Genesis 13: The Return, the Separation, and the Land Promise

So Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev—he and his wife and all his possessions—and Lot was with him. And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and gold. From the Negev he journeyed from place to place toward Bethel, until he came to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been pitched, to the site where he had built the altar. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord. (BSB)

Says Abram went up from Egypt with his wife, all that was his, and Lot with him, into the Negev. The going up answers the going down of 12:10. BSB has “all his possessions” where the Hebrew has “all that was his,” and it moves “into the Negev” forward; in the Hebrew the Negev stands last, and the Greek has into the desert in that same last place. In 13:2 Abram is very heavy in livestock, silver, and gold (BSB “extremely wealthy”); the same adjective was used of the famine in 12:10. He went by his stages (BSB “journeyed from place to place”) from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the first, between Bethel and Ai, the spot of 12:8. The written form אהלה is read as his tent; the Samaritan text in von Gall, p. 20 (leaf n541), spells it “אהלו”, in line with the qere. He came to the place of the altar that he had made there at the first, and called on the name of the Lord. Where the Hebrew has at the first, the Greek has the tent; a Bodleian reading stands nearer in sense to the Hebrew, and no cause is assigned. Those differences are set out in Up from Egypt, heavy with livestock, Back by stages to the altar between Bethel and Ai, and LXX Gen 13:1–4: the desert road and the tent at the altar.

Implies The return goes back to the altar and the calling of 12:8, the last act before the descent to Egypt, so the journey resumes where it broke off. Calling on the name of the Lord is already treated at 4:26 and 12:8; see Gen 13:4 → Gen 12:8, Gen 4:26 → Gen 12:8, Altars, and calling on the name of the Lord, and Gen 4:26: "then it was begun to call on the name of the Lord". That earlier reading is not reversed here. Abram’s peaceable return to the altar is of a piece with the Genesis 12 account of the altars in Canaan. The persons are real; see The figures of Genesis 5 as real persons and Persons and history in Genesis 7. The Egypt episode itself is pointed to in Famine and the sojourn in Egypt and is not taken up again.

Uncertain How far 13:1–4 is meant to set the Egypt episode right remains open. Calvin, on a checked page, reads the opening as Moses’ account of “the goodness of God in protecting Abram”, holds that “riches proved no sufficient obstacle”, and that “Abram did not rest till he had returned to Bethel” He takes the return as a return to worship at the altar. That reading is his, and it is also gathered in Abram’s return from Egypt to the altar, in early reading. No verdict is given here. Carried pages for the 13:1–4 opening that were not re-read for this chapter are not quoted.

Says The wealth Abram brings up from Egypt is named as livestock, silver, and gold. Lot is with him, as he had been in 12:5 and in the going down of 12:10. The stages of 13:3 are a journey by stages, not a wandering without a goal; the goal is the place between Bethel and Ai and the altar made there at the first. The ketiv and qere of “his tent,” and the Samaritan spelling, are language-note facts; they do not change the course of the return. The Greek differences at 13:1, 13:3, and 13:4 are likewise box lines and language-note facts, not a second base text.

Implies Abram’s return to the place of the altar, and his calling on the name there, present the journey as of a piece with his earlier worship in the land, not as a new beginning that cancels 12:7–8. The land promise given at Shechem is not withdrawn in this return, and it will be unfolded after Lot departs.

Uncertain Whether the narrative means to rehabilitate Abram after Egypt, or simply to bring him back to the altar, is not settled by 13:1–4 alone. Calvin’s checked reading, already set out, does not close the question. No other early reading of the opening is quoted here, because the carried pages for that opening were not re-read for this chapter.

The return to the altar

Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. But the land was unable to support both of them while they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they were unable to coexist. And there was discord between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were also living in the land. So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no contention between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. After all, we are kinsmen. Is not the whole land before you? Now separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.” And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan for himself and set out toward the east. And Abram and Lot parted company. Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the Lord. (BSB)

Says Lot, who was going with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents; the Greek has cattle where the Hebrew has tents. The land did not bear them, to dwell together, because their goods were many; the phrase “to dwell together” is then repeated, “and they could not dwell together.” BSB has “unable to support both of them while they stayed together” and “unable to coexist.” There was strife (BSB “there was discord”) between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land. Genesis 12:6 had already said that the Canaanite was then in the land; 13:7 adds the Perizzite and a participle. BSB’s also is not in the Hebrew. See Gen 13:7 → Gen 12:6 and “The land did not bear them”. Keil explains that “the land did not furnish space enough for the numerous herd to graze” The wording of the Greek at these verses is in LXX Gen 13:5–13: strife, the herdsmen and Lot’s choice.

