Tag: sodom

Brought Low

Posted on by jovial_cynic

And the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley), after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him.
Genesis 14:17 (NKJV)

It’s not obvious in English, but in all the places in scripture that mention the proud being brought low, it might be referring to this passage in Genesis 14.

The writer(s) want be you to see it, so they included this parenthetical, effectively saying it twice. The “Valley of Shaveh” is the low place. It’s level, and plain, and the clarification that it is the “King’s valley” (singular) may tell us that this is the place where all lesser kings are brought low before the King of Salem.

For the day of the Lord of hosts
Shall come upon everything proud and lofty,
Upon everything lifted up—
And it shall be brought low—
Isaiah 2:12 (NKJV)

The loftiness of man shall be bowed down,
And the haughtiness of men shall be brought low;
The Lord alone will be exalted in that day,
Isaiah 2:17 (NKJV)

Lesser kings are the proud places in your heart. It is the haughtiness of your soul that will be brought low before the King of righteousness, the King of Peace.

Miry Clay

Posted on by jovial_cynic

Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them. But those who survived fled to the hill country.
Genesis 14:10 (NASB)

So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the court of the prison, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank in the mire.
Jeremiah 38:6 (NKJV)

He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
Psalm 40:2 (KNJV)

“Tar pits” (or bitumen pits) can also be understood as “pits of miry clay,” which we see echoed in Jeremiah 38:6 and Psalm 40:2.

The rabbis say that the kings mentioned here did not “fall in,” but threw themselves in, in the way one “falls upon their face” (Numbers 16:4).

Ransom

Posted on by jovial_cynic

They also took Lot, Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom.
Genesis 14:12 (NASB)

When the kings of Empires captured Lot, the rabbis suggest that they knew exactly who Lot was, and that perhaps they could demand a ransom for him from Abraham.

ויקחו את לוט בן אחי אברם, they made a special effort to capture Lot because he was Avram’s nephew. They were aware of his wealth. They were expecting that Avram would pay a heavy ransom for the release of his nephew.
Sfnorno on Genesis 14:12:1