Genesis 13:1-10

1 Abram left Egypt with his wife and everything he had and went to the Negev. Lot was with him.

2 Abram was very rich because he had livestock, silver, and gold.

3 He traveled from place to place. He went from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the area between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been originally,

4 where he had first made an altar. There Abram worshiped the LORD.

5 Lot, who had been traveling with Abram, also had his own sheep, cattle, and tents.

6 There wasn't enough pastureland for both of them. They had so many possessions that they were unable to remain together.

7 Quarrels broke out between Abram's herders and Lot's herders. (Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in that area.)

8 Abram said to Lot, "Please, let's not have any more quarrels between us or between our herders. After all, we're relatives.

9 Isn't all this land yours also? Let's separate. If you go to the left, I'll go to the right, and if you go to the right, I'll go to the left."

10 Then Lot looked in the direction of Zoar as far as he could see. He saw that the whole Jordan Plain was well-watered like the LORD's garden or like Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

Genesis 13:1-10 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.