And the vale of Siddim [was full of] slime pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.
10. full of slime pits ] i.e. bitumen pits. Bitumen, or asphalt, is found in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea. Josephus speaks of the bitumen floating upon the surface of its waters. Here we are to suppose that the bitumen came out of large holes or pits in the earth, into which the confederates fell in their flight.
“Full of slime pits.” The Hebrew idiom gives be’erth be’erth mar, “pits, pits of bitumen” = “all bitumen pits.” Cf. 2Ki 3:16, “trenches, trenches” = “nothing but trenches.”
The narrative is so fragmentary, or condensed, that only the rout is recorded.
they fell ] Referring to the fugitive troops generally. The king of Sodom appears again in Gen 14:17. It is implied that those who fell into the pits were lost.
to the mountain ] i.e. to the mountains of Moab, the chain of hills on the east side of the Dead Sea.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 10. Slime-pits] Places where asphaltus or bitumen sprang out of the ground; this substance abounded in that country.
Fell there] It either signifies they were defeated on this spot, and many of them slain, or that multitudes of them had perished in the bitumen-pits which abounded there; that the place was full of pits we learn from the Hebrew, which reads here beeroth beeroth, pits, pits, i.e., multitudes of pits. A bad place to maintain a fight on, or to be obliged to run through in order to escape.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The vale of Siddim was chosen by those five kings for the place of battle, that their adversaries being ignorant of the place might unawares fall into those pits, which they by their knowledge of it thought to escape.
Kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, i.e. their armies; a figurative speech, frequent in Scripture and other authors; for their persons escaped: see Gen 14:17. They either,
1. Fell into the pits which they designed for others; or rather,
2. Were slain, as this word is oft used, as Jos 8:24-25; Jdg 8:10; 12:6; and here too; for those that fell are here opposed to those that remained.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the vale of Siddim [was full of] slimepits,…. Or “wells” or “fountains of slime” or bitumen s; a liquid of a pitchy nature, cast out of fountains, and which was used for a cement in buildings; such fountains were near Babylon, [See comments on Ge 11:3]; so that this place was naturally prepared for what it was designed to be, a bituminous lake; and hence, when turned into one, it was called the lake Asphaltites, from this slime or bitumen, called by the Greeks “asphaltos”. Brocardus t says, these pits or wells of bitumen are at this day on the shore of the lake, each of them having pyramids erect, which he saw with his own eyes; and such pits casting out bitumen, as fountains do water, have been found in other countries, as in Greece u. Now this vale being full of such pits, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah chose it to fight in, and here drew up in a line of battle, hoping that the enemy, being ignorant of them, would fall into them and perish, and their ranks be broke and fall into confusion; but as it often is, that the pit men dig and contrive for others they fall into themselves, so it was in this case:
and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled: the battle going hard against them, and they not able to stand before their enemies:
and fell there, or “into them” w; the slimepits, or fountains of bitumen, into which they precipitately fell, and many perished; or of their own accord they threw themselves into them for their own safety, as some think; though the sense may be this, that there was a great slaughter of them made there, as the word is frequently used, see 1Sa 4:10; this is to be understood not of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah; for it is certain that they were preserved alive, at least the king of Sodom, for we hear of him afterwards, Ge 14:17; but of their soldiers:
and they that remained fled to the mountain: or mountains hard by, where Lot after went when Sodom was destroyed, Ge 19:30; hither such fled that escaped the sword of the enemy, or perished not in the slimepits, judging it more safe to be there, than to be in their cities, which would fall into the hands of their enemies, and be plundered by them, and where they would be in danger of losing their lives.
