Chedorlaomer

a king of the Elamites, who were either Persians, or people bordering upon the Persians. This was one of the four confederated kings, who made war upon the five kings of the pentapolis of Sodom; and who, after having defeated them, and made themselves masters of a great booty, were pursued and dispersed by Abraham, Genesis 14.

Chedorlao´mer, King of Elam, and leader of the five kings who invaded Canaan in the time of Abraham (Genesis 14). [ABRAHAM; ASSYRIA; ELAM]

King of Elam, in Persia, in the time of Abraham. He made the cities in the region of the Dead Sea his tributaries; and on their rebelling, he came with four allied kings and overran the whole country south and east of the Jordan. Lot was among his captives, but was rescued by Abraham; who promptly raised a force from his captives, but was rescued by Abraham; who promptly raised a force from his own dependents and his neighbors, pursued the enemy, and surprised and defeated them, Gen 14:1-24 . Compare Psa 110:1- 7.\par

Chedorlao’mer or Chedorla’omer. (handful of sheaves). A king of Elam, in the time of Abraham, who with three other chiefs, made war upon the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim and Zoar, and reduced them to servitude. Gen 14:17.

Genesis 14. King of Elam, who for twelve years had in subjection to him the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela, or Zoar. In the 13th they revolted, whereupon he, with his subordinate allies, the kings of Shinar (Babylonia), and Ellasar, and Tidal, "king of nations" (Median Scyths, belonging to the old population) smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzims in Ham, the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, the Horites in mount Seir, the Amalekites, and the Amorites in Hazezon Tamar; and finally encountered and defeated the five allied kings in the vale of Siddim. Among the captives whom he took was Lot. Abraham with 318 armed servants however defeated him in turn, and rescued Lot, and pursued the invader to Hobah on the left of Damascus. A recently deciphered record states that an Elamite king, Kudur-Nakhunta, conquered Babylon about 2290 B.C.

Assurbanipal, king of Assyria 668 B.C., recovered an image of Nana captured by the Elamires from Uruk = Erech 1635 years previously, i.e. 2286. Babylonian documents of the age 2200-2100 B.C. also allude to an interruption in the native dynasty about this date by a king from Elam or Susiana between the Tigris and Persia. There is mentioned among the Babylonian kings one who held his court at Ur in Lower Chaldaea, an Elamite prince, Kudur-Mabuk (or Chedorlaomer; Lagomer being an Elamite goddess of which Mabuk is the Hamitic name). Kudur is thought to mean mother, i.e. attendant or worshipper of Lagomer. Kudur the king bears in the inscriptions the surname Apda Martu, "the ravager of the West." He did not establish a lasting empire over Syria, as his Assyrian and Babylonian successors, but was simply its "ravager," exactly as the Bible represents him. He was Semitic, and had made himself lord paramount over the Hamite kings of Shinar and Ellasar.

(Hebrews Kedorlaö´mer, כְּר7רְלָעֹמֶר; Sept. Χοδολλογομόρ, Josephus Χοδολλόμορος, Ant. 1:9, 1), a king of Elam, who, in the time of Abraham, with three other chiefs, made war upon the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Zoar, and reduced them to servitude (Gen 14:1 sq.).’ B.C. cir. 2080. For twelve years he retained his hold over them; in the thirteenth they rebelled; in the next year, however, he and his allies marched upon their country, and, after defeating many neighboring tribes, encountered the five kings of the plain in the vale of Siddim. He completely routed them, slew the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, and carried away much spoil, together with the family of Lot (comp. Psalms 110). Chedorlaomer seems to have perished in the rescue, which was effected by Abraham upon hearing of the captivity of his nephew (Gen 14:17). According to Gesenius (Thes. Hebrews p. 660 b), the meaning of the word may be "handful of sheaves, from the Arabic kadara, handful, and the Heb. עֹמֶר, sheaf," an etymology with which Fürst (Heb. Handw. s.v.) coincides; but this is little satisfactory. The name of a king is found upon the bricks recently discovered in Chaldaea, which is read Kudurmapula. SEE BABYLON.

