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Genesis 14:1–16, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Genesis 14:1–16
Abram Rescues Lot
A relative taken in a wider war
Kings rebel, a punitive campaign strips the Jordan cities, and Lot—now living in Sodom—is captured. An escapee tells Abram. Kinship obligation survives the earlier separation.
Abram, household retainers, and allies pursue, defeat the captors by night, and recover Lot, the people, and the goods. The story commends rescue here without turning ancient household warfare, uncertain identifications, or recovered property into a universal war policy.
How this should shape us
When someone is captive to violence or coercion, refuse indifference because a relationship has changed. Seek lawful, trained help, and keep people—not recovered goods—at the center of rescue.
Teach it back
Explain why Genesis 14:1–16 begins with a regional war and ends with Abram restoring Lot, women, people, and goods. Include how Genesis 13 prepares Lot's capture, what remains uncertain about the kings and campaign, and why Abram's rescue does not authorize modern vigilantism or private warfare.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
How should Genesis 14:1–16 be bounded?
Best judgment:
How certain? strongDoes the passage preserve a datable historical campaign?
Best judgment:
How certain? strongWhat does 'Abram the Hebrew' mean?
Best judgment:
How certain? strongWhat happened at the bitumen pits?
Best judgment:
How certain? strongHow directly is God said to cause the rescue victory?
Best judgment:
How certain? strongResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Displayed wording, narrative sequence, capture, kinship rescue, recovery, immediate aftermath, and canonical safeguards.
Genesis 14:1–16 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 13:8–18; 14:17–24; 18–19; Judges 18:29; and later biblical war, rescue, and enemy texts
Supports: Royal lists, service and rebellion, repeated strike verb, campaign itinerary, bitumen-pit repetition, fall wording, Lot's residence, Hebrew label, treaty-alliance phrase, rare mobilization verb, trained household-born men, kinship term, directions, and repeated recovery language.
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 14:1–16
Supports: Shinar, Goiim, coalition structure, vassal sequence, campaign route, strike verb, bitumen wording, fall ambiguity, Hebrew label, treaty allies, rare mobilization verb, Dan, night syntax, and north of Damascus.
NET Bible, Genesis 14 and translator notes 1–52, especially notes on verses 1–16
Supports: Final-form relationship with Genesis 13, Lot's capture, Abram's rescue, people and goods restored, and the two-kings aftermath.
Genesis commentary, 'Abraham Rescues Lot (14:1–24)'
Supports: Placement within the ancestral stories and separation of final-form meaning from historical and compositional reconstruction.
Genesis introduction and Abraham ancestral-narrative framing
Supports: Ancestral-narrative placement, promise context, literary form, and commentary navigation only.
Genesis, official Cambridge contents and introduction; commentary locator for Genesis 14
Supports: Chapter boundary, capture-and-rescue structure, verse 13 transition, repeated kings, action reversal, return language, and relationship of verses 1–16 to the Melchizedek and Sodom-king aftermath.
Melchizedek Passages in the Bible, chapter 4, pp. 34–57, especially pp. 35–44 and 56–57
Supports: Four-quarters and imperial-hegemony proposal, vassal rebellion and punitive invasion, king-name uncertainty, later compositional setting, and the need to label these as argued reconstructions.
Old Testament Essays 31.1 (2018), pp. 66–89, especially pp. 66–76
Supports: One current late-composition and Beyond-the-River interpretation of Abram the Hebrew; used as a disputed alternative rather than consensus.
Religions 12.8 (2021), article 632, official abstract and published thesis
Supports: Dead Sea bitumen context and the plausible unstable-dark-mud alternative; not used to override the Hebrew or reconstruct the battle with certainty.
Geochemical Society Special Publications 9 (2004), pp. 359–364, official abstract
Supports: Connection with Genesis 13, chapter unity, recovery movement, and transition from rescue to the return-and-kings aftermath; use limited to repository-verified scope.
Concordia University MA thesis repository record and abstract, Genesis 14:11–24
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Displayed wording, narrative sequence, capture, kinship rescue, recovery, immediate aftermath, and canonical safeguards.
