Genesis 13

Genesis 13 is part of the Abraham narrative in Genesis 12–25. It opens with Abram returning to Canaan after he had gone down to Egypt to escape a famine, as recounted in Genesis 12.

Outline

• Verses 1–4 Abram goes up out of Egypt into the south (the Negev) with his wife and all his possessions, and Lot with him. He arrives at the place between Bethel and Ai where he had first built an altar, and there he calls on the name of the LORD.
• Verses 5–7 The two men's possessions are so great that the land cannot support them dwelling together. Strife arises between Abram's herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen, and the Canaanite and the Perizzite are also dwelling in the land.
• Verses 8–9 Saying "we be brethren," Abram urges that there be no strife between them and lets Lot choose first where to go.
• Verses 10–13 Lot chooses the plain of Jordan, which is well watered, "even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt," and journeys east, pitching his tent toward Sodom. The text adds that the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
• Verses 14–17 After Lot has departed, the LORD tells Abram to look northward, southward, eastward, and westward, and promises to give all the land he sees to him and to his seed for ever, and to make his seed as the dust of the earth.
• Verse 18 Abram moves his tent and dwells by the oaks of Mamre (KJV "the plain of Mamre") in Hebron, and builds an altar there.

Key Verses

• Genesis 13:9 "If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right" — Faced with strife, Abram yields the first choice to Lot.
• Genesis 13:10 "Even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt" — Lot's choice follows visible abundance, and the verse foreshadows the Sodom narrative to come.
• Genesis 13:15 "For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever" — The land promise of chapter 12 is repeated in more specific terms.

People and Places

• Abram — His name before it is changed to Abraham in chapter 17.
• Lot — Abram's nephew. In this chapter he parts from Abram and goes toward Sodom.
• Abram's wife — Mentioned only as going up with him in verse 1.
• Egypt · Canaan — The land Abram left and the land to which he returned.
• Bethel — Abram returns to the place where he first built an altar.
• Ai — A city near Bethel.
• The plain of Jordan — The well-watered plain of the Jordan Valley, extending as far as Zoar.
• Sodom and Gomorrah — The cities of the plain to which Lot moved.
• Mamre in Hebron — Where Abram settled and built an altar.

Points for Reflection

• Lot's choice is commonly read in contrast to Abram's deference. The text, however, does not directly rebuke Lot; it records only the wickedness of Sodom. In the New Testament, 2 Peter 2 calls him "just Lot."
• The land promise of verses 14–17 is part of the Abrahamic covenant. Dispensationalism emphasizes it as a literal promise of land given to the nation of Israel. Covenant theology tends to read it more broadly, in light of passages such as Hebrews 11:8–12, as pointing to a heavenly homeland and to fulfillment in Christ.
• The imagery for Abram's descendants progresses from "the dust of the earth" in this chapter to "the stars" of heaven in chapter 15 and "the sand which is upon the sea shore" in chapter 22.

In the Korean Church

Verses 8–9 are frequently cited in sermons on yielding and reconciliation, and verses 10–17 in sermons comparing the choices of Lot and Abram. The passage is also commonly taught in Sunday school as the story of "Abram and Lot."