‘And the King of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and take the goods for yourself”.' This was not generosity, this is the opening gambit in his negotiations to rescue what he can from the situation. Abram owes him nothing. Thus he asks hopefully for the most he can expect. Can he have his people back? And he knows that Abram could even get difficult about that if he were not concerned about future relationships. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up my hands to Yahweh, God Most High, Possessor of Heaven and earth that I will not take a thread nor a shoe latchet nor anything that is yours, lest you say ‘I have made Abram rich', except only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion for the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them take their portion”.'
Abram's reply is that he will not demand the major portion which is his due. Once his confederates have received their agreed share, and the food provided has been paid for, the rest will be handed back to the five cities apart from what is given to other released captives who may well have been allowed to return home.
What he has done he has done for Lot, not for gain, and he is rich enough. He is not a paid mercenary leader, he is a servant of Yahweh. And he also probably does not want the King of Sodom to think that he has any future claims on him (‘I have made Abram rich' could be used in a number of ways, for example to suggest that future tribute may be owed).
So behind the account is a covenant in accord with local politics and customs, and the sharing out of the spoils in accordance with them. This is the firm record of what has been agreed. Abram comes well out of the whole matter in many respects. We can now understand even more why he is treated with such great respect by the people of the land who would never forget his exploit. And he has shown generosity of spirit and a sensible wariness of being seen as indebted to anyone. To accept the king's offer in a solemn covenant might have been seen as putting him under treaty obligation
The whole account is of course incorporated into the wider narrative of Genesis in order to bring glory to Yahweh, the God of Abram, Who clearly has been behind his success. But the lack of mention of this within the narrative, we note that at no stage was there a word from Yahweh, is explained by its local covenant significance and the identity of the scribe who was probably in the service of Melchizedek.
(Note. The fact is that Melchizedek was priest-king of Salem and thus a priest and worshipper of ‘the Most High God' Whom Abram recognised as Yahweh. As such he clearly had some overlordship over Abram, even if only temporarily as a kind of landlord. This is later taken to demonstrate a superior High Priesthood to that of Aaron. Abram was primary to Aaron, therefore any priest he acknowledged must be superior to Aaron. Thus in Psalms 110:4 the idea of a Davidic priesthood is based on this, and upon the fact that Jerusalem was David's city (by right of capture) and not a part of Judah or Israel, so that David was its king-priest. This is also later taken up in Hebrews 7. End of note).