Abram Goes To Egypt
While Abram was on this journey, a famine broke out in the land, and Egypt,
so long known as the storehouse of the world, became the goal of Abram’s
wandering. Knowing the evil ways and morals of the Egyptians, Abram tried to
hide his fair wife Sarai. But the custom-officers discovered her and took her
into King Pharoah’s palace, believing her to be Abram’s sister and not his wife.
At night, G-d appeared to Sarai and assured her that nothing would happen to
her. And G-d smote Pharaoh and his men with plagues, and they could not touch
Sarai. When they found out the reason for all the trouble that had come to them,
Pharoah called Abram and rebuked him for not having revealed to him that Sarai
was his wife. Then he sent Abram and Sarai away, after he had given them many
gifts of cattle and servants.
The Strife of the Herdsmen
The famine ended, and Abram and his household, among them his nephew Lot,
returned to their old place in Canaan, between Beth-El and Ay. Abram was now
very rich. He had flocks, silver, and gold in abundance. Lot also had a great
number of sheep and cattle. But whereas Abram’s shepherds abided strictly by the
rules given to them by their pious master concerning trespassing upon the
property of others, Lot’s shepherds were rough men who did not respect this
spirit of justice. Thus there were constant arguments and strife between the
herdsmen of Abram and Lot. Soon complaints reached Abram about the misbehavior
of Lot’s herdsmen and the strife between the shepherds. Abram therefore called
Lot and said to him: “Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee,
and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole
land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me; if thou wilt take the
left hand, then I will go to the right, or if thou take the right hand, then I
will go to the left.”
Abram and Lot Separate
Abram and Lot were standing on the height near Beth-El, and: from this point
they gazed over a wide extent of country. They looked down into the fruitful and
blooming valley of the Jordan; it was indeed like the Garden of Eden, or like
the rich land of Egypt they had just left. But the people of these lovely
districts “were wicked and sinners before G-d exceedingly.” Lot made his choice
without hesitation; and separating himself from his generous and unselfish
kinsman, he journeyed eastward, and finally pitched his tent near Sodom, in the
valley of the Jordan.
Abram, left alone in his encampment near Beth-El, received from G-d another
of those promises so full of hope and gladness. He was bidden to lift his eyes
to the north and south, the east and west; for all that land should belong to
him and to his descendants forever. And great and numerous should be his
offspring, for G-d pledged, “I shall make your seed as the dust of the earth, so
that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then your seed shall also be
numbered. Arise, pass through the land, in its length and in its width; for to
you I shall give it.”
Thus commanded by G-d, Abram traveled southward, until he reached the city of
Kiryath Arba, later called Hebron. There he was welcomed by Aner, Eshkol and
Mamre, the resident lords of the Amorites. They formed an alliance, and Abram
settled down in the oak-groves of Mamre.
Lot a Prisoner of War
Lot was soon to discover that his greed for wealth had nearly cost him not
only his entire fortune but also his life.
On the plain of the Jordan there were five old cities, Sodom and Gomorrah,
Admah, Zebaim, and Bela or Zoar. These cities had been conquered by
Chedarlaomer, the powerful king of Elam, on the east of the Tigris. For twelve
years these cities paid tribute to him, but then they rebelled, and regained
their independence for thirteen years. The following year, however, the great
king of Elam resolved upon crushing his former satellites; and with the help of
three neighboring kings, he marched from his territory, confident of success.
After having gained many victories in the east and south of the land, the kings
descended upon the valley of the Jordan, the real object of their trip. The five
cities trembled with terror at the approach of the conquerors. Yet, anxious to
resist the invaders to the last, the kings of the five cities marched out at the
head of their armies and met the enemy in the valley of Siddim, near the
dangerous bitumen pits, which they hoped would entrap the unwary strangers. A
desperate battle was fought. The four eastern kings overpowered their
unfortunate opponents, and trapped the kings of Sodom and Gemorrah in the very
bitumen pits which were to have become their own graves. The others fled in
trembling haste towards the mountainous lands of Jericho. All their rich
possessions fell into the hands of the conquerors.
Amongst the captives was Lot, Abram’s nephew, who had remained in Sodom, his
chosen place of residence. Abram was in the oak-groves of Mamre, when a
messenger, who had escaped from the battlefield, arrived with the news that
Abram’s nephew was a prisoner, a slave of the great king of Elam.
The Rescue
Abram immediately gathered all his men, three hundred and eighteen in number,
and pursued Chedarlaomer’s victorious army. It was a daring act, but it proved
Abram’s firm belief in G-d’s help and justice. Attacking by night and aided by
many divine miracles, his small band of warriors defeated the overwhelmingly
superior forces of Chedarlaomer. He recaptured all the loot, freed the people,
and brought them back in a march of triumph, singing praises to G-d for His
miraculous help wherever he went.
Laden with this wealth, and accompanied by Lot and his released
fellow-captives, the conquering Abram returned towards his home. In the valley
of Shaveh he was met by the king of Sodom, who came forth with Malkitzedek, the
king of Salem, who, as mentioned before, was Shem, the son of Noah, and priest
of G-d. In accordance with his priestly office, he brought bread and wine, which
he gave to Abram, adding to this typical offering a blessing so true and simple:
“Blessed be Abram of the Most High G-d, Who has delivered thy enemies into thy
hand.” Abram gave him a tenth of everything he had.
The king of Sodom satisfied with the liberation of his captured hosts and
country by Abram, gratefully offered to him the whole of the spoil he had
brought back; but Abram, unwilling to be enriched by the wealth of idol
worshippers, refused everything “from a thread to a shoe-strap”; yet he
permitted his faithful allies Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre to take their due
portions.
