Amrafel, the Four Kings, and the Riddle of the Four Kingdoms

"And it came to pass in the days of Amrafel" (Genesis 14:1). It is written, "The wicked have drawn the sword... their sword shall enter their own heart" (Psalms 37:14-15). There was an incident concerning Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, whose brothers were plowing on the plain while he was plowing on the mountain, and the leg of his cow broke. It broke for his good. He fled and went to Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, and he ate clods of earth until his mouth gave off a foul smell. They went and told Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, "The smell of Rabbi Eliezer's mouth is harsh." He said to him, "Just as you have caused your mouth to give off a smell for the sake of the Torah, so shall the fragrance of your learning go from one end of the world to the other." After some days his father went up to bar him from his property, and found him sitting and expounding, with all the great men of the country sitting before him, Tzitzit the Pillow, Nakdimon ben Gurion, and ben Kalba Savua. He found him sitting and expounding this very verse: "The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow," this is Amrafel and his fellows; "to bring down the poor and needy" (Psalms 37:14), this is Lot; "to slay those who are upright in the way," this is Abraham; "their sword shall enter their own heart," "and he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them" (Genesis 14:15). His father said to him, "I came up here only to bar you from my property; behold, all of it is given to you as a gift." He said, "Behold, it is forbidden to me as a dedicated thing, and I will be no more than equal in it with my brothers." "And this also is a grievous evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go" (Ecclesiastes 5:15). Just as he comes wrapped, so does he go wrapped. Just as he opened with four kingdoms, so he seals only with four kingdoms: "Chedorlaomer and Tidal and Amrafel and Arioch." Why? "All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim," so that they would come and fall by the hand of Abraham. This matter we received from the exile: every place where it says "and it came to pass," it was in days of trouble, and so forth, as it is written at the beginning of the Scroll of Esther. Three names were given to him: Cush, Nimrod, Amrafel. Cush, because he was certainly a Cushite. Nimrod, because he raised up rebellion in the world. Amrafel, because his speech was darkness, in that they say and they darken in the world, in that they say and they darken concerning Abraham, for he told him to go down into the fiery furnace. "And Tidal king of nations": there is a place there in Rome, and they took one man and made him king over them, and Tidal was his name.