Глава 14

Gen.14:2–3. “...And the king of Bela, that is, Segor. They all converged in the Salt Valley (this is the Salt Sea)." Bela in Hebrew means κατάποσις, that is, "absorption". Therefore, the Jews keep the tradition that the name Salis in another place in Scripture refers to the same Bela (1 Sam. 9:4). This, in turn, is translated as μόσχος τριετίζουσα, that is, a three-year-old heifer. I think it means "swallowed by the third earthquake." And the name “little” could have stuck with Bela since the time when Sodom, Gomorrah, Adam and Seboi were destroyed by Divine fire. The fact is that Segor translates as “small”, which in Syriac is pronounced Zoara. And the “valley of salt pits” (as it is written here in the book of Genesis), in which there used to be pits with tar, after God’s wrath and sulfur rain turned into the Dead Sea, which the Greeks call λίμνη ὰσϕαλτῖτις, that is, “lake of tar.” Gen.14:5. “And they destroyed the giants in Ashtaroth-karnaim, and the brave tribes with them, and the Ominites in the city of Sheba, before they came to Sodom.” Four kings, setting out from Babylon, killed the giants, that is, raphaim (רְפָאִים ֙): all the strong inhabitants of Arabia, Zuzim (זּוּזִ ֖ ים) in the village of Hom (הָ ֑ ם) and Emim (אֵימִ ֔ ים) in the city of Sava, which is still called that way. However, Zuzim and Emim mean "terrible" and "terrifying". Instead, the Seventy Interpreters, translating by meaning rather than literally, put “very brave tribes.” Finally, due to the similarity of the letters, the Seventy commentators believed that the expression bahem (בְּהָ ֑ ם), where they say ἅ μα αὐτοῖς, is written with he, while it is written with heth. Because bahem consists of three letters: if the middle letter is he, then it is translated “in them,” and if heth, as in this case, then the expression means the name of the area, that is, “in [the village] Khom.” Gen.14:7–8. “And returning, they came to the “source.” This is Kadesh." Since Kadesh was so called later, it is spoken of here in advance. This is a place near the rock, which is called the fountains of judgment for the reason that God judged the people there. “And they smote all the land of the Amalekites and the Amorites who dwelt in Ashash-Tamar.” This is the city that is now called An-Gaddi. It is rich in balsam and dates. In addition, Asason-Tamar is translated into our language as “city of palm trees,” since thamar ( תָּמָ ֽ ר ) means “palm tree.” You should know that instead of the words that follow a little further - "And they fought with them in the valley of Salt" - the Hebrew text says "in the valley of Siddim." Aquila translates it τὰ περὶ πεσίνα, and Theodotion - τὰ ἄλση, meaning "charming groves". Gen.14:11. "And they took all the cavalry of Sodom and Gomorrah." Instead of cavalry in the Hebrew text there is rachush (רְכֻ ֨ שׁ), that is, “property.” Gen.14:13. “And the one who survived told Abraham the stranger. And he himself lived near the oak tree of Mamre, the Amorite brother Esholov and brother Onamov, who were allies of Abraham.” Instead of “foreigner,” as I put it here, the Hebrew text says ivri (עִבְרִ֑י) because the word means “foreigner.” And what is said: “...at the oak of Mamre is an Amorite...”, it is better to read in the Hebrew text: at the oak of Mamre is an Amorite, the brother of Eshol and the brother not of Onam, as the Seventy Interpreters translated, but of Aner. This shows that the Amorite brothers Mamre, Eschol and Aner were allies of Abraham. Gen.14:14. "And he pursued them unto Dan". To the Phoenician city, which is now called Panei. But Dan is also the name of one of the [two] sources of the Jordan. And the other source is called “Ior”, which is translated as ῤ εῖτρον, that is, “stream”. So, the Jordan in its subsequent flow is called from two sources, united in one channel, not far apart from each other. Gen. 14:18–19. “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. And he [was] a priest of the Most High God, and blessed him." Since my little work is, in a nutshell, a collection of either Jewish questions or traditions, information about what Jews think about this place should be inserted here. They claim that Melchizedek is Shem, the son of Noah, and, counting the number of years of his life, they show that he lived until Isaac, and all the firstborn descendants of Noah were high priests until the Aaronic priesthood began to operate. Further, by the king of Salem is meant the king of Jerusalem, who was formerly called Salem. And the holy Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrews, mentioning Melchizedek as [a man] without father and mother (Heb. 7:3), relates him to Christ, and through Christ to the Church of the Gentiles (since all the glory of the head relates to the members). Because he who had the foreskin blessed the circumcised Abraham, and in Abraham - Levi, and through Levi - Aaron, from whom the priesthood then came. From which the conclusion arises that the circumcised priesthood of the synagogue was blessed by the priesthood of the Church, which has a foreskin. And by what is said: “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek” (Ps. 109:4), it indicates (in the word “order”) our sacrament. [This order of sacred rites] is in no way Aaronic. It is accomplished not through the slaughter of dumb sacrifices, but through the offering of bread and wine, that is, the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus.