Genesis Vol 3.pdf - College Press

ABRAHAM AND LOT 14:1-12
glorify Abraham. The campaign described in vv. 1-10,
he says, is that of powerful kings against revolting cities
and strange lands. But in vv. 11-24, it is a Bedouin raid
on two not overly powerful cities. The story is comparable
to the Midianite raids in the Gideon story (Judg., chs. 6
ff.), and the raid of the Amalekites on unprotected Zik-
lag in David’s absence: “the story of David’s pursuit and
recovery of stolen persons and goods .parallels in almost
every detail the story of Abraham’s pursuit and recovery,”
etc. This writer dismisses the entire narrative as the ac-
count of a Bedouin raid in which Lot was captured with
other prisoners and other booty of Sodom. Abraham, with
the help of Aner, Eschol, and Mamre pursue. The enemy
is not overtaken until they reach the vicinity of Dan, far
to the north; feeling themselves outside enemy territory,
they proceed more leisurely, to enjoy the booty. This
enables Abraham to overtake them and recapture Lot and
the booty as a result of their unpreparedness and surprise
by night. Vv. 18-20 most critics hold to be post-Exilic,
a few as pre-Exilic. So argues Morgenstern (“Genesis
14,” SJL, see also in his JIBG). In IBG (590) we read:
‘This narrative is an isolated unit belonging to none of the
main documents of the Hexateuch, and comes from an age
which ‘admires military glory all the more because it can
conduct no wars itself, , . , an age in which, in spite of
certain historical erudition, the historic sense of Judaism
had sunk almost to zero.’” (cf. Gunkel, Genesis, pp. 288-
290, and Skinner, ICCG, pp. 271-276).
Evidences cited of the alleged “unhistorical” character
of this tale may be listed as follows (1) The “representa-
tion that four great rulers of the east themselves moved
westward to curb the revolt of five petty kings in Palestine
(vv. 5-9) and that they came by the circuitous route out-
lined in vss. 5-7.” But, cf. Leupold (EG, 451) : “All
manner of fault has been found with this route taken by
Chedorlaomer. Because the reason for it is not given in
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