The first Jewish war, if we want to call it that, shows up in Parshas Lech Lecha. We will begin our study from the beginning of Chapter 14, but first we need a little background to understand the storyline.
Avraham has done a lot of traveling, starting in Haran and ending up Eretz Yisrael. If you look at a map of the Middle East, Avraham started his life journeys from an area near the delta where the Euphrates River joins the Tigris and they collectively empty into the Persian Gulf. He then traveled northwestward into Aram Naharayim; the term “Mesopotamia” is the same as Naharayim, both meaning “between the rivers.” All of these areas are in today’s Iraq, but they are quite a distance from each other. Avraham started near the Persian Gulf, traveled northwestward along the Euphrates River until he arrived somewhere near the point where contemporary Iraq, Syria, and Turkey border. Although Iraq is almost due east of Eretz Yisrael, one never went from Israel due east to Iraq or due west the other way, because that route crosses a large desert. People from Bavel (Babylonia, which is in contemporary Iraq) traveled up the Euphrates River, which actually starts with the snowmelt of the mountains of eastern Turkey.
One would walk up the banks of the Euphrates; then, one would travel roughly westward through what is called today Syria, and then go either down the Mediterranean coast or through the Lebanese mountains and forests. Since you can’t have a forest without sufficient rainfall, there would be consistent water and food in that area. You would come southward through Lebanon and enter Eretz Yisrael from the north. So, even though one would be coming from Bavel which is east of Eretz Yisrael, one would arrive from the north.
Avraham arrives in Eretz Yisrael and there is a famine. The closest place to go for food is Egypt, so Avraham travels to Egypt accompanied by his nephew Lot, who had escorted him since his earliest journeys. When Avraham is chased out of Egypt, he has become a wealthy man. Lotis also wealthy, and they return to Eretz Yisrael. Both of them now have large flocks, and the shepherds of Lot quarrel with those of Avraham. Avraham suggests that they travel in opposite directions.
If Lot were concerned for his spirituality, he would tell Avraham that he, Lot, will keep his shepherds in line, and he would stay with Avraham. The shepherds are either his employees or his slaves, and he can insist that they do his bidding.
Lot does not take that approach. Instead, he relocates to Sodom, an affluent neighborhood, which allows him to advance his business prospects and also to live the easy life — hedonism. Sodom is easy to identify today; it is where the Dead Sea is. Before the raining of sulfur and salt that landed on Sodom and its sister cities, this was a very productive region. So Lot decides to graze his flock in this area, and Avraham sets off in the other direction.
That is the story line up until the point where we are beginning, with the start of Chapter 14:
“And it was in the days of the following kings: Amrafel, king of Shinar….” Shinar is Sumer, one of the cradles of civilization, which is located in the northern part of the Tigris River valley. Then we have Aryoch, king of Elasar. It is not exactly clear where Elasaris. In his book, The Living Torah, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan assumes that Elasaris Larsa, a city about 100 miles south of Babylon, in the lower Euphrates River valley. Eilam, the next kingdom mentioned,was a major power at this point, and is further to the east, in the mountainous areas of what is today western Iran. The fourth power is called Goyim, which is not the name of a place, but means that its king ruled over an area where many different nations had gathered.
Notice that these nations were very distant from one another; many hundreds of miles separated them. Also note that the order and prioritization of the four powers varies from pasuk to pasuk. In the first pasuk, the list is: Shinar, Elasar, Eilam, and Goyim. The second time they are mentioned, Eilam is alluded to first. The next time, the order is Eilam, Goyim, Shinar and Elasar. If the order is based on significance, this implies that which kingdom was most powerful changed in the course of events.
Ancient empire building
At this point, I need to digress to explain how ancient civilizations built empires. An empire was created by first amassing a strong army. When the king or emperor wanted to acquire significant money, he would march his army to a city and demand tribute of gold, silver, precious jewels and the like, as well as people, whom they needed for their army and as slaves.
The king of the city, who amassed all its power and wealth, was the state and ultimate authority, and he would negotiate with the invading army. If they reached an agreement, he would provide whatever had been agreed as tribute and his city would be free from this threat for some period of time. Then the imperial army would march on the next city-state.
If the local king refused the tribute, his city would prepare for an extensive siege. If it did not succeed in repelling the attack, the imperials would sack the city. Whoever they did not kill would be sold as slaves, and they would haul away all the wealth of the city, some for the imperial treasury and some to reward the members of the imperial army for their valiant courage. This is how empires were built.
Now, these four nations came to attack Sodom. Why four of them? This was unusual for the time. Usually, you had one strong nation going to collect tribute, or perhaps two, such as Persia and Media. Having four was extremely unusual. It seems that the four kings felt that they could develop an empire together.
