## Tur HaArokh, Genesis

###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:1:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:1:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:1:1)

**ויהי בימי אמרפל.**אע"פ שכדרלעומר היה עיקר למלחמה כדכתיב בא כדרלעומר והמלכים אשר אתו אפשר שאמרפל היה גדול ממנו בשנים לכך הקדימו. גם זו המלחמה סימן לבנים שארבע מלכיות יעמדו בעולם לשעבד בבניו ולבסוף יתגברו בניו עליהם ויפלו בידם וישיבו כל רכושם הראשון מלך בבל שהוא שנער והשני מדי שהוא אלסר ואולי אלסר שם עיר במדי או בפרס והשלישי יון והוא עילם שהוא ממלך עילם והרביעי שהוא מלך גוים פי' שגוים רבים נקבצו ושמוהו עליהם לראש והוא רמז למלך שמלך על עיר מקובצת מעמים רבים כיתים ואדום ויתר הגוים:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ויהי בימי אמרפל, “It was in the days of Amrafel, etc.” Although Kedorleomer was the heavyweight among these Kings as we know from verses 4 and 9 in which he is always mentioned as the major figure, the other Kings being his subordinates, “the Kings who were with him,” in this instance Amrafel, is mentioned first, perhaps because he was senior in years,
 This war too may be viewed as מעשה אבות סימן לבנים, that events in which our forefathers were involved served as a preview of what would happen in the lives of their descendants. Four Kingdoms would emerge in human history, each one of whom would enslave Avraham’s descendants at one time or another. In the end, Avraham;s descendants would prevail over all of them and they would be forced to make full restitution of everything they had ever robbed the Jewish people of. In our chapter, the first King would correspond to the King of Babylon, Nevuchadnezzar, seeing that he was the King of Shinor, the same general area. King Aryoch would be a prototype of the Kingdom of the Medes who supplanted the Babylonians as the ruling Empire in Mesopotamia and Persia. Elassar may be the name of a city rather than the name of a King. It would describe an important city in that country. Eylom would describe what eventually would become Greece, whereas Tidal may be an early allusion to the eventual Rome. The word גויים reflects that the Roman Empire would consist of many nations all under a single Emperor.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:2:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:2:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:2:1)

**מלך בלע.**פי' שמלך על עיר קטנה ואנשים בה מעט ולא שם לו על פני חוץ:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
מלך בלע, i.e. a king who ruled only over a small city, a city boasting few inhabitants.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:7:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:7:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:7:1)

**עין משפט.**פי' רש"י על שם העתיד שעתידין משה ואהרן להשפט שם. והרמ"בן אמר לא הבנתי זה כי קדש זהו קדש ברנע שהוא באיל פארן אשר על המדבר משם נשלחו מרגלים בשנה שניה שנ' ממדבר פארן קדשה וכתי' ונבוא עד קדש ברנע וגו' ותאמרו נשלחה אנשים לפנינו וקדש ששם משפט הצדיקים היא במדבר צן שבאו שם בשנת מ' שנאמר ויבאו בני ישראל כל העדה מדבר צן ואולי המדרש הזה על השם בלבד שרמז הכתוב כי השם הזה קדש היא עין משפט ואונקלוס אמר מישר פילוג דינא ולא ידעתי מהו ואולי הוא מלשון פלגי מים. יבלי מים. וכן בלשון חכמי' פילגו של ים פי' שבמישור ההוא מעין המשפט ועומק הדין שהיה מישור נאה מעותד למלכים ויושבים לשפוט הגוים:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
עין משפט, according to *Rashi*, the name mentioned here is borrowed from the name of that place in later years. At that time Moses and Aaron would be judged in that location. (מי מריבה). Nachmanides expresses his confusion about this commentary, referring to the קדש, which, he claims is identical with קדש ברנע that we know from Numbers 20,2 in the desert of Tzin, where Moses and Aaron failed to speak to the rock. [I will not bother to translate all he writes as it is clearly based on a misunderstanding of the location. Joshua 12,22 as well as 20,7 refers to locations known as Kedesh in the land of Canaan, There were numerous locations known by that name, so that there is nothing strange about *Rash’s* explanation, though his apparent conclusion that this was the location later on known as מי מריבה is geographically untenable.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:7:2
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:7:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:7:2)

