And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.
The verse records what followed the battle in the vale of Siddim, where Chedorlaomer king of Elam with his four allied kings defeated the five kings of Canaan. Much of the Canaanite army was cut to pieces, and those who survived fled to the mountains. The conquerors then plundered the cities of the plain, taking all the goods and food of Sodom and Gomorrah and going on their way with rich spoil and many captives. Among those captives were Lot and his family, and their seizure was the calamity that called Abraham to pursue the victors and rescue them.
That rescue turned the attention of the people to the true faith, for Abraham's victory over a force far stronger than his own pointed to a power beyond himself. His generous dealing with the prisoners and the spoil, together with the blessing pronounced by Melchizedek, made clear that God was the source of his strength and victory. In these events God mercifully gave Sodom rays of light, but the people rejected them.
The verse records what followed the battle in the vale of Siddim, where Chedorlaomer king of Elam with his four allied kings defeated the five kings of Canaan. Much of the Canaanite army was cut to pieces, and those who survived fled to the mountains. The conquerors then plundered the cities of the plain, taking all the goods and food of Sodom and Gomorrah and going on their way with rich spoil and many captives. Among those captives were Lot and his family, and their seizure was the calamity that called Abraham to pursue the victors and rescue them.
That rescue turned the attention of the people to the true faith, for Abraham's victory over a force far stronger than his own pointed to a power beyond himself. His generous dealing with the prisoners and the spoil, together with the blessing pronounced by Melchizedek, made clear that God was the source of his strength and victory. In these events God mercifully gave Sodom rays of light, but the people rejected them.