Says Abram asks that there be no strife, for they are men, brothers (BSB “we are kinsmen”). Lot is Abram’s brother’s son (12:5). Driver takes brothers as “near relatives” The Hebrew order is between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen. BSB reverses both pairs, and at the herdsmen it follows the Greek order (your herdsmen, then my herdsmen), not the Hebrew. That fact is set out in “Men, brothers” and the offer of left or right and in the Greek note; BSB is not treated as the Hebrew here. Abram asks whether all the land is not before Lot (the Greek makes the question a statement), and offers, if Lot goes left, to go right, and if right, to go left.

Uncertain The offer may show generosity and trust in the promise of 12:7, or it may sit in tension with that promise, since Abram puts the choice of land in Lot’s hands. Calvin writes that Abram “voluntarily sacrifices his own right” Keil says “he was magnanimous”, and that he left the choice “in the confident assurance that the Lord would so direct the decision, that His promise would be fulfilled” Driver says he “generously offers his nephew the first choice” Skinner finds in the narrator “the magnanimity which springs from fellowship with God” Both views are attributed; no verdict is given. See Abram’s offer and The separation of Abram and Lot in early reading.

Says Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the kikkar of the Jordan (BSB “plain of the Jordan”), that all of it was a well-watered place, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as you come to Zoar. The comparison to the garden of the Lord is pointed to in Gen 13:10 → Gen 2:8 and is not opened at length here. BSB moves “all the way to Zoar” forward and sets the destruction clause last, in parentheses; in the Hebrew that clause precedes the garden comparison. The Greek has the paradise of God, and it keeps Zoar last, as the Hebrew does. Calvin thinks “the place where Adam resided at the beginning, is pointed out” Lot chose the whole kikkar for himself and set out miqqedem. They separated, each from his brother. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan; Lot dwelt in the cities of the kikkar and tented as far as Sodom (BSB “pitched his tent toward Sodom”; the Greek has in Sodom). The men of Sodom were wicked, sinners against the Lord, greatly.

Implies The destruction clause in 13:10 is prolepsis, looking ahead to Genesis 19 from the narrator’s day, not a verdict issued in this chapter. Sodom, the plain, and Zoar are real places. The persons are real. Identifications and dates are not settled here. The places are treated as background in The plain of the Jordan, Sodom, and Mamre: places in Genesis 13; no ancient Near Eastern text is cited or compared there, and none is compared here.

Uncertain Skinner holds that the destruction clause “might very well be a gloss”; that view is his, and it is also noted in the language note on 13:10–11. Miqqedem may be from the east, as the Greek and as the Targum, “Lot journeyed from the east”, or eastward, as Skinner, who writes that “the only possible sense here is” eastward, and as the lexicon with a verb of motion. BSB has “toward the east.” No ruling is given. Calvin finds “the inconsideration of Lot” deserving of censure, and that “he usurps for himself the better portion” Driver writes, “Such a fair prospect was more than Lot was able to resist” The Targum has Lot look “towards (the place of) fornication” Josephus speaks of Sodom, “which was then a fine city” Keil takes 13:13 “In anticipation of the succeeding history” 2 Pet 2:7–8 calls Lot righteous; see Gen 13:12–13 → 2 Pet 2:7–8. How the choice is to be judged is open. 13:10 says the plain was well watered; no further unnamed view is built from that fact, and no verdict is given. See Lot’s choice and Sodom, The kikkar of the Jordan and Lot’s choice, and Tenting as far as Sodom.

Uncertain Questions of sources for this narrative, stated as the J account or as a unity, are pointed once to Reading Genesis 2:4–25 alongside Genesis 1: from Josephus and Philo to Keil, Driver and Skinner and are not argued again here.

