<b>Prior to the verse After these things scripture states: And Abraham heard that his brother was taken captive (Gen. 14:14).</b> Was Lot actually Abraham’s brother? No, indeed! This statement is simply proof of Abraham’s humility. Though Abraham and Lot had quarreled, as it is written: <i>And there was a strife between the herdsmen of Abraham’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle</i> (ibid. 13:7), he called him brother nevertheless, as it is said: <i>For we are brethren</i> (ibid., v. 8). <i>And he led forth</i> (<i>va-yarek</i>) <i>his trained men</i> (Gen. 14:14). This verse indicates that he covered his men with silver and gold. Then he said to them: “Know that we are about to do battle; do not covet their silver and gold, for all this will be yours.” <i>Va-yarek</i> is employed in Scripture only in reference to gold, as it is said: <i>The wings of a dove are all covered with silver, and her pinions with the shimmer of gold</i> (<i>yerakrak</i>) (Ps. 68:14).
Another explanation of the word <i>va-yarek:</i> This indicates that he thinned out (<i>herikan</i>) their numbers by saying to them: <i>What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted?</i> (Deut. 20:8). That is, whosoever is fearful because of his sins and weak (<i>ve-rakh</i>) of heart (fainthearted) on account of his evil deeds, let him return home, <i>lest his heart melt away</i> (ibid.). With this statement, he thinned out their ranks one by one until only Eliezer remained. Whence do we know this? We know it from the numeral value of the letters of Eliezer’s name. The <i>alef</i> is one, the <i>lamed,</i> thirty, the <i>yod,</i> ten, the <i>ayin</i> seventy, the <i>zayin,</i> seven, and the <i>resh,</i> two hundred, totaling three hundred and eighteen in all (and Scripture states that <i>He led forth … three hundred and eighteen</i>) (Gen. 14:14). And yet that is followed by the singular form <i>he pursued,</i> rather than the plural “they pursued” (implying only one).
<i>Until Dan:</i> When the righteous Abraham reached Dan his strength began to fail him, because he foresaw that his descendants would one day worship idols at Dan, as it is said: <i>And he put one in Beth-El and one in Dan</i> (I Kings 12:29). Our sages inform us that two things result in harm before and after they are undertaken. They are idolatry and planting. One who plants on the eve of the Sabbatical year and at the expiration of the Sabbatical year is guilty.<sup class="footnote-marker">21</sup><i class="footnote">The land must lie fallow during the Sabbatical year, the seventh year.</i> Similarly, idolatry smites both before and after it is practiced. Whence do we know this? Though Jeroboam had not yet erected the golden calf and had not placed it in (the territory of) Dan, Scripture says: <i>And he smote them and pursued them unto Hobah</i> (Gen. 14:15). No matter how carefully we examine Scripture, we are unable to find any place referred to as Hobah. This fact informs us that the territory of Dan was known as Hobah from the very beginning of time because of the golden calf that was to be erected there.
<i>And he brought back all the goods; and he also brought back his brother Lot, and his goods, and also the women</i> (ibid., v. 16). The “also” in this verse indicates that he brought back to his people every usable article, even if its value was only a perutah. <i>And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, etc., at the vale of Shaveh</i>—<i>the same is the King’s Vale</i> (ibid., v. 17). Henceforth, it would be called the King’s Vale. Which king? Abraham, who was victorious over all the kings and their hosts, as it is said concerning him: <i>The Lord saith unto my lord: Sit thou at My right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool</i> (Ps. 110:1).
When the king of Sodom was about to depart, he said to Abraham: “<i>Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself</i> (Gen. 14:21). You restored my life when you saved me from the fate of the other kings. If they had slain me, they would have taken both my life and my property; therefore, since you saved my life, take my possessions.” Thereupon Abraham made a vow, saying: <i>I have lifted up my hand unto the Lord</i> (ibid., v. 22). The words <i>lifted up</i> are employed only in reference to a vow, as it is said: <i>And he lifted up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and vowed by Him that liveth forever</i> (Dan. 12:17). <i>I will not take a thread nor a shoe-latchet nor aught that is thine, lest thou shouldst say: I have made Abraham rich</i> (Gen. 14:22). Why did he say that? Abraham said: “The Holy One, blessed be He, has already assured me that He would make me wealthy when He promised: <i>And I will bless thee and make thy name great, and be thou a blessing</i> (ibid. 12:2). If I take something from you, will you not say, ‘I have made Abraham rich’?”
The Holy One, blessed be He, declared unto him: Inasmuch as you have said: “I will not take a thread,” I shall absolve your sons of the sins they commit at the altar around which a crimson thread will be encircled. As we have learned, the altar was encircled with a crimson thread. Furthermore, in reward for declaring: “I will not take a thread,” I will give your sons the precept of the purple fringes (on their prayer shawls). And since you said: “Nor a shoe-latchet,” I will give thy children the precepts of <i>yebamah</i> and <i>halitzah: And loose his shoe from off his foot</i> (Deut. 25:9).<sup class="footnote-marker">22</sup><i class="footnote"><i>Yebamah</i> is the law requiring a brother to marry his deceased brother’s wife when there has been no issue. <i>Halitzah</i> is the ceremony of throwing a shoe at the brother-in-law which releases him from marrying the widow.</i> In reward for saying: “Nor a shoe-latchet,” I will issue your sons the decree to eat the paschal lamb, of which it is written: <i>And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet … it is the Lord’s passover</i> (Exod. 12:11). Furthermore, I will exact retribution from Esau through it, as it is said: <i>Upon Edom do I cast my shoe</i> (Ps. 60:10). Likewise, I shall praise your children with that word, as it is said: <i>How beautiful are thy steps in shoes</i> (Song 7:2). Since you rejected the reward sought by ordinary men, your reward shall be multiplied in this world and in the world-to-come.