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Chedorlaomer, also spelled Kedorlaomer (/ˌkɛdərˈleɪəmər/; Hebrew: כְּדָרְלָעֹמֶר‎, Modern: Kədorla'ōmer, Tiberian: Kŏḏorlā'ōmer; Template:Lang-el Khodollogomor), is a king of Elam mentioned in Genesis 14. Genesis portrays him as allied with three other kings, campaigning against five Canaanite city-states in response to an uprising in the days of Abraham.

Etymology

The name Chedorlaomer is associated with familiar Elamite components, such as kudur, meaning "servant", and Lagamar, who was a high goddess in the Elamite pantheon. The 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia stated 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 of being under Elamite rule, in the thirteenth year, the Cities of the Plain (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar) 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

The purpose of Chedorlaomer's campaigns was 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 Genesis 14:8–10, these are the cities plundered by Elam:

• The Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim
• The Zuzim in Ham
• The Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim
• The Horites in Mount Seir as far as El-paran near the wilderness
• The Amalekites in Kadesh at En-mishpat
• The Amorites in Hazezontamar
• The Canaanites of the cities of the Jordan plain

Chedorlaomer's defeat

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, Abram, received news of what happened, he assembled a battle unit of 318 men who pursued the Elamite forces north of Damascus to Hobah. Abram and one of his divisions then proceeded to defeat Chedorlaomer. (Genesis 14:11–17)

While the King James Version verse 17 translated the Hebrew word in question as "וַיַּכֵּם" as slaughtered (Genesis 14:17), Young's Literal Translation uses the term smiting. (Genesis 14:17)

Identifying the kings

Genesis 14:1 gives a list of 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." Traditionally these have been taken as four separate kings.

Amraphel has been thought by some scholars such as the writers of the Catholic Encyclopedia (1907) and The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906) to be an alternate name of the famed Hammurabi. The name is also associated with Ibal-pi-el II of Esnunna. However, this view has been largely abandoned in recent years as there were other kings named Hammurabi in Yamhad and Ugarit. Other scholars have identified Amraphel with Aralius, one of the names on the later Babylonian king-lists, attributed first to Ctesias. Recently, David Rohl argued for an identification with Amar-Sin, the third ruler of the Ur III dynasty. John Van Seters, in Abraham in History and Tradition, rejected the historical existence of Amraphel. The Book of Jasher 27:2 identifies Nimrod as Amraphel.

Arioch has been thought to have been a king of Larsa (Ellasar being an alternate version of this). It has also been suggested that it is URU KI, meaning "this place here". Others identify Ellasar with Ilan-Sura which is a city known from second millennium BC Mari archives in the vicinity of north of Mari, and Arioch with Arriwuk who appears in Mari archives as a subordinate of Zimri-Lim.

Following the discovery of documents written in the Elamite language and Babylonian language, it was thought that Chedorlaomer is a transliteration of the Elamite compound Kudur-Lagamar, meaning servant of Lagamaru – a reference to Lagamaru, an Elamite deity whose existence was mentioned by Ashurbanipal. However, no mention of an individual 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). In the so-called Chedor-laomer texts, from the Spartoli tablets collection in the British Museum, Kutir-Nahhunte II is represented by Kudur-lagamar. Kutir-Nahhunte I of Sukkalmah dynasty, who was contemporary with Hammurabi, might be represented by Kudur-lagamar(Chedor-laomer) as well.

Tidal has been considered to be a transliteration of Tudhaliya – either referring to the first king of the Hittite New Kingdom (Tudhaliya I) or the proto-Hittite king named Tudhaliya. With the former, the title king of Nations would refer to the allies of the Hittite kingdom such as the Ammurru and Mittani; with the latter the term "goyiim" has the sense of "them, those people". al ("their power") gives the sense of a people or tribe rather than a kingdom. Hence td goyim ("those people have created a state and stretched their power"). Others identify Goyim with Gutium, which appears in both Sumerian and Akkadian texts from 3rd millennium BC.

References

1. Genesis 14:1
2. Knanishu, Joseph (1899), About Persia and its People, Lutheran Augustana book concern, printers, p. 228, retrieved 2012-12-21
3. Kitchen, Kenneth (1966), Ancient Orient and Old Testament, Tyndale Press, p. 44, retrieved 2012-12-21
4. ^ "Chedorlaomer", Jewish Encyclopedia, retrieved 2012-12-21
5. ^ Nelson, Russell (November 2000), "Chedorlaomer", in Freedman, David; Meyers, Allen; Beck, Astrid (eds.), Eerdman's Dictionary of the Bible, Grand Rapids: Wm B Eerdmans Publishing Company, p. 232, ISBN 9780802824004, retrieved 2012-12-21
6. Genesis 14:1–4
7. The possibility also exists that it is a single title for one king who has unified several states. Amraphel king of Shinar (ruler of Eshnunna), Chedor-laomer (king of Elam), Ellasar (the Power of Larsa) Arioch (URU KI: in charge of this place here)Tidal goiim (those people have created a state and stretched the extent of their power)
8. Jewish Encyclopedia
9. Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), "Amraphel"
10. Michael Roaf, Cambridge Atlas of Archaeology – king lists p 111 and pp 108–123
11. Robert North (1993). "Abraham". In Bruce M. Metzger; Michael D. Coogan (eds.). The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 5. ISBN 0-19-504645-5.
12. Gard Granerød (26 March 2010). Abraham and Melchizedek: Scribal Activity of Second Temple Times in Genesis 14 and Psalm 110. Walter de Gruyter. p. 120. ISBN 978-3-11-022346-0.
13. Rohl, David (2010). The Lords of Avaris. Random House. p. 294.
14. Seters, John Van (March 2014). Abraham in History and Tradition. Echo Point Books and Media. ISBN 978-1-62654-910-4.
15. Walton, John H., and Craig S. Keener. NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture. Zondervan, 2019. p. 39.
16. K.A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament , William B. Erdmans Publishing, 2003. p. 320.
17. 'Chedorlaomer' at JewishEncyclopedia.com
18. Kudur-Lagamar from History of Egypt by G. Maspero
19. Hindel, Ronald (1994). "Finding Historical Memories in the Patriarchal Narratives". Biblical Archaeology Review. 21 (4): 52–59, 70–72.
20. Akkadian tD ("have stretched themselves")
21. (Akkadian verbal stem intensive, reflexive expressing the bringing about of a state)
22. tD
23. Freedman, Meyers & Beck. Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible (ISBN 0802824005, ISBN 978-0-8028-2400-4), 2000, p.232
24. Walton, p. 39.

• Book of Genesis people
• Elamite kings
• Lech-Lecha
• Monarchs in the Torah