Genesis 14:2
עָשׂוּ מִלְחָמָה אֶת־בֶּרַע מֶלֶךְ סְדֹם וְאֶת־בִּרְשַׁע מֶלֶךְ עֲמֹרָה שִׁנְאָב׀ מֶלֶךְ אַדְמָה וְשֶׁמְאֵבֶר מֶלֶךְ צְבוֹיִם וּמֶלֶךְ בֶּלַע הִיא־צֹֽעַר׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
עָשׂ֣וּ מִלְחָמָ֗ה אֶת־בֶּ֙רַע֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ סְדֹ֔ם וְאֶת־בִּרְשַׁ֖ע מֶ֣לֶךְ עֲמֹרָ֑ה שִׁנְאָ֣ב׀ מֶ֣לֶךְ אַדְמָ֗ה וְשֶׁמְאֵ֙בֶר֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ צְבוֹיִ֔ם וּמֶ֥לֶךְ בֶּ֖לַע הִיא־צֹֽעַר׃
ἐποίησαν πόλεμον μετὰ Βάλλα βασιλέως Σοδόμων καὶ μετὰ Βαρσὰ βασιλέως Γομόρρας καὶ Σενναὰρ βασιλέως Ἀδαμὰ καὶ Συμόβορ βασιλέως Σεβωεὶμ καὶ μετὰ βασιλέως Βάλακ· αὕτη ἐστὶν Σήγωρ.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
inirent bellum contra Bara regem Sodomorum, et contra Bersa regem Gomorrhæ, et contra Sennaab regem Adamæ, et contra Semeber regem Seboim, contraque regem Balæ, ipsa est Segor.
Estos reyes le declararon la guerra a Bera, rey de Sodoma; a Birsá, rey de Gomorra; a Sinab, rey de Admá; a Semeber, rey de Zeboín; y al rey de Bela, que es Zoar.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Que éstos hicieron guerra contra Bera, rey de Sodoma, y contra Birsha, rey de Gomorra, y contra Shinab, rey de Adma, y contra Shemeber, rey de Zeboim, y contra el rey de Bela, la cual es Zoar.
went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela ( that is, Zoar).
✦ What the text says
Summary
Genesis 14:2 lists the five kings against whom the coalition of eastern kings (mentioned in verse 1) made war: the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela. The verse closes with an explanatory note identifying Bela with Zoar.
Key words
- 'a.Su ("they made", H6213H) — qal perfect, third person plural: a completed action of "making" that here combines with mil.cha.Mah to form the idiom "to make war."
- mil.cha.Mah ("war", H4421) — feminine singular noun, the direct object of the verb, naming the type of action performed.
- 'et ("with", H0854) — preposition marking the object/opponent of the war; repeated before each named king to link them individually to the verb.
- Me.lekh ("king of", H4428G) — masculine singular construct form, meaning it must be followed by a name (of a place) to complete its sense; used five times, once for each ruler.
- hi' ("that/she", H1931) — third person feminine singular pronoun, used here to introduce the identifying clause "that is Zoar," equating one place-name with another.
What the text says
The verse is built on a single verb, 'a.Su ("they made"), governing the noun mil.cha.Mah ("war"), followed by a chain of five objects introduced by the preposition 'et ("with/against"). Each opponent is named by a personal name followed by Me.lekh ("king of") in construct state, which requires a following place name to complete the phrase — hence "king of Sodom," "king of Gomorrah," and so on. The conjunction ve ("and", H9002) links the list at several points, though not uniformly: it appears before Birsha, before Shemeber, and before the final "king of Bela," while Shinab's entry has no preceding conjunction in the Hebrew.
The final clause, hi' Tzo'ar ("that is Zoar"), uses the pronoun hi' to append an editorial identification: the place called Bela is clarified as being (the same as) Zoar. This is a parenthetical note attached to the list rather than part of the main narrative action, distinguishing it grammatically from the preceding string of war-objects governed by 'et.
Differences between versions
The LXX renders the personal name Be.ra' (H1298) as "Βάλλα" and bir.Sha' (H1306) as "Βαρσὰ," transliterations that differ somewhat from the Masoretic vocalization. Where the Hebrew names the fifth king simply as Me.lekh Be.la' ("king of Bela") without a personal name, both the LXX (βασιλέως Βάλακ) and the Vulgate (regem Balæ) preserve this same structure, matching the Hebrew's omission of a personal name for this ruler, unlike the other four kings who are named individually.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.