Discovery BoxGenesis 13:2-6
Context13:2 (Now Abram was very wealthy 1 in livestock, silver, and gold.) 2
13:3 And he journeyed from place to place 3 from the Negev as far as Bethel. 4 He returned 5 to the place where he had pitched his tent 6 at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai. 13:4 This was the place where he had first built the altar, 7 and there Abram worshiped the Lord. 8
13:5 Now Lot, who was traveling 9 with Abram, also had 10 flocks, herds, and tents. 13:6 But the land could 11 not support them while they were living side by side. 12 Because their possessions were so great, they were not able to live 13 alongside one another.
[13:2] 2 tn This parenthetical clause, introduced by the vav (ו) disjunctive (translated “now”), provides information necessary to the point of the story.
[13:3] 3 tn Heb “on his journeys”; the verb and noun combination means to pick up the tents and move from camp to camp.
[13:3] 4 map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.
[13:3] 5 tn The words “he returned” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[13:3] 6 tn Heb “where his tent had been.”
[13:4] 7 tn Heb “to the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning” (cf. Gen 12:7-8).
[13:4] 8 tn Heb “he called in the name of the
[13:5] 10 tn The Hebrew idiom is “to Lot…there was,” the preposition here expressing possession.
[13:6] 11 tn The potential nuance for the perfect tense is necessary here, and supported by the parallel clause that actually uses “to be able.”
[13:6] 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.
[13:6] 13 tn The same infinitive occurs here, serving as the object of the verb.
