King James Version
Genesis 13
18 verses with commentary
Abram and Lot Separate
And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the so...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
XIII.
ABRAM’S RETURN FROM EGYPT AND HIS SEPARATION FROM LOT.
(1-4) **He went on his journeys.**—Or, *according to his stations, *which the Vulgate very reasonably translates, “by the same route by which he had come.” This route was first into the south, the Negeb, which is virtually a proper name, and thence to the spot between Beth-el and Ai mentioned in Genesis 12:8.
**At the first** does not me...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. the place of Sichem--**or Shechem, a pastoral valley then unoccupied (compare Ge 33:18).
**plain of Moreh--**rather, the "terebinth tree" of Moreh, very common in Palestine, remarkable for its wide-spreading branches and its dark green foliage. It is probable that in Moreh there was a grove of these trees, whose inviting shade led Abram to choose it for an encampment.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
Chapter Outline
Abram returns out of Egypt with great riches.(1-4)
Strife between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. Abram gives Lot his choice of the country.(5-9)
Lot chooses to dwell at Sodom.(10-13)
God renews his promise to Abram, who removes to Hebron.(14-18)
**Verses 1-4**
Abram was very rich: he was very heavy, so the Hebrew word is; for riches are a burden...
Read full commentary →And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold....</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise fulfillment.<br><br>Central themes includ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**7. Unto thy seed will I give this land--**God was dealing with Abram not in his private and personal capacity merely, but with a view to high and important interests in future ages. That land his posterity was for centuries to inhabit as a peculiar people; the seeds of divine knowledge were to be sown there for the benefit of all mankind; and considered in its geographical situation, it was chos...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
Chapter Outline
Abram returns out of Egypt with great riches.(1-4)
Strife between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. Abram gives Lot his choice of the country.(5-9)
Lot chooses to dwell at Sodom.(10-13)
God renews his promise to Abram, who removes to Hebron.(14-18)
**Verses 1-4**
Abram was very rich: he was very heavy, so the Hebrew word is; for riches are a burden...
Read full commentary →And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been a...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
Chapter Outline
Abram returns out of Egypt with great riches.(1-4)
Strife between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. Abram gives Lot his choice of the country.(5-9)
Lot chooses to dwell at Sodom.(10-13)
God renews his promise to Abram, who removes to Hebron.(14-18)
**Verses 1-4**
Abram was very rich: he was very heavy, so the Hebrew word is; for riches are a burden...
Read full commentary →Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the nam...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 13
Chapter Outline
Abram returns out of Egypt with great riches.(1-4)
Strife between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot. Abram gives Lot his choice of the country.(5-9)
Lot chooses to dwell at Sodom.(10-13)
God renews his promise to Abram, who removes to Hebron.(14-18)
**Verses 1-4**
Abram was very rich: he was very heavy, so the Hebrew word is; for riches are a burden...
Read full commentary →And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents....</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise fulfillment.<br><br>Central t...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5, 6) **Lot**.—He, too, had possibly received presents in Egypt, for we find him rivalling his uncle in wealth; and the “tents” show that he had numerous followers, and, like Abram, was the chief of a powerful clan. The repetition that “the land was not able to bear them,” and that “they could not dwell together,” implies that the difficulty had long been felt before it led to an open rupture.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**10. there was a famine ... and Abram went down into Egypt--**He did not go back to the place of his nativity, as regretting his pilgrimage and despising the promised land (He 11:15), but withdrew for a while into a neighboring country.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-9**
Riches not only afford matter for strife, and are the things most commonly striven about; but they also stir up a spirit of contention, by making people proud and covetous. Mine and thine are the great make-bates of the world. Poverty and labour, wants and wanderings, could not separate Abram and Lot; but riches did so. Bad servants often make a great deal of mischief in familie...
Read full commentary →And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was grea...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
11-13. Sarai's complexion, coming from a mountainous country, would be fresh and fair compared with the faces of Egyptian women which were sallow. The counsel of Abram to her was true in words, but it was a deception, intended to give an impression that she was no more than his sister. His conduct was culpable and inconsistent with his character as a servant of God: it showed a reliance on worldly...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-9**
Riches not only afford matter for strife, and are the things most commonly striven about; but they also stir up a spirit of contention, by making people proud and covetous. Mine and thine are the great make-bates of the world. Poverty and labour, wants and wanderings, could not separate Abram and Lot; but riches did so. Bad servants often make a great deal of mischief in familie...