This man has been supposed to be identical with Chedorlaomer, and the opinion is confirmed by the fact that he is farther distinguished by a title which may be translated "Ravager of the West." "As, however, one type alone of his legends has been discovered," says Colonel Rawlinson, "it is impossible to pronounce at present on the identification. The second element in the name ’Chedorlaomer’ is of course distinct from that in ’Kudur-mapula.’ Its substitution may be thus accounted for. In the names of Babylonian kings the latter portion is often dropped. Thus Shalmaneser becomes Shalman in Hoshea; Merodach-bal-adan becomes Mardocempal, etc. Kudur-mapula might therefore become known as Kudur simply. The Arabic epithet ’el- Ahmar,’ which means the Red, may afterwards have been added to the name, and may have been corrupted into Laomner, which, as the orthography now stands, has no apparent meaning. Kedar el-Ahmar, or ’Kedar the Red,’ is in fact a famous hero in Arabian tradition, and his history bears no inconsiderable resemblance to the Scripture narrative of Chedorlaomer. It is also very possible that the second element in the name of Chedorlaomer, whatever be its true form, may be a Shemitic translation of the original Hamite term mapula." "Chedorlaomer may have been the leader of certain immigrant Chaldaean Elamites who founded the great Chaldaean empire of Berosus in the early part of the 20th [21st] century B.C., while Amraphel and Arioch, the Hamite kings of Shinar and Ellasar, who fought under his banner in the Syrian war as subordinate chiefs, and Tidal, who led a contingent of Median Scyths belonging to the old population, may have been the local governors who had submitted to his power when he invaded Chaldaea" (Rawlinson’s Herod. 1:348, 356.

Mr. Stuart Poole supposes that the first invasion of Palestine by Chedorlaomer and his confederates caused the shepherd-kings to leave the East and settle in Egypt (Horce AEgypt. p. 150). The narrative is strangely supposed by Hitzig (Psalm 2:176) to be a late fiction referring to the expedition of Sennacherib against Jerusalem (comp. Gen 14:5, and 2Ki 18:13). See, on the other side, Tuch (Genes. p. 308); Bertheau (Israel. Geschichte, p. 217). SEE ELAM.

[Chedorlao’mer]

King of Elam in the time of Abram. Gen 14:1-17. In punishing some of his tributaries he carried away Lot, but was pursued by Abram and was apparently killed. The name of KHUDUR-LAGAMAR king of Elam, has been met with in the inscriptions, which is supposed to be the same as Chedorlaomer. He had subdued the five kings near the Dead Sea, some 700 miles across the desert, or 1000 by the Euphrates and traversing the land of Canaan. He returned by this latter route, for he was near Damascus when Abram overtook him.

By: Morris Jastrow, Jr., Robert W. Rogers

—Biblical Data:

Name of a king of Elam (Gen. xiv. 1), who made conquests as far west as Canaan and exercised supremacy over its southeastern part. After paying tribute to him for twelve years, the five local kings, or princes, rebelled in the thirteenth year, and in the fourteenth were assailed and reduced by Chedorlaomer, assisted by Amraphel, King of Shinar; Aroich, King of Ellasar, and Tidal, King of Goyim.

—Critical View:

The name "Chedorlaomer" has long been the subject of controversy, that has increased, rather than diminished, since the discovery of native Elamite and Babylonian documents. The first clue to an identification of the name is found in the fact, everywhere now regarded as established, that the name is a correct Elamite compound. Its first half, "Chedor" (= "Kudur," "servant of," or "worshiper of"), is found frequently in Elamite proper names, such as "Kudur-nanḥundi" ("naḥunte" in Susian or Elamite) and "Kudurmabuk." The latter half of the name, "la'omer," (= "lagamaru"), is the name of an Elamite deity, mentioned by Assurbanipal.

