Birsha

Birsha (meaning: an evil or a son who beholds) was the king of Gomorrah at the time of the invasion of the four eastern kings under Chedorlaomer of Elam. He joined the coalition of five kings of the cities of the plain—Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar—who had been subject to Chedorlaomer for twelve years before rebelling in the thirteenth year. In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and his allied kings came and defeated the five in the Valley of Siddim, capturing Lot and his possessions along with the people and goods of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The rescue mission by Abraham recovered Lot and the captured people and goods, and Abraham's subsequent meeting with Melchizedek and his refusal of the king of Sodom's offer are the theologically significant aftermath of the battle. Birsha himself plays no further role in the narrative beyond providing the political context for Lot's capture and Abraham's military intervention. His name appears only in Genesis 14:2, making him one of the minor royal figures whose brief mention anchors the patriarchal narrative in a political landscape of city-states and regional military coalitions.