Read full commentary →And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and th...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **The Perizzite.**—We find mention in the Bible both of Perazites, translated *villages, *in 1Samuel 6:18, Esther 9:19; and of Perizzites, who are sometimes opposed to the Canaanites, as here and in Genesis 34:30, and sometimes described as one of the tribes settled in Palestine (Exodus 3:8; Exodus 3:17; Joshua 17:15; Judges 3:5). They are not mentioned among the races descended from Canaan, a...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
11-13. Sarai's complexion, coming from a mountainous country, would be fresh and fair compared with the faces of Egyptian women which were sallow. The counsel of Abram to her was true in words, but it was a deception, intended to give an impression that she was no more than his sister. His conduct was culpable and inconsistent with his character as a servant of God: it showed a reliance on worldly...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-9**
Riches not only afford matter for strife, and are the things most commonly striven about; but they also stir up a spirit of contention, by making people proud and covetous. Mine and thine are the great make-bates of the world. Poverty and labour, wants and wanderings, could not separate Abram and Lot; but riches did so. Bad servants often make a great deal of mischief in familie...
Read full commentary →And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. brethren: Heb. men brethren
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my he...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8, 9) **Let there be no strife.**—It is evident that Lot was beginning to take part with his herdmen, and regard himself as an injured man. But Abram meets him with the utmost generosity, acknowledges that their growth in wealth rendered a separation necessary, and gives him his choice. And Lot accepts it. Instead of feeling that it was due to his uncle’s age and rank to yield to him the preferen...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
11-13. Sarai's complexion, coming from a mountainous country, would be fresh and fair compared with the faces of Egyptian women which were sallow. The counsel of Abram to her was true in words, but it was a deception, intended to give an impression that she was no more than his sister. His conduct was culpable and inconsistent with his character as a servant of God: it showed a reliance on worldly...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-9**
Riches not only afford matter for strife, and are the things most commonly striven about; but they also stir up a spirit of contention, by making people proud and covetous. Mine and thine are the great make-bates of the world. Poverty and labour, wants and wanderings, could not separate Abram and Lot; but riches did so. Bad servants often make a great deal of mischief in familie...
Read full commentary →Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the lef...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. when Abram was come into Egypt--**It appears from the monuments of that country that at the time of Abram's visit a monarchy had existed for several centuries. The seat of government was in the Delta, the most northern part of the country, the very quarter in which Abram must have arrived. They were a race of shepherd-kings, in close alliance with the people of Canaan.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 5-9**
Riches not only afford matter for strife, and are the things most commonly striven about; but they also stir up a spirit of contention, by making people proud and covetous. Mine and thine are the great make-bates of the world. Poverty and labour, wants and wanderings, could not separate Abram and Lot; but riches did so. Bad servants often make a great deal of mischief in familie...
Read full commentary →And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **The plain of Jordan.**—This word, *Ciccar, *literally means the *circuit, *or, as it is translated in St. Matthew 3:5, “the region round about Jordan,” and, according to Mr. Conder (*Tent Work, *ii., p. 14), is the proper name of the Jordan valley, and especially of the plain of Jericho. It is now called the Gnor, or *depression, *and is one of the most remarkable districts in the world, be...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house--**Eastern kings have for ages claimed the privilege of taking to their harem an unmarried woman whom they like. The father or brother may deplore the removal as a calamity, but the royal right is never resisted nor questioned.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-13**
Abram having offered Lot the choice, he at once accepted it. Passion and selfishness make men rude. Lot looked to the goodness of the land; therefore he doubted not that in such a fruitful soil he should certainly thrive. But what came of it? Those who, in choosing relations, callings, dwellings, or settlements, are guided and governed by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the...
Read full commentary →Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves th...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Lot journeyed east.**—This is the word translated “eastward” in Genesis 2:8, and “from the east” in Genesis 11:2. Here it can only mean *towards the east.*
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. he entreated Abram well for her sake--**The presents are just what one pastoral chief would give to another.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-13**
Abram having offered Lot the choice, he at once accepted it. Passion and selfishness make men rude. Lot looked to the goodness of the land; therefore he doubted not that in such a fruitful soil he should certainly thrive. But what came of it? Those who, in choosing relations, callings, dwellings, or settlements, are guided and governed by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the...
Read full commentary →Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his ten...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12, 13) **Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain.**—Heb., *of the Ciccar. *Not as yet within their walls, but in their neighbourhood, and evidently with a longing “toward Sodom,” where, in Genesis 19, we find him sitting in the gate as a citizen, and with his tent changed to a house. While, then, Abram continued to lead a hardy life as a stranger upon the bracing hills, Lot sighed for the less se...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-13**
Abram having offered Lot the choice, he at once accepted it. Passion and selfishness make men rude. Lot looked to the goodness of the land; therefore he doubted not that in such a fruitful soil he should certainly thrive. But what came of it? Those who, in choosing relations, callings, dwellings, or settlements, are guided and governed by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the...