**שדה העמלקי.**פירש"י על שם העתיד. והרמ"בן פי' עיין רש"י ולא ידעתי אם רצונו לומר כי משה רבינו קרא המקום בשם שהוא נקרא בימיו א"כ אין בכאן דבר העתיד או מה העתיד הזה שיתנבאו הגוים לקרוא שם למקום כן. ולשון ב"ר וכן דורש בנהרות. ורוצה לומר כי מעת צאת הנהרות יקראו כן ופירושו נהר ההולך קדמת אשור פי' ארץ העתידה להיות לאשור. והנכון בעיני בשדה העמלקי כי היה בימים הקדמונים אדם נכבד מבני החורי יושבי הארץ מושל על המקום ושמו עמלק ואליפז בן עשו קרא שם בנו על שמו ואולי ממשפחת תמנע אמו היה ומושל גם במקום ההוא:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
What may have bothered *Rashi* is the reference to שדה עמלקי, considering that also Amalek had not been born yet, seeing that he was a grandson of Esau. Ed.] I believe (author speaking) that the reason the Torah speaks of שדה העמלקי is that there was an important person called Amalek in that region at the time, and that is the reason why Eliphaz, son of Esau, named his son (from the concubine Timnah after this original Amalek. (Genesis 36,12). Esau certainly ruled that region at one time after having separated from Yaakov.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:10:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:10:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:10:1)

**ועמק השדים.**י"מ לשון סיד כמו ושדת אותם בשיד שהיו חופרין בו חפירות לשרוף הסיד. ורש"י פי' והביא המדרש שהי' הטיט עדיין בהם ונעשה לו נס למלך סדום כדי לאמת הנס של אברהם. והרמ"בן אמר ואני תמי' על המדרש הזה כי אותם שלא האמינו בנסו של אברהם אבינו היאך נתברר להם האמונה בניסו של מלך סדום שהיה עובד ע"ז כי אדרבה יכחישו אותו כי יאמרו כמו שזה היה מקרה או בכשפי' כך היה של אברהם. ואולי יפרשו ויצא מלך סדום לקראתו כשיצא מן הבור כשעבר אברהם עליו נעשה לו נס שיצא לקראת אברהם לכבדו ולברכו ואפשר כי אברהם בשובו הביט בבור ההוא כי היה כוונתו להציל המלכים ולשייר רכושם ונעשה הנס על ידו ואם נעשה למלך סדום נס לכבוד אברהם כ"ש שיאמינו שיעשה נס לאברהם להציל נפשו ממות ומלך עמורה אולי כבר מת קודם שעבר אברהם עליו ולכך לא עלה או שנפל לבור אחר:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ועמק השדים, “and the valley of Siddim, etc.” Some commentators derive the word שדים from סיד, lime, quoting ושדת אותם בשיד, as their proof, where it means to smear the stones with white lime. (Deut. 27,2) Accordingly, the region was full of depressions in which people dug for lime. The lime would be burned afterwards.
 *Rashi* quotes a *Midrash,* according to which, most people had refused to believe that Avraham had miraculously survived having been thrown into Nimrod’s furnace. When they witnessed the King of Sodom miraculously surviving falling into a lime pit, they changed their mind and retroactively gave credence to the miracle which had saved Avraham. Nachmanides is amazed at the very *Midrash,* as he cannot understand why people who failed to believe that a miracle had happened to Avraham should believe that a miracle had happened for the King of Sodom. Why would the G’d of heaven perform a miracle for an idolater such as the King of Sodom? On the contrary, if the King of Sodom could survive his fall into the lime pit, Avraham’s surviving the furnace was now far more plausible, but not in the framework of a miracle. The people who doubted the miracle of the furnace, ascribing it to magic, would most certainly also describe the King of Sodom’s escape as due to magic. It is more likely that seeing the King of Sodom’s escape made even the people who had believed that Avraham escaped by means of a miracle have second thoughts, and they now believed that Avraham had also benefited by magic.
 Another possibility could be that these commentators understand he words ויצא מלך סדום לקראתו in verse 17 to mean that the King of Sodom emerged from that lime pit at the time when Avraham passed by, i.e. that a miracle was performed for him at that time which resulted in his being saved so that he was able to honour Avraham and bless him, or that Avraham on his return from the successful battle wanted to restore their property to the five Kings, and when passing that neighbourhood, [seeing that his battle had been fought far to the north of there, Ed.] the miracle of the King of Sodom’s rescue then occurred by means of his intervention. When people observed that Avraham could perform such a miracle, they became convinced that a man such a Avraham had been saved miraculously from Nimrod’s furnace. It is quite possible that the King of Gomorrha had already died, so that we hear no more about him, or that he had fallen into a different pit, one that Avraham did not pass.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:10:2
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:10:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:10:2)

