Commentary for Genesis 14:21

תן לי הנפש GIVE ME THE PERSONS — Of that which was captured of mine and which you have rescued give me back the people only.

תן לי הנפש והרכוש קח לך. "Give me the persons and take the loot for yourself." We need to understand what was the point of the king of Sodom's offer for Abraham to "take" the loot, seeing that Abraham had possession of it. He himself had captured it, including all the people who had been kept prisoner. How could the king say on the one hand: "give me the persons," and "take yourself the loot," when Abraham possessed both at the time? What did the king offer? Was he not in fact merely asking for something instead of offering something? Why did he make it seem like a trade off?

Give me the people. Initially the King of Sedom thought that Avraham would return everything to him, since his only intention was to save Lot. But when Avram gave a tithe to Malki Zedek he realized that he considered it all the spoils of the four kings.