(8) Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar, went forth and engaged them in battle in the Valley of Siddim:(9) King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Shinar, and King Arioch of Ellasar—four kings against those five.(10) Now the Valley of Siddim was dotted with bitumen pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, in their flight, threw themselves into them, while the rest escaped to the hill country.(11) [The invaders] seized all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their provisions, and went their way.(12) They also took Lot, the son of Abram’s brother, and his possessions, and departed; for he had settled in Sodom.(13) A fugitive brought the news to Abram the Hebrew, who was dwelling at the terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, kinsman of Eshkol and Aner, these being Abram’s allies.(14) When Abram heard that his kinsman’s [household] had been taken captive, he mustered his retainers, born into his household, numbering three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.(15) At night, he and his servants deployed against them and defeated them; and he pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus.(16) He brought back all the possessions; he also brought back his kinsman Lot and his possessions, and the women and the rest of the people.

(1) ויקחו את לוט בן אחי אברם, they made a special effort to capture Lot because he was Avram’s nephew. They were aware of his wealth. They were expecting that Avram would pay a heavy ransom for the release of his nephew.

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari: Concerning this matter that the Sages stated, that redeeming captives is a great mitzva, from where is it derived? Rabba bar Mari said to him: As it is written: “And it shall come to pass, when they say to you: To where shall we depart? Then you shall tell them: So says the Lord: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for famine, to famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity” (Jeremiah 15:2). And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Whichever punishment is written later in this verse is more severe than the one before it.Rabbi Yoḥanan explains: The sword is worse than death...Famine is worse than the sword...And captivity is worse than all of them, as it includes all of them, i.e., famine, the sword, and death.

(10) The redemption of captives receives priority over sustaining the poor and providing them with clothing. [Indeed,] there is no greater mitzvah than the redemption of captives. For a captive is among those who are hungry, thirsty, and unclothed and he is in mortal peril. If someone pays no attention to his redemption, he violates the negative commandments: "Do not harden your heart or close your hand" (Deuteronomy 15:7 , "Do not stand by when the blood of your neighbor is in danger" (Leviticus 19:16 , and "He shall not oppress him with exhausting work in your presence" (ibid. 25:53). And he has negated the observance of the positive commandments: "You shall certainly open up your hand to him" (Deuteronomy 15:8 , "And your brother shall live with you" (ibid. 19:18), "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18 , "Save those who are taken for death" (Proverbs 24:11 , and many other decrees of this nature. There is no mitzvah as great as the redemption of captives.

The redemption of captives precedes sustaining the poor and clothing them, and there is no mitzvah as great as redeeming captives. Therefore, [if] one has designated money for any mitzvah, they can reassign it in order to redeem captives. And even if they have designated it for the construction of a synagogue, and even if they have bought the wood and stones and ketzum for construction, [in which case] one is not allowed to sell them for the purposes of another mitzvah, [one is nevertheless] allowed to sell them in order to redeem captives. But if one has already built [the synagogue] then they should not sell it.
We do not redeem captives for more than their worth because of Tikkun HaOlam, so that our enemies will not exert themselves to kidnap [Jews]. And even if one’s relatives want to redeem him for more than his value, we do not let them, but a man is allowed to redeem himself with everything he owns, and so too for his wife since she is like his own body. And so too for a great scholar, or even someone who is not a great scholar but it is apparent that if you rescue them it is possible that they will become a great scholar, you [are also allowed to] redeem such an individual with everything you own:…

(3) Every moment that one delays unnecessarily the ransoming of a captive, it is as if he were to shed blood.

...The captives are not redeemed for more than their actual monetary value, for the betterment of the world; and one may not aid the captives in their attempt to escape from their captors for the betterment of the world, so that kidnappers will not be more restrictive with their captives to prevent them from escaping.
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: For the betterment of the captives, so that kidnappers will not avenge the escape of the captives by treating other captives with cruelty...

(12) We do not redeem captives for more than their worth for the benefit of the world at large, i.e., so that enemies will not pursue people to hold them captive. We do not assist captives in escaping, for the benefit of the world at large, i.e., so that enemies will not oppress captives seriously and be very strict when guarding them.

(4) Captives are not to be ransomed at an unreasonable cost, for the safety of society; otherwise, the enemies would exert every effort to capture victims. But a man may ransom himself at any price. So also, a scholar should be ransomed at a greater price, or even a student who gives promise of becoming a great scholar...

The Gemara suggests: Come and hear an answer based on the fact that Levi bar Darga redeemed his daughter who was taken captive with thirteen thousand gold dinars (Which is well over the market value)

The Sages taught another baraita (Tosefta, Horayot 2:5) relating to the fate of the Jewish children: There was an incident involving Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya who once went to the great city of Rome, where they said to him: There is a child in prison with beautiful eyes and an attractive appearance, and his curly hair is arranged in locks. Rabbi Yehoshua went and stood by the entrance to the prison. He said, as if speaking to himself: “Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers?” (Isaiah 42:24). That child answered by reciting the continuation of the verse: “Did not the Lord, He against Whom we have sinned, and in Whose ways they would not walk, neither were they obedient to His law?”Rabbi Yehoshua said: I am certain that, if given the opportunity, this child will issue halakhic rulings in Israel, as he is already exceedingly wise. He said: I take an oath by the Temple service that I will not move from here until I ransom him for whatever sum of money they set for him. They said that he did not move from there until he ransomed him for a great sum of money, and not even a few days had passed when this child then issued halakhic rulings in Israel. And who was this child? This was Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha.

[Tosfot quotes the Gemara:] "for whatever [amount of] money that they demand." [He was legally allowed to do this because where] there is a threat to life, we redeem the captives for more than their value...Alternatively, [he was allowed to redeem the baby for more than its worth] because [it possessed] great wisdom.

(Why was he allowed to be redeemed over market value?)


1) For he was exceedingly bright, or

2) Because because it was during the time of the destructionof the Beis Hamikdash (I.e. irrespective of what you do, enimies will continue trying to harm / capture Jews - despite whatever you do)