Commentary for Genesis 14:13

ויבא הפליט AND THERE CAME THE ONE WHO ESCAPED — According to the real meaning this was Og who had escaped from the battle with the Rephaim (see Genesis 5:5) and it is to this that the text refers (Deuteronomy 3:11) “For only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim”, and this is what is meant by נשאר “left”, for Amraphel and his allies did not kill him when they smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim. So is the statement in the Tanchuma 4:6:25 (Chukat). But according to the Midrash Genesis Rabbah (Genesis Rabbah 42:8) it refers to Og in allusion to him as the only one of the generation of the Flood who escaped that catastrophe, and this is what is meant (Deuteronomy 3:11) “of the remnant of the Rephaim”, for it is said. (Genesis 6:4) “The Nephilim (= Rephaim cf. Genesis Rabbah 26) were in the earth etc.” His intention in telling Abraham that his nephew was captured was that Abraham should wage war against the kings and that he should be killed so that he, himself, might marry Sarah.

ויגד לאברם העברי, this refugee had no idea that Lot was related to Avram. He only knew that Lot’s religious beliefs were similar to those of Avram.

ויבא הפליט, after that individual had escaped from captivity he came and told Avram that his nephew had been taken captive, also.

ויגד לאברם העברי, “he told the Hebrew Avraham.” Rabbi Joseph Karo explains this as meaning that the reason that Avraham is here described as the עברי, is to counter the answer what good it would do Lot that someone told Avraham of his plight, seeing there were only two Hebrews in the whole land, he and Avraham? By adding that this Hebrew had powerful allies in Oner, Eshkol and Mamre, the situation was not quite as hopeless. Mamre was a well known and powerful personage.

This refers to Og who escaped from the war. But not that he survived the Flood. For it is written (7:23), “Only Noach and those with him in the ark survived.”

הפליט, mit Hinblick auf Raw Hirsch on Genesis 14: 10, wo schon gesagt ward, dass die Entkommenen ins Gebirge, also westlich nach Abrahams Gegend flohen. Daher nicht notwendig an einen Flüchtling, sondern überhaupt die Entflohenen, zu denken. — Was hier von Abraham hervorgehoben wird, bildet den geraden Gegensatz zu dem von Lot im vorangehenden Vers Erzählten. Abraham war der Ibri geblieben, sei es nun: der von jenseits des Stromes her, oder nach R. Josuas Auffassung: der jenseits Stehende, der ganzen Welt Gegenüberstehende, der erste "Protestant", immerhin sagt es, dass er in seiner Eigentümlichkeit isoliert geblieben und als solcher erkannt und bekannt war. — והוא שכן. Von Lot heißt es ישב .והוא יושב בסדום (verwandt mit יצב) das Ruhen, das seine Unterlage im Boden findet, bezeichnet daher das völlige Aufgehen in den Ort, auf dem man sich befindet. Wie oben והכנעני והפריזי אז יושב בארץ, so hier Lot יושב בסדום. Abraham aber ׳שכן .שוכן באלני וגו ist auch ein ruhiges Verharren, bezeichnet aber nicht das Verhältnis zum Boden, sondern das soziale Verhältnis zu dem Anwohnenden, das friedliche Nebeneinanderwohnen, ohne jedoch in den Nachbar aufzugehen, weshalb es ja auch, wie bereits oben bemerkt, (Kap.9, 27) der gewöhnliche Ausdruck ist für die Gottesnähe auf Erden. Abraham scheute sich nicht, mitten in der emoritischen Bevölkerung, in seiner Eigentümlichkeit zu verharren, sei es auch nur als geduldeter Fremdling; er war der Abram von "Jenseits" und שוכן "anwohnend" mit dem Emori, beachtete ein friedliches Nebeneinandersein, einer hinderte den andern nicht; und wenn gleich Fremdling und nur geduldet, so waren doch Mamre, der Herr der Gegend und seine Verwandten בעלי ברית אברם, nicht אנשי בריתו.

