Genesis 14:10
in Genesis 14Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some men fell into the pits, but the survivors fled to the hill country.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now the vale of Siddim was full of slime pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and they that remained fled to the mountain.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Genesis 14
Commentary
3 notes on this verseAnd the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits,.... Or "wells" or "fountains of slime" or bitumen (s); a liquid of a pitchy nature, cast out of fountains, and which was used for a cement in buildings; such fountains were near Babylon; see Gill on Gen 11:3; so that this place was naturally prepared for what it was designed to be, a bituminous lake; and hence, when turned into one, it was called the lake Asphaltites, from this slime or bitumen, called by the Greeks "asphaltos".
This site's exposition
marched out and arrayed themselves for battle
on Genesis 14:8-10
Five kings march out to fight, and the ground beats them, a valley full of tar pits. Men of Sodom and Gomorrah fall in as they flee, and that tar is what the builders used for mortar at Babel in chapter 11. The survivors run for the hill country.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Slime-pits - Places where asphaltus or bitumen sprang out of the ground; this substance abounded in that country. Fell there - It either signifies they were defeated on this spot, and many of them slain, or that multitudes of them had perished in the bitumen-pits which abounded there; that the place was full of pits we learn from the Hebrew, which reads here בארת בארת beeroth beeroth, pits, pits, i.e., multitudes of pits. A bad place to maintain a fight on, or to be obliged to run through in order to escape.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
‘BE’EROTH BE’EROTH CHEIMAR’ (FULL OF SLIME PITS). There were many pits there since they removed earth to be used as clay for building purposes.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעֵ֣מֶק | veemek | and [the] valley of | H6010 → | 69 times |
| הַשִׂדִּ֗ים | hasidim | <the> Siddim | H7708 → | 3 times |
| בֶּֽאֱרֹ֤ת | beerot | [was] pits | H875 → | 38 times |
| בֶּאֱרֹת֙ | beerot | pits of | H875 → | 38 times |
| חֵמָ֔ר | chemar | bitumen | H2564 → | |
| וַיָּנֻ֛סוּ | vaiyanusu | and they fled | H5127 → | 159 times |
| מֶֽלֶךְ־ | melekh- | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| סְדֹ֥ם | sedom | Sodom | H5467 → | 39 times |
| וַעֲמֹרָ֖ה | vaamorah | and Gomorrah | H6017 → | 19 times |
| וַיִּפְּלוּ־ | vaiyipelu- | and they fell | H5307 → | 435 times |
| שָׁ֑מָּה | shamah | there towards | H8033 → | 834 times |
| וְהַנִּשְׁאָרִ֖ים | vehanisharim | and those [who] survived | H7604 → | 133 times |
| הֶ֥רָה | herah | [the] hill country towards | H2022 → | 546 times |
| נָּֽסוּ׃ | nasu | they fled | H5127 → | 159 times |
וְעֵ֣מֶקand [the] valley of
veemekH6010 →69 times
הַשִׂדִּ֗ים<the> Siddim
hasidimH7708 →3 times
בֶּֽאֱרֹ֤ת[was] pits
beerotH875 →38 times
בֶּאֱרֹת֙pits of
beerotH875 →38 times
חֵמָ֔רbitumen
chemarH2564 →
וַיָּנֻ֛סוּand they fled
vaiyanusuH5127 →159 times
מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of
melekh-H4428 →2525 times
סְדֹ֥םSodom
sedomH5467 →39 times
וַעֲמֹרָ֖הand Gomorrah
vaamorahH6017 →19 times
וַיִּפְּלוּ־and they fell
vaiyipelu-H5307 →435 times
שָׁ֑מָּהthere towards
shamahH8033 →834 times
וְהַנִּשְׁאָרִ֖יםand those [who] survived
vehanisharimH7604 →133 times
הֶ֥רָה[the] hill country towards
herahH2022 →546 times
נָּֽסוּ׃they fled
nasuH5127 →159 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 19:17As soon as the men had brought them out, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains, or…
it leads to
- Matthew 24:16–18
then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
- Luke 9:62
Then Jesus declared, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and then looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
- Philippians 3:13–14
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
- Genesis 19:26
But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
- Genesis 19:22
Hurry! Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you reach it.” That is why the town was called Zoar.
- Matthew 24:16–18
Through
Genesis 11:3And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar.
it leads to
- Exodus 1:14
and made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar, and with all kinds of work in the fields. Every service they imposed was harsh.
- Exodus 1:14
Through
Isaiah 24:18Whoever flees the sound of panic will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are open, and the foundations of…
it leads to
- Psalms 18:7
Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.
- Genesis 7:11
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
- Psalms 18:7
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.