Read full commentary →But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly....</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise fulfillment.<br><br>Centra...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
18-20. Here is a most humiliating rebuke, and Abram deserved it. Had not God interfered, he might have been tempted to stay in Egypt and forget the promise (Psa 105:13, 15). Often still does God rebuke His people and remind them through enemies that this world is not their rest.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-13**
Abram having offered Lot the choice, he at once accepted it. Passion and selfishness make men rude. Lot looked to the goodness of the land; therefore he doubted not that in such a fruitful soil he should certainly thrive. But what came of it? Those who, in choosing relations, callings, dwellings, or settlements, are guided and governed by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the...
Read full commentary →And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and loo...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **The Lord said unto Abram.**—The departure of Lot was certainly a great grief to Abram; for he lost thereby the companionship of the relative who had shared his abandonment of his country, and whom, probably, in his childless state, he had regarded as his heir. Jehovah, therefore, consoles him by a more definite promise of the possession of the whole land of which he had so generously given ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
18-20. Here is a most humiliating rebuke, and Abram deserved it. Had not God interfered, he might have been tempted to stay in Egypt and forget the promise (Psa 105:13, 15). Often still does God rebuke His people and remind them through enemies that this world is not their rest.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-18**
Those are best prepared for the visits of Divine grace, whose spirits are calm, and not ruffled with passion. God will abundantly make up in spiritual peace, what we lose for preserving neighbourly peace. When our relations are separated from us, yet God is not. Observe also the promises with which God now comforted and enriched Abram. Of two things he assures him; a good land...
Read full commentary →For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever....</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise fulfillment.<br...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
18-20. Here is a most humiliating rebuke, and Abram deserved it. Had not God interfered, he might have been tempted to stay in Egypt and forget the promise (Psa 105:13, 15). Often still does God rebuke His people and remind them through enemies that this world is not their rest.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-18**
Those are best prepared for the visits of Divine grace, whose spirits are calm, and not ruffled with passion. God will abundantly make up in spiritual peace, what we lose for preserving neighbourly peace. When our relations are separated from us, yet God is not. Observe also the promises with which God now comforted and enriched Abram. Of two things he assures him; a good land...
Read full commentary →And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-18**
Those are best prepared for the visits of Divine grace, whose spirits are calm, and not ruffled with passion. God will abundantly make up in spiritual peace, what we lose for preserving neighbourly peace. When our relations are separated from us, yet God is not. Observe also the promises with which God now comforted and enriched Abram. Of two things he assures him; a good land...
Read full commentary →Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto t...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **Walk through the land.**—Repeated change of scene is not merely one of the pleasures of the nomad life, but also a necessity; for the uplands, covered with rich herbage in the spring, are usually burnt up in summer, and in the winter are exposed to driving winds and rain-storms. In these journeyings Abram is now to have the tranquil pleasure of feeling that his seed will inherit each beauti...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 13 Ge 13:1-18. Return from Egypt.
**1. went up ... south--**Palestine being a highland country, the entrance from Egypt by its southern boundary is a continual ascent.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-18**
Those are best prepared for the visits of Divine grace, whose spirits are calm, and not ruffled with passion. God will abundantly make up in spiritual peace, what we lose for preserving neighbourly peace. When our relations are separated from us, yet God is not. Observe also the promises with which God now comforted and enriched Abram. Of two things he assures him; a good land...
Read full commentary →Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD. plain: Heb. plains
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built...</strong> This passage is part of the Abrahamic narratives which shift from universal human history to God's particular covenant people. The Abraham cycle (Genesis 12-25) demonstrates God's sovereign election, covenant faithfulness, and the development of faith through testing and promise...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **The plain of Mamre.**—(Heb., *oaks of Mamre. *See on Genesis 12:6). Mamre was an Amorite, then living, and as he was confederate with Abram, it was apparently with the consent of the Amorites, and by virtue of the treaty entered into with them, that Abram made this oak-grove one of his permanent stations.
**Hebron.**—That is, *alliance. *Hebron was perhaps so called from the confederacy for...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. very rich--**compared with the pastoral tribes to which Abraham belonged. An Arab sheik is considered rich who has a hundred or two hundred tents, from sixty to a hundred camels, a thousand sheep and goats respectively. And Abram being very rich, must have far exceeded that amount of pastoral property. "Gold and silver" being rare among these peoples, his probably arose from the sale of his p...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 14-18**
Those are best prepared for the visits of Divine grace, whose spirits are calm, and not ruffled with passion. God will abundantly make up in spiritual peace, what we lose for preserving neighbourly peace. When our relations are separated from us, yet God is not. Observe also the promises with which God now comforted and enriched Abram. Of two things he assures him; a good land...
Read full commentary →