Genesis 14:12

14:12 They also took Abram’s nephew ¹  Lot and his possessions when ²  they left, for Lot ³  was living in Sodom. ⁴ 

Genesis 14:16

14:16 He retrieved all the stolen property. ⁵  He also brought back his nephew Lot and his possessions, as well as the women and the rest of ⁶  the people.

Genesis 12:5

12:5 And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew ⁷  Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired ⁸  in Haran, and they left for ⁹  the land of Canaan. They entered the land of Canaan.

Genesis 14:14

14:14 When Abram heard that his nephew ¹⁰  had been taken captive, he mobilized ¹¹  his 318 trained men who had been born in his household, and he pursued the invaders ¹²  as far as Dan. ¹³ 

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¹ tn Heb “Lot the son of his brother.”

² tn Heb “and.”

³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁴ tn This disjunctive clause is circumstantial/causal, explaining that Lot was captured because he was living in Sodom at the time.

⁵ tn The word “stolen” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁶ tn The phrase “the rest of “ has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁷ tn Heb “the son of his brother.”

⁸ tn For the semantic nuance “acquire [property]” for the verb עָשָׂה (’asah), see BDB 795 s.v. עָשָׂה.

⁹ tn Heb “went out to go.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “his brother,” by extension, “relative.” Here and in v. 16 the more specific term “nephew” has been used in the translation for clarity. Lot was the son of Haran, Abram’s brother (Gen 11:27).

¹¹ tn The verb וַיָּרֶק (vayyareq) is a rare form, probably related to the word רֵיק (req, “to be empty”). If so, it would be a very figurative use: “he emptied out” (or perhaps “unsheathed”) his men. The LXX has “mustered” (cf. NEB). E. A. Speiser (Genesis [AB], 103-4) suggests reading with the Samaritan Pentateuch a verb diq, cognate with Akkadian deku, “to mobilize” troops. If this view is accepted, one must assume that a confusion of the Hebrew letters ד (dalet) and ר (resh) led to the error in the traditional Hebrew text. These two letters are easily confused in all phases of ancient Hebrew script development. The present translation is based on this view.

¹² tn The words “the invaders” have been supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹³ sn The use of the name Dan reflects a later perspective. The Danites did not migrate to this northern territory until centuries later (see Judg 18:29). Furthermore Dan was not even born until much later. By inserting this name a scribe has clarified the location of the region.