Genesis 14:3

Summary

Genesis 14:3 states that a group referred to as "all these" joined together at a specific location called the Valley of Siddim, which the text identifies with a parenthetical gloss as the Sea of Salt. The verse functions as a geographical clarification, linking a place name to a body of water known by another name.

Key words

• kol ("all", H3605) — construct form meaning "all of," governing the following demonstrative 'elleh.
• chaveru ("they joined together", H2266) — qal perfect, third person plural; indicates a completed action of the referenced group joining together.
• 'emek ("valley of", H6010) — construct form, syntactically binding to ha-Siddim to form "valley of Siddim."
• hu' ("that/he", H1931) — third person pronoun functioning here as a copula, introducing the identifying clause "that is..."
• yam ("sea of", H3220) — construct form linked to ha-melach, forming "Sea of the Salt."

What the text says

The verse opens with kol 'elleh chaveru — "all these joined together" — using the qal perfect of chaveru (H2266) to mark a completed, unified action by the group in question. The verb takes the preposition 'el ("to", H0413) to indicate direction toward the location named in the following construct chain: 'emek ha-Siddim, "valley of the Siddim." Here 'emek (H6010) is in construct state, meaning it cannot stand alone but must be followed by the name it modifies — the place designation Siddim, marked with the definite article ha- (H9009).

The second half of the verse forms a separate identifying clause introduced by the pronoun hu' (H1931), which functions here not as a simple "he" but as a copula equating two things: "that is the Sea of the Salt" (yam ha-melach). This construction — pronoun + construct noun phrase — is a standard Biblical Hebrew method for inserting an explanatory gloss, telling the reader that the valley just named is identical to a body of water known under a different name, yam ha-melach (H3220 + H4417), literally "sea of the salt."

Differences between versions

The Hebrew place name ha-Siddim (H7708) is transliterated in the RV1909 and SBLIBRE as "Siddim," but the LXX renders it as φάραγγα ἁλυκήν, "salty ravine/valley," translating the name descriptively rather than transliterating it. The Vulgate renders it as "vallem Silvestrem" ("wooded valley"), a rendering that diverges from both the Hebrew proper name and the LXX's "salty" interpretation. The BSB adds "The latter five came as allies," an interpretive expansion not present in the word-by-word Hebrew data given, which shows only kol 'elleh chaveru ("all these joined together") without specifying a number or the word "allies."