Apart from these certain facts, all else is matter of controversy. Scheil believed that he had found the name on a tablet of Hammurabi in the form "Ku-du-la-uḥ-ga-mar" ("Revue Biblique," 1896, p. 600), but the name is now proved to be "Inuḥshammar." Pinches has found the name "Kudur-ku-kumal" in a tablet dating probably from the period of the Arsacidæ. In spite of the difficulty of the reading and the late date of the text, it is possible that the person intended is really the same as the Chedorlaomer of Genesis, though most scholars are opposed to this view. The tablet in question is couched in a florid, poetical style, and little material of historical value can be gleaned from it. For the present the records give only the rather negative result that from Babylonian and Elamite documents nothing definite has been learned of Chedorlaomer. It is, however, a matter of some consequence in estimating the character of the narrative in Gen. xiv. to have learned that the name of Chedorlaomer is not a fiction.

Bibliography:

Schrader, Keilinschriften des Alten Testaments, 2d ed., pp. 135et seq.;

(compare paper read by Pinches before the Victoria Institute) Jan. 20, 1896;

L. W. King, Letters and Inscriptions of Hammurabi, 1898, vol. i.

ked-ōr-lā̇-ō´mẽr, ked-ō̇r-lā´omẽr (כּדרלעמר, k^edhorlā‛ōmer; Χοδολλογόμορ, Chodollogómor):

1.    Was He the Elamite King Kudur-Lahgumal?

2.    Kudur-Lahgumal and the Babylonians

3.    The Son of Eri-Ekua

4.    Durmah-Ilani, Tudhul(A) and Kudur-Lahmal

5.    The Fate of Sinful Rulers

6.    The Poetical Legend

7.    Kudur-Lahgumal’s Misdeeds

8.    The Importance of the Series

The name of the Elamite overlord with whom Amraphel, Arioch and Tidal marched against Sodom and Gomorrah, and the other cities of the plain (Gen 14:1). The Greek (Septuagint) form of the name is Chodollogomor, implying a different vocalization, the assimilation of “R” with “L”, and the pronunciation of “o” as “gho” (Codorlaghomer). This suggests that the Elamite form, in cuneiform, would be Kudur-lagamar, the second element being the name of a god, and the whole therefore meaning “servant of La’omer” (Lagamar), or the like. A Babylonian deity worshipped at Dilmu, Lagamal, may be the same as the Elamite Lagamar. This name is not found in the cuneiform inscriptions, unless it be, as is possible, the fancifully-written Kudur-lah̬̣gǔmal (or Kodorlah̬gomal) of three late Babylonian legends, one of which is in poetical form. Besides this Elamite ruler, two of these tablets mention also a certain Eri-Aku or Eri-Akua, son of Durmah̬-ı̂lāni, and one of them refers to Tudh̬uḷa or Tidal. See ERI-AKU, 4.

1. Was He the Elamite King Kudur-Lahgumal?

Objections have been made to the identification of Chedorlaomer with the Kudur-lah̬̣gǔmal of these texts, some Assyriologists having flatly denied the possibility, while others expressed the opinion that, though these names were respectively those with which they have been identified, they were not the personages referred to in Gen 14, and many have refrained from expressing an opinion at all. The main reason for the identification of Kudur-lah̬̣gǔmal[? with Chedorlaomer is its association with the names Eri-Eaku and Tudh̬uḷa found on two of the documents. No clear references to the expedition against the Cities of the Plain, however, have been found in these texts.

2. Kudur-Lahgumal and the Babylonians

The longer of the two prose compositions (Brit. Mus., Sp. II, 987) refers to the bond of heaven (extended?) to the four regions, and the fame which he (Merodach?) set for (the Elamites) in Babylon, the city of (his) glory. So (?the gods), in their faithful (or everlasting) counsel, decreed to Kudur-lah̬̣gǔmal, king of Elam (their favor?). He came down, and (performed) what was good to them, and exercised dominion in Babylon, the city of Kar-Dunias (Babylonia). When in power, however, he acted in a way which did not please the Babylonians, for he loved the winged fowl, and favored the dog which crunched the bone. “What(?) king of Elam was there who had (ever) (shown favor to?) the shrine of Ê-saggil?” (Ê-sagila, the great temple of Belus at Babylon).

