This tribute was felt by the inhabitants of these cities to be a heavy
burden, and after twelve years they revolted. This brought upon them the
vengeance of Chedorlaomer, who had in league with him four other kings.
He ravaged the whole country, plundering the towns, and carrying the
inhabitants away as slaves. Among those thus treated was Lot. Hearing of
the disaster that had fallen on his nephew, Abram immediately gathered
from his own household a band of 318 armed men, and being joined by the
Amoritish chiefs Mamre, Aner, and Eshcol, he pursued after
Chedorlaomer, and overtook him near the springs of the Jordan. They
attacked and routed his army, and pursued it over the range of
Anti-Libanus as far as to Hobah, near Damascus, and then returned,
bringing back all the spoils that had been carried away. Returning by way
of Salem, i.e., Jerusalem, the king of that place, Melchizedek, came forth to
meet them with refreshments. To him Abram presented a tenth of the
spoils, in recognition of his character as a priest of the most high God
(Genesis 14:18-20).
In a recently-discovered tablet, dated in the reign of the grandfather of
Amraphel (Genesis 14:1), one of the witnesses is called “the Amorite, the
son of Abiramu,” or Abram.
Having returned to his home at Mamre, the promises already made to him
by God were repeated and enlarged (Genesis 13:14). “The word of the
Lord” (an expression occurring here for the first time) “came to him”
(15:1). He now understood better the future that lay before the nation that
was to spring from him. Sarai, now seventy-five years old, in her
impatience, persuaded Abram to take Hagar, her Egyptian maid, as a
concubine, intending that whatever child might be born should be reckoned
as her own. Ishmael was accordingly thus brought up, and was regarded as
the heir of these promises (Genesis 16). When Ishmael was thirteen years
old, God again revealed yet more explicitly and fully his gracious purpose;
and in token of the sure fulfilment of that purpose the patriarch’s name
was now changed from Abram to Abraham (Genesis 17:4,5), and the rite
of circumcision was instituted as a sign of the covenant. It was then
announced that the heir to these covenant promises would be the son of
Sarai, though she was now ninety years old; and it was directed that his
name should be Isaac. At the same time, in commemoration of the
promises, Sarai’s name was changed to Sarah. On that memorable day of
God’s thus revealing his design, Abraham and his son Ishmael and all the