1In the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar; Arioch, king of Ellasar; Chedorlaomer, king of Elam; and Tidal, king of Goiim, 2they made war with Bera, king of Sodom; Birsha, king of Gomorrah; Shinab, king of Admah; Shemeber, king of Zeboiim; and the king of Bela (also called Zoar). 3All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (also called the Salt Sea). 4They served Chedorlaomer for twelve years, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and struck the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 6and the Horites in their Mount Seir, to El Paran, which is by the wilderness. 7They returned, and came to En Mishpat (also called Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar. 8The king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (also called Zoar) went out; and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim 9against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five. 10Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and some fell there. Those who remained fled to the hills. 11They took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their food, and went their way. 12They took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who lived in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
13One who had escaped came and told Abram, the Hebrew. At that time, he lived by the oaks of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner. They were allies of Abram. 14When Abram heard that his relative was taken captive, he led out his three hundred eighteen trained men, born in his house, and pursued as far as Dan. 15He divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and struck them, and pursued them to Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. 16He brought back all the goods, and also brought back his relative Lot and his goods, and the women also, and the other people.
17The king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 18Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High. 19He blessed him, and said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth. 20Blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
Abram gave him a tenth of all.
21The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, and take the goods for yourself.”
22Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, 23that I will not take a thread nor a sandal strap nor anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion.”
Ein Gedi is an oasis in the Judean Desert next to the Dead Sea. Here most famously David fled from Saul and cut off his tassels even though David’s men egged him on to kill Saul (1 Sam 24). Saul realized David had the opportunity to kill him. But even David’s cutting of the tassels caused David’s “heart to smite” (1 Sam 24:5) because tassels symbolized the person who wore them, in this case Saul and his kingdom. This very tearing was foreshadowed by Samuel ripping Saul’s tassels as a symbol of Saul’s kingdom being ripped from him (1 Sam 15:27-28).
Ein Gedi is equated with Hatztzon Tamar in 2 Chronicles 20:2 which then places Ein Gedi as the place of the First Battle of the Kings in Genesis 14. Ein Gedi where Jehoshaphat watched God rout the Ammonites and the Moabites (2 Chr 20) and where Ezekiel envisioned the fresh water from the Temple transforming the Dead Sea to be teeming with all kinds of fish (Ezek 47). Today one can see two spring-fed streams with flowing water year-round: Nahal David (Wadi Sadir) and Nahal Arugot (Wadi Arija). Two other springs, the Shulamit and Ein Gedi springs, also flow in the nature reserve.
Tel Goren is the ancient mound of En Gedi that was excavated in the 1960s and found to be the center of inhabitation of the oasis from the seventh century BCE in the times of Kings Hezekiah and Manasseh through the Byzantine period. Subsequently, a synagogue from the third through the sixth century CE was discovered northeast of Tel Goren. Excavations in the synagogue revealed a possible “Moses’ seat” (Matthew 23:1-3; see Chorazim) and a Hebrew and Aramaic inscription on a mosaic floor decrying anyone who tells the “secret,” very likely the Ein Gedi balsam production since this world-famous balsam was traded throughout the Mediterranean basin.