Bible Strands
Genesis 14:3
The latter five came as allies to the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea).
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the five kings named in Genesis 14:2 as they converge on the Valley of Siddim to confront the eastern coalition.
The words — חָבְרוּ (cha.ve.Ru) means they joined together or allied, and עֵמֶק הַשִּׂדִּים ('E.mek ha./si.Dim) identifies the location as the valley of Siddim.
The thread — The Salt Sea (equated with Siddim here) functions as a boundary marker in Numbers 34:12, Deuteronomy 3:17, and Joshua 3:16.
Why it lands — The text states that the five kings formed a military alliance at a specific geographic site before noting their twelfth-year subjugation and thirteenth-year rebellion. It requires the reader to track the precise political alignment that initiates the campaign.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.
Cross-references
- Numbers 34:12 Then the border will go down along the Jordan and end at the Salt Sea. This will be your land, defined by its borders on all sides.”
- Deuteronomy 3:17 The Jordan River in the Arabah bordered it from Chinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) with the slopes of Pisgah to the east.
- Joshua 3:16 the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.
- Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Psalms 107:34 and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers.