Genesis · Pentateuch (Law)

Genesis 13

Abram and Lot separate, and God renews His promise of land and descendants.

c. 2090 BCKey verses Genesis 13:8-9, 13:10-13, 13:14-17Read Genesis 13 in the ESVopens BibleGateway
Haran, about 1,250 ftAbram’s road from Haran into Canaan (Genesis 12:4-6), about 420 milesShechem, about 1,900 ft

The chapter at a glance

  1. 1–4Back to the altarAbram returns to where he first worshiped
  2. 5–9Strife and an offerThe elder yields the choice for peace
  3. 10–13Lot’s choiceChosen by sight, on the edge of Sodom
  4. 14–18The promise renewedGod gives what Abram did not grasp

The chapter in brief

Abram goes up from Egypt into the Negeb, now very rich in livestock, silver, and gold, and returns to the place between Bethel and Ai where he first built an altar, and there he calls on the name of the LORD. Lot also has flocks, herds, and tents, and the land cannot support them both; their herdsmen quarrel while the Canaanites and Perizzites look on. Abram says, “Let there be no strife between you and me... for we are kinsmen,” and gives Lot the choice of the land. Lot lifts up his eyes, sees the Jordan Valley well watered “like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt,” chooses it, and moves his tent as far as Sodom, whose men were “wicked, great sinners against the LORD.” After Lot leaves, the LORD tells Abram to lift up his eyes in every direction: all the land he sees will be given to him and his offspring forever, and his offspring will be as the dust of the earth. Abram settles by the oaks of Mamre at Hebron and builds an altar.

Two men lift up their eyes in this chapter. Lot looks and takes; Abram is told to look and receive. Restored after his failure in Egypt, Abram can afford to be generous because the land is God’s to give. The New Testament widens this land promise. Paul calls Abraham “heir of the world” (Romans 4:13), and Jesus says the meek “shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). Christ is the appointed heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2), and those who belong to Him are fellow heirs with Him (Romans 8:17). Abraham walked through a land he never owned, “looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10).

Points for discussion

vv. 1–4

Back to the altar

The narrator stresses the return: “to the place where his tent had been at the beginning,” “to the place where he had made an altar at the first.” The word repentance is not used, but many readers see in it a man going back to where he last walked with God before Egypt. The wealth he brings is partly Pharaoh’s (12:16), a reminder that God blessed Abram even through his failure, and that blessing brings the next trouble.

vv. 5–9

No strife

“For we are kinsmen,” literally “we are brothers.” The quarrel happens in front of the neighbors (“the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land,” v. 7), and Abram ends it by giving up what was his to keep. He is the elder and the bearer of the promise, yet he lets Lot choose. He can let go because the land is not his to win; God has already promised it (12:7). This is not weakness but a peacemaker’s faith (Matthew 5:9; Philippians 2:3-4).

For discussion

Is it always right to yield a right? In the next chapter Abram goes to war for Lot (14:14-16), and Paul once insisted on his rights as a Roman citizen (Acts 16:37). When does love give way, and when does it stand firm?

vv. 10–13

Lot lifted up his eyes

The valley looked “like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt”: Eden and Egypt in one glance. Many readers hear an echo of Eve, who “saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes” (3:6): a choice made by what the eye desires. The narrator’s aside, “This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah,” casts a shadow over the green valley. Lot “journeyed east,” and in Genesis movement east often goes with leaving God’s presence (3:24; 4:16; 11:2). Then the slow drift: he moves his tent “as far as Sodom” (v. 12), is soon “dwelling in Sodom” (14:12), and at last sits in its gate (19:1). Yet Peter calls him “righteous Lot,” greatly distressed by what he saw (2 Peter 2:7-8). A believer can drift a long way, and grace can still pull him out.

vv. 14–18

Lift up your eyes

God speaks only “after Lot had separated from him,” and He uses the very words of verse 10: “Lift up your eyes.” Lot chose a valley; God gives Abram all he can see in four directions, “to you and to your offspring forever,” with offspring as the dust of the earth, the first of three pictures (dust here, stars in 15:5, sand in 22:17). Walking “the length and the breadth of the land” is often explained as a gesture of taking possession (compare Joshua 1:3). Christians read the “forever” of the land promise in different ways: as fulfilled in Israel’s history (Joshua 21:43-45; 1 Kings 4:21), as awaiting a future restoration of the land, or as widened to the renewed earth Abraham’s children will inherit (Romans 4:13; Hebrews 11:16). The order of the last things is held in this commentary with an open hand. What is certain is that God keeps every promise, and “all the promises of God find their Yes in him” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Abram’s answer is another altar.

Threads across the chapter

  • Lifting the eyes. Lot lifts his eyes and chooses (v. 10); God tells Abram to lift his and receive (v. 14).

  • Grasping and receiving. Lot chooses “for himself” the best of the land (v. 11), while Abram, who gave the choice away (vv. 8-9), is given all he can see (vv. 15-17).

  • Altars. Abram calls on the LORD at Bethel (v. 4) and builds an altar at Hebron (v. 18): the chapter opens and closes in worship.

  • Toward Sodom. The garden-like valley (v. 10) and its wicked city (v. 13) set the scene for chapters 14, 18, and 19.

Key words

13:8
מְרִיבָה merivah“Strife”; the quarrel Abram ends by giving way
13:8
אַחִים achim“Kinsmen,” literally “brothers”; the ground of Abram’s appeal
13:16
עֲפַר הָאָרֶץ afar ha'arets“Dust of the earth”; the first of three images for Abraham’s offspring, with the stars (15:5) and the sand (22:17)

Cross-references

  • Genesis 3:6The woman saw that the tree was a delight to the eyes
  • Philippians 2:3-4Count others more significant than yourselves
  • 2 Peter 2:7-8Righteous Lot, distressed by what he saw and heard in Sodom
  • Luke 12:15Life does not consist in the abundance of possessions
  • Romans 4:13The promise that Abraham would be heir of the world
  • Hebrews 11:9-10Abraham in tents, looking for the city whose builder is God
  • Matthew 5:5The meek shall inherit the earth
  • Genesis 22:17Offspring as the stars of heaven and the sand on the seashore

Questions for your group

  1. 1

    Why might the story bring Abram back to his first altar (vv. 3-4) right after his failure in Egypt?

  2. 2

    What made it possible for Abram to give Lot first choice, and what does that suggest about where generosity comes from?

  3. 3

    Lot chose what looked like Eden and ended near Sodom. What choices look well watered to us now but could lead where we would never have chosen to go?

  4. 4

    How should we hear “forever” in God’s land promise (v. 15), in light of Romans 4:13 and Hebrews 11:16?

My notes