The 318 Trained Servants
Genesis 14:10-14 footnote from The OSB
“Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell in there; but those left fled to the mountains. Then they took all the cavalry of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. […] Now when Abram heard his brother Lot was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.”
(Genesis 14:10-14, NKJV)
Genesis 14:14#
The 318 bishops of the Orthodox Church at the Council of Nicea were likened to these trained servants of Abraham. As Abraham’s servants overcame insurmountable odds, so the bishops, the trained servants of the Church, defeated the arguments of the many heretics who denied that the Son of God is coeternal and one in essence with the Father. These servants defended Abraham’s faith, handed down in the Church.