ויבא הפליט, “the one who had escaped (from the armies that captured Sodom and its satellites) came,” (and reported on the battle to Avraham) It was the angel Michael who told Avraham. If so, why is he referred to as if a human being who had escaped from Sodom? [According to a comment in a book by Rabbi Reuven Margolies, called Malachey elyon, in which the names and functions of all the angels about whom we have some information are listed (131), Michael is an alternate name for Mattatron, often cited in kabalistic literature, as G–d’s “general manager” in matters relating to earth,” with especial concern for the Jewish people and their well wishers. Ed.] As to the reason why he is called by the strange name פליט, “refugee, escapee,” according to a tradition, when G–d dispatched Samael and his forces to earth from heaven, Samael being another name for the perennial Satan, the latter tried to force Michael to go down to earth with him, and G–d at the last moment took hold of his wing in order to keep him in the celestial spheres. Ever since then, the angel Michael has acquired the nickname פליט, “escapee.” Concerning this escapee, the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 33,21, says: בא אלי הפליט מירושלים לאמור הכתה העיר, “the angel Michael came to me to inform me that Jerusalem had been conquered by the Babylonians.” The prophet then is assigned a task by G–d.

ויבא הפליט, “the one who had escapedKedorleomer’s army arrived;” according to Rashi’scommentary this was the man who later on became Og, King of Bashan who had made a name for himself by having survived the deluge, hence the prefix ה before the word: פליט, escapee. He lived so long that eventually Moses killed him (Numbers 21,35) He was not interested in saving Avram, but intended to marry Sarah after Avram would have been killed in war. G-d retaliated by paying him back in kind. He granted him long life for warning Avram on the one hand, but He foiled his design, Avram becoming victorious, and Sarah predeceasing Avram. He was chagrined to live long enough to see millions of Avram’s descendants, before himself being killed by one of them. [None of these midrashim account for the Torah’s failure to report his having survived the deluge. Ed.] Granted, if this was a fact, Moses had reason to fear him and that is why G-d told him not to be afraid of him. (Numbers 21,34). The Talmud Zevachim, 113, raises the question of how Og managed to escape the deluge and suggests that though the waters were boiling hot, in the immediate vicinity of the ark they were cool miraculously so,so as not to destroy the ark and its inhabitants. Og took advantage of this and survived. [This means that he went without food and water for 365 days. Ed.] The expression: הפליט occurs also in Ezekiel 33,21, where it refers to someone who had escaped and survived the battle of Jerusalem who reported the fall of the city and the Temple to the prophet. The verse which omits identifying who this escapee was is not so unusual that we need to look for far fetched explanations. Our author cites similar “abbreviated” constructions in Genesis 48,1; Genesis 48,2; he claims that there are numerous others.

העברי THE HEBREW — the one who came from the other side (עבר) of the River (Euphrates) (Genesis Rabbah 42:8).

והוא שוכן באלוני ממרא, this is why Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre participated in the war with Avram, and why he insisted in verse 24 that they receive their share of the loot.

העברי, a member of the tribe of Ever, he and all his descendants proudly regarded Ever as their ancestor. They were the only people who still spoke Hebrew, the original language of man. Subsequent descendants, other than the line which ran through Avraham and the Israelites, changed their language to Aramaic, and were called Aramim, i.e. members of the people of Aram, in recognition of their specific language. Even Lavan, a third or fourth generation descendant of Ever, was already known as לבן הארמי, Lavan who spoke Aramaic. The tribe called עברים was Yaakov and his offspring.

בעל drückt überall (.usw בעל דברים ,בעל אשה ,בעל כנפים) die Persönlichkeit in Verhältnis zu Dingen aus, die in irgend einer Beziehung ihr untergeordnet sind. ברית ist zweifach denkbar: 1) zwei werden gleiche Genossen eines Bundes, 2) jemand nimmt einen anderen in den Freundschaftsbund auf, gesellt ihn zu sich, es ist dann der eine dem andern unter- resp. übergeordnet. Dies letztere war hier der Fall. Nicht: Abraham nahm sie in seinen Freundschaftskreis auf, sondern Aner und Eschkol und Mamre nahmen ihn auf in den ihrigen, sie waren die בעלים des ברית er war der Fremde, sie die Einheimischen. Also nicht nur Mamre, in dessen Territorium Abraham wohnte, sondern seine Verwandten fanden in Abraham, obgleich einem Fremden, eine ihnen so imponierende Persönlichkeit, dass sie ihn in ihren Bund aufnahmen.

