Purpose of the description of the battle of the nine kings

There is a long discussion in Chapter 14 of Genesis about four kings fighting five kings. What is the cosmic importance of this chapter that there is so much text in the Torah about this vignette?

The battle of the kings was an important event in the life of Abraham. It was one of Abraham’s ten tests. As discussed in Why, Abraham?, it tested whether he would continue to believe in God’s providence in the wake of his nephew being captured. But the fact that it was a test does not explain the extent of the coverage. The Torah devotes twenty-four verses to this vignette. What is the message?

According to our Sages, the leader of the four kings was Nimrod. In our Sages’ interpretation of the biblical narrative, Nimrod appears (a) as the leader who commands the construction of the Tower of Babel, (b) as the leader who sends Abraham into the fiery furnace for destroying idols, and (c) one of the four kings whom Abraham attacks in the battle of the kings.

Before Nimrod, God envisioned a world with one language that would unify all people in the worship of God. The Tower of Babel represented the failure of this and necessitated the creation of the Chosen People to be a light unto the nations and to exemplify ethics and worship of God. Nimrod is the iconic personification of the previous failed world model.

By the time the battle of the kings took place, Abraham had already passed three of his tests. God saw that the idea of a Chosen People was working. He was prepared to commit that this connection was eternal – never to change again.

The reason for the length of Chapter 14 is that the public declaration of Abraham being “chosen” was made as a consequence of this war. God revealed to all people of that time that there had been a shift. Nimrod was first discredited when his tower project fell apart. He was minimized but not defeated. He was still a king. He threw enemies into a furnace. He subjugated weaker kings.

But in the battle of chapter 14, he was humiliated. This signified the replacement of Nimrod’s tyrannical power as the main force on earth with Abraham’s Godly devotion. This is a permanent change in the arc of history. That is why there is so much text dedicated to this war.

The demonstration is not only that Nimrod lost the war. There are many more details that support this hypothesis. The four kings capture Lot. Why is Lot relevant?

Lot is the son of Haran, who according to our Sages died at Nimrod’s hand for rejecting idolatry. Haran, like his brother Abraham, believed in the true God, but he was not as worthy as Abraham and could not escape the grip of Nimrod. Lot, like Haran, was a believer in the true God. He left his family to join Abraham in Canaan instead of staying with his idolatrous uncle Nahor. But like his father, he was not at Abraham’s level.

It appeared history was about to repeat itself. Would Nimrod kill Lot as well? But things had changed. Abraham was ascendant. He could save his nephew. See the contrast between the similar situations of Haran and Lot. Haran dies for not being enough of a believer. Lot is saved because he is associated with Abraham. The world was transformed.

Abraham is informed of the capture by a refugee from the war. Rashi identifies this refugee as Og and informs us that Og was a refugee from the deluge. This is surprising and requires explanation. We didn’t know that there were refugees from the deluge! But more importantly, what is the message of the appearance of a “deluge refugee” in the middle of this story? Strange!

This piece of the story emphasizes God’s minimization of all variations of the immoral worlds that preceded Abraham. Nimrod aimed to be the conqueror of all. Indeed, with his tower, he had planned to do battle with God. Abraham set out to confront this worldview. He repudiated all previous worldviews and steered the world in the path of God. Our Sages bring the tidings of Nimrod’s attempted domination in the voice of an ancient warrior who even preceded the deluge.

Further, when Og comes to Abraham, Abraham is referred to as the “Ivri,” meaning “other side.” Rashi explains that this word means that Abraham came from the other side of the river – perhaps an allusion to the fact that he had a previous run-in with Nimrod.

Then comes the most audacious part of this story. Abraham rallies his 318 trained associates to achieve what five kings could not achieve – to conquer the all-powerful four kings. This, too, is related to the ascendancy of a God-focused world. Rashi’s explanation of this verse makes Abraham’s initiative all the more remarkable. Rashi explains three key facts. Based on some numerology, Rashi concludes that Abraham did not set out with 318 associates, but rather with a single associate, Eliezer. That certainly makes the initiative even more audacious. Second, Rashi says that Eliezer is called chanichav, “his trained one,” because Abraham taught mitzvot to Eliezer. Third, when the verse says that Abraham pursued the four kings until Dan, Rashi explains that Abraham became weak at Dan because it was a future site of idolatry by the Jewish people.

To further punctuate this drama, Chizkuni identifies Eliezer as Nimrod’s grandson. We see the theme of cutting off the old-world order. Even Nimrod’s descendants recognized what was happening. Taken individually, these explanations are entertaining discourse about a historical event. Taken together, however, they paint a fascinating picture. For a battle of ideas, Abraham does not need an army. He brings Eliezer, his most trusted confidant, whose qualification is that he is chanichav – he observes God’s mitzvot. Abraham wages the spiritual war. But when he gets to Dan and sees that there are bleak elements in the future in terms of mitzvah observance by his future descendants, he needs to stop to catch his breath. The world is not yet fully spiritual. If idolatry returns, there is always a danger of reverting to a Nimrod world. But Abraham is victorious in the end.

At the climax of the story, kings who were saved come to greet Abraham after his victory. The place where they assemble is called the Valley of Kings. Rashi explains that it was called the Valley of Kings because it was the place where the kings unanimously agreed to appoint Abraham as their overall leader. What clearer way to express that the new model of the Chosen People led by Abraham has supplanted the defeated model of Nimrod?

Further, there is a new character – a king about whom we have not heard previously – Malkizedek, the king of Salem. He is described as a priest of God. He blesses Abraham, and he blesses God. Who is Malkizedek? What does it mean that he was the king of Salem? Where was Salem? What do these verses have to do with the rest of the story?

Rashi identifies Malkizedek as Shem, the son of Noah. The word malkizedek means the “just king.” Many commentators identify Salem as Jerusalem. Rashi explains that Shem brought out bread and wine to hint that Jerusalem is the place of holiness that will be used by Abraham’s descendants as the Temple Mount and for the sacrificial order.

These additional details come to life if one recognizes the entire chapter as a battle of ideas and the shift to a God-oriented world under the spiritual leadership of Abraham. After winning the battle of ideas, Abraham goes to the holiest place on earth, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This is not a celebration of a battle on earth, but rather a coronation for God’s kingship being established on earth.

These verses hint to sacrifices. God’s loyal priest celebrates the victory as a religious one. Shem (like Og) is the connector who has seen the evolution of the world. He witnessed the corruption of Noah’s times. He was powerless to stop Nimrod’s Tower of Babel. Now, Shem has several new roles. As the elder statesman, he anoints Abraham as the new religious leader. Shem, another survivor of the deluge, had carried his father’s spiritual mantle to this day. He did not merit to be the forefather of the Chosen People, but he was still dedicated to the service of God. His blessing, therefore, is the capstone of Abraham’s assumption of leadership. His public calling out of Abraham’s leadership brings the attention of the entire world to the Chosen People. And this leadership is acknowledged by the other kings.