Genesis 13:1-18

Abram’s Solution to the Strife

13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. 13:2 (Now Abram was very wealthy in livestock, silver, and gold.)

13:3 And he journeyed from place to place from the Negev as far as Bethel. He returned to the place where he had pitched his tent at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. 13:4 This was the place where he had first built the altar, and there Abram worshiped the Lord. 10 

13:5 Now Lot, who was traveling 11  with Abram, also had 12  flocks, herds, and tents. 13:6 But the land could 13  not support them while they were living side by side. 14  Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live 15  alongside one another. 13:7 So there were quarrels 16  between Abram’s herdsmen and Lot’s herdsmen. 17  (Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time.) 18 

13:8 Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no quarreling between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are close relatives. 19  13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself now from me. If you go 20  to the left, then I’ll go to the right, but if you go to the right, then I’ll go to the left.”

13:10 Lot looked up and saw 21  the whole region 22  of the Jordan. He noticed 23  that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated 24  Sodom and Gomorrah) 25  like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, 26  all the way to Zoar. 13:11 Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled 27  toward the east.

So the relatives separated from each other. 28  13:12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled among the cities of the Jordan plain 29  and pitched his tents next to Sodom. 13:13 (Now 30  the people 31  of Sodom were extremely wicked rebels against the Lord.) 32 

13:14 After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, 33  “Look 34  from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west. 13:15 I will give all the land that you see to you and your descendants 35  forever. 13:16 And I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone is able to count the dust of the earth, then your descendants also can be counted. 36  13:17 Get up and 37  walk throughout 38  the land, 39  for I will give it to you.”

13:18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live 40  by the oaks 41  of Mamre in Hebron, and he built an altar to the Lord there.

Genesis 10:1

The Table of Nations

10:1 This is the account 42  of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons 43  were born 44  to them after the flood.

Genesis 11:1

The Dispersion of the Nations at Babel

11:1 The whole earth 45  had a common language and a common vocabulary. 46 

Romans 14:15

14:15 For if your brother or sister 47  is distressed because of what you eat, 48  you are no longer walking in love. 49  Do not destroy by your food someone for whom Christ died.

Romans 14:20-21

14:20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. For although all things are clean, 50  it is wrong to cause anyone to stumble by what you eat. 14:21 It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything that causes your brother to stumble. 51 

Romans 15:1-3

Exhortation for the Strong to Help the Weak

15:1 But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves. 52  15:2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up. 15:3 For even Christ did not please himself, but just as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 53 


tn Or “the South [country]” (also in v. 3).

tn Heb “And Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all which was his, and Lot with him, to the Negev.”

tn Heb “heavy.”

tn This parenthetical clause, introduced by the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), provides information necessary to the point of the story.

tn Heb “on his journeys”; the verb and noun combination means to pick up the tents and move from camp to camp.

map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

tn The words “he returned” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

tn Heb “where his tent had been.”

tn Heb “to the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning” (cf. Gen 12:7-8).

10 tn Heb “he called in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 21:33; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

11 tn Heb “was going.”

12 tn The Hebrew idiom is “to Lot…there was,” the preposition here expressing possession.

13 tn The potential nuance for the perfect tense is necessary here, and supported by the parallel clause that actually uses “to be able.”

14 tn The infinitive construct לָשֶׁבֶת (lashevet, from יָשַׁב, yashav) explains what it was that the land could not support: “the land could not support them to live side by side.” See further J. C. de Moor, “Lexical Remarks Concerning Yahad and Yahdaw,” VT 7 (1957): 350-55.

15 tn The same infinitive occurs here, serving as the object of the verb.

16 tn The Hebrew term רִיב (riv) means “strife, conflict, quarreling.” In later texts it has the meaning of “legal controversy, dispute.” See B. Gemser, “The rîb – or Controversy – Pattern in Hebrew Mentality,” Wisdom in Israel and in the Ancient Near East [VTSup], 120-37.

17 sn Since the quarreling was between the herdsmen, the dispute was no doubt over water and vegetation for the animals.

18 tn This parenthetical clause, introduced with the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), again provides critical information. It tells in part why the land cannot sustain these two bedouins, and it also hints of the danger of weakening the family by inner strife.

19 tn Heb “men, brothers [are] we.” Here “brothers” describes the closeness of the relationship, but could be misunderstood if taken literally, since Abram was Lot’s uncle.

20 tn The words “you go” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons both times in this verse.

21 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.” The expression draws attention to the act of looking, indicating that Lot took a good look. It also calls attention to the importance of what was seen.

22 tn Or “plain”; Heb “circle.”

23 tn The words “he noticed” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

24 sn Obliterated. The use of the term “destroy” (שַׁחֵת, shakhet) is reminiscent of the Noahic flood (Gen 6:13). Both at the flood and in Sodom the place was obliterated by catastrophe and only one family survived (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:178).