Says The land’s failure to bear them is stated twice, first with the land as subject and then with “they could not dwell together.” The strife is between herdsmen, not, in the first instance, between Abram and Lot themselves. Abram’s words treat the strife as unseemly among men who are brothers, and he moves at once to a peaceable offer. The presence of the Canaanite and the Perizzite is given as a fact of the time, as 12:6 had already named the Canaanite; the Perizzites are not otherwise identified here, and whether the name is a people’s name or describes dwellers in open country is not settled by the verse. See the language note on 13:5–7.

Says The kikkar is a round or circuit (BSB “plain of the Jordan”). Keil takes it as the valley on both sides of the Jordan from the Lake of Gennesareth to what was then the vale of Siddim, and holds that before the destruction this whole country was well watered. Driver describes it as the lower and broader part of the Jordan valley. Those identifications are theirs. The extent of the circuit, and the sites of Sodom and Zoar, remain open and are not fixed here; they are treated as background in the historical places note, with no ancient Near Eastern text compared.

Implies Abram remains in the land of Canaan; Lot settles in the cities of the circuit and tents as far as Sodom. The narrator sets the two side by side. The wickedness of the men of Sodom is recorded at once, before the events of chapter 19. That notice does not itself decide Lot’s motive, and it does not withdraw the later letter’s description of him as righteous.

Uncertain Calvin also thinks that the garden comparison points to Eden, as already quoted. Driver takes the garden of the Lord as the garden of Eden, a type of fertility. Those readings sit beside the verbal xref to 2:8 and are not adopted as a verdict. Whether Lot’s look is only a look at water and pasture, or already a look toward Sodom, is not named as a held view here beyond the sources already cited. The Targum and Josephus are early expansions, attributed in the notes, and are not required.

Implies Abram’s peaceable offer, and his remaining in Canaan, sit with the later unfolding of the promise after Lot departs. The offer is not treated as a failure, and it is not treated as a proof; both the trust reading and the tension reading remain on the table.

The separation of Abram and Lot

Abram’s offer

Lot’s choice and Sodom

After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, “Now lift up your eyes from the place where you are, and look to the north and south and east and west, for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted. Get up and walk around the land, through its length and breadth, for I will give it to you.” So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the Oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord. (BSB)

Says After Lot had separated from him, the Lord said to Abram (BSB “After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram”). The subject stands first, and the verb is a perfect, not the usual narrative form. He tells Abram to lift up his eyes and see from the place where he is, to the north and south and east and west, answering Lot’s look in 13:10. All the land he sees will be given to him and to his seed forever. He is to arise and walk about in the land, its length and its breadth, for it will be given to him. BSB has “Get up and walk around the land, through its length and breadth, for I will give it to you.” At 13:14 the Greek has “God” for the Lord. At 13:16 it has sand where the Hebrew has dust. At 13:17 it adds a further forever for the seed, which the Hebrew and the Samaritan text lack. Those differences are Greek-note facts; see LXX Gen 13:14–18: sand for dust, the added “forever” and the oak of Mamre. The wording of the Hebrew is in Look, walk, and settle at Mamre.

Implies This speech unfolds the grant of 12:7 after Lot departs. The land-and-seed promise is God’s initiative. What 13:14–17 adds—the look in four directions, the gift “to you and to your seed,” until forever, the dust, and the command to walk—is set out in Gen 13:14–17 → Gen 12:7. That record covers only what this speech adds; it is not a reversal of Gen 12:7 → Gen 13:14–17. The earlier promise of a great name and of blessing is pointed to in A great name, and blessing for the nations and is not taken up again. Later wording at 28:13, Num 23:10, and 22:17 is pointed to in Gen 13:15 → Gen 28:13, Gen 13:16 → Num 23:10, and Gen 13:16 → Gen 22:17.

Uncertain Calvin writes that “divine consolation was administered for the appeasing of his mind”, and he sees “the admirable design of God, in the departure of Lot” Of the walk he also says that “these are the exercises of faith” Driver says Abram is encouraged to “move about freely in the country” Skinner takes 13:14–17 as the work of a later hand and holds that “Lot left Abram the sole heir of Canaan” That source view is pointed once to Reading Genesis 2:4–25 alongside Genesis 1: from Josephus and Philo to Keil, Driver and Skinner and is not argued again. Early readings of the promise are gathered in The land promise after Lot’s departure, in early reading.

