The South was used as the name of the country to the south of Canaan, as we use "the South" and "the West" to mean sections of our own country.
DIVISION OF THE LAND.
Plain of the Jordan. The river Jordan runs through a deep valley, which broadens out in its southern part into a plain. It was warm, rich and fertile. Here were situated the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Zoar. One of the cities of the Plain of the Jordan, perhaps on higher ground than the others.
Hebron, near which the oaks of Mamre were, lies about twenty miles south of Jerusalem. It was from very early time regarded as a sacred city. It is still a town of considerable size.
THE FIGHT OF THE FIVE KINGS.
The five kings were from Babylonia and the mountain country of Elam beyond Babylonia. As the story stands, the king of Elam had conquered Babylonia and the land of Canaan. After a time, part of the land of Canaan revolted, and he came, with his Babylonian allies, to punish the rebellious Canaanites.
Slime pits. Pits of bitumen, a black, sometimes sticky mineral, which is found in the valley of Jordan.
Dan. A town in the north of Palestine. The story makes Abraham's chase of the kings extend all the length of the land afterwards held by the Hebrews.