Genesis 13:1-8

Abram and Lot Separate

1 So Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, ¹into the Negeb.

2 ²Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

3 And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,

4 to ³the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord.

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

6 so that ⁴the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together,

7 ⁵and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. At that time ⁶the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.

8 Then Abram said to Lot, ⁷“Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, ⁸for we are kinsmen. ^[a]

Genesis 13:1-8 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 13

This chapter gives an account of the return of Abram from Egypt to the land of Canaan, and to the same place in it he had been before, Ge 13:1-4 and of a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot, and the occasion of it, Ge 13:5-7 which was composed by the prudent proposal of Abram, Ge 13:8,9 upon which they parted; Abram continued in Canaan, and Lot chose the plain of Jordan, and dwelt near Sodom, a place infamous for wickedness, Ge 13:10-13 after which the Lord renewed to Abram the grant of the land of Canaan to him, and to his seed, Ge 13:14-17 and then he removed to the plain of Mamre in Hebron, and there set up the worship of God, Ge 13:18.

Cross References

• 1. 13:1 ch. 12:9
• 2. 13:2 ch. 24:35; [Ps. 112:1-3; Prov. 10:22]
• 3. 13:4 ch. 12:7, 8
• 4. 13:6 ch. 36:6, 7
• 5. 13:7 ch. 26:20
• 6. 13:7 ch. 12:6
• 7. 13:8 [1 Cor. 6:1-8]
• 8. 13:8 [Acts 7:26]

Footnotes

• [a] 13:8 Hebrew 'we are men, brothers'