exegetical · Gen 13:18 · ✓ Approved

Mamre and the altar

Abram tented, came, and settled (BSB “went to live near”) by elone mamre at Hebron, and built an altar to the Lord there. The Hebrew is plural, by the terebinths of Mamre; BSB has “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. 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. The phrase is used again at 18:1; see Gen 13:18 → Gen 18:1. All these views are attributed; no verdict is given, and no cult background is required. See Look, walk, and settle at Mamre and The plain of the Jordan, Sodom, and Mamre: places in Genesis 13.

Claims

SaysAbram tented, came, and settled by the terebinths of Mamre at Hebron, a plural in the Hebrew and in the Samaritan text, and built an altar there; BSB has Oaks of Mamre, and the Greek has a singular oak.
UncertainMamre may name a landmark, an owner (14:13), a plain or valley, or, in Skinner’s view, a local sanctuary; all views are attributed, and no verdict is given.

Citations

BSB public domain Gen 13:18
OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 13:18 (WLC/OSHB), cantillation removed
Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain p. 201 (leaf n204)
Driver, Genesis (Westminster) public domain p. 154 (leaf n255)
Driver, Genesis (Westminster) public domain p. 154 (leaf n255)
Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain p. 377 (leaf n386)
Augustine, City of God (NPNF1 vol. 2) public domain p. 323 (leaf n346)
Skinner, Genesis (ICC) public domain p. 254 (leaf n355)
von Gall, Sam. Pent. public domain p. 21 (leaf n540)

Sources Bible Scholarship & Tool CC BY 4.0 BSB public domain OSHB CC BY 4.0 LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Driver, Genesis (Westminster) public domain Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain Augustine, City of God (NPNF1 vol. 2) public domain Skinner, Genesis (ICC) public domain von Gall, Sam. Pent. public domain

Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits

2026-11-12

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