Verse Lens · Context pointer
Genesis 14:8 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 8. 8And 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;
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
The five local kings go out and arrange battle against the eastern coalition in the Valley of Siddim.
Read It With
- Genesis 14:1–16
Read verses 8–10 together. Verse 8 brings the five kings to battle, verse 9 restates the four-against-five matchup, and verse 10 narrates their defeat and flight.
Why It Needs Context
The verse begins the battle but does not contain its outcome or explain the terrain's role by itself.
Read Genesis 14:8–10 together
Why these verses belong together: The battle deployment, four-against-five restatement, difficult terrain, defeat, and flight form one battle movement.
Verse 8. 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;
Verse 9. 9 With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.
Verse 10. 10 And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 14:1–16 — Abram Rescues LotSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
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 ↗