1 AND it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, [ There is a great many mentions of kings in the following verses. These kings were over a smaller geographic area and as such they would make strategic alliences with other kings for protection. Each king was more or less responsible for their city and the suburbs. ] Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;

2 That these made war with Bera king of sodom, [ The king over the area in which Lots had taken residence. ] and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.

3 All these were joined together in the vale [ Valley or lowlands. ] of Siddim, which is the salt sea. [ Also known as the dead sea. ]

4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

5 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

6 And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto El-paran, which is by the wilderness.

7 And they returned, and came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezon-tamar.

8 And there went out the king of sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; [ In the lowlands at the edge of the dead sea. ]

9 With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.

10 And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; [ Bitumen or asphalt pits. ] and the kings of sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; [ Were defeated. ] and they that remained fled to the mountain.

11 And they [ The victors. ] took all the goods of sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, [ Food and supplies. ] and went their way.

12  And they took Lot, [ Lot was captured and taken hostage. ] Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in sodom, [ It appears as if it did not last long with just his tent pitched toward sodom - looks like he moved in. ] and his goods, and departed.

13 ¶ And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; [ First reference to Abraham being a Hebrew - hence his descendants were called Hebrews and or "Israelites" the Joseph Smith Translation adds "Hebrew; the man of God." ] for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with [ Joined forces with; banded together. ] Abram.

14 And when Abram heard that his brother [ Lot - note the use of the word brother in lew of nephew; so this would also apply to Sarah his wife who he referred to as his sister. ] was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, [ These are the servants of Abraham, and now he has 318 of them - yes we can say that the Lord has prospered Abraham. ] and pursued them unto Dan. [ 25 miles north of the red sea. ]

15 And he [ Abraham. ] divided himself [ Placed his soldiers in groups. ] against them, [ Those who had captured Lot. ] he and his servants, by night, and smote them, [ sometimes we need to stand up and fight - Just Like Captian Moroni who fough for liberty, land, wives and children, right to worship Alma 48:10-14. ] and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

16  And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, [ So Abraham and his 318 men are able to do what before the five little city states could not do and that is defeat the army that had taken Lot. This does not sound like the same Abraham that was depicted as using Sarah as a human shield to save his own life does it. Without God telling him to do it we can see that Abraham would have put his life on the line and God knew that. ] and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

17 ¶ And the king of sodom went out to meet him [ To express his gratitute to Abraham and his men. ] after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.

18 And Melchizedek king of Salem [ King Melchizedek is a well-known ancient figure, all while vaery little is actually known about him. And indeed in this case, it’s actually his name and what he represents that is important to the symbol. “Melchizedek” comes from the Hebrew Malki Tzedik which means “My King (is) Righteous(ness).” Melchizedek also known as “Prince of Salem,” again from Hebrew meaning Prince of Peace. The name Melchizedek is therefore a foreshadowing or Christ. Likely, this Hebrew tradition was to avoid the too-frequent mention of the Lord’s name—a function that carries through to modern times as well. Therefore, in text, Hebrew and Christian tradition use of the name Melchizedek almost always indicates Christ, not the man Melchizedek. For example, the Melchizedek Priesthood is not the priesthood of the ancient king, but is actually the Priesthood of Christ. Therefore the Seal of Melchizedek can be interpreted as the Seal of Christ. ] brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. [ The sacrament not a meal - see JST Gen 14:17-40 Joseph Smith Translation: "And he break bread and blest it; and he blest the wine, he being the priest of the most high God. And he gave to Abram." (Gen. 14:17-18.) Evidently the prophets had the sacrament before the time of Jesus Christ upon the earth. The Joseph Smith Translation adds several very significant verses at the end of this chapter, providing information on the man Melchizedek and on the priesthood be held. Also, these additional verses indicate "Abram paid" tithes unto Melchizedek. (See Gen. 14:25-40, Bible Appendix, pp. 791-98.) ]

