Genesis 14:13 - Exposition

And there came one that had escaped . Literally, the fugitive party , the article denoting the genus, as in "the Canaanite,'' Genesis 12:6 . And told Abram the Hebrew. "The immigrant" trans fluvialis , ὁ περάτης, from beyond the Euphrates, if applied to the patriarch by the inhabitants of Palestine ( LXX ; Aquila, Origen, Vulgate, Keil, Lange, Kalisch); but more probably, if simply inserted by the historian to distinguish Abram from Mature the Amorite, "the descendant of Eber" (Lyra, Drusius, Calvin, Bush, Candlish, Murphy, 'Speaker's Commentary;' vide on Genesis 10:21 ). For he dwelt —literally, and (sc. at that time) he was dwelling — in the plain —rather "oak groves" ( vide Genesis 13:18 )— of Mature the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol, and brother of Anor, concerning whom nothing is certainly known beyond the fact that they were Canaanitish chieftains (probably possessing some remnant of the true faith, like Melchisedeck) with whom the patriarch entered into an offensive and defensive alliance. And these were confederate —literally, lords of covenant , i.e. masters or possessors of a treaty (cf. "lord or possessor of dreams," Genesis 37:19 ; "lords or masters of arrows," 2 Kings 1:8 ); rendered συνωμόται ( LXX .)—lords of the oath, as in Nehemiah 6:18 , ἔνορκοι ( LXX .)— wit Abram.