Ellasar, a Mesopotamian city-state whose king Arioch joined Chedorlaomer of Elam in battle against Sodom and Gomorrah.
Ellasar is mentioned in Genesis 14 as one of the kingdoms that joined the coalition led by Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, in a battle against the cities of the plain, including Sodom and Gomorrah. The king of Ellasar was named Arioch (Genesis 14:1,9).
In the biblical account, the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (Zoar) had served Chedorlaomer for twelve years but rebelled in the thirteenth year. In response, Chedorlaomer and his allies, including Arioch of Ellasar, went to war against them in the Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea/Dead Sea region). The cities of the plain were defeated, and Sodom and Gomorrah were plundered. Lot, Abraham's nephew living in Sodom, was taken captive.
When Abraham heard of Lot's capture, he pursued Chedorlaomer's forces with his 318 trained men and defeated them near Damascus, rescuing Lot and recovering the goods and people taken from Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 14:13-16).
The exact location of Ellasar is uncertain, but it is believed to be in the region of Mesopotamia, possibly associated with the ancient city of Larsa in southern Babylonia. Its mention in Genesis 14 reveals the geopolitical context of Abraham's time, with rivalries and alliances among the city-states and kingdoms of the ancient Near East.
Approximate location: 37.057, 40.997 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
The oak or heap of Assyria, a territory in Asia of which Arioch was king (Gen. 14:1, 9). It is supposed that the old Chaldean town of Larsa was the metropolis of this kingdom, situated nearly half-way between Ur (now Mugheir) and Erech, on the left bank of the Euphrates. This town is represented by the mounds of Senkereh, a little to the east of Erech.
(oak), the city of Arioch, (Genesis 14:1) seems to be the Hebrew representative of the old Chaldean town called in the native dialect Larsa or Larancha . Larsa was a town of lower Babylonia or Chaldea, situated nearly halfway between Ur (Mugheir) and Erech (Warka), on the left bank of the Euphrates. It is now Senkereh.
EL'LASAR (oak, or heap), the country of which Arioch was king, Gen 14:1-9; probably Larsa, in lower Babylonia, on the Euphrates, between Ur and Erech. Its inscriptions indicate an earlier date than Babylon, in which it was afterward absorbed.
EL'LASAR (oak, or heap), the country of which Arioch was king, Gen 14:1-9; probably Larsa, in lower Babylonia, on the Euphrates, between Ur and Erech. Its inscriptions indicate an earlier date than Babylon, in which it was afterward absorbed.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
2 verses in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H0495
In those days Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim
against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.