Genesis 14:5

וּבְאַרְבַּע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה בָּא כְדָרְלָעֹמֶר וְהַמְּלָכִים אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ וַיַּכּוּ אֶת־רְפָאִים בְּעַשְׁתְּרֹת קַרְנַיִם וְאֶת־הַזּוּזִים בְּהָם וְאֵת הָֽאֵימִים בְּשָׁוֵה קִרְיָתָֽיִם׃

✦ Hebrew interlinear

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✦ The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

וּבְאַרְבַּע֩ עֶשְׂרֵ֨ה שָׁנָ֜ה בָּ֣א כְדָרְלָעֹ֗מֶר וְהַמְּלָכִים֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִתּ֔וֹ וַיַּכּ֤וּ אֶת־רְפָאִים֙ בְּעַשְׁתְּרֹ֣ת קַרְנַ֔יִם וְאֶת־הַזּוּזִ֖ים בְּהָ֑ם וְאֵת֙ הָֽאֵימִ֔ים בְּשָׁוֵ֖ה קִרְיָתָֽיִם׃

Greek (Septuagint)

ἐν δὲ τῷ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτῳ ἔτει ἦλθεν Χοδολλογόμορ καὶ οἱ Βασιλεῖς οἱ μετ’ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοὺς γίγαντας τοὺς ἐν Ἀσταρὼθ αρνάιν, καὶ ἔθνη ἰσχυρὰ ἅμα αὐτοῖς, καὶ τοὺς Σομαίους τοὺς ἐν Σαυὴ τῇ πόλει,

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

Igitur quartodecimo anno venit Chodorlahomor, et reges qui erant cum eo: percusseruntque Raphaim in Astarothcarnaim, et Zuzim cum eis, et Emim in Save Cariathaim,

Spanish

Al año siguiente, Quedorlaomer y los reyes que estaban con él marcharon y derrotaron a los refaítas en Asterot Carnayín, a los zuzitas en Jan, a los emitas en Savé Quiriataín

Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)

Y en el año décimocuarto vino Chêdorlaomer, y los reyes que estaban de su parte, y derrotaron á los Raphaitas en Ashteroth-carnaim, á los Zuzitas en Ham, y á los Emitas en Shave-Kiriataim.

English

In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh-kiriathaim,

✦ What the text says

Summary

Genesis 14:5 dates the military campaign of Kedorlaomer and his allied kings to "the fourteenth year," and reports that they struck three named peoples — the Rephaites, the Zuzites, and (continuing into v. 5b) the Emites — each located at a specific place. The verse functions as a narrative continuation, opening with a temporal clause and moving into a wayyiqtol verb of action.

Key words

'ar.Ba' ("four-", H0702) and 'es.Reh ("teen", H6240) — both in construct state, combining to form "fourteen," modifying shanah ("year", H8141).
ba' ("he came", H0935) — qal perfect, marking the completed action of Kedorlaomer's arrival that sets up the temporal frame before the main narrative verb.
vayyaku ("and they struck/defeated", H5221) — hiphil narrative form (wayyiqtol), the causative stem indicating they inflicted defeat; the vav-prefixed form advances the storyline as the main clause.
'et (H0853) — the direct object marker, appearing three times (before Rephaim, ha-Zuzim, ha-Emim), signaling each group as a distinct grammatical object of the same verb vayyaku.
Repha'im ("Rephaites", H7497) — masculine plural gentilic noun, naming the first defeated group, syntactically parallel to ha-Zuzim and ha-Emim.

What the text says

The verse opens with a preposition-plus-numeral phrase, u-ve-'arba' 'esreh shanah ("and in fourteen year"), establishing a temporal setting before the subject Kedorlaomer and ve-ha-melakhim 'asher ito ("and the kings who [were] with him") appear as the compound subject of the qal perfect verb ba' ("he came"). This opening clause is grammatically separate from the main narrative action, which begins with the vav-consecutive verb vayyaku ("and they struck"). Three parallel objects — Repha'im, ha-Zuzim, and ha-Emim — are each introduced by the object marker 'et, and each is followed by a locative prepositional phrase (be- + place name), producing a repeated structural pattern: verb + object + location, three times in sequence. This repetition creates a list-like rhythm cataloguing the peoples defeated and where each defeat occurred, without further elaboration on the manner of the conflict.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders Repha'im ("Rephaites", H7497) as γίγαντας ("giants"), an interpretive translation rather than a transliteration of the gentilic name. The LXX text provided also inserts the phrase "καὶ ἔθνη ἰσχυρὰ ἅμα αὐτοῖς" ("and strong nations together with them"), which has no counterpart among the Hebrew words listed. The Hebrew's threefold repetition of 'et + object + be- + place name is not preserved as clearly in the LXX, which shifts syntax and renders place/people names differently (e.g., "Σομαίους" where the Hebrew has ha-Zuzim, H2104). The Vulgate follows the Hebrew structure more closely, preserving the sequence "percusserunt Raphaim... Zuzim... Emim" with the same three-part object pattern.

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.