Genesis 14:1

It came to pass. The attitude of the scholarly world toward this chapter has been divided. Some have accepted it as a reliable ancient document based on historical facts. Others have considered it a story fabricated by a late Jewish writer with the purpose of glorifying the patriarch Abram. However, discoveries have shown that the setting, language, and proper names fit exactly into the early second millennium B.C., thus strengthening materially the position of those who believe in the historicity of the chapter. It is still impossible, however, to identify any of the kings listed with persons mentioned in non-Biblical sources, since very little is known of the political history of this period.

Amraphel king of Shinar. This king has customarily been identified with Hammurabi, the sixth and greatest king of the First Dynasty of Babylon. Wherever Shinar is mentioned in the OT record it is used as a designation for Babylonia (see on ch. 10:10), a fact that would seem to suggest that Amraphel was a king of Babylonia.

However, it is also possible to see in this Shinar the Shanhara of cuneiform sources, which was in northwestern Mesopotamia. It seems, furthermore, chronologically impossible to identify Hammurabi with Amraphel. Although some scholars hold to the older dating of Hammurabi’s reign, the more recent view is that he ruled in either the 18th or 17th century B.C., which would place him more than a hundred years later than Abram. Linguistic identification of Amraphel with Hammurabi is also not without difficulties. Since about 1930 three more kings named Hammurabi have come to light, who lived in the same period: one of Ugarit, one of Aleppo, and another of an unidentified city. It is evident, therefore, that definite identification cannot as yet be made.

Campaign of Chedorlaomer and the Kings of the East

Arioch king of Ellasar. The name Arriwuk (Arioch) is attested in cuneiform texts as that of a son of King Zimrilim of the Mesopotamian city Mari, in the 18th century B.C. Though this is not the same individual as the king of Ellasar, the occurrence of the name Arioch in records from the post-Abramic period indicates that the story fits appropriately into that age. It is tempting to identify Ellasar with the city Larsa in Lower Mesopotamia. This has often been attempted in the past, but definite evidence is lacking.

Chedorlaomer king of Elam. A good Elamite name meaning “servant of [the goddess] Lagamar.” The names of several Elamite kings begin with the word kudur, “servant,” such as Kudur-Mabuk, Kudur-Nachunte, and Kudur-ElUl. The second part of Chedorlaomer is the Hebrew transliteration of the name of the Elamite goddess Lagamar. However, no Elamite king by the name Kudur-Lagamar is so far known from non-Biblical sources.

Tidal king of nations. Several Hittite kings bore this name, in the form of Tudhalia, but it is uncertain whether this particular king appears in any record outside of the Bible.

Although it is impossible to identify the four kings with certainty, the occurrence of all their names in the period in which Abram lived shows clearly that the account of ch. 14 is historical, not legendary.