13:1 So Abram went up from Egypt into the Negev. 1 He took his wife and all his possessions with him, as well as Lot. 2 13:2 (Now Abram was very wealthy 3 in livestock, silver, and gold.) 4
13:3 And he journeyed from place to place 5 from the Negev as far as Bethel. 6 He returned 7 to the place where he had pitched his tent 8 at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. 13:4 This was the place where he had first built the altar, 9 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.
16:3 So after Abram had lived 46 in Canaan for ten years, Sarai, Abram’s wife, gave Hagar, her Egyptian servant, 47 to her husband to be his wife. 48
19:2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night 56 and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” 57 “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” 58
32:1 So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God 61 met him.
1 tn Or “the South [country]” (also in v. 3).
2 tn Heb “And Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all which was his, and Lot with him, to the Negev.”
3 tn Heb “heavy.”
4 tn This parenthetical clause, introduced by the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), provides information necessary to the point of the story.
5 tn Heb “on his journeys”; the verb and noun combination means to pick up the tents and move from camp to camp.
6 map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.
7 tn The words “he returned” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
8 tn Heb “where his tent had been.”
7 tn Heb “to the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning” (cf. Gen 12:7-8).
8 tn Heb “he called in the name of the
9 tn Heb “was going.”
10 tn The Hebrew idiom is “to Lot…there was,” the preposition here expressing possession.
11 tn The potential nuance for the perfect tense is necessary here, and supported by the parallel clause that actually uses “to be able.”
12 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.
13 tn The same infinitive occurs here, serving as the object of the verb.
13 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.
14 sn Since the quarreling was between the herdsmen, the dispute was no doubt over water and vegetation for the animals.
15 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.
15 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.
17 tn The words “you go” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons both times in this verse.
19 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.
20 tn Or “plain”; Heb “circle.”
21 tn The words “he noticed” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
22 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).
23 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.
24 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
21 tn Heb “Lot traveled.” The proper name has not been repeated in the translation at this point for stylistic reasons.
22 tn Heb “a man from upon his brother.”
23 tn Or “the cities of the plain”; Heb “[the cities of] the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.
25 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.
26 tn Heb “men.” However, this is generic in sense; it is unlikely that only the male residents of Sodom were sinners.
27 tn Heb “wicked and sinners against the
27 tn Heb “and the
28 tn Heb “lift up your eyes and see.”
29 tn Heb “for all the land which you see to you I will give it and to your descendants.”
31 tn The translation “can be counted” (potential imperfect) is suggested by the use of יוּכַל (yukhal, “is able”) in the preceding clause.
33 tn The connective “and” is not present in the Hebrew text; it has been supplied for purposes of English style.
34 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.
35 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).
35 tn Heb “he came and lived.”
36 tn Or “terebinths.”
37 tn Heb “a man to his neighbor.” The Hebrew idiom may be translated “to each other” or “one to another.”
38 tn The speech contains two cohortatives of exhortation followed by their respective cognate accusatives: “let us brick bricks” (נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים, nilbbÿnah lÿvenim) and “burn for burning” (נִשְׂרְפָה לִשְׂרֵפָה, nisrÿfah lisrefah). This stresses the intensity of the undertaking; it also reflects the Akkadian text which uses similar constructions (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [AB], 75-76).
39 tn Or “bitumen” (cf. NEB, NRSV).
40 tn The disjunctive clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.
39 tn Heb “at the end of ten years, to live, Abram.” The prepositional phrase introduces the temporal clause, the infinitive construct serves as the verb, and the name “Abram” is the subject.
40 tn Heb “the Egyptian, her female servant.”
41 sn To be his wife. Hagar became a slave wife, not on equal standing with Sarai. However, if Hagar produced the heir, she would be the primary wife in the eyes of society. When this eventually happened, Hagar become insolent, prompting Sarai’s anger.
41 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
42 tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”
43 tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to what he saw. The drawn-out description focuses the reader’s attention on Abraham’s deliberate, fixed gaze and indicates that what he is seeing is significant.
44 tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.
45 tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.
46 tn The form וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (vayyishtakhu, “and bowed low”) is from the verb הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה (hishtakhavah, “to worship, bow low to the ground”). It is probably from a root חָוָה (khavah), though some derive it from שָׁחָה (shakhah).
47 sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the
43 tn The imperatives have the force of invitation.
44 tn These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “you can rise up early and go” means “you can go early.”
45 sn The town square refers to the wide street area at the gate complex of the city.
45 tn Or “she conceived.”
47 tn Heb “the one born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.” The two modifying clauses, the first introduced with an article and the second with the relative pronoun, are placed in the middle of the sentence, before the name Isaac is stated. They are meant to underscore that this was indeed an actual birth to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of the promise.
49 sn The phrase angels of God occurs only here and in Gen 28:12 in the OT. Jacob saw a vision of angels just before he left the promised land. Now he encounters angels as he prepares to return to it. The text does not give the details of the encounter, but Jacob’s response suggests it was amicable. This location was a spot where heaven made contact with earth, and where God made his presence known to the patriarch. See C. Houtman, “Jacob at Mahanaim: Some Remarks on Genesis XXXII 2-3,” VT 28 (1978): 37-44.