Genesis 14:21-24

2007.Mar.15 03:00

Spoils of War

Read Genesis 14:21-24 | Full Chapter

The king of Sodom said to Abram, “All I want are my people. You can keep everything else.” Abram answered: The LORD God Most High made the heavens and the earth. And I have promised him that I won’t keep anything of yours, not even a sandal strap or a piece of thread. Then you can never say that you are the one who made me rich.
(Genesis 14:21-23, CEV)

It is now the king of Sodom’s chance to talk to Abram. This situation adds some complexities not apparent in the interaction between Abram and Melchizedek. Recall that Abram fought Chedorlaomer, et al, to rescue his relatives, Lot and his family (v. 14) after king Bera and his allies had fought against and lost to Chedorlaomer’s alliance. That is to say, this should not have been Abram’s war, and he had no reason to fight in it, except to rescue his relatives. Sodom and Gommarah benefitted from the attack by Abram’s small force, but they had no right to claim the spoils. Indeed, I would guess that Abram probably had rights to claim those cities under his own authority and to keep all the spoils. So when the king of Sodom offers less than that, to give Abram the spoils, but not the rule of the city, he in fact may be insulting Abram.

Abram refuses this offer, but for reasons not having to do with the extent of his “entitlement”. His issue is that others might give Bera, instead of Jehovah, credit for Abram’s success. That Abram is willing to refuse on these grounds means that he is either proud and uses Jehovah as an excuse (a possiblity which seems discredited by his interaction with Melchizedek) or that he has faith that God will continue to bless him abundantly (or any of thousands of other options, but admitting those makes my argument less convincing, unless I actually take the time to examine several more of those options, which sounds like a lot of work, so I’m going to artificially limit the axioms here–and elsewhere.). Although Abram deserved the spoils, at least according to custom, he valued more his promises to God and let his faith, rather than immediate worldly concerns, determine his answer.

Let my share be the food that my men have eaten. But Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre went with me, so give them their share of what we brought back.
(Genesis 14:24, CEV)

Abram continues with a few qualifications. His men have eaten, probably of the spoils, and Abram notes that this can be his share. After all, they who fought deserve at least to be fed by the king whose kingdom they rescued (fat lot of good it will do king Bera). In addition, Abram notes that Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre who fought alongside him, should receive their portion. This appears to me a righteous and appropriate decision, although it may seem hypocritical in a quick reading. Abram’s decision does not imply that the taking of spoils in itself would have been wrong, but rather that it would have misappropriated the glory for Abram’s success from Jehovah to the king of Sodom. To deny those who fought beside him their portion would have dishonored them.

And, thus, I find myself coming back to the issue of balance. One can get obsessed with receiving or giving, with having no appearances of hypocrisy or with being more concerned with “doing right by others” as to forget God’s laws. God’s law and Word is not too complicated to be useful, but it is more than two or three rules that can be applied obsessively. That we Christians often obsess over two or three things at the expense of others is a good example of why we need God’s full Word that does address the complexities of human society, as well as our counselor, the Holy Spirit, to direct us to what we most need of God’s Word and to clarify it. And, that, my friends, is a last-paragraph tangent.