quired sheep and cat tle , male and fe male don keys , male and fe male ser vants , and cam els .
17
But the Lord in flict ed se ri ous dis eas es on Phar aoh and his house hold be cause of Abram ’ s wife Sa rai . 18 So Phar aoh sum moned Abram . “ What have you done to me ?” he said . “ Why didn ’ t you tell me she was your wife ? 19 Why did you say , ‘ She is my sis ter ,’ so that I took her to be my wife ? Now then , here is your wife . Take her and go !” 20 Then Phar aoh gave or ders about Abram to his men , and they sent him on his way , with his wife and ev ery thing he had .
Abram and Lot Separate
So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev , with his wife and ev ery thing he had ,
13 and Lot went with him . 2 Abram had be come very wealthy in live stock and in sil ver and gold .
3
From the Ne gev he went from place to place un til he came to Beth el , to the place be tween Bethel and Ai where his tent had been ear li er 4 and where he had first built an al tar . There Abram called on the name of the Lord .
5
Now Lot , who was mov ing about with Abram , also had flocks and herds and tents . 6 But the land could not sup port them while they stayed to gether , for their pos ses sions were so great that they were not able to stay to geth er . 7 And quar rel ing arose be tween Abram ’ s herd ers and Lot ’ s . The Ca naan ites and Per iz zites were also liv ing in the land at that time . a
15 Or seed ; also in verse 16
Genesis 13:18 | 33
8
So Abram said to Lot , “ Let ’ s not have any quarrel ing be tween you and me , or be tween your herders and mine , for we are close rel a tives . 9 Is not the whole land be fore you ? Let ’ s part com pa ny . If you go to the left , I ’ ll go to the right ; if you go to the right , I ’ ll go to the left .”
10
Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jor dan to ward Zoar was well wa tered , like the gar den of the Lord , like the land of Egypt . ( This was be fore the Lord de stroyed Sod om and Go mor rah .) 11 So Lot chose for him self the whole plain of the Jor dan and set out to ward the east . The two men part ed com pa ny : 12 Abram lived in the land of Ca naan , while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sod om .
13
Now the peo ple of Sod om were wick ed and were sin ning great ly against the Lord .
14
The Lord said to Abram af ter Lot had part ed from him , “ Look around from where you are , to the north and south , to the east and west . 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring a for ev er . 16 I will make your off spring like the dust of the earth , so that if any one could count the dust , then your off spring could be count ed .
17
Go , walk through the length and breadth of the land , for I am giv ing it to you .”
18
So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mam re at He bron , where he pitched his tents . There he built an al tar to the Lord .
12:17 Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh Instead of chastising Abram , Yahweh punishes Pharaoh . 12:18 Pharaoh summoned Abram In the similar account in ch . 20 , God informs the king of the problem ( 20:3 – 7 ).
13:1 – 18 Abram and Lot have returned to the Negev after leaving Egypt . Conflict over resources leads Abram to decide that he and Lot should go their separate ways . In the patriarchal narratives , separation is often used as a subtle indicator of rejection ( 21:14 – 21 ; 25:6 ). Lot ’ s separation from Abram excludes him from the promises intended for Abram ’ s offspring . Lot ’ s exclusion is also evident in his choice of where to settle : the cities of the plain in the Jordan Valley , which are outside the land promised to Abram .
13:3 From the Negev Abram moves from southern and southeastern Judah around Beersheba . 13:7 Canaanites Refers generically to a wide range of people groups . Perizzites The Hebrew word used here , perizzi , is probably generic , like the Hebrew word for Canaanites . Perizzi refers to people who dwell in villages ( compare Dt 3:5 , where the related Hebrew word perazi means “ unwalled village ”); this distinguishes them from the city dwellers ( the Canaanites ). Elsewhere , the term perizzi occurs with names for distinct ethnic groups . were also living Indicates that the area and its resources were already in use by a settled population . 13:10 toward Zoar This apparently refers to the southernmost limit to the plain of Jordan ( or the Jordan Valley ); it was located on the southeast shore of the Dead Sea .
13:13 wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord This parenthetical note sets up the episode of Ge 19 and Sodom ’ s destruction by Yahweh . It also serves as a commentary on Lot ’ s character , contrasting it with Abram ’ s .
13:14 – 17 Yahweh rewards Abram for his decision , which firmly situates him in the promised land of Canaan . Here , Yahweh repeats to Abram the blessings of the covenant relationship ( 12:1 – 3 ).
13:18 great trees of Mamre The place where Yahweh appeared to Abram earlier in the narrative ( see 12:6 and note ). Hebron Also called Kiriath Arba ( 23:2 ), this area is where Abraham ( Abram ) will buy a cave to bury Sarah ( Sarai ; 23:17 ).
Genesis 13:18
HEBRON Hebron was located about 20 miles southwest of Jerusalem . Abram was often in the region of Hebron , and many of the patriarchs and matriarchs were buried there , including Sarah , Abraham , Isaac , Rebekah , Leah and Jacob . David was anointed king at Hebron ( 2Sa 2:4 ), and the city was his capital for the first seven and a half years of his reign over Judah ( 2Sa 5:4 – 5 ). See the infographic “ Ancient Altars ” on p . 127 ; see the table “ Altars in the Old Testament ” on p . 249 .