s “putei, putei bituminis”, Vatablus, Piscator, Cartwright, Drusius, Schmidt; so Jarchi. t Apud Adricom. Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 44. u Aelian. Var. Hist. l. 13. c. 16. w “in eos”, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
10. And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled. Some expound that they had fallen into pits: but this is not probable, since they were by no means ignorant of the neighboring places: such an event would rather have happened to foreign enemies. Others say, that they went down into them for the sake of preserving their lives. I, however, understand them to have exchanged one kind of death for another, as is common in the moment of desperation; as if Moses had said, the swords of the enemy were so formidable to them, that, without hesitation, they threw themselves headlong into the pits. For he immediately afterwards subjoins, that they who escaped fled to the mountains. Whence we infer, that they who had rushed into the pits had perished. Only let us know, that they fell, not so much deceived through ignorance of the place, as disheartened by fear.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(10) The vale of Siddim was full of slimepits.That is, of holes whence bitumen had been excavated. Layers of this natural asphalte, well known both to the Greeks and Romans as pia Judaica, Judean pitch, still exist on the western side of the Dead Sea; and the places whence it had been dug out, and which are often very deep, formed dangerous impediments in the way of the defeated side.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
10. Full of slimepits Sept . , , pits of asphaltum; Vulg . , puteos multos bituminis, many pits of bitumen . The Hebrew may be rendered: The vale of Siddim was pits, pits of mineral pitch; that is, such bituminous pits abounded there; and this abundance of asphalt has given the Dead Sea the name Asphaltic Lake . These pits served as so many snares to the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, who, with their forces, were defeated, and fled, and fell there. These two kings seem to have taken the lead in the battle, and so are mentioned as representing all the rest . From Gen 14:17; Gen 14:21 we infer that the king of Sodom himself escaped capture, probably by fleeing to the mountains .
They that remained That is, those who were neither killed in battle nor taken prisoners .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Now the vale of Siddim was full of bitumen-pits, and the Kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and those who remained fled to the mountain.’
They had probably hoped that the particular site, with its related problems with which they were familiar, would offer them an advantage but they had no chance against a superior force and the two main kings were killed while the remainder fled to safety in the mountains.
We have already been told that Sodom was a wicked city (Gen 13:13) so it may well be that in the context of the narrative as a whole this is seen as God’s preliminary judgment on Sodom.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 14:10. Vale of Siddim was full of slime-pits, &c. Pits of ( see Gen 11:3.) bitumen, which abounded much in that country. The Dead-sea, as we have observed before, contained a great quantity of this matter, and was thence called the Lake of Asphaltus, or Bitumen. See note on Gen 11:2. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, in their flight, fell into some of these pits, whence one of them at least, the king of Sodom, was preserved, as we read of him again, Gen 11:17.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 14:10 And the vale of Siddim [was full of] slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.
Ver. 10. And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits. ] Chosen therefore on purpose by the five kings, who fled and fell there; or (as some understand the text) made haste to fall down there; a skulking and scouting, b till their enemies should pursue them, and so perish in those pits. But their cunning failed them; for as they had travailed with iniquity and conceived mischief, so they brought forth a lie. They “made a pit and digged it, but fell into the ditch that themselves had made”. Psa 7:15 The way of this world, saith one, is like the vale of Siddim, slimy and slippery, full of slime pits and pitfalls, springs and stumbling-blocks, laid by Satan to maim or mischieve us, to procure our ruin or ruth. To defeat him therefore (as these four kings did the five), let us tread gingerly, step warily, lift not up one foot till we find sure footing for the other: let us look ere we leap. Alioqui saliens antequam videat, casurus est antequam debeat , as St Bernard hath it. c
a Celeriter se deiecerunt . – Piscat.
b Eo consilio ut hostes ignari locorum ,& c. – Idem.
c Bern. De Bon. Deser.
slime pits = pits of bitumen, still a feature of the shores of the Dead Sea.
slime pits, Places where asphaltus or bitumen sprung out of the ground: this substance which is properly denoted by the word “slime,” abounds in these parts. Gen 11:3
fell: Jos 8:24, Psa 83:10, Isa 24:18, Jer 48:44
the mountain: Gen 19:17, Gen 19:30
Reciprocal: Gen 14:8 – in Gen 25:18 – died Exo 2:3 – with slime Num 13:17 – the mountain
14:10 And the {e} vale of Siddim [was full of] slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.
(e) And afterward was overwhelmed with water, and so was called the salt sea.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes