Commentary for Genesis 14:12

והוא ישב בסדם FOR HE DWELT IN SODOM — What made this happen to him? The fact that he was dwelling in Sodom (Genesis Rabbah 42:7).

ויקחו את לוט בן אחי אברם, they made a special effort to capture Lot because he was Avram’s nephew. They were aware of his wealth. They were expecting that Avram would pay a heavy ransom for the release of his nephew.

ויקחו את לוט, They took Lot, etc. The reason the Torah adds that Lot was Abraham's nephew and that he lived in Sodom, something we have known for a long time, is to tell us that these kings were very well aware of who Lot was. This did not deter them from taking Lot captive. The Torah stresses that these kings deliberately ignored the fact that they were provoking a man of international repute when they took his nephew into captivity. None of this would have happened to Lot had he not chosen to live in Sodom. The matter can be compared to Israel capturing a substantial part of Moab though G'd had forbidden Israel to provoke war with Moab or to attack it (Deut. 2,9). Once the Emorite king Sichon had defeated Moab in war, the lands captured by Sichon were no longer considered as Moabite territory, and Israel took possession of them. Here too, once Lot had chosen to throw in his lot with the Sodomites he was no longer considered as part of Abraham's entourage, and was not entitled to the protection Abraham could have afforded him. This also explains why Abraham did not try to secure Lot's release by peaceful means. He knew that the 4 kings knew very well whom they had taken prisoner. If Lot's relationship with Abraham had not stopped them, there was no point for Abraham to warn those kings before attacking them. Lot's capture was a hostile act against Abraham.

ויקחו ..והוא יושב בסדום. The Torah had already told us in 13,12 where Lot had settled. This was only meant to tell us that he had not moved from these since he took up residence there in the first place. Or, whereas at the beginning he had actually not resided within the city, by now he had moved into Sodom proper.

Beides sind bereits bekannte Umstände, dass er Abrahams Brudersohn gewesen und dass er in Sodom wohnte. Sie werden also hier sicherlich nicht ohne Grund hervorgehoben. Lot war ja eigentlich nicht Sodomiter, war ja bekannt als Abrahams Brudersohn, und wenn er das geblieben wäre, es hätte ihn das Geschick nicht erreicht, selbst in der Nähe des Kriegsereignisses hätte er als Fremder hoffen dürfen, von Kedarlaomers Rache verschont zu bleiben — allein er war Einwohner von Sodom, er hatte das dortige Stadtbürgerrecht, und musste mitbüßen. Es liegt hierin ein warnender Fingerzeig für die Glieder der Abrahamsfamilie, der sich in Jahrhunderten der jüdischen Geschichte bewährt hat. Bleibt man dem jüdischen Berufe und dem jüdischen Geschicke treu, entbehrt man allerdings vieles, allein man erspart sich auch vieles, man erscheint getragen von den כנפי השכינה. Die uns isolierenden Judengassen waren nicht bloß gegen die Juden, sie waren auch für sie vorhanden. Von vielen Übeln, die im Mittelalter die Menschen außerhalb trafen, blieben die innerhalb verschont. Sie wurden freilich zu gering geachtet, Schulze und Büttel zu werden, zu gering, als Reisige im Gefolge der Ritter auszuziehen, durften in Turnieren nicht erscheinen, haben nicht Teil genommen an den großen Staats- und Weltaktionen, — haben dafür aber auch keine Menschen torquiert und geschlachtet, gewürgt und verbrannt, sind wohl die Opfer, aber nie die Opferer gewesen, ihre Hände sind rein von Menschenblut geblieben und — wenn Kaiser und ihre Heere den Geschicken erlagen, waren sie in ihren Judengassen geschützt. Sie dürfen sich freuen, erst dann wieder auf die Weltbühne gerufen worden zu sein, wo wenigstens die Zeiten sich anschicken, in allem milder und menschlicher und gerechter zu werden. — Sinnliche Menschen aber lernen nichts. Lot hätte doch hieraus lernen und Sodom fortan meiden sollen, wir finden ihn gleichwohl später bei der letzten Katastrophe wieder und immer noch in Sodom. —

והוא יושב בסדום, “and he dwelled in Sodom;” note the singular mode; none of his relatives lived in Sodom. This accounted for his being taken captive alone. Alternate explanation: he entered the city now that he was afraid of being solitary against the warring nations.

Should you argue that the four kings had merely reacted against the insubordination of the five kings associated with the king of Sodom, and that Lot was their legitimate booty, as per the comparison we have drawn with Sichon and the Moabites, this is not an accurate comparison after all. That comparison was valid when there existed neither a state of peace nor a state of war between two parties. Abraham and the four kings were at peace, and the four kings should have warned Lot to leave Sodom before making war just as did King Saul with the Kenites before he attacked the Amalekites (Samuel I 15,6).