13 A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.
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AND so Lot's capture came to the ears of Abram. Abram here described as 'the Hebrew' - is this story coming from an external source? Has this how Abram has become known?
One thing is clear - Abram is not alone. He has allies. And he is known enough for an escapee to come and let him know what has happened.
Suddenly Abram doesn't seem like a lone wanderer any more. He has made agreements with others. He has 318 trained men. Abram has an army.
And when the news of his nephew reaches the ears of Abram, he calls the army into action. The bond between Lot and Abram has not been broken - Lot still has importance in Abram's eyes. The uncle comes to the rescue, pulling out all the stops, gathering all his forces and hounding Lot's captors all the way to Hobar.
His rescue is a thorough one. He does not sneak in and get Lot out some subtle and sly way. Oh no; he recovers everything - Lot and everything that belongs to him, the women and the 'other people'.
Abram is not one you would want to anger, it seems...
1 comment:
Yeah, there are interesting things like "as far as Dan" in that passage that make me think it was written down much later.
I think that Abraham and Hebrew have the same root word.
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