Genesis 14:12
in Genesis 14They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since Lot was living in Sodom.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
KJV
And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
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This verse in Genesis 14
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThey took Lot, etc. - The people, being exceedingly wicked, had provoked God to afflict them by means of those marauding kings; and Lot also suffered, being found in company with the workers of iniquity. Every child remembers the fable of the Geese and Cranes; the former, being found feeding where the latter were destroying the grain, were all taken in the same net. Let him that readeth understand.
This site's exposition
seized all the goods
on Genesis 14:11-12
The four kings strip the cities, and then the text adds the line that makes a border war Abram's business. They carried off Lot and his possessions. Genesis names him by where he was, living in Sodom. The plain he chose for its water carries him off.
This site's exposition
since Lot was living in Sodom
Lot was living in Sodom, and Adam Clarke reads his capture as a share in the punishment of a wicked city, since he was found in its company. At 13:12 he had pitched his tent toward Sodom. Now his possessions are carried off with its goods.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Notice that what I said yesterday has come to be true, that Lot, far from being better off for his choice of the better parts, rather had learned from experience not to set his heart on the better parts. You see, not only did no benefit come to him from it, but indeed he was even led away into captivity. He learned the lesson through experience that it was much better for him to enjoy the just man's company than to be parted from him and undergo these great trials even if living independently. I mean, he parted from the patriarch and thought he enjoyed greater independence, had the good fortune to enjoy the better parts and experience great prosperity—and all of a sudden he becomes a captive, dispossessed, without hearth or home. The purpose was for you to learn what a great evil division is and what a great good harmony is, and that we ought not hanker after pride of place but love to take second place instead. "Now, they seized Lot and his accoutrements," the text says, remember. How much better was it to be in the company of the patriarch and accept everything for the sake of not sundering the mutual harmony than be separated and while choosing the better parts be immediately beset with such awful perils and fall into the clutches of barbarians?
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
[AND THERE CAME ONE THAT HAD ESCAPED.] Palit (one that had escaped) refers to a Sodomite who escaped and saved himself.
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
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקְח֨וּ | vaiyikchu | and they took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| ל֧וֹט | lot | Lot | H3876 → | 33 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| רְכֻשׁ֛וֹ | rekhusho | possession[s] his | H7399 → | 28 times |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | [the] son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אֲחִ֥י | ʾachi | [the] brother of | H251 → | 630 times |
| אַבְרָ֖ם | ʾavram | Abram | H87 → | 61 times |
| וַיֵּלֵ֑כוּ | vaiyelekhu | and they went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וְה֥וּא | vehu' | and he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| יֹשֵׁ֖ב | yoshev | [was] dwelling | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בִּסְדֹֽם׃ | bisdom | in Sodom | H5467 → | 39 times |
וַיִּקְח֨וּand they took
vaiyikchuH3947 →966 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
ל֧וֹטLot
lotH3876 →33 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
רְכֻשׁ֛וֹpossession[s] his
rekhushoH7399 →28 times
בֶּן־[the] son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
אֲחִ֥י[the] brother of
ʾachiH251 →630 times
אַבְרָ֖םAbram
ʾavramH87 →61 times
וַיֵּלֵ֑כוּand they went
vaiyelekhuH1980 →1546 times
וְה֥וּאand he
vehu'H1931 →1879 times
יֹשֵׁ֖ב[was] dwelling
yoshevH3427 →1079 times
בִּסְדֹֽם׃in Sodom
bisdomH5467 →39 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
Revelation 3:19Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
it leads to
- Proverbs 3:11–12
My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke;
- 1 Corinthians 11:32
But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
- Hebrews 12:5–11
And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.
- Job 5:17
Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
- Revelation 2:5
Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from…
- Proverbs 3:11–12
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 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.…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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
Through
Genesis 11:27This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.
it leads to
- Genesis 12:4
So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
- Genesis 12:4
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 Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 35.11; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.