19 And he [ Melchizedek. In Hebrew it is : Cohen L Elyon - a priest of the most high God. This is at a time before Aaron, Jacob, Levi. ] blessed him, [ Abraham. I believe it is there he receives the Melchizedek Priesthood and those priesthood ordinances from Melchizedek. The dispensation of Noah ends with the beginning of the dispensation of Abraham. (D&C 138:41 informs us that Shem was the “great high priest.” suggesting that Melchizedek was really Shem) Abraham's relationship with Melchizedek was not confined to this one incident. The Genesis account of Abraham paying tithes seems to evidence, says one scholar, "a tradition about a city and a sanctuary to which tithes were brought in early times." (H. Jagersma, "The Tithes in the Old Testament," in Albrektson et al., Remembering All the Way, 120) According to the Joseph Smith Translation of the passage, Melchizedek received tithes from Abraham not just of the war booty, but "of all that he had, of all the riches which he possessed, which God had given him more than that which he had need," inasmuch as Melchizedek was "the high priest, and the keeper of the storehouse of God; him whom God had appointed to receive tithes for the poor" (JST Gen. 14:37-39). The passage shows not only that Abraham willingly lived the law of consecration, but also that the tithes he paid to Melchizedek —of all of Abraham's substantial wealth-could hardly have been paid in this single encounter while returning from a hurried military rescue operation. ] and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

20 And blessed [ Praised. ] be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. [ Remember that it was God who made you successful in your recent battles. Not that Abram had forgotten. ] And he gave him tithes of all. [ Interesting comparison that the king of sodom had something to give Abram, while Melchizedek king of Salem has something to ask of Abram. Abraham pays tithing to Melchizedek hinting that Melchizedek was the presiding high priest. The laws of the gospel are pretty much the same throughout time. This appears to be the first mention of tithes in the Old Testament, although the principle of sacrifice (and perhaps specifically of tithing) had been on earth since the very beginning. Brigham Young has declared: "The Lord instituted tithing, it was practiced in the days of Abraham, and Enoch and Adam." (JD 15:163.) Joseph Smith left the following account of the beginning of tithing in this dispensation: On the evening of the 29th of November, I united in prayer with Brother Oliver for the continuance of blessings. After giving thanks for the relief which the Lord had lately sent us ... we agreed to enter into the following covenant with the Lord, viz: That if the Lord will prosper us in our business and open the way before us that we may obtain means to pay our debts, that we be not troubled nor brought into disrepute before the world, nor His people; after that, of all that He shall give unto us, we will give a tenth to be bestowed upon the poor in His Church, or as He shall command; and that we will be faithful over that which he has entrusted to our care, that we may obtain much; and that our children after us shall remember to observe this sacred and holy covenant; and that our children, and our children's children, may know of the same, we have subscribed our names with our own hands. (TPJS, p. 70.) Joseph F. Smith indicated tithing is a test of faith: By this principle (tithing) the loyalty of the people of this Church shall be put to the test. By this principle it shall be known who is for the kingdom of God and who is against it. By this principle it shall be seen whose hearts are set on doing the will of God and keeping his commandments, thereby sanctifying the land of Zion unto God, and who are opposed to this principle and have cut themselves off from the blessings of Zion. There is a great deal of importance connected with this principle, for by it it shall be known whether we are faithful or unfaithful. In this respect it is as essential as faith in God, as repentance of sin, as baptism for the remission of sin, or as the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. (GD, p. 225.) According to Spencer W. Kimball, all true believers in the Bible should pay tithing: Does not the law of tithing apply to all the children of men, regardless of church or creed? All who believe the Bible really must believe that this is a law of God. There echo again and again the words of the Master: "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." The Lord will bless all those who love and live this law. (FPM, p. 290.) ]

21 And the king of sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, [ So the king wants the people, so they can be his subjects. Knowing that he will extract more from them over the long haul than the goods are worth. ] and take the goods to thyself. [ So as a reward for winning the King offered the spoils of war the material things gained to Abraham. ]

22 And Abram said to the king of sodom, I have lift ["lifted" JST. ] up mine hand unto the LORD, [ Made a covenant with. See JST Gen 14:23. ] the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,

23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: [ In other words I do not want to owe sodom anything. Abraham some how knows that taking the spoils of war will make him or his men want to seek for the oportunity to get wealth through war. So that they do not ever start he says no to the spoils of war. He is no better for winning other than the redemption of his nephew Lot. Spencer W. Kimball has commented on the integrity of Abraham in this instance: The king of sodom knew nothing about Abraham's covenant with the Lord; Abraham could have made himself rich by receiving of the king's generosity. But he had made an oath which he would not violate. Oh, that all of God's children could be so true! (E, June 1975, p. 6.) If we take the worlds money there are strings attached - So interesting choice of words here - not even a shoe lace. Abraham just does not care about power or riches as he knows that they can corrupt the soul. ]

24 Save only that which the young men have eaten, [ I will let you reimburse me for the food and expenses of my men but that is all that I will take. ] and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.