Bible Strands
Genesis 14:5
In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Chedorlaomer and his allied kings launch a military campaign in the fourteenth year following a period of vassalage and rebellion. The narrative focuses on their movements against specific Canaanite and Transjordanian groups.
The words — The Hebrew phrase וּבְאַרְבַּע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה (u./ve./'ar.Ba 'es.Reh sha.Nah) literally renders "and in four-teen year," establishing a precise chronological marker for the campaign. The name כְדָרְלָעֹמֶר (khe.da.re.la.'O.mer) identifies the primary commander leading the coalition.
The thread — The Rephaites reappear in Genesis 15:20 as a group associated with the promised land, while the Emites are mentioned in Deuteronomy 2:10 as a former inhabitants of territory later conquered by Israel. Other defeated kings like Sihon and Og appear in Deuteronomy 1:4.
Why it lands — The text records a historical military campaign without moral commentary, requiring the reader to track how named groups and locations connect to later territorial promises. The precise chronology and geographic list demand careful attention to how ancient Near Eastern coalitions intersect with Israel's ancestral narrative.
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
And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,
Cross-references
- Genesis 15:20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
- Deuteronomy 1:4 This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and then at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth.
- Deuteronomy 2:10 (The Emites used to live there, a people great and many, as tall as the Anakites.
- Deuteronomy 3:11 (For only Og king of Bashan had remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. His bed of iron, nine cubits long and four cubits wide, is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
- Deuteronomy 3:22 Do not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God Himself will fight for you.”
- Deuteronomy 2:20 (That too was regarded as the land of the Rephaim, who used to live there, though the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.
- Deuteronomy 3:20 until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as He has to you, and they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them across the Jordan. Then each of you may return to the possession I have given you.”
- Joshua 12:4 And Og king of Bashan, one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.
- Joshua 13:12 the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan, who had reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei and had remained as a remnant of the Rephaim. Moses had struck them down and dispossessed them,
- Joshua 13:19 Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth-shahar on the hill in the valley,