(concretely) a boy (as active) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
eaten
אָֽכְל֣וּ'a.khe.Lu
H398
to eat (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
portion
וְחֵ֙לֶק֙ve.Che.lek
H2506
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
men
הָֽאֲנָשִׁ֔יםha.'a.na.Shim
H582
a man in general (singly or collectively) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
went
הָלְכ֖וּhal.Khu
H1980
to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
with
אִתִּ֑י'i.Ti
H854
properly · preposition with the article + pronominal suffix
Aner
עָנֵר֙'a.Ner
H6063
Aner · proper noun, a man's name
Eshcol
אֶשְׁכֹּ֣ל'esh.Kol
H812
Eshcol · proper noun, a man's name
Mamre
וּמַמְרֵ֔אu.mam.Re'
H4471
Mamre · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
them
הֵ֖םhem
H1992
they (only used when emphatic) · personal pronoun, 3rd person masculine plural
take
יִקְח֥וּyik.Chu
H3947
to take (in the widest variety of applications) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
portion
חֶלְקָֽםchel.Kam
H2506
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 14:13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and broth…
Proverbs 3:27 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
Matthew 7:12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
Romans 13:7-8 Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.
1 Corinthians 9:14-15 Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.
1 Timothy 5:18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 14:21–end
We have here an account of what passed between Abram and the king of Sodom, who succeeded him that fell in the battle (Gen 14:10), and thought himself obliged to do this honour to Abram, in return for the good services he had done him. Here is,
I. The king of Sodom's grateful offer to Abram (Gen 14:21): Give me the soul, and take thou the substance; so the Hebrew reads it. Here he fairly begs the persons, but as freely bestows the goods on Abram. Note, 1. Where a right is dubious and divided, it is wisdom to compound the matter by mutual concessions rather than to contend. The king of Sodom had an original right both to the persons and to the goods, and it would bear a debate whether Abram's…
the king of Sodom said . . . Give me the persons--According to the war customs still existing among the Arab tribes, Abram might have retained the recovered goods, and his right was acknowledged by the king of Sodom. But with honest pride, and a generosity unknown in that part of the world, he replied with strong phraseology common to the East, "I have lifted up mine hand" [that is, I have sworn] unto the Lord that I will not take from a thread even to a sandal-thong, and that that I will not take any thing that [is] thine, lest thou shouldst say, I have made Abram rich" [Gen 14:22-23].
Next: Genesis Chapter 15
Adam Clarke on Genesis 14:24
Save only that which the young men have eaten - His own servants had partaken of the victuals which the confederate kings had carried away; see Gen 14:11. This was unavoidable, and this is all he claims; but as he had no right to prescribe the same liberal conduct to his assistants, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, he left them to claim the share that by right of conquest belonged to them of the recaptured booty. Whether they were as generous as Abram we are not told.
The great variety of striking incidents in this chapter the attentive reader has already carefully noted. To read and not understand is the property of the foolish and the inconsiderate. 1. We have already seen the danger to which Lot…
These I will allow to take a portion, he says, since they have given evidence of deep friendship. "These," you see, the text says, "were Abram's confederates," that is, they were joined in friendship, willing to share the perils with him. Hence, with the intention of rewarding them, he is even prepared to take some portion, and in this once again he fulfills the apostolic law in the words "the worker deserves his fare." I mean, he lets them take no more than their due: "except what my young men consumed and the portion for the men who accompanied me, Eschol, Aner and Mamre—they will take a portion." Do you see the precision of the patriarch's virtue? He gives evidence as well of good sense in the matter of his disregard and scorn for wealth. And at the same time [he does] everything so as not to appear to have acted from pretense or contempt and thus to have entertained grandiose notions about winning the victory.