**ויפלו שמה.**י"מ וישכנו שמה כמו על פני כל אחיו נפל. פי' שנסו ונתחבאו באותן הבארות:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ויפלו שמה, “they fell there.” Some commentators understand the word ויפלו as “they fell (dead)”, similar to וישכבו שמה, “they lay down there,” in the sense of lying down to sleep. (Joshua 2,1) Others understand it in the sense of על פני כל אחיו נפל, “he dwelled in full view of his brothers.” (Genesis 25,18) (compare Onkelos) Others understood the word ויפלו in the sense of “they hid,” i.e. deliberately lowered themselves into these pits.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:13:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:13:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:13:1)

**ויגד לאברם העברי.**פי' ר' יוסף קרא לכך הזכיר כאן העברי לפי שאמר ויבא הפליט ויגד לאברם וכי תימא מה יועיל ללוט ומה יעזור לו והלא עברי היה שבא מעבר הנהר ונתיישב כאן ואין לו עוזרים לכך אמר והוא יושב באלוני ממרא וגו':

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ויגד לאברם העברי, “he told the Hebrew Avraham.” Rabbi Joseph Karo explains this as meaning that the reason that Avraham is here described as the עברי, is to counter the answer what good it would do Lot that someone told Avraham of his plight, seeing there were only two Hebrews in the whole land, he and Avraham? By adding that this Hebrew had powerful allies in Oner, Eshkol and Mamre, the situation was not quite as hopeless. Mamre was a well known and powerful personage.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:15:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:15:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:15:1)

**ויחלק עליהם לילה ויכם וירדפם.**במדרש וכי יש אדם רודף הרוגים אלא ויחלק עליהם הב"ה לילה ויכם וירדפם אברהם. ולפי פשוטו עד דן רדפם ביום ושם חשכה לו ולא יכול לראות אנה יברחו ונחלק עליהם הוא ומחנהו לד' ראשים זה לכאן וזה לכאן ורדף אחריהם בכל הדרכים והכום עד חובה אשר משמאל לדמשק. ואמר הרמ"בן ידוע הוא כי מרחק רב בין אלוני ממרא שהוא תחלת ארץ ישראל בעבר הירדן לדמשק שהיא בחוצה לארץ אלא שרדף אחריהם ימים רבים עד שגרשם מכל גבול ישראל או שהיה מעשה נס כאשר דרשו בו אורח ברגליו לא יבא:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ויחלק עליהם לילה ויכם וירדפם, “at night they spilt up and smote them and gave chase, etc.” The *Midrash* poses the obvious question that one does not chase after the dead, [the word ויכם being understood as “he killed them. Ed.] Therefore the word ויחלק is understood by the *Midrash* as meaning that the subject in the phrase is G’d, Who reserved part of this night for the miracle of the Exodus, Avraham’s descendants experiencing the killing of the firstborn Egyptians on the anniversary of that night. (*Bereshit Rabbah* 43,3) The plain meaning of the phrase is that Avraham and his men pursued the fleeing armies by daylight as far as Dan. Seeing that after nightfall it was impossible to see in which direction the soldiers had fled, Avraham divided his men so as to continue to pursue every escape route. He kept smiting them as far north as Chovah, a place not far west from Damascus. The Torah describes this detail so that we will realize that this pursuit continued for many days, as the distance from Chevron (Eloney Mamre) is in excess of 300 km by air. Alternatively, the entire campaign was guided by a number of miracles.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:18:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:18:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:18:1)

**ומלכי צדק מלך שלם.**הוא מלך ירושלם כענין שנאמר ויהי בשלם סכו כי מאז ידעו הגוים כי המקום ההוא מבחר המקומות או ידעו בקבלה שהוא כנגד בית המקדש של מעלה ששם שכינתו של הב"ה שנקרא צדק:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ומלכי צדק מלך שלם, “and Malki Tzedek, King of Salem, etc.” he was the King of Jerusalem, as we know from Psalms 76,3 ויהי בשלם סוכו, “His hut (abode) was in Shalem.” According to tradition, the verse is a reference to G’d having His abode in Zion, Jerusalem. As soon as the gentiles had become aware that this was a chosen site, they realized that the Temple would one day be erected there.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:18:2
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:18:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:18:2)

