Genesis 14:12

And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

14:1-12 The wars of nations make great figure in history, but we should not have had the record of this war if Abram and Lot had not been concerned. Out of covetousness, Lot had settled in fruitful, but wicked Sodom. Its inhabitants were the most ripe for vengeance of all the descendants of Canaan. The invaders were from Chaldea and Persia, then only small kingdoms. They took Lot among the rest, and his goods. Though he was righteous, and Abram's brother's son, yet he was with the rest in this trouble. Neither our own piety, nor our relation to the favourites of Heaven, will be our security when God's judgments are abroad. Many an honest man fares the worse for his wicked neighbours: it is our wisdom to separate, or at least to distinguish ourselves from them, 2Co 6:17. So near a relation of Abram should have been a companion and a disciple of Abram. If he chose to dwell in Sodom, he must thank himself if he share in Sodom's losses. When we go out of the way of our duty, we put ourselves from under God's protection, and cannot expect that the choice made by our lusts, should end to our comfort. They took Lot's goods; it is just with God to deprive us of enjoyments, by which we suffer ourselves to be deprived of the enjoyment of him.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The provisions and other movable property of the vanquished are carried away from Sodom and Amorah. For רפשׁ rekush, "goods," the Septuagint has here and in the 21st verse τὴν ἵππσν tēn hippon, "the cavalry." This implies the reading רכב rekeb, which is not supported by other authorities, nor suitable to the context. Among the prisoners is Lot, the son of Abram's brother. This designation prepares us for what is to follow. It is added that he was "dwelling in Sodom," to explain why he was among the captives. "They went away." The invaders were now laden with booty. Their first concern was to transfer this to their native country, and deposit it in a place of safety. It was not prudent to delay while they were encumbered with so much valuable property. The terms on which the conquered tribes were to "serve" them could be settled by negotiation. If these terms were not accepted, they would be quite ready for another predatory incursion.

This great foray is only incidentally introduced into our narrative, on account of the capture of Lot. It was not the first visit probably of these marauders to the same lands. It is interesting to the historian, as a sample of the mode in which conquest was made. It opens up to the view one of the ancient scenes of human activity. It teaches us that the wave of war often flowed over the lands of the ancient world, and left more or less lasting marks of its disturbing power. Tribes were not unfrequently moved from place to place, intermingled with one another, and enslaved by other tribes. The actual state of things in the land of Abram's pilgrimage is suddenly presented to us under a new light. The Rephaim, including the Zuzim and the Emim, occupy the east of the Jordan, and had once a place on the west. The Perizzites also dwell side by side with the Kenaanites in the western district. The Horites are found in Mount Seir. As none of these were Kenaan's descendants, we have the undeniable traces of a Shemitic population before and along with the Kenaanites. The language of Heber, therefore, was in the country before the latter arrived.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

12. they took Lot … and his goods, and departed—How would the conscience of that young man now upbraid him for his selfish folly and ingratitude in withdrawing from his kind and pious relative! Whenever we go out of the path of duty, we put ourselves away from God's protection, and cannot expect that the choice we make will be for our lasting good.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Lot now suffered for his cohabitation with bad neighbours.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son,.... The son of Haran, his elder brother, who was now, as the Jews say (x), fifty years of age:

who dwelt in Sodom, or near it, in the country adjacent to it, see Genesis 13:12; and so being a neighbour of the men of Sodom, and a sojourner among them, he partakes of their punishment; and this was a just correction of him for choosing to dwell among such a people: and they took

his goods, and departed; as him and his family, so all his substance, his cattle, wealth, and riches of every sort, and went off with it: Eupolemus (y), an Heathen writer, makes mention of this circumstance in his relation of this war, and says, that the Armenians, as he calls the four kings, baring conquered the Phoenicians, carried away captive the brother's son of Abram.

(x) Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 77. 1.((y) Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 17. p. 418.

Geneva Study Bible

And they {f} took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

(f) The godly are plagued many times with the wicked: therefore their company is dangerous.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

12. Lot, Abram’s brother’s son] Notice this minute description of Lot and the mention of his residence in Sodom, as if chap. 13 had not immediately preceded. In Genesis 14:14; Genesis 14:16, Lot is spoken of as Abram’s brother.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 12. - And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom. The last view of Lot saw him driving off his flocks and herds from Bethel. It betokens a considerable declension in spiritual life to behold him a citizen of Sodom. And his goods (all the property he had acquired through his selfish choice of the Jordan circle), and departed.

CHAPTER 14:13-16 Genesis 14:12

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

After conquering all these tribes to the east and west of the Arabah, they gave battle to the kings of the Pentapolis in the vale of Siddim, and put them to flight. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fell there, the valley being full of asphalt-pits, and the ground therefore unfavourable for flight; but the others escaped to the mountains (הרה for ההרה), that is, to the Moabitish highlands with their numerous defiles. The conquerors thereupon plundered the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and carried off Lot, who dwelt in Sodom, and all his possessions, along with the rest of the captives, probably taking the route through the valley of the Jordan up to Damascus.