“The king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from smiting Kedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, to the valley of Shaveh, which is the valley of the king” (Genesis 14:17). “The king of Sodom went out to meet him…” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: He began to ‘wag his tail’ at him.24He sought to endear himself to Abraham. He said to him: ‘Just as you descended into the fiery furnace and were rescued, I, too, descended into the clay pits and was rescued.’
“To the valley of Shaveh” – Rabbi Berekhya and Rabbi Ḥanina in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman: It is [called this] because there all the idolaters came to a consensus [hushvu], chopped down cedars, constructed a large platform, seated him [Abraham] atop it, and lauded him, saying to him: “Hear us, my lord, [you are a Godly ruler in our midst]…” (Genesis 23:6). They said to him: ‘You are king over us, you are ruler over us, you are god over us.’ He said to them: ‘Let the world not lack its [true] King, and let the world not lack its [true] God.’