and his possessions and family.
Genesis 14:16 And he restored all the possessions, and also Lot his brother and his possessions he restored, and also the women and the people
But then the story takes a strange twist, as you knew it would.
The king of Sodom comes out to greet Abraham and praises him for striking Chedorlaomer, the king who took Lot. This is one of the kings from Canaan where Abraham lived. They give Abraham a tithe (money).
Then the king of Sodom implores Abraham
Genesis 14:21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the souls, and the possessions take for yourself.”
To which Abraham responds;
Genesis 14:22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I raise my hand to Yhwh the Most High God, Who possesses heaven and earth 23 Neither from a thread to a shoe strap, nor will I take from whatever is yours, that you should not say, ‘I have made Abram wealthy.’ 24 Exclusive of what the lads ate, and the share of the men who went with me; Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre they shall take their share.”
Abraham was already notorious for using his wife Sara as bait so Yhwh and he could extort the Pharaoh for money (Genesis 12:11-20). They used this same trick on Ablimech of Gerar in Genesis ch 20.
From Abraham’s reply he intended to keep the souls from the battle. He was a collector of souls after all (Genesis 12;5).
The most important, and subtle, part of this story is that Abraham seems to have been fighting for the Canaanites. In fact, as the king of Sodom beseeches him for the souls, Abraham very well may have led this army. Yhwh was, after all, a Canaanite war god (World History Encyclopedia).
Genesis 12:4 And Abram went, as Yhwh had spoken to him, and Lot went with him, and Abram was seventy five years old when he left Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had acquired, and the souls they had acquired in Haran, and they went to go to the land of Canaan, and they came to the land of Canaan
Abraham would go to any length to keep his argument with Lot out of the spotlight. If you’ve been following along we see that Abraham and Yhwh concoct a huge charade.
First there are the non kosher men sent by Yhwh into Sodom. There are the cries of a woman named Arda, who is getting raped. There are the people in ch 19 who have been led to believe the angels visiting Lot, who arrived that day, are the rapists and want to rape the angels as punishment – eye for an eye.
We see this huge show is used as an excuse for Yhwh to have the Egyptian army (because he knows the location of the Pharaoh’s harem) to destroy Sodom with an ancient incendiary weapon called brimstone.
Lot is killed in the city and his soul taken away to become Isaac, Abraham’s son. Abraham rapes his son and then uses voices of the “gods” to command himself to kill his son.
Abraham had a grudge against Lot that he went to great lengths to conceal. Abraham even “saved” Lot from his own allies to hide this grudge. Of course, this kidnapping and saving could very well have been just another charade.