**והוא כהן לאל עליון.**בעבור היות בכל העמים כהנים משרתים למלכים שנקראו אלהים קורא להב"ה אל עליון פי' תקיף וגבוה על כל הגבוהים והזכיר זה להודיע שאברהם לא היה נותן מעשרותיו אלא לכהן וסימן היה לבניו ששם יהיה בית המקדש ויוציאו בניו המעשר והתרומה. ורש"י הביא מכאן שארץ ישראל נפלה בחלקו של שם אלא שהכנעני לקחה מידו לדברי רבותינו ז"ל וזה היה שם בן נח. והרמ"בן אמר שאינו נכון כי גבול הכנעני מצידון כולל כל גבול ישראל וגבול בני שם במזרח רחוק מארץ ישראל אבל אם חלק נח לבניו הארצות ונתן לשם ארץ ישראל זה היה כמחלק נכסיו על פיו וישבו בה בני כנען עד אשר ינחיל אותה לזרע אוהב. ולרבותינו שאומרים שזה היה שם בן נח הלך מארצו לירושלים לעבוד את ה' והיה להם לכהן:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
והוא כהן לאל עליון, “and he was a priest of the Supreme G’d.” This unusual sounding attribute, which almost could make one believe that we have more than one G’d, was selected by the Torah because most nations had priests who were subservient to their kings, who, in turn were addressed as אלוהים, just as the Torah refers to a judge as אלהים. In order to prevent us from thinking that Malki Tzedek was subservient to anyone but the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Torah chose to describe Him in these terms. Also, we learn from here that Avraham would not consider giving tithes to anyone who was not a servant of the Creator. Moreover, the place where Avraham gave the tithe to Malki Tzedek reputedly was the area where the Temple would be built in the future. Avraham’s descendants’ offspring would remove these tithes from the precincts of the Temple.
 *Rashi* derives from this verse that the land of Israel had originally been part of Shem’s heritage, but that the Canaanite had gradually deprived him of much of his heritage by force. He identifies Malki Tzedek as Noach’s son Shem.
 Nachmanides claims that this is not correct, and that the legal boundaries of the heritage of Canaan extended from Sidon in the north, comprising practically all of the land of Israel as we know it, whereas the heritage of Shem was located further to the east. If Noach had indeed allocated the surface of the globe to his several sons, then the return of the land of Israel to the descendants of Avraham, a descendant of Shem, the son of Noach, did not really represent a reallocation of lands which had once legally belonged to the descendants of Cham, the Canaanites. The Canaanites merely acted as safe-keepers of these lands until Avraham had sufficient descendants to populate them. According to our sages who say that Malki Tzedek was identical with Shem, the latter had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in order to serve the Lord there, and the local population had accepted him as their priest.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:19:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:19:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:19:1)

**קונה שמים וארץ.**פירש"י קונה כמו עושה על ידי קנייתו קנאו להיות שלו, והרמ"בן אמר כן הדבר שיצא לשון קניין בעשיי' כמו הלא הוא אביך קנך הוא עשך כי בלשון עשיי' יאמר במקום קניין ובמקום עשיי' ועשיי' במקום קנין כמו הנפש אשר עשו בחרן והנכון לפרש כי הוא קנאן להיות שלו שכל מה שיש לאדם נקרא קניינו וכן בלשון חכמים המגביה מציאה לחבירו קנה:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
קונה שמים וארץ, “owner of heaven and earth.” *Rashi* understands the word קונה here in the sense of עושה, i.e. “Maker of.” He (G’d) had acquired it by dint of having made it. Nachmanides further affirms *Rashi’s* understanding of the word קונה here, citing Deuteronomy 32,6 הלא הוא אביך קנך הוא עשך ויכוננך, “does He not own you being your father, having made you and established you firmly?” The roots קנה and עשהare used interchangeably in the Torah. Another prominent example of this usage of the word עשה in the sense off an acquisition is found in Genesis 12,5 where Avraham and Sarah are described as taking along ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן, where clearly the meaning of the word עשו is not “made,” but they acquired, in the sense that they had convinced the people in question to acknowledge the G’d in heaven, the Creator. Anything that belongs to a person is described as קנינו, “his property,” that which he has made his own. Our sages, when discussing the point at which a found object is acquired, declared that at the moment the finder picks it up it has become his, is his קנין.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:20:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:20:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:20:1)

