And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
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Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
“When Abraham learned of this, he counted his servants born in the house” and with men won a victory and liberated his nephew. This shows that the separation had taken place in friendship, since Abraham’s love for his nephew was so great that he was willing to confront even the dangers of war on his behalf. What does it mean “he counted”? It means he “chose.” So too what Jesus said in the Gospel refers not only to the knowledge of God but also to the grace of the just: “Even the hairs on your head are all counted.” Indeed, “the Lord knows those who are his,” but those who are not his he does not deign to know. Abraham, then, counted men. You should understand that it is not numerical quantity that is here expressed but the value of their election. He chose, in fact, those whom he judged worthy to belong to the number of the faithful who were to believe in the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, the letter T in Greek means “three hundred,” and the sum IH—ten plus eight— expresse...
Servants, fit for war. Hence we may form some judgment of the power and dignity of Abram, who was considered as a great prince in that country, chap. xxiii. 6. He was assisted by Mambre, Escol, and Aner, with all the forces they could raise on such a short warning; and coming upon the four kings unawares, in four divisions, easily discomfits them, while they were busy plundering the cities, and pursues them to Dan; which is either the city that went by that name afterwards, or more probably one of the sources of the Jordan, (Haydock) which the people of the country call Medan. Neither did he suffer them to repose, before he had retaken all the plunder at Hoba, or Abila, north of the road leading to Damascus. (Calmet)
Consider in this case, I ask you, dearly beloved, the greatness of heart exemplified in the just man’s virtue. Trusting in the power of God, he was not cowed by the force of the enemy when he learned of the rout they had caused, first by falling upon all the tribes and prevailing against the Amalekites and all the others, and then by engaging the Sodomites, putting them to flight and seizing all their property. The reason, you see, why sacred Scripture described all this to us ahead of time, as well as all they achieved through their bravery, was that you might learn that the patriarch prevailed against them not by physical strength but through faith in God. [He] achieved all this under the protection of help from on high, not by wielding weapons and arrows and spears or by drawing bows or raising shields but with a few retainers of his own household.
