Twelve years had they served Chedorlaomer; and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
This verse is one line of political history. Five small kings had served a distant overlord for twelve years. Then they refused. That refusal set off the first war recorded in the Bible — and it raises the question of why Scripture stops for a border revolt at all.
This verse holds the key to the whole chapter. Chedorlaomer was the leading king among the four invaders, and the cities near the Dead Sea had fallen under his control:
Scripture gives us no record of a battle until we reach Genesis 14. There four kings from the Mesopotamian district marched towards the Dead Sea. They destroyed cities as they went, and in the end defeated the five kings of the cities of the plain. Most of these "kings," if not all, were the leaders of single cities — what we would now call minor chiefs. Chedorlaomer seems to have been the overlord of the kings allied with him. He had extended his rule over the region of Sodom. The rejection of his overlordship was the reason for the expedition.
Scripture passes over most of world history without comment. This war gets a whole chapter, and one writer explains the rule behind that choice:
The events which fill the history of the world with their commotion scarcely count for anything in the inspired book. God does not mention them except when they intervene in one way or another in the history of His people... In fact, the Word records the great clashes of nations for one purpose only: to let us witness the deliverance of a single person among those He loves. (Gen. 14)
Twelve years of forced service, then revolt. That cycle is a portrait of the world the verse belongs to:
It is a lawless world where men are forced to serve governments against their will, or rebel against governments to get their freedom (v. 4).
Abram lived in the same land, yet no army came for him. One writer ties this to what Abram owned:
Abraham personally had nothing whatever to do with the revolt or its consequences. His "tent and altar" were not likely to give anyone a reason to declare war. They were not likely to be much affected by the war breaking out, or by how it ended. The portion that belongs to a heavenly man could never tempt the greed of this world's kings and conquerors, or stir their ambition.
Lot, by contrast, had settled in the region the invaders came for. The same writer draws out what that cost him:
As long as grace enables us to walk the path of simple faith, we are kept right outside the range of this world's circumstances. But suppose we give up our high and holy position as those whose "citizenship is in heaven." Suppose we seek a name, a place, and a portion on the earth. Then we must expect to share in earth's upheavals and changes. Lot had made his home in the plains of Sodom, and so the wars of Sodom affected him deeply and keenly.
Some read the verse as a picture as well as a record. On this reading, the twelve years of subjection and the failed revolt show the grip of a false system, and how little a self-made escape achieves:
The five kings were subject to Chedorlaomer for twelve years. This pictures the world held under false religion. In the end they rebelled against this bondage (v. 4)... But the sinful, ungodly world has little power against religion inspired by Satan. To be truly delivered from such a yoke, you need a true knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
Commentators differ here. Others read the chapter as history alone, with a moral lesson about Lot.
- Yoke. Twelve years of service to Chedorlaomer is the background. Rejecting his rule is what brought the four invading kings.
- Revolt. The verse shows a world with only two options — serve against your will, or rebel to get free. Neither option delivers anyone.
- Reach. The war reached Lot because Lot had reached for Sodom. Settle in the world and you share its upheavals.
- Refuge. Abram's tent and altar offered nothing for conquerors to want, so the invasion passed him by.
- Rescue. Scripture records the clash of nations for one purpose: to let us watch God rescue one person He loves.
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-Kirjathaim,
In the fourteenth year the eastern kings come back in force and crush three peoples before they ever reach Sodom. Commentators treat this as the first battle recorded in Scripture, and as a picture of a power the world cannot resist.
Verse 5 is the answer to the revolt of verse 4. Writers call it a campaign to win back a lost rule, wrecking cities on the way.
We have no record of a battle in the Scriptures until we reach Genesis 14. There four kings from the Mesopotamian district made an expedition towards the Dead Sea. They ravaged cities as they marched, and finally defeated the five kings of the cities of the plain… Chedorlaomer was apparently the overlord of the kings with him, and he had extended his rule over the region of Sodom. The rejection of his rule was the reason for the expedition.
The first name in the list is a Hebrew word that older translations left untranslated.
rapha means "a fearful one." In the plural, with "the" in front, it works as a proper name: the REPHAIM, or sons of Raphah. They were a race of giants who lived beyond the Jordan, and Og the giant king of Bashan came from them… At times the term Rephaim applies to any people in Canaan who were of great stature… The word Rephaim is untranslated in Gen. 14:5.
The Emim, last in the list, got their name from the people who later took their land.
A people, described as "great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim," who lived on the east of the Dead Sea. Chedorlaomer and his allied kings struck them down. Their land later passed to the Moabites, who called the people EMIM, that is, "terrible."
Ashteroth-karnaim, the first battlefield in the verse, is named after a goddess:
Ashteroth-Karnaim — Double-horned Astarte (Phoenician); Venus.
Chedorlaomer is not a legend. Commentators point to the sheer scale of his reach.
King of Elam in the time of Abram… The inscriptions carry the name of KHUDUR-LAGAMAR king of Elam, thought to be the same as Chedorlaomer. He had subdued the five kings near the Dead Sea. That was some 700 miles away across the desert, or 1,000 by the Euphrates and through the land of Canaan.
One writer sets that fame beside a man who left no records at all:
At this point in the Scripture narrative we come to names of people that the archaeologists believe they can identify from their research into the past. Some of these greater kings, such as Amraphel and Chedorlaomer, left their mark on very ancient records. Abram the pilgrim left no mark of that kind. Years before, he had cut himself off from their cities and their whole way of life.
The kings crush six nations before they even reach Sodom. One writer sees in that advance a picture of false religion holding the world down:
The five kings were subject to Chedorlaomer for twelve years — a picture of the world held under false religion — but at last they rebelled against this bondage (v. 4)… Chedorlaomer and his allies began by defeating six nations (vv. 5-7) before they came to Sodom and Gomorrah… But the ungodly world of the flesh has little power against religion inspired by Satan. To be truly delivered from such a yoke, you need a true knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
These armies swept through the region, but the fight was never Abram's.
His tent marked him as a stranger to all these things. To him the battle of "four kings with five" would be a matter of very small importance. And his altar marked him as one whose pursuits were of quite another character, a heavenly one… It did not matter to Abram whether the crown of victory was about to rest on the head of the king of Sodom or of Chedorlaomer, king of Elam. His portion was not in danger through their strife.
- Revolt — Twelve years of submission ended in revolt, so the eastern kings came back. Verse 5 is the first blow of that campaign, not a random raid.
- Giants — The Rephaim were a race of giants living beyond the Jordan. The Emim were tall too, their name means "terrible," and Moab later took their land.
- Reach — Chedorlaomer struck some 700 miles from home, and ancient inscriptions carry his name. Abram the pilgrim left no monument at all.
- Pattern — Six nations fell before the kings even reached Sodom. One writer reads that advance as a picture of the world held down by false religion.
- Distance — The armies swept past a man with a tent and an altar; what he owned was never on the battlefield.