**ויתן לו מעשר מכל.**פי' ר' אברהם נתן לשם מעשר כי היה כהן לאל עליון שאע"פ שלא רצה ליקח לעצמו כלום חלק גבוה לא רצה למנוע מליתן ועל כן נתן המעשר כי כל מה שהחזיר למלך סדום משלו נתן לו כי כבר זכה בו מן הדין כמו הגייס ועל כן הוצרך לעשרו דחזקה על חבר שאינו מוציא מת"י דבר שאינו מתוקן וכאשר ראה מלך סדום נדבתו וצדקתו אז שאל גם הוא הנפש ועל כן הקדים מלכי צדק מלך שלם קודם לויאמר מלך סדום שראוי היה לכתוב מיד ויאמר מלך סדום אלא כדפרישית שמלך סדום הלך עמו בכל הדרך כשחזר ולא רצה לבקש ממנו כלום עד שראה נדבתו. וי"מ שלכך הקדים ומלכי צדק לאמת הדבר שאמר אברהם אם מחוט ועד שרוך נעל וגו' שלא תאמר שא"כ מה אכלו בכל הדרך לכך הקדים ומלכי צדק הוציא לחם ויין ופרנסם בכל הדרך. וי"מ ויתן לו מעשר שם לאברהם אע"פ ששם היה כהן ונענש על שהקדים ברכת אברהם לברכת הב"ה וזהו שנאמר אתה כהן לעולם על דברתי מלכי צדק. ור' יוסף קמחי פי' כי אברהם לא נתן מעשר למלכי צדק כי היאך נתן מעשר ממה שלא רצה לעצמו וכבר נשבע אם מחוט ועד שרוך נעל והיאך עבר על שבועתו וגם אין לומר שמלכי צדק נתן מעשר לאברהם כי למה יתן לו הוא מעשר ומלכי צדק יצא לכבדו בלחם ויין ואם נתן לו מעשר הנה בטוב מכר לו. אלא כך היה הענין שמלך סדום יצא לקראת אברהם וכאשר בא מלכי צדק מצאם חולקין על השלל שמלך סדום אמר תן לי הנפש ואברהם נשבע אם מחוט ועד שרוך נעל אם אקח מכל אשר לך בלעדי רק אשר אכלו הנערים כי לתועלתך היה שהצילו את שללך וענר אשכול וממרא יקחו חלקם כדין מצילי שלל שאינו ברשותי לוותר עליו ומלכי צדק היה נותן בדין לאברהם שיקח המעש' מכל מה שהציל כי יותר היה ראוי לו לקחת מן המעשר:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ויתן לו מעשר מכל, “He gave him a tithe from all of it.” According to Ibn Ezra Avraham gave these items to Malki Tzedek as tithe because the latter was a priest of Almighty G’d, and he did not want to hold on to anything which he felt was belonging to a higher power. Once he had given the tithe, the balance belonged to him rightfully, so that all the property which had once been that of the five Kings, was now returned to them by Avraham as a gift from him, not as something that was theirs legally. According to local law, spoils of war belonged to the victor, so that from that point of view Avraham did not need to return anything to the King of Sodom and his companions. This is also why the Torah reports this tithing before it reports what Avraham said to the King of Sodom concerning the oath he had sworn to the supreme Lord of heaven and earth (verse 23) that he would never allow the King of Sodom to take credit for having enriched himself (at his expense) If it had not been legal to do so, such an oath would be completely irrelevant! As soon as the King of Sodom became aware of the generosity and righteousness of Avraham, he also demanded return of his נפש, his human slaves. The entire sequence illustrates that Avraham and the King of Sodom walked all the way to the Jordan valley back together, during which time the King of Sodom had become better acquainted with Avraham. He had not even dared to ask to have the נפש restored to him until he had learned how generous a man Avraham really was. From a *halachic* point of you, i.e. that one does not give something to someone else unless it was *halachically* completely above board, Avraham had to tithe the loot so that when he would give the remainder (back) to the King of Sodom, he gave him something which was beyond question his own. 
 Some commentators feel that if the conversation about who the loot belonged to had occurred only now, what did Avraham’s soldiers eat in the meantime? To forestall such an embarrassing question, the Torah made certain that we know that prior to Avraham tithing everything to Malki Tzedek the latter had provided bread and wine for Avraham’s soldiers so that they did not have to partake of something that their master did not yet consider his to give. Still other commentators see in the words ויתן לו מעשר מכל, a veiled rebuke to Malki Tzedek who, instead of receiving a tithe, gave a tithe to Avraham as penance for having first blessed Avraham instead of first blessing the Lord. These commentators quote as their source the verse in Psalms 110,4 נשבע ה' ולא ינחם אתה כהן לעולם על דברתי מלכי צדק, “the Lord has sworn and will not relent, “You are a priest forever, a rightful king by My decree.” [also an oblique reference that G’d had killed the people slain in that war, not Avraham, who otherwise would have been disqualified as a priest. Alshich.]
 Rabbi Joseph Karo claims that Avraham did not give any tithe to Malki Tzedek, as it is conceptually impossible to give a tithe of something one had never owned, and Avraham had rejected the entire booty so that the King of Sodom could not boast of having made Avraham wealthy. He had already sworn an oath rejecting the entire loot. How could he have violated such an oath? Rabbi Karo also rejects the notion that Malki Tzedek gave a tithe to Avraham. What possible reason could Malki Tzedek have had to give a tithe to Avraham when he had come forth to welcome him with bread and wine? If he gave him a tithe, he would have sold this to him. According to Rabbi Karo this is what happened. The King of Sodom came forth to greet Avraham. When Malki Tzedek arrived he found them dividing the spoils, the King of Sodom asking for the living human beings, and offering Avraham the inert property (and the livestock, presumably). At that point, Avraham swore an oath that he would not accept anything by grace of the King of Sodom, the exception being the expenses he had incurred in feeding his men. Seeing that these men had fought a war in order to save the King of Sodom among others, they were entitled to at least that. Not only that, these men had also saved Sodom’s property, and as such were entitled to a reward. He, Avraham, was not entitled to waive the reward due to Oner, Eshkol, and Mamre. Malki Tzedek then gave Avraham a tithe of what he had received, something that Avraham accepted as being completely legal, as he first and foremost was entitled to that.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:22:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:22:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:22:1)

