Genesis 14

The same God.

Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as we discover new insights and new perspectives from a very old book.

Genesis 14

I’m reading both Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Out of curiosity, I looked up bitumen (tar) pits, to see how commonplace they are. An article in ScienceDirect suggests that the armies of Sodom, Gomorrah, and their allies actually would more likely have gotten stuck in the “black sulfurous mud” when the Dead Sea’s lake level was low. That’s assuming, of course, that any of this actually took place.

Following up on something I noticed from the previous chapter. Both the YLT and the NRSV clearly state that Lot is Abram’s brother’s son, i.e., nephew. But in verse 14 of the YLT says:

“And Abram heareth that his brother hath been taken captive…”

The NRSV says:

“When Abram heard that his nephew had been taken captive…”

The YLT might only mean Lot was Abram’s “brethren,” and the NRSV in one sense gives the contextually more accurate word “nephew.” But from previous chapters when reading the YLT, I see a very intimate bond between Abram and Lot that today is more often associated as…