Genesis 13:4

4 in the place of the altar which he made before, and inwardly called there the name of the Lord. (at the place where he had made the altar before, and had inwardly called on the Lord's name.)

Genesis 13:4 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 13:4

Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the
first
When he first came to that place, and before he went down to Egypt: it is not said he came to the altar, but "to the place", where it had stood, for it seems now to have been demolished, either having fallen of itself, being made of earth, or had been destroyed by the Canaanites, since Abram left it; or perhaps it might be pulled down by Abram himself before he went from thence, that it might not be used and polluted by the idolatrous Canaanites. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord;
prayed unto him, and gave him thanks for the preservation of him and his wife in Egypt; for the support of himself and his family there during the famine in Canaan; for the increase of his worldly substance, and for the protection of him, and all that belonged to him, in his journey from Egypt thither; and for all the instances of his grace, and the rich experiences of his goodness he had favoured him with; (See Gill on Genesis 12:8) where the same form of expression is used.

Genesis 13:4 In-Context

2 Forsooth he was full rich in possession(s) of silver, and of gold. (And now he was very rich with livestock, silver, and gold.)

3 And he turned again by the way in which he came from the south into Bethel, till to the place, in which before he had set a tabernacle (to the place where he had pitched his tent before), betwixt Bethel and Hai,

4 in the place of the altar which he made before, and inwardly called there the name of the Lord. (at the place where he had made the altar before, and had inwardly called on the Lord's name.)

5 But also flocks of sheep, and droves of oxen, and tabernacles were to Lot, that was with Abram; (And Lot, who was with Abram, also had flocks of sheep, and herds of oxen, and tents;)

6 and the land might not take them, that they should dwell together, for the cattle of them was much, and they might not dwell in common. (and the land could not support both of them, for each of them had many livestock, and so they could not live there together.)