Exact location: Genesis 14:1–16 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 13:8–18; 14:17–24; 18–19; Judges 18:29; and later biblical war, rescue, and enemy texts
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Royal lists, service and rebellion, repeated strike verb, campaign itinerary, bitumen-pit repetition, fall wording, Lot's residence, Hebrew label, treaty-alliance phrase, rare mobilization verb, trained household-born men, kinship term, directions, and repeated recovery language.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 14:1–16
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Shinar, Goiim, coalition structure, vassal sequence, campaign route, strike verb, bitumen wording, fall ambiguity, Hebrew label, treaty allies, rare mobilization verb, Dan, night syntax, and north of Damascus.
Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 14 and translator notes 1–52, especially notes on verses 1–16
Open NET Genesis 14 ↗modern open whole book commentary
Genesis
T. Desmond Alexander
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023
Supports: Final-form relationship with Genesis 13, Lot's capture, Abram's rescue, people and goods restored, and the two-kings aftermath.
Exact location: Genesis commentary, 'Abraham Rescues Lot (14:1–24)'
Open source ↗modern critical open study guide
The Book of Genesis — Introduction Study Guide
Joel S. Baden and Yale Bible Study
Yale Divinity School, 2021 course; page inspected 2026
Supports: Placement within the ancestral stories and separation of final-form meaning from historical and compositional reconstruction.
Exact location: Genesis introduction and Abraham ancestral-narrative framing
Open source ↗modern scholarly commentary publisher material
Genesis
Bill T. Arnold
Cambridge University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancestral-narrative placement, promise context, literary form, and commentary navigation only.
Exact location: Genesis, official Cambridge contents and introduction; commentary locator for Genesis 14
Open source ↗open scholarly literary and discourse analysis
A Literary and Discourse Analysis of Genesis 14
Alan Kam-Yau Chan
De Gruyter Open Poland, in Melchizedek Passages in the Bible, 2016
Supports: Chapter boundary, capture-and-rescue structure, verse 13 transition, repeated kings, action reversal, return language, and relationship of verses 1–16 to the Melchizedek and Sodom-king aftermath.
Exact location: Melchizedek Passages in the Bible, chapter 4, pp. 34–57, especially pp. 35–44 and 56–57
Open source ↗peer reviewed open ancient near eastern and semantic study
Genesis 14 and ‘The Four Quarters’
Alice Deken
Old Testament Essays 31.1, 2018
Supports: Four-quarters and imperial-hegemony proposal, vassal rebellion and punitive invasion, king-name uncertainty, later compositional setting, and the need to label these as argued reconstructions.
Exact location: Old Testament Essays 31.1 (2018), pp. 66–89, especially pp. 66–76
Open source ↗peer reviewed open compositional and ethnic identity study
Abram the One from Beyond-the-River, and King Chedorlaomer of Elam (Genesis 14): Persia and the Formation of Judaean Ethnic Identity in a Late Patriarchal Narrative
Gard Granerød
Religions 12.8, article 632, 2021
Supports: One current late-composition and Beyond-the-River interpretation of Abram the Hebrew; used as a disputed alternative rather than consensus.
Exact location: Religions 12.8 (2021), article 632, official abstract and published thesis
Open source ↗peer reviewed geochemical and geographical study
…and the vale of Siddim was full of slime [= bitumen, asphalt?] pits
Arie Nissenbaum
Geochemical Society Special Publications 9, 2004
Supports: Dead Sea bitumen context and the plausible unstable-dark-mud alternative; not used to override the Hebrew or reconstruct the battle with certainty.
Exact location: Geochemical Society Special Publications 9 (2004), pp. 359–364, official abstract
Open source ↗open masters thesis syntactical and redactional study
The Meaning of Genesis 14:11–24: A Syntactical and Redactional Analysis
Janet Lamarche
Concordia University, 2009
Supports: Connection with Genesis 13, chapter unity, recovery movement, and transition from rescue to the return-and-kings aftermath; use limited to repository-verified scope.
Exact location: Concordia University MA thesis repository record and abstract, Genesis 14:11–24
Open source ↗