Uncertain Zera' in 13:15–16 may be collective offspring, a singular seed, or both in their contexts. That question is already treated at Genesis 12 and is not ruled again here. BSB has offspring. The Targum has “and to thy sons, for ever” Augustine writes that the people “might by hyperbole be compared to the dust for multitude”, and that, when the land is inhabited by Christians, “they also are the very seed of Abraham” Calvin takes the comparison “because of its immense multitude” Driver notes that Paul, at Gal 3:16, refers to this passage as showing that the promises given to Abram “were fulfilled in Christ”; no new ruling is given.

Uncertain On ad-olam (until forever), Calvin reads “that period which was brought to a close by the advent of Christ”, and holds that the possession was promised “until the future renovation” Keil writes, “The promise of God is unchangeable”, applies it to “the true spiritual seed, which embraced the promise in faith”, and says the promise has been “exalted from its temporal form to its true essence” Augustine weighs the saying against a reading to eternity, and holds that “only that land is meant which is called Canaan” Skinner doubts that forever is “a new element of the promise as compared with” 12:7. Those views are attributed; no verdict is given. See Seed, dust, and forever.

Says Abram then tented, came, and settled by elone mamre at Hebron, and built an altar to the Lord there. The Hebrew is plural, by the terebinths of Mamre; BSB has “went to live near the Oaks of Mamre.” The Samaritan text in von Gall, p. 21 (leaf n540), has the plural “באלוני ממרא” as well. The Greek has a singular oak. The phrase is used again at 18:1; see Gen 13:18 → Gen 18:1.

Uncertain What elone mamre names remains open. Keil reads “the terebinth of the Amorite Mamre”, taking Mamre as the owner named at 14:13. Driver likewise speaks of “the terebinths (xii. 6) of Mamre”, and of Mamre as “the owner of the terebinths” Calvin writes that Abram “returned to the oak, or valley of Mamre” Augustine has him remain “beside the oak of Mamre, which was Hebron” Skinner holds that Abram “inaugurates the local sanctuary there”; that sanctuary view is his. All these views are attributed; no verdict is given, and no cult background is required. The places are treated as background in The plain of the Jordan, Sodom, and Mamre: places in Genesis 13. See Mamre and the altar.

Says The look Abram is told to take answers Lot’s look, but it is not a look at a chosen portion: it is a look in every direction from the place where he is. The gift is to you and to your seed, and the term of the gift is until forever. The dust of the earth is the measure of a seed that cannot be counted, if a man could count the dust. The command to walk the land, in its length and its breadth, follows the look and the gift. BSB has “offspring” for zera', “forever” for ad-olam, and “Get up and walk around the land, through its length and breadth, for I will give it to you.”

Implies The promise is not a human arrangement after the separation; it is the Lord who speaks, after Lot has gone. The gift of 12:7 is not withdrawn; it is opened further. Abram’s walk is the walk of a man to whom the land is promised, not the walk of one who already holds it as an inheritance in hand. Acts 7:5 later says that he was given no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground, and yet that the land was promised to him and to his descendants. That later reading sits with this speech and is taken up in Gen 13:14–17 → Acts 7:5.

Says After the speech Abram moves his tent, comes, and settles at Mamre, which is in Hebron, and builds an altar to the Lord. The altar stands in a line with the altars of 12:7–8 and with the return to the altar in 13:4; it is a new altar at a new place, not a replacement of the earlier one. The next use of the same plural phrase is at 18:1, where the Lord appears to him there; that later wording is pointed to and not opened here.

Uncertain Whether “forever” names a period closed by the advent of Christ, an unchangeable promise applied to a spiritual seed, a grant whose land is Canaan, or no new element beyond 12:7, remains open, as already set out. Whether zera' is collective, singular, or both remains open in the same way, and Gal 3:16 is noted, not decided. Whether Mamre names trees, an owner, a plain or valley, or, in Skinner’s view, a sanctuary, remains open. No cult background is required, and no ruling is given.

Implies The persons named in this chapter are real. The identifications of the plain, of Sodom and Zoar, and of the oaks or terebinths of Mamre, and the dates that have been proposed for them, are not settled here. The historical places note reports those questions as open and cites no ancient Near Eastern text; this commentary does the same.

