And the king of Sodom went out to meet him
While Abram was in pursuit of the four kings, the king of Sodom came down from the mountain whither he and those that escaped with him fled, and came to Sodom: and from hence he went out, not alone, but accompanied with his retinue, to meet Abram: after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings
that [were] with him;
to congratulate him upon the victory he had obtained over them; and this meeting was at the valley of Shaveh;
a most plain and even valley, as the word signifies, clear of trees and everything that obstructs sight or passage, as Jarchi observes, and so a proper place to have an interview in: which [is] the king's dale;
some say King Melchizedek's, but one should rather think it was the king of Sodom's; the Targum of Jonathan calls it the place of the king's exercise, where he had his diversions in riding, walking it can hardly be that in ( 2 Samuel 18:18 ) ; though some are of this opinion, being near to Jerusalem, which they suppose to be the same with Salem in ( Genesis 14:18 ) .