Lives of Scripture

Arioch, king of Ellasar, was one of four eastern kings -- alongside Chedorlaomer of Elam, Amraphel of Shinar, and Tidal -- who campaigned together against a coalition of five kings near the Dead Sea, including the king of Sodom (Genesis 14:1-2). After twelve years under Chedorlaomer's rule, the five kings rebelled, prompting Arioch and his allies to march west, defeating several peoples along the way before meeting the five kings in battle in the Valley of Siddim (14:5-9). The four kings won decisively; the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and the victors plundered the cities, taking captives and goods -- including Abram's nephew Lot, who was living in Sodom (14:10-12). When word reached Abram, he armed 318 of his own men, pursued the retreating kings as far as Dan and Hobah near Damascus, and recovered Lot, the other captives, and the plundered goods (14:13-16). Arioch has no further individual role in the account beyond his listing among the four victorious kings; his campaign functions in Genesis chiefly as the occasion for displaying Abram's courage and decisiveness, and immediately afterward, his encounter with Melchizedek and his refusal to enrich himself from the king of Sodom's recovered goods (14:17-24).