They went to war against Sodom. Here’s where the interesting question is. Sodomis over a thousand miles away, and bear in mind that the airport connections where not very good in those days. There were no trains. The highways were not meant for busses or tanks. They had to march their troops all the way there — up the Euphrates, cut across Syria, and down to Sodom. Aside from the time this took, you also had to feed your troops this entire time and that required a great deal of bread. The prize must have been worth the investment!
Now, obviously the reason they came to Sodomwas the same reason that motivated Lot to relocate there and also why Willie Sutton robbed banks. Because that’s where the money is!
They came to Sodom because Sodom was a wealthy city and they could get a lot of tribute from it. They passed many cities on the way, yet they appear to have ignored most of them. They came to threaten Sodom, Amora, Adma, Tzevo’im, and Tzo’ar, all of them in the same general area, Sodomand its sister cities.
Continues the pasuk: “They all gathered at the Valley of the Field.” Today, this is the Yam Hamelach, the Dead Sea. We see in parshas Vayeira how it became the Dead Sea, but in parshas Lech Lecha it was not yet the Dead Sea.
“Twelve years they served Kedarla’omer.” What does “they served him” mean? It means that they paid him tribute. Kedarla’omerwas the king of Eilam. He and his three cohorts launched an invasion of Sodom and its sister cities and demanded tribute on a regular basis. We don’t know if the tribute included manpower for their armies or slaves, but they certainly were demanding much tribute, enough that the pasuk describes it as service.
“Ushelosh esrai shana maradu.” Rashi understands this to mean that, for thirteen years, they did not pay tribute, i.e., they stopped paying tribute and managed to avoid it for thirteen complete years. This pasuk can also be read that in the thirteenth year they stopped paying tribute, meaning that they paid tribute for twelve consecutive years and then stopped in the thirteenth year. This was considered an act of rebellion.
Now, if Sodom was in such an economic downturn because of the tribute, Lotshould have left. If he was afraid that Kedorla’omerwould attack, he should have left. He should have read the handwriting on the wall and seen that all of the options, paying the tribute and being poorer, or fighting a war against Kedorla’omer, were all bad options and he should have moved onward to greener pastures.
“In the fourteenth year…” According to Rashi, this is the fourteenth year of them not having paid tribute. According to the other approach, this is year fourteen since the entire saga began. Now, what does Lotdo while all this is brewing? He stays in Sodom!This is idiotic! Why not get out while the going is good?
But, of course, Lot has been moving up the totem pole in prominence in Sodom, so this may have blinded him to the seemingly obvious option. He identified as a Sodomite.
“In the fourteenth year, comes Kedorla’omer, the king of Eilam, Vehamelachim asher ito.” Note that the other three kings have now been reduced to being his cohorts. Vayaku es Refa’im be’Ashteros Karnayim — on their way, the four empires wipe out six other towns (see below). Presumably they asked for tribute and were denied, and simply erased these cities from the map: this gives a demonstration of the power of these kings.
“They smote the Refa’im in Ashteros Karnayim, the Zuzim in Hom, the Eimim in Shavei Kiryasayim, and the Chori in the mountains of Sei’ir.”
After wiping out these four cities, instead of going straight to Sodom, they attacked the fields of Amalek. Now, Amalek was in the south, in what is today considered the Negev. If you look at the map, you will see that they traveled past Sodom on the way.
Who else did they attack? Amori, which was a strong power.
Having done all this, what would you imagine the kings of Sodom and its neighboring cities would do?
Either they would pay tribute or, alternatively, they could stock up for a long siege within their towns and strengthen their fortifications enough to protect their towns and withstand a siege.
Remember, warfare in those times was very barbaric. If the attackers had no means with which to destroy the walls, they would place ladders against the walls, while the people within the city would pour boiling oil down on the attackers, all while arrows and other projectiles were flying from both sides. Civilians? Collective punishment? These were never concerns.
From the inside, however, if the walls and defenses had been strengthened enough, you could even defeat Napoleon. Napoleon lost the battle of Akko because the fortress built two sets of walls. When Napoleon finally succeeded to breach the first set of walls, he discovered the inner wall. By then, he had lost so many soldiers that he simply turned around and left. This is how Akko was saved in Napoleon’s Ottoman campaign.
What did the kings of Sodom do instead? The five kings decided to fight an open battle against Kedorla’omerin the Valley of the Fields.
Open warfare in the fields. They are going up against very successful, experienced soldiers who had just won at least six military campaigns to the north and south of them — and they chose to fight in the open fields? That is suicidal. It is completely asinine and stupid.
If Lot didn’t have a good enough reason to leave Sodom before then, he should have left at this point.
The five kings go and wage war against the four kings, and we know what happens.
The pasuk tells us that the kings of Sodomand Amora were the first to flee, and they fell there. Presumably, they fell in battle, as we use the term today — and the “king of Sodom,”to whom we will soon be introduced, is a successor. (You could also understand it that the kings of Sodom and Amora were captured and did not die in battle.)