How remarkable it is, then, that Abraham did not wish to touch any of the spoil gained by his victory or to take even what was offered him? The fact is that to receive recompense diminishes the joy of a victory and blunts the gratuitous character of a favor. For it makes a great difference whether one has fought for money or for fame. In one case, a person will be regarded as a mercenary. In the other case he will be deemed worthy of fame as a deliverer. The holy patriarch rightly refuses to appropriate any of the spoil, even if it was offered to him, lest the one who gave it say, "I made him rich." He testifies that he is content to receive what had been needed for the upkeep of the young warriors. But someone will say, since he had won the battle, why does he say to the king of the Sodomites, "I will take nothing from you"? Surely the booty belonged to the victor! Abraham is giving instruction for military protocol. Everything should be left to the king. Naturally he affirms that any who might have been enlisted to help in his military engagement should be given a part of the profit in recompense for their effort.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Amraphel — King of Shinar, southern Chaldea, one of the confederates of Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, in a war against Sodom and cities of the plain (Gen. 14:1, 4). It is now found that Amraphel (or Ammirapaltu)…
Aner — A boy. (1.) A Canaanitish chief who joined his forces with those of Abraham in pursuit of Chedorlaomer (Gen. 14:13, 24). (2.) A city of Manasseh given to the Levites of Kohath’s family (1 Chr. 6:70).
Eshcol — Bunch; brave. (1.) A young Amoritish chief who joined Abraham in the recovery of Lot from the hands of Chedorlaomer (Gen. 14:13, 24). (2.) A valley in which the spies obtained a fine cluster of…
Lot — (Heb. goral, a “pebble”), a small stone used in casting lots (Num. 33:54; Jonah 1:7). The lot was always resorted to by the Hebrews with strictest reference to the interposition of God, and as a…
Mamre — Manliness. (1.) An Amoritish chief in alliance with Abraham (Gen. 14:13, 24). (2.) The name of the place in the neighbourhood of Hebron (q.v.) where Abraham dwelt (Gen. 23:17, 19; 35:27); called also…
Abraham · General references — General references
Amorites, The · Joined Abraham against the kings — Joined Abraham against the kings
Aner · 1. A — 1. A
Eshcol · 1. An Amorite, and ally of Abraham — 1. An Amorite, and ally of Abraham
Mamre · 2. An Amorite and confe — 2. An Amorite and confe
Rulers · .Abraham — .Abraham
Unselfishness · .Abraham — .Abraham
John Gill on Genesis 14:24
Save only that which the young men have eaten,.... His three hundred and eighteen trained servants, and those of his confederates, who having recovered the victuals taken away from the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, had eaten of it for their refreshment, as it was but just and right they should:
and the portion of the men which went with me; the part in the spoil which belonged unto them by the laws of war; wherefore, though he abridged himself of rights and privileges that belonged unto him, which he might do, and thereby showed his great generosity, and that it was not covetousness but kindness that moved him to do what he did; yet he did not take upon him to abridge the rights and pr…
That I will not take from a thread even to a shoe - latchet. The Hebrews have an elliptical form of making oath, in which the imprecation of punishment is understood. In some places, the full expression of it occurs in the Scriptures, "The Lord do so to me and more also," (1 Samuel 14:44.) Since however, it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, in order that the obligation of oaths may be the more binding, this abrupt form of speech admonishes men to reflect on what they are doing; for it is just as if they should put a restraint upon themselves, and should stop suddenly in the midst of their discourse. This indeed is most certain, that men never rashly swear, but the…
As Abram returned with the booty which he had taken from the enemy, the king of Sodom (of course, the successor to the one who fell in the battle) and Melchizedek, king of Salem, came to meet him to congratulate him on his victory; the former probably also with the intention of asking for the prisoners who had been rescued. They met him in "the valley of Shaveh, which is (what was afterwards called) the King's dale." This valley, in which Absalom erected a monument for himself (Sa2 18:18), was, according to Josephus, two stadia from Jerusalem, probably by the brook Kidron therefore, although Absalom's pillar, which tradition places there, was of the Grecian style rather than the early Hebrew…
In the words of this oath, Abram may have been clarifying that his God, the Lord (Yahweh), was the God Most High that Melchizedek invoked. Perhaps Melchizedek had never heard the name Yahweh.
Rashi on Genesis 14:24
הנערים THE LADS — My servants who went with me. Then, again, the others ANER, ESHCOL AND MAMRE [THEY MAY TAKE THEIR PORTION ] — Although my servants took part in the battle as it is said (Genesis 14:15) “he and his servants and smote them” — whilst Aner and his friends remained with the baggage to guard it yet they may take their share. From him (Abraham) David took a lesson when he said, (1 Samuel 30:24) “But as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall share alike”; therefore it goes on to say (1 Samuel 30:25), “And this had been so from that day — ומעלה — and had been so from former times: therefore he (David) made it a statute…
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
