Old Testament Commentary - Genesis 13

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 13 Abram returns from Egypt—He and Lot part—The Lord will make Abram's seed as the dust of the earth in number—Abram settles in Hebron.
1 AND Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south. 2 And