The return to the altar
Abram went up from Egypt, answering the going down of 12:10, with his wife, all that was his (BSB “all his possessions”), and Lot. The Hebrew ends with hannegbah, toward the Negev; BSB moves “into the Negev” forward, and the Greek has into the desert in that last place. He went by his stages (BSB “journeyed from place to place”) 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”. He came to the place of the altar that he had made there at the first, and called on the name of the Lord. That phrase is already treated at 12:8 and 4:26; see Gen 13:4 → Gen 12:8 and Gen 4:26 → Gen 12:8; it is not reversed here. 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 (see the Greek note). 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”. Early readings of the return are gathered in Abram’s return from Egypt to the altar, in early reading. The wording is in Back by stages to the altar between Bethel and Ai.
Claims
- SaysAbram went up from Egypt with his wife, all that was his, and Lot, returned by stages to the place of the altar between Bethel and Ai, and called on the name of the Lord; BSB differs from the Hebrew at the Negev, at possessions, and at the stages, and the Greek has the desert and, at 13:4, the tent.
- ImpliesThe return goes back to the altar and the calling of 12:8, so the journey resumes where it broke off; that earlier reading is not reversed.
- UncertainHow far 13:1–4 is meant to set the Egypt episode right remains open; Calvin’s checked reading of the return is attributed, and no verdict is given.
Citations
- BSB public domain Gen 13:1–4
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 13:1–4 (WLC/OSHB), cantillation removed
- LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 13:1–18, vol. 1, pp. 20–21 (oldtestamentingr01swetuoft, viewer leaves n51–n52), as recorded in the Greek language notes of this chapter
- Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain p. 367 (leaf n376)
- Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain p. 367 (leaf n376)
- Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain p. 368 (leaf n377)
- von Gall, Sam. Pent. public domain p. 20 (leaf n541)
Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits
2026-11-12
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