The Torah · Old Testament

Genesis 13

Abram and Lot take separate paths

General context

Abram returns from Egypt with Sarai, Lot and his possessions, and calls on the Lord at the place of his earlier altar. The possessions of Abram and Lot are too great for them to remain together, and their herdsmen quarrel. Abram appeals to their kinship and offers Lot a choice of land. Lot chooses the well-watered Jordan plain and moves toward Sodom, whose people the narrator describes as exceedingly wicked. After their separation, the Lord promises Abram the land he can see and descendants beyond counting. Abram settles at Mamre in Hebron and builds another altar.

Cited passages: Genesis 13:1, Genesis 13:2, Genesis 13:3, Genesis 13:4, Genesis 13:5, Genesis 13:6, Genesis 13:7, Genesis 13:8, Genesis 13:9, Genesis 13:10, Genesis 13:11, Genesis 13:12, Genesis 13:13, Genesis 13:14, Genesis 13:15, Genesis 13:16, Genesis 13:18, Genesis 12:5

Genesis 13 (KJV)

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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:

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

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.

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

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.

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Historical context

The journey returns to the earlier camp between Beth-el and Hai. Both households have livestock, and the land cannot support them together; Canaanites and Perizzites also live there. The description of the Jordan plain explicitly places its good water supply before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot settles among the cities of the plain and pitches his tent toward Sodom. Abram remains in Canaan and later moves to Mamre in Hebron. These are the account's own geographical and temporal notices.

Cited passages: Genesis 13:3, Genesis 13:5, Genesis 13:6, Genesis 13:7, Genesis 13:10, Genesis 13:11, Genesis 13:12, Genesis 13:18

Literary context

Visits to altars frame the chapter, first at Abram's former campsite and finally at Mamre. The account connects their great possessions with the land's inability to support both households. Abram's appeal against strife leads to a separation that allows Lot to choose. Lot lifts his eyes toward the watered plain; afterward, the Lord tells Abram to lift his eyes in every direction. The narrator's warning about Sodom sits between Lot's choice and the renewed promise to Abram. The dust comparison gives the promise of descendants a scale beyond counting.

Cited passages: Genesis 13:3, Genesis 13:4, Genesis 13:6, Genesis 13:7, Genesis 13:8, Genesis 13:9, Genesis 13:10, Genesis 13:11, Genesis 13:13, Genesis 13:14, Genesis 13:15, Genesis 13:16, Genesis 13:18

Key moments

Abram offers a choice (Genesis 13:9). Abram asks Lot to choose a direction and offers to take the other.
Lot chooses the plain (Genesis 13:11). Lot chooses the Jordan plain and journeys east as the two separate.
The land is promised (Genesis 13:15). The Lord promises the land Abram sees to him and his descendants forever.
An altar at Mamre (Genesis 13:18). Abram settles at Mamre in Hebron and builds an altar to the Lord.

For reflection

How does Abram's offer of a choice respond to the dispute between the herdsmen and his appeal to kinship?