The land promise after Lot departs

Seed, dust, and forever

Mamre and the altar

Minor variants

Says The printed text of this chapter is the Masoretic Text throughout. For 13:1–18 the English verse numbers agree with the Hebrew and with Swete; there is no versification-map row. There is no separate textual record in this chapter. Differences confirmed on the Swete page are Greek-note facts and box lines; no Hebrew is reconstructed from them. At 13:1 the Greek has “into the desert” where the Hebrew ends toward the Negev. At 13:3 the Greek has “from where he had come, into the desert” where the Hebrew has “by his stages from the Negev.” At 13:4, where the Hebrew has at the first, Swete has the tent; a Bodleian reading stands nearer in sense to the Hebrew, and no cause is assigned. At 13:5 the Greek has cattle where the Hebrew has tents. At 13:8 Swete puts “your herdsmen” before “my herdsmen,” the reverse of the Hebrew; BSB follows that Greek order, not the Masoretic order, as the Hebrew and Greek notes record. At 13:9 the Greek makes a statement where the Hebrew has a question; the first hand of Codex Alexandrinus lacks a particle in the offer, and a corrector supplies it above the line. At 13:10 the Greek has “the paradise of God,” and it keeps Zoar last. At 13:11 the Greek has “from the east” for miqqedem. At 13:12 it has “in Sodom” where the Hebrew has “as far as Sodom.” At 13:14 the Greek has “God” for the Lord. At 13:16 it has sand for dust. At 13:17 Swete adds “and to your seed forever,” which the Hebrew lacks. At 13:18 the Greek has a singular oak for the Hebrew plural. The Samaritan text, as logged from von Gall, p. 20 (leaf n541) and p. 21 (leaf n540), supports the qere spelling “אהלו” at 13:3 and has the plural “באלוני ממרא” at 13:18; the Masoretic text remains the base here, and other Samaritan differences are not used as a claim. These lines are recorded in the Greek and Hebrew notes and are not restated as a table beyond this box.

New Testament reading

Says Three New Testament passages are treated as cross-references in this chapter, each quoted from the BSB. No Greek form is claimed. Acts 7:5 has God give Abraham “no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised to give possession of the land to Abraham and his descendants, even though he did not yet have a child.” That sits with 13:14–17, where the land is promised and Abram is told to walk it, without the text saying that he already holds it. Acts 7:2–4 is already treated in Gen 12:1–4 → Acts 7:2–4 and is not opened again. 2 Pet 2:7–8 calls Lot “a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless,” and describes him “living among them day after day.” That sits with 13:12–13; it does not decide the choice of 13:10–11. Heb 11:9 has him dwell “in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country,” living “in tents,” with Isaac and Jacob, “heirs with him of the same promise.” That sits with the walk of 13:17 and the tenting at Mamre in 13:18. Heb 11:8 is already treated in Gen 12:1–4 → Heb 11:8 and is not opened again. Jude 1:7 and Heb 11:10 are left as lookup. See Gen 13:14–17 → Acts 7:5, Gen 13:12–13 → 2 Pet 2:7–8, and Gen 13:18 → Heb 11:9.

Implies The later readings take the promise of the land as still ahead of Abram in Acts 7:5, and they take his dwelling as that of a stranger who lives in tents, with heirs of the same promise, in Heb 11:9. They do not withdraw the gift of 13:15–17.

Uncertain 2 Pet 2:7–8 calls Lot righteous and describes his distress; how the choice of 13:10–13 is to be judged remains open, and no verdict is drawn from the letter.

Says The three xrefs of this chapter have distinct roles. Acts 7:5 is treated as a quotation of the promise of the land, still ahead of Abraham and given although he had no child yet. 2 Pet 2:7–8 is treated as a quotation that names Lot righteous and describes his distress among the lawless, without deciding the choice of 13:10–13. Heb 11:9 is treated as an allusion to the sojourn in the promised land, in tents, with fellow heirs of the same promise. The Genesis 12 xrefs on Acts 7:2–4 and Heb 11:8 remain in place and are not opened again here.

Implies Read together, the later texts do not set the promise aside. They present Abram as one who is promised the land and who lives in it as a stranger, and they present Lot as one who can be called righteous even while the narrative of 13:13 records the wickedness of Sodom.

New Testament reading