25 tn This short temporal clause (preposition + Piel infinitive construct + subjective genitive + direct object) is strategically placed in the middle of the lavish descriptions to sound an ominous note. The entire clause is parenthetical in nature. Most English translations place the clause at the end of v. 10 for stylistic reasons.

26 sn The narrative places emphasis on what Lot saw so that the reader can appreciate how it aroused his desire for the best land. It makes allusion to the garden of the Lord and to the land of Egypt for comparison. Just as the tree in the garden of Eden had awakened Eve’s desire, so the fertile valley attracted Lot. And just as certain memories of Egypt would cause the Israelites to want to turn back and abandon the trek to the promised land, so Lot headed for the good life.

27 tn Heb “Lot traveled.” The proper name has not been repeated in the translation at this point for stylistic reasons.

28 tn Heb “a man from upon his brother.”

29 tn Or “the cities of the plain”; Heb “[the cities of] the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

30 tn Here is another significant parenthetical clause in the story, signaled by the vav (וו) disjunctive (translated “now”) on the noun at the beginning of the clause.

31 tn Heb “men.” However, this is generic in sense; it is unlikely that only the male residents of Sodom were sinners.

32 tn Heb “wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly.” The description of the sinfulness of the Sodomites is very emphatic. First, two nouns are used to form a hendiadys: “wicked and sinners” means “wicked sinners,” the first word becoming adjectival. The text is saying these were no ordinary sinners; they were wicked sinners, the type that cause pain for others. Then to this phrase is added “against the Lord,” stressing their violation of the laws of heaven and their culpability. Finally, to this is added מְאֹד (mÿod, “exceedingly,” translated here as “extremely”).

33 tn Heb “and the Lord said to Abram after Lot separated himself from with him.” The disjunctive clause at the beginning of the verse signals a new scene.

34 tn Heb “lift up your eyes and see.”

35 tn Heb “for all the land which you see to you I will give it and to your descendants.”

36 tn The translation “can be counted” (potential imperfect) is suggested by the use of יוּכַל (yukhal, “is able”) in the preceding clause.

37 tn The connective “and” is not present in the Hebrew text; it has been supplied for purposes of English style.

38 tn The Hitpael form הִתְהַלֵּךְ (hithallekh) means “to walk about”; it also can carry the ideas of moving about, traversing, going back and forth, or living in an area. It here has the connotation of traversing the land to survey it, to look it over.

39 tn Heb “the land to its length and to its breadth.” This phrase has not been included in the translation because it is somewhat redundant (see the note on the word “throughout” in this verse).

40 tn Heb “he came and lived.”

41 tn Or “terebinths.”

42 tn The title אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת (’elle tolÿdot, here translated as “This is the account”) here covers 10:1–11:9, which contains the so-called Table of Nations and the account of how the nations came to be dispersed.

43 sn Sons were born to them. A vertical genealogy such as this encompasses more than the names of sons. The list includes cities, tribes, and even nations. In a loose way, the names in the list have some derivation or connection to the three ancestors.

44 tn It appears that the Table of Nations is a composite of at least two ancient sources: Some sections begin with the phrase “the sons of” (בְּנֵי, bÿne) while other sections use “begot” (יָלָד, yalad). It may very well be that the “sons of” list was an old, “bare bones” list that was retained in the family records, while the “begot” sections were editorial inserts by the writer of Genesis, reflecting his special interests. See A. P. Ross, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Structure,” BSac 137 (1980): 340-53; idem, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Content,” BSac 138 (1981): 22-34.

45 sn The whole earth. Here “earth” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the people who lived in the earth. Genesis 11 begins with everyone speaking a common language, but chap. 10 has the nations arranged by languages. It is part of the narrative art of Genesis to give the explanation of the event after the narration of the event. On this passage see A. P. Ross, “The Dispersion of the Nations in Genesis 11:1-9,” BSac 138 (1981): 119-38.

46 tn Heb “one lip and one [set of] words.” The term “lip” is a metonymy of cause, putting the instrument for the intended effect. They had one language. The term “words” refers to the content of their speech. They had the same vocabulary.

47 tn Grk “brother.”

48 tn Grk “on account of food.”

49 tn Grk “according to love.”

50 sn Here clean refers to food being ceremonially clean.

51 tc A large number of mss, some of them quite important (Ì46vid א2 B D F G Ψ 0209 33 1881 Ï lat sa), read “or to be offended or to be made weak” after “to stumble.” The shorter reading “to stumble” is found only in Alexandrian mss (א* A C 048 81 945 1506 1739 pc bo). Although external evidence favors inclusion, internal evidence points to a scribal expansion, perhaps reminiscent of 1 Cor 8:11-13. The shorter reading is therefore preferred.

52 tn Grk “and not please ourselves.” NT Greek negatives used in contrast like this are often not absolute, but relative: “not so much one as the other.”

53 sn A quotation from Ps 69:9.