A somewhat political dvar torah for Lech Lecha

Another reason for Avraham's refusal to the king of Sodom

In Bereishit 14:14
וַיִּשְׁמַע אַבְרָם כִּי נִשְׁבָּה אָחִיו וַיָּרֶק אֶת-חֲנִיכָיו יְלִידֵי בֵיתוֹ שְׁמֹנָה עָשָׂר וּשְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת וַיִּרְדֹּף עַד-דָּן.
And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.

In Bereishit 14:16
וַיָּשֶׁב אֵת כָּל-הָרְכֻשׁ וְגַם אֶת-לוֹט אָחִיו וּרְכֻשׁוֹ הֵשִׁיב וְגַם אֶת-הַנָּשִׁים וְאֶת-הָעָם.
And he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

So Avraham entered the war for good reasons - to save his captured relative.

In Bereishit 14:16
וַיָּשֶׁב אֵת כָּל-הָרְכֻשׁ וְגַם אֶת-לוֹט אָחִיו וּרְכֻשׁוֹ הֵשִׁיב וְגַם אֶת-הַנָּשִׁים וְאֶת-הָעָם.
And he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

So Avraham succeeds at his mission, by saving Lot and the other captives, and in the process a bunch of spoils.

In Bereishit 14:21
וַיֹּאמֶר מֶלֶךְ-סְדֹם, אֶל-אַבְרָם: תֶּן-לִי הַנֶּפֶשׁ, וְהָרְכֻשׁ קַח-לָךְ.
And the king of Sodom said unto Abram: 'Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.'

If the nefesh are not captured KedorlaOmer soldiers, but rather the populace and soldiers of Sodom who had been captured, then the King of Sodom is telling Avraham that he, the King of Sodom, has no need for spoils - he is just happy to get his people back.

This would at the same time imply that the King of Sodom thought Avraham was in in for the money, and so Avraham swears he will not partake of the spoils, thus demonstrating that he went into the war for pure intentions.

In the recent war in Iraq, people are still claiming that it was all about oil, or Halliburton contracts, rather than freeing the people of Iraq from a ruthless dictator, or eliminating a threat to the US that would eventually occur with development of weapons of mass destruction, or establishing another democracy in the Middle East, among other reasons. It was for a similar reason that Avraham had to tread carefully.

As Avraham said, in Bereishit 14:23
אִם-מִחוּט וְעַד שְׂרוֹךְ-נַעַל, וְאִם-אֶקַּח מִכָּל-אֲשֶׁר-לָךְ; וְלֹא תֹאמַר, אֲנִי הֶעֱשַׁרְתִּי אֶת-אַבְרָם.
that I will not take a thread nor a shoe-latchet nor aught that is thine, lest thou shouldest say: I have made Abram rich;

In this case, making Avraham rich, or enriching Avraham, would not be a boast, but rather a complaint, that Avraham entered the war for greedy motives and took of the spoils that were the property of Sodom.