Genesis Vol 3.pdf - College Press

ABRAHAM AND LOT 14: 16-24
better than does Laish. For Dan Jaaii must lie, according
to Deut. 34:1, on the northern edge of Gilead and therefore
about east, perhaps fifteen or twenty miles from the
southern end of the Dead Sea, and therefore along the
route than an army retreating to Babylon and Elam would
be most likely to take in approaching Damascus. Dan
Laish lies too far north and presents difficulties for men
in flight, who would hardly turn to Damascus in flight
because of intervening rivers. Consequently, we have here
no post-Mosaic terms and everything conforms excellently
with the idea of Mosaic authorship.” This seems to the
present writer the most satisfactory explanation of this
geographical problem. However, we must still recognize
the fact that the “modernization” of a town-name by a
later writer really has no significant bearing on the basic
problem of Mosaic authorship. (Cf. my Genesis, Vol. I,
pp. 62-66).
7. The Meetiizg with Melchizedek (uv. 17-24)
On his return from their rout of the kings from the
East, Abram and his allies were greeted by the King of
Sodom in the Vale of Shave11 (“the same is the King’s
Vale”). Note the reference here to the king of Sodoin.
Do we have here a conflict between v. 10 and this verse
17? Not necessarily.
Did the king of Sodom of vv. 2,
8, 10 actually die in the bitumen pits, and was the king
of Sodom of v. 17 his immediate successor? It is said by
some that this could not have been the case because “a
new king of Sodom could hardly be met with so soon”
(see sufira). The present writer holds this objection to
be unwarranted for the simple reason that in hereditary
monarchies when the death of a king occurs, succession to
the throne follows at once as determined by customary or
statutory law. (Even when a president of the United
States dies while in office, his successor assumes the duties
of the presidency without delay.) However, the correct
resolution of this problem is in all probability that which
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