Chedorlaomer

Etymology

The name Chedorlaomer is associated with familiar Elamite components, such as kudur "servant", and Lagamal, an important goddess in the Elamite pantheon. The Jewish Encyclopedia states that, apart from the fact that Chedorlaomer can be identified as a proper Elamite compound, all else is matter of controversy and "the records give only the rather negative result that from Babylonian and Elamite documents nothing definite has been learned of Chedorlaomer".

Background

Chedorlaomer's reign

After twelve years under Elamite rule, in the thirteenth year, the Cities of the Plain (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Zoara) rebelled against Chedorlaomer. To put down the rebellion, he called upon three other allies from Shinar, Ellasar, and Tidal "nations" regions. (Genesis 14:9)

Chedorlaomer's campaigns

The following allies fought as allies of Chedorlaomer in the fourteenth year of his rule.

• King Amraphel of Shinar (possibly Sumer)
• King Arioch of Ellasar
• King Tidal of "nations" – possibly the Hittites

Chedorlaomer's campaigns aimed to show Elam's might to all territories under Elamite authority. His armies and allies plundered tribes and cities for their provisions, who were en route to the revolting cities of the Jordan plain.

According to , these are the cities plundered by Elam:

• The Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim
• The Zuzim in Ham
• The Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim
• The Horites in Mount Seir as far as the Desert of Paran near the wilderness
• The Amalekites in Kadesh at En-mishpat
• The Amorites in Hazezontamar (Ein Gedi)
• The Canaanites of the cities of the Jordan plain

Chedorlaomer's defeat

Main article: Battle of Siddim

After warring against the cities of the plain at the Battle of Siddim, Chedorlaomer went to Sodom and Gomorrah to collect bounty. At Sodom, among the spoils of war, he took Lot and his entire household captive. When Lot's uncle Abraham received news of what happened, he assembled a battle unit of 318 men who pursued the Elamite forces north of Damascus to Hobah. Abraham and one of his divisions then proceeded to defeat Chedorlaomer. ()

While the King James Version verse 17 translated the Hebrew word in question as וַיַּכֵּם as slaughtered (), Young's Literal Translation uses the term smiting. ()

Historical identification

Genesis 14:1 lists four names: "It was in the time of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedor-Laomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of the Goiim."

Following the discovery of documents written in the Elamite language and Babylonian language, it was thought that Chedorlaomer is a transliteration of the Elamite name Kudur-Lagamar. However, no mention of a king named Kudur-Lagamar has yet been found; inscriptions that were thought to contain this name are now known to have different names (the confusion arose due to similar lettering). According to Stephanie Dalley, the lack of extrabiblical attestations of the king's name is explained by the fact that there were several concurrent Elamite rulers in the 18th century BC, and that they are commonly referred to by their titles rather than by their names.

One modern interpretation of Genesis 14 is summed up by Michael Astour in The Anchor Bible Dictionary (s.v. "Amraphel", "Arioch" and "Chedorlaomer"), who explains the story as a product of anti-Babylonian propaganda during the 6th century Babylonian captivity of the Jews:

The "Chedorlaomer tablets" are now thought to be from the 7th or 6th century BCE, a millennium after the time of [Hammurabi, but at roughly the time when the main elements of Genesis are thought to have been set down. Another prominent scholar considers a relationship between the tablet and Genesis speculative, but identifies Tudhula as a veiled reference to Sennacherib of Assyria, and Chedorlaomer as "a recollection of a 12th century BCE king of Elam who briefly ruled Babylon."

Some modern scholars suggest that Chedorlomer in the Chedorlaomer tablets might refer to the Elamite usurper Kutir-Naḫḫunte in the 7th century BCE. He assassinated Khallushu, who murdered Shutruk-Naḫḫunte II and in 694 BCE managed to briefly capture Babylon and the Neo-Assyrian governor of Babylonia, Aššur-nādin-šumi, causing the Assyrian conquest of Elam.

The translation of "Chedorlaomer Tablets" from the Spartoli collection:

References

References

1. {{bibleref2. Genesis. 14:1
2. Knanishu, Joseph. (1899). "About Persia and its People". Lutheran Augustana book concern, printers.
3. Kitchen, Kenneth. (1966). "Ancient Orient and Old Testament". Tyndale Press.
4. Nelson, Russell. (November 2000). "Chedorlaomer". Wm B Eerdmans Publishing Company.
5. {{Bibleref2. Genesis. 14:1-4
6. Morris Jastrow, Jr., Robert W. Rogers. "Chedorlaomer".
7. (2003). "History of Egypt". Kessinger Publishing.
8. Dalley, Stephanie. (2021). "The City of Babylon: A History, c. 2000 BC – AD 116". Cambridge University Press.
9. ''The Anchor Bible Dictionary'', s.v. "Chedorlaomer"
10. Hendel, Ronald. (1994). "Finding Historical Memories in the Patriarchal Narratives". Biblical Archaeology Review.
11. Gard Granerød (26 March 2010). Abraham and Melchizedek: Scribal Activity of Second Temple Times in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 118-121. ISBN 978-3-11-022346-0.
12. Foster, Benjamin Read. (2005). "Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature". Pennsylvania State University Press.