Genesis 13

Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev. He took his wife, everything he owned, and Lot went with him.

1And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

Note"Went up" is geography, not direction on a map: the land of Canaan sits on high ground compared with the Nile valley, so travelers always "go up" from Egypt and "go down" into it. The Negev is the dry grazing country at the southern edge of Canaan; its name means roughly "the parched land."

2Abram had become very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

2And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

NoteWealth here is not money in a modern sense. There were no coins yet; silver and gold were carried as bars, rings or lumps and weighed out at each transaction. Livestock was the main form of capital, which is why the size of the herds drives the rest of the chapter.

3He traveled on from the Negev, stage by stage, until he came to Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the start, between Bethel and Ai.

3And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;

NoteBethel and Ai are towns in the hill country north of Jerusalem, about ten miles apart. The King James spells Ai as "Hai" here, keeping the Hebrew letter that begins the name; it is the same place called Ai elsewhere. Abram is retracing the route he took in chapter 12 and returning to a camp he had used before.

4He came to the place where he had built an altar at the first. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.

4Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

NoteAn altar was a platform of earth or unworked stone on which animals or grain were burned as offerings. Abram builds them at points along his route rather than at one fixed sanctuary. "Called on the name of the LORD" means he worshiped there publicly, proclaiming the name aloud, not simply that he prayed privately.

5Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

5And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.

Note"Flocks and herds" is a standard pairing that covers the two kinds of animal separately: flocks are sheep and goats, herds are cattle. "Tents" here stands for the households and servants needed to move and manage them.

6The land could not support them both while they lived side by side. They owned so much that they could not stay in the same place.

6And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.

NoteThe limit is grazing and water, not living space. Semi-desert pasture supports only so many animals within reach of a given well or spring, and two large operations working the same range would exhaust it.

7The men who cared for Abram's livestock and the men who cared for Lot's livestock quarreled with each other. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land.

7And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.

NoteThe Canaanites and Perizzites were the settled peoples already occupying the land, farming the valleys and holding the towns. The detail matters practically: Abram and Lot are outsiders moving their animals through country that already has owners, so the open range available to them is limited and a quarrel between their crews is dangerous.

8Abram said to Lot, "Please, let there be no quarreling between you and me, or between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, because we are family.

8And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.

NoteLot was Abram's nephew, his brother's son. The Hebrew word translated "brethren" covers relatives generally, not just brothers in the narrow sense, so the point is that they are kin and kin do not fight over pasture.

9Isn't the whole land in front of you? Please separate yourself from me. If you take the left, I will go to the right. If you go to the right, I will go to the left."

9Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

NoteHebrew directions are given as if facing east, so "the left hand" is the north and "the right hand" is the south. Abram is offering Lot the first choice of territory, which normally would have been the older man's right.

10Lot looked up and saw the whole plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere. This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. It was like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as you go toward Zoar.

10And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

NoteThe "plain of the Jordan" translates a Hebrew word meaning a round basin or circle: the broad, low valley floor at the southern end of the Jordan, watered by the river and by springs. Zoar was a small town at the far south of that basin. The "garden of the LORD" is Eden. The remark about Sodom and Gomorrah is the narrator stepping outside the story to tell readers that the fertile plain Lot is looking at will not stay that way; the destruction he refers to happens in chapter 19.

11So Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan for himself, and he traveled east. The two of them separated from each other.

11Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

12Abram lived in the land of Canaan. Lot lived in the cities of the plain, and he pitched his tent toward Sodom.

12Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

Note"Pitched his tent toward Sodom" describes a drift, not an arrival: Lot is still living in tents like a herdsman, but he has moved his camp up against a city rather than staying out on the open range. Later chapters show him living inside the town.

13But the men of Sodom were wicked, and they sinned greatly against the LORD.

13But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

NoteThe King James "sinners before the LORD" uses "before" in the sense of "in the sight of" or "against." The line is placed here to tell the reader what kind of neighborhood Lot has chosen; the specific charges come later.

14After Lot had separated from him, the LORD said to Abram, "Look up now from the place where you are, and look north and south and east and west,

14And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:

15because all the land you see, I will give to you and to your offspring forever.

15For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

Note"Seed" in the King James means descendants, a whole line of people, not a single child; English kept this collective sense of the word for centuries. The Hebrew word behind "for ever" means an age or a span of time stretching out of sight, rather than a philosophical eternity.

16I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth. If anyone could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could also be counted.

16And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.

NoteDust is a stock comparison for a number too large to count, like sand or stars. The force of the image is uncountability, not smallness.

17Get up and walk through the land, the whole length of it and the whole width of it, because I am giving it to you."

17Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

NoteWalking the length and breadth of a territory was a recognized legal act in the ancient Near East: a person took formal possession of land by traversing it, much as one might walk the boundaries of a property. Abram is being told to perform that act over the whole country.

18So Abram moved his tent, and he came and lived by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron. There he built an altar to the LORD.

18Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.

NoteThe King James "plain of Mamre" is a mistranslation; the Hebrew word means great trees, oaks or terebinths. A grove of large trees was a landmark and a shaded camping place, and Mamre was the name of the local man or clan associated with it. Hebron is a town about nineteen miles south of Jerusalem, high in the hill country.