Birsha

Birsha is the king of Gomorrah named in the alliance of five plain-cities that revolts against Chedorlaomer in Genesis 14.

King of Gomorrah in the War of Five and Four

Birsha enters the narrative paired with Bera of Sodom at the head of the rebel alliance: "that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar). All these joined together in the valley of Siddim (the same is the Salt Sea)" (Gen 14:2-3). The five had served Chedorlaomer for twelve years and rebelled in the thirteenth (Gen 14:4).

Defeat in the Valley of Siddim

When Chedorlaomer's coalition strikes back in the fourteenth year, the kings of the plain meet them on home ground: "And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar); and they set the battle in array against them in the valley of Siddim; against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings against the five" (Gen 14:8-9). The valley itself defeats them: "Now the valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and those who remained fled to the mountain" (Gen 14:10).