Genesis 14:11
in Genesis 14The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food, and they went on their way.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.
KJV
And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.
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This verse in Genesis 14
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThey took all the goods, etc. - This was a predatory war, such as the Arabs carry on to the present day; they pillage a city, town, or caravan; and then escape with the booty to the wilderness, where it would ever be unsafe, and often impossible, to pursue them.
This site's exposition
seized all the goods
on Genesis 14:11-12
The four kings strip the cities, and then they carry off Lot and his possessions. Genesis names him by where he was, living in Sodom, and that is what makes a border war Abram's business. The plain he chose for its water carries him off.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 11.) And they took all the cavalry of Sodom and Gomorrah. For cavalry in Hebrew has Rachus (), which means substance.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
All the goods of Sodom, and particularly their stores and provisions of victuals, were carried off by the conquerors. Note, When men abuse the gifts of a bountiful providence to gluttony and excess, it is just with God, and his usual way, by some judgment or other to strip them of that which they have so abused, Hos. ii.
And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah,.... They entered these cities and pillaged them, and carried off everything valuable in them, that was portable or could be driven, as their cattle, &c. they did not burn these cities, nor take possession of them, and leave garrisons in them, which shows them to be petty princes that came for plunder, and to get an equivalent for nonpayment of tribute to one of them: and all their victuals, and went away; all the meat and drink they could light of, with which they refreshed their troops, and then departed.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
‘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.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Lot was dwelling in Sodom on that day. 22 His tent was usually outside of Sodom, cf. Gen.:12 (Weiser). Krinsky suggests that I.E.
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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַ֠יִּקְחוּ | vaiyikchu | and they took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| רְכֻ֨שׁ | rekhush | [the] possession[s] of | H7399 → | 28 times |
| סְדֹ֧ם | sedom | Sodom | H5467 → | 39 times |
| וַעֲמֹרָ֛ה | vaamorah | and Gomorrah | H6017 → | 19 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אָכְלָ֖ם | ʾakhelam | food their | H400 → | 43 times |
| וַיֵּלֵֽכוּ׃ | vaiyelekhu | and they went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
וַ֠יִּקְחוּand they took
vaiyikchuH3947 →966 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
רְכֻ֨שׁ[the] possession[s] of
rekhushH7399 →28 times
סְדֹ֧םSodom
sedomH5467 →39 times
וַעֲמֹרָ֛הand Gomorrah
vaamorahH6017 →19 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אָכְלָ֖םfood their
ʾakhelamH400 →43 times
וַיֵּלֵֽכוּ׃and they went
vaiyelekhuH1980 →1546 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 12:5And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land…
it leads to
- Genesis 14:14
And when Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men born in his household, and they set out in pursuit as far as Dan.
- Genesis 11:31
And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan.…
- Hebrews 11:8–9
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.
- Genesis 14:14
Through
Deuteronomy 28:35The LORD will afflict you with painful, incurable boils on your knees and thighs, from the soles of your feet to the top of your head.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:27
The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt, with tumors and scabs and itch from which you cannot be cured.
- Deuteronomy 28:27
Through
Genesis 14:16He retrieved all the goods, as well as his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the rest of the people.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 30:18–19
So David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.
- 1 Samuel 30:8
and David inquired of the LORD: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” the LORD replied, “for you will surely overtake them and rescue the captives.”
- 1 Samuel 30:18–19
Through
Deuteronomy 28:51They will eat the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain or new wine or oil, no calves of your herds…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 28:33
A people you do not know will eat the produce of your land and of all your toil. All your days you will be oppressed and crushed.
- Isaiah 62:8
The LORD has sworn by His right hand and by His mighty arm: “Never again will I give your grain to your enemies for food, nor will foreigners drink the new wine for which…
- Deuteronomy 28:33
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; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.