1Abram and Lot return out of Egypt. 7On a strife between their servants they agree to part. 10Lot goeth to Sodom. 14God reneweth his promise to Abram. 18He removeth to Hebron, and there buildeth an altar.
1AND Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the 1south.
1 That is, to the southern part of Canaan.
2And Abram was 2very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
2 Hebr. very heavy. Thus Abram already felt the truth of the Divine promise. He intended but to keep himself from starving in Egypt, and returns thus laden with riches.
3And he went 3on his journeys from the south even to 4Beth-el, untoa the place where his tent had been at 5the beginning, between Beth-el and 6Hai;
3 That is, following the ways and places through which he formerly descended into Egypt. See Gen. 12:9, or, he journeyed on, according as the transportation and carriage of his goods and the march of his cattle would permit.
4 See Gen. 12 on verse 8.
a Gen. 12:8.
5 See Gen. 12:6, 8.
6 See Gen. 12 on verse 8.
4Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on 7the nameb of the LORD.
7 Compare Gen. 4:26.
b Gen. 4:26; 12:8.
5¶And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
6Andcthe land was not able to 8bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
c Gen. 36:7.
8 That is, was not able to sustain them.
79And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: andd the Canaanite and the Perizzite 10dwelled then in the land.
9 See Genesis chapters 21 and 26, where you find a similar contention recorded.
d Gen. 12:6.
10 Because the old inhabitants left but little room in one part of the land for strangers, therefore Abram and Lot, having great store of cattle and being doubtless not a little envied by the inhabitants, they could not well find sufficient accommodation in one place for such a quantity, whence not only contention arose between the shepherds of Abram and Lot, but further trouble likewise was to be feared might ensue from these Canaanites. See Gen. 21:25; 26:15, 20, 21.
8And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; 11for we be brethren.
11 Hebr. we are men brethren, not only after the flesh, while I am your uncle and you are my nephew, but also after the spirit, for we serve one and the same God, and would give scandal to the inhabitants by such contentions, drawing reproach thereby upon the true worship of God.
912Ise not the whole land 13before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: 14if 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.
12 Such kind of asking implies a strong assurance. So Gen. 20:5; Exod. 14:12; Judges 4:6.
e Gen. 20:15; 34:10.
13 That is, it lies open for you, to be made use of or employed by you. See the like phrase, Gen. 20:15; 34:10, 21; 47:6.
14 Or, if thou wilt chose, copied from the next verse 11.
10And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of 15Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as 16the garden of the LORD, 17like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto 18Zoar.
15 This is the name of a river, moistening the land of Canaan, and springing from two heads in Mount Lebanon, called Jor, and Dan.
16 Hereby is understood the garden of Eden which God had planted, or, the garden of the Lord, that is, an extraordinary fair and pleasant garden; as the camp of God, 1 Chron. 12:22; the hills of God, Psalm 36:6; the cedars of God, Psalm 80:10; the wrestlings of God, Gen. 30:8; that is, very great and mighty. The word God signifies here, a great excellence.
17 See Ezekiel 31 where the fruitfulness of Egypt and Assyria are compared to one another.
18 Hebr. Tsohar, a city that was situated about Sodom and Gomorrah, which got that name when Lot retreated thither. See Gen. 19:23; being formerly called Bela. See Gen. 14:2.
11Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves 19the one from the other.
19 Hebr. the man from his brother.
12Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
13Butf the men of Sodom were wicked and 20sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
f Gen. 18:20; Ezek. 16:49.
20 Hebr. sinners against the Lord much. Notwithstanding the great wickedness of the Sodomites, and neighboring people, Lot chose this district for the goodness of it. Other, before the Lord. Compare Gen. 6:11; 10:9.
14 ¶ 21And 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 22westward:
21 God comforts Abram upon his nephew parting from him, and choosing for himself that goodly land.
22 Hebr. to the sea, Gen. 12:8.
15Forg23all the land which thou seest, 24to thee 25will I give it, and to thy seed 26for ever.
g Gen. 12:7; 15:7, 18; 17:8; 26:4; Deut. 34:4; Acts 7:5.
23 Not what he then all did see, but all that was promised him.
24 Not only as an earthly habitation for your carnal seed, but likewise as a pledge and sign of the heavenly country and mansion for your spiritual seed. Compare Heb. 11:9, 10, 14, 15, 16.
25 Namely, the right to the earthly Canaan for yourself, and to your seed after the flesh in due time the real possession, and afterwards to you and your spiritual seed here the right to the heavenly Canaan, and hereafter the everlasting possession of the same, all by free grace.
26 That is, for a long time, namely, until the Messiah, the Seed of the blessing, shall be born of your flesh, shall have accomplished the work of salvation upon the earth. The Hebrew word, among other significations, is often taken for the whole time of the law. See Gen. 17:13; 48:4; Psalm 132:14. Or, properly, in eternity, in regard of the spiritual seed and spiritual Canaan.
16Andh I will make thy 27seed 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.
h Gen. 15:5; 17:4; Deut. 10:22; Jer. 33:22; Rom. 4:17, 18; Heb. 11:22.
27 Abram’s seed and the dust of the earth is compared with each other, not in regard of a similar number, but of such a great and vast multitude of them, which cannot be numbered among men. See the like phrase Gen. 15:5; 22:17; 32:12.
17Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
18Then Abram 28removed his tent, and came and dwelt ini the 29plain of 30Mamre, which is in 31Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
28 That is, in his journeys he pitched his tents here and there.
i Gen. 14:13.
29 Or, oak-grove. Other, in the flat field.
30 This Mamre was an Amorite, dwelling by Hebron. See Gen. 14:13, 24, and this name is to be distinguished from that of More, Gen. 12:6.
31 Or, which is at Hebron, which city at that time was called Kirjath-arba, or the city of Arba, but afterwards Hebron. See Gen. 23:2; 35:27; Num. 13:22; Joshua 14:15; 2 Sam. 5:5.