The War of the Four Kings Against the Five and the Rescue of Lot
A coalition of four Mesopotamian kings defeats the five kings of the plain and captures Lot; Abraham pursues with a tiny force and frees the captives.
The first war in the Torah is fought over tribute. Chedorlaomer of Elam had held the cities of the plain—Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Bela—for twelve years; in the thirteenth year they rebelled, and four kings marched against them: Amraphel of Shinar (identified by the Talmud with Nimrod), Arioch, Chedorlaomer and Tidal. The five kings are routed in the valley of Siddim among the tar pits; Sodom is plundered and Lot is taken captive. A fugitive brings word to "Abram the Hebrew"—the first time the word appears in Scripture. Abraham gathers three hundred and eighteen men of his household, overtakes the armies at night near Dan and pursues them past Damascus, recovering the people and the goods. On his return Malchizedek, king of Shalem, brings out bread and wine and blesses him. The king of Sodom offers him all the spoil, but Abraham refuses: "not a thread nor a shoelace," lest anyone say he made Abram rich.
How we know
Sources
Tanakh
- Bereishit 14 — the whole chapter: the war of the kings, Lot’s capture, the pursuit, Malki-Tzedek and the refusal of spoil
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Nedarim 32a–b — the 318 men as the numerical value of Eliezer’s name; Malki-Tzedek as Shem son of Noach
- Chullin 89a — for “not a thread nor a shoelace” — the reward of the thread of tzitzit and the strap of tefillin (folios 88b–89a)
- Eruvin 53a — Amraphel is Nimrod, who threw Avraham into the furnace
Basis: stated in the Tanakh.