3. The Son of Eri-Ekua

A letter from Durmah̬-ı̂lāni son of Eri-Ekua (?Arioch) is at this point quoted, and possibly forms the justification for the sentences which had preceded, giving, as they do, reasons for the intervention of the native ruler. The mutilation of the inscription, however, makes the sense and sequence very difficult to follow.

4. Durmah-Ilani, Tudhul(a) and Kudur-Lahmal

The less perfect fragment (Sp. III, 2) contains, near the beginning, the word h̬ammu, and if this be, as Professor F. Hommel has suggested, part of the name H̬ammurabi (Amraphel), it would in all probability place the identification of Kudur-lah̬gumal(?) with Chedorlaomer beyond a doubt. This inscription states, that Merodach, in the faithfulness of his heart, caused the ruler not supporting (the temples of Babylonia) to be slain with the sword. The name of Durmah̬-ı̂lāni then occurs, and it seems to be stated of him that he carried off spoil, and Babylon and the temple Ê-saggil were inundated. He, however, was apparently murdered by his son, and old and young (were slain) with the sword. Then came Tudh̬uḷa or Tidal, son of Gazzā́ni̇’, who also carried off spoil, and again the waters devastated Babylon and Ê-saggil. But to all appearance Tudh̬uḷa, in his turn, was overtaken by his fate, for “his son shattered his head with the weapon of his hands.” At this point there is a reference to Elam, to the city Ah̬h̬êa(?), and to the land of Rabbātu^m, which he (? the king of Elam) had spoiled. Whether this refers to some expedition to Palestine or not is uncertain, and probably unlikely, as the next phrase speaks of devastation inflicted in Babylonia.

5. The Fate of Sinful Rulers

But an untoward fate overtook this ruler likewise, for Kudur-lah̬mal (= lah̬gumal), his son, pierced his heart with the steel sword of his girdle. All these references to violent deaths are apparently cited to show the dreadful end of certain kings, “lords of sin,” with whom Merodach, the king of the gods, was angry.

6. The Poetical Legend

The third text is of a poetical nature, and refers several times to “the enemy, the Elamite” - apparently Kudur-lah̬gụmaľ. In this noteworthy inscription, which, even in its present imperfect state, contains 78 lines of wedge-written text, the destruction wrought by him is related in detail. He cast down the door (of the temple) of Ištar; entered Du-mah̬, the place where the fates were declared (see BABEL; BABYLON), and told his warriors to take the spoil and the goods of the temple.

7. Kudur-Lahgumal’s Misdeeds

He was afraid, however, to proceed to extremities, as the god of the place “flashed like lightning, and shook the (holy) places.” The last two paragraphs state that he set his face to go down to Tiamtu (the seacoast; see CHALDEA), whither Ibi-Tutu, apparently the king of that district, had hastened, and founded a pseudo-capital. But the Elamite seems afterward to have taken his way north again, and after visiting Borsippa near Babylon, traversed “the road of darkness - the road to Mešku” (?Mesech). He destroyed the palace, subdued the princes, carried off the spoil of all the temples and took the goods (of the people) to Elam. At this point the text breaks off.

8. The Importance of the Series

Where these remarkable inscriptions came from there ought to be more of the same nature, and if these be found, the mystery of Chedorlaomer and Kudur-lah̬gumal will probably be solved. At present it can only be said, that the names all point to the early period of the Elamite rulers called Kudurides, before the land of Tiamtu or Tâmdu was settled by the Chaldeans. Evidently it was one of the heroic periods of Babylonian history, and some scribe of about 350 bc had collected together a number of texts referring to it. All three tablets were purchased (not excavated) by the British Museum, and reached that institution through the same channel. See the Journal of the Victoria Institute, 1895-96, and Professor Sayce in Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology (1906), 193ff, 241ff; (1907), 7ff.