The survivors flee and hide in the mountains. The mountains are full of hiding places, particularly if the enemy isn’t interested in pursuing, which they aren’t. All the imperial armies want is to loot the city, take all the valuables, and seize whoever is there, either as their own slaves or to sell as slaves.
They seize all the valuables of Sodom and Amora, all the food that had been stored to survive an extensive siege and — who else — Lot, Avraham’s nephew, and all his flock. The pasuk emphasizes that “Vehu yosheiv biSedom, and he was living in Sodom.” We know Lot was in Sodom, so why is there a need to emphasize this? To tell us that he had so many chances to leave, but he did not.
Vayavo hapalit, “and the survivor came” — someone who survived and escaped the battle came to Avraham Avinu, who was living in the valley of Mamrei.
Vayishma Avraham ki nishba achiv. “And Avrahamheard that his brother was captured.” Lot was not his brother, he was his nephew. Why does the Torah call Lot “his brother?” Because that’s how Avraham looked at it. “Mishpacha zeinen mishpacha.” Family is family.
Even though Lot had literally turned away from Avraham and had made errors in many areas — spiritually, financially, and politically — he did not leave Sodom when he could have and should have. Nevertheless, Avraham still said: “He’s my brother.” There was no requirement for Avraham to do anything here, halachically. Hashem doesn’t tell him to do anything. He doesn’t ask anyone. There is no question for him, no issue. Family is family.
The first thing Avraham does is: Vayarek es chanichav, yelidei baiso, shemonei esrei ushelosh mei’os, “He militarizes those whom he has educated, those who were raised in his house, three hundred and eighteen.” Now, none of these people have any experience in warfare whatsoever. He is taking roughly three hundred people, inexperienced individuals, straight out of yeshiva to wage war against a seasoned army of tens of thousands of hardened veterans who have wiped out eight civilizations in the last few weeks.
We have a word for that: suicide.
We know the famous Medrash Chazal, quoted by Rashi, that three hundred and eighteen is the gematria of Eliezer.
There are two reasons Chazal say this — one implied by the pasuk and one conceptual.
The one implied by the pasuk is a missing word. It says, “He gathered and armed the members of his household, three hundred and eighteen.” Three hundred and eighteen what? The Torah does not give us a number without saying what the number is made up of. It doesn’t say who these three hundred and eighteen were? Students? Soldiers? Light cavalry? Heavy artillery? It doesn’t say!
So what is three hundred and eighteen to Chazal? It is Eliezer.
But let us realize: Who waged war, Avraham’s contingency and the huge armies against him? Avraham and Eliezer against tens of thousands of trained combatants?
None of the above. If this was a conventional war, Avraham and his followers — whether it was just Eliezer or three hundred and eighteen — would be toast. It is beyond impossible odds. So Chazal are noting: It doesn’t matter whether it was three hundred and eighteen soldiers or just Eliezer accompanying Avraham. It didn’t matter, because it was not a conventional war. It was the ish milchamah, the “Man of war” waging war.
I’m not going to go through the rest of the pesukim, but if you look at Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan’s chumash, he has an intricate map of the battle, and you can see that it was not a simple overnight mission. Avraham chased the tens of thousands of soldiers of the four armies up and down Eretz Yisrael until he could get back what he wanted, i.e., Lot and his property, which Avraham eventually succeeded in reclaiming.
In other words, Lot was a captive, and Avraham did not know where he was. Does this sound familiar?
Avraham was pursuing his enemy, tens of thousands of them, with his three hundred or so soldiers, until he could locate his captive nephew and rescue him.
Eventually, he finds Lot and frees him. To accomplish this, he ended up releasing the entire city of Sodom.
King of Sodom II
At the beginning of the story, the king of Sodom had been the crown prince who succeeded when his father was killed in the original battle with Kedorla’omer. He comes to Avraham and does not express his gratitude in any way. What does he say? “Give me the people, and you can take the booty.” He assumes that Avraham would sell all the Sodomites into slavery and he demands them for himself. Chutzpah +.
Avraham turns to him and says, “Listen, I don’t want you telling anyone that Avraham got wealthy because of you. I’m not going to take a thread or shoelace from you. I will take my expenses, the reimbursement of business expenses. And I can’t speak for Aneir, Eshkol, and Mamrei, who, even though they did not join the battles, they protected my camp for me.”
So, let Aneir, Eshkol, and Mamrei take their share, and I will take my reimbursements, and you keep the rest — is what Avraham says to the king of Sodom.
And after all this, where does Lot go? He goes back to Sodom. Oh, how hard it is to teach a fool!
Conclusion
This is the first Jewish war, and it should serve as a model lesson for every Jewish interaction.
Whether you have an army with tens of thousands of hardened veterans with the most modern armaments, you have an army of three hundred and eighteen, or all you have is two old men. If G-d is fighting for you, it doesn’t matter.