והוא שוכן באלוני ממרא, “and he lived at the time in Elon Mamre.” The tree so called stood in the town of Chevron, as we know from Genesis 13,18. An alternate exegesis: the words: “and he lived in Elon Mamre which is in Chevron,” refer to the home of the person described as הפליט, “the escapee.” This would explain why he came to tell Avram whose home was also in Elon Mamre all about what he had escaped from.

בעלי ברית אברם CONFEDERATE WITH ABRAM (literally, owners of a covenant with Abram) — They had entered into a covenant with him. Other versions of Rashi have: another explanation is, they advised him to circumcise himself (to keep the [ברית] covenant), as is explained in another place (cf. Rashi on Genesis 18:1).

והא שוכן באלוני ממרא, this escaped captive lived with the brothers who were allies of Avram and had helped him. He lived on the lands of one of the brothers i.e. that of Mamre.

והוא שוכן באלוני ממרא האמורי, “and he dwelled at Eloney Mamre of the Emorite.” It is well known that the three good friends of Avraham were Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre. All three were Emorites. We do not find however that the description “Emorite” is ever applied to either Aner or Eshkol. We do not find that even Mamre is referred to as an Emorite except here. We do not find that he is mentioned anywhere else in the Torah. [in chapter 23 Mamre is mentioned as a place name only. Ed.] The reason he is mentioned here is because the Torah refers to the ברית. The Torah is concerned that we should not think that all three of Avram’s friends urged him to circumcise himself but only Mamre. Our sages say in Bereshit Rabbah 42,8 that when the commandment to circumcise himself was issued, Avram went to consult with his friends and both Aner and Eshkol advised against, whereas Mamre advised strongly in favour, asking how he could possibly refuse seeing that G’d had saved his life so many times? He argued that seeing Avram was ready to give his life for G’d at any time if requested to do so, how could he even consider refusing to offer a single one of his organs at G’d’s command? In recognition of Mamre’s advice G’d told Avram that He would reveal Himself only in Mamre’s proximity not in the palaces of either Aner or Eshkol. The name ממרא is also viewed as an acrostic for the words מלכים, מילה, רעבון, אש that G’d had saved Avram from the kings, that he had received the advice to go through with the circumcision, that G’d had saved him from the famine in the land of Canaan, and from the fire in Nimrod’s furnace. We also find that the word אמירה is used in connection with the commandment of circumcision, i.e. שש אנכי על אמרתיך, “I rejoice with your utterances” (Psalms 119,162).

That Avram be killed so he might marry Sarah. Rashi is explaining according to the latter Midrash why Og came to tell Avraham about Lot. According to the first explanation, that Og escaped the war, it is understandable. He told Avram in order to take revenge on Amraphel and the others who had killed his family. But according to the latter Midrash, why did he tell him? Perforce, “It was his intention that Avram be killed...”

Dies ganze Verhalten Abrahams dürfte für זרע אברהם zu allen Zeiten mustergültig dastehen, so lange sie sich als זרע אברהם in einem fremden Lande befinden, בארץ לא להם. Der Jude bleibe Jude, der friedliche, die fremden Verhältnisse in keiner Weise störende, entwickele und gestalte seine eigenen jüdischen Verhältnisse also, dass die andern ihn in ihren Freundschaftskreis zu ziehen suchen, nicht umgekehrt. Jeder reine Mensch findet in dem wahren, ganzen Judentum das idealisierte, vollendete Menschtum, nicht so umgekehrt; denn der Begriff Jude ist ein weiterer Begriff als: Mensch. Er sei nur ein Jude, ein ganzer, voller Jude, so wird er, wenn auch nur ein שכן, gleichwohl, geachtet, des ברית der Völker teilhaftig werden. — Abraham erkaufte sich nicht dieses Bundesverhältnis durch Selbstentkleidung seines Berufes.

והם בעלי ברית אברם, “and they (Oner, Eshkol, and Mamre) being allies of Avram went with him [in this mission impossible, 318 against four armies! Ed.] Compare verse 24.