**הרימותי ידי.**לשון שבועה לאל עליון פי' בשם ה' שברכני זה הכהן:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
הרימותי את ידי, “I have raised my right hand in an oath;” this is a standard formula used to describe an oath directed at G’d. In this case, Malki Tzedek was the representative of the Lord.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:23:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:23:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:23:1)

**אם מחוט.**שהוא תכשיט קטן מתכשיטי הראש כמו חוטין שבראשי הבנות:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
אם מחוט, “if as little as some string;” he referred to the least valuable decorative string (used as jewelry) worn by girls in their hair.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:23:2
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:23:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:23:2)

**ועד שרוך נעל.**שהוא מתכשיטי הרגל כמו מראשו ועד רגליו. ופי' **אם אקח**כמו כה יעשה לי אלהים אם אקח. ופי' הרמ"בן הרימותי ידי להיות הקדש וחרם לפניו אם אקח מכל אשר לך כי ההקדש תרומת יד כדכתיב כל מרים תרומת כסף. ואמר כן בשביל שנתן ממנו מעשר כי כל אשר אקח מכל אשר לך יהיה תרומה לה' ולא יהנה ממנו:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ועד שרוך נעל, ”or even as insignificant an item as a shoelace;” in those days these were also decorative, used as a form of jewelry worn around the ankles. The meaning of the apparent repetition אם אקח is: “may G’d punish me if I do this.” Nachmanides views the entire sentence in the following light. Avraham considered the entire loot, now that he had tithed it, as if a gift given to G’d, something now out of bounds to him as anything which acquired *terumah* status is out of bounds to a commoner.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:23:3
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:23:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:23:3)

**אם אקח מכל אשר לך.**אע"פ שאסור להחזיר אבידה לגוי ומלך סדום רשע היה אעפ"כ לא רצה ליהנות ממון אדם רשע:


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:24:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 14:24:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/14:24:1)

**בלעדי רק אשר אכלו הנערים.**אבל חלק לא נתן להם כדרך שנתן לענר אשכול וממרא. י"מ שהם מעצמם לקחו חלקם ומסתבר טפי לומר שחלק הנערים היה ברשות אברהם לוותר עליו אבל חלק ענר אשכול וממרא לא היה ברשותו לוותר עליו:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
בלעדי רק אשר אכלו הנערים, “Exclude me; except for what the servants have eaten;” but he did not allocate to these servants a share of the loot as he had done for Oner, Eshkol, and Mamre. Some commentators hold that these people helped themselves to their share, not waiting for Avraham to give them anything. It makes more sense to accept that Avraham gave to Oner, Eshkol, and Mamre, who were not present, and on whose behalf Avraham had no right to waive their claim, whereas the people with him had helped themselves to what they considered rightfully as theirs.