Genesis 14:21 · World English Bible
Genesis 14:21 Meaning The King of Sodom Said to Abram
The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people, and take the goods for yourself.”
What does Genesis 14:21 mean?
Sodom is the ruling drive of appetite and sense-craving in a person, and its king is the governing principle of that lower nature, bargaining to keep the living souls while it lets the outer possessions go. The persons are the animating powers, the inner life of the being, which appetite most wants to hold; the goods are mere externals it is willing to surrender.
From the Esoteric reading below.
Genesis 14:21 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Esoteric
ESOTERIC
Esoteric
Sodom is the ruling drive of appetite and sense-craving in a person, and its king is the governing principle of that lower nature, bargaining to keep the living souls while it lets the outer possessions go. The persons are the animating powers, the inner life of the being, which appetite most wants to hold; the goods are mere externals it is willing to surrender. The trade exposes the strategy of the lower self: it will hand over material things gladly if it can retain command over the living faculties, the vital energies of the person. Abram, the awakening higher mind, is being offered a false division that would leave the soul-forces in bondage while calling him rich in goods.
The meaning is clear: the craving-nature seeks to own the very life of a person and treats surface wealth as an acceptable bribe to keep it.
Sodom: the ruling drive of appetite and sense-craving in the body King of Sodom: the governing principle of the lower, craving nature Persons: the living, animating powers of the being, its inner vital life Goods: outward possessions and externals, surrendered easily by the lower self
Esoteric lensGo deeper in the app
Esoteric lens
Live Genesis 14:21 today
- Open the app that eats the most of your evening and look at what you actually get from it. It will hand you entertainment all night as long as it keeps your hours.
- When someone offers you something nice while asking for your time, your loyalty, your silence, name the real trade out loud before you answer. "So I would be giving you X."
- Under pressure to say yes to something you do not want, say you will answer tomorrow. The craving for relief will offer you anything to get an answer right now.
What have I been handed that looked generous, while the real price was a piece of my own life?
The same truth in other traditions
Buddhism
Craving does not want objects, it wants you. It is happy to trade any particular thing for continued ownership of your attention.
Stoicism · Epictetus
They can take your property, your reputation, your body. The one thing you must not hand over is the part of you that chooses.
Tao Te Ching 44
The one who knows what is enough is not bought. Fame and gain are the bait, and the hook is your own life.
Free · No account needed
Read all of Genesis 14 through 17 lenses
Lensightful opens every verse of the Bible through the traditions you choose. Save readings, ask a follow-up question, and get one verse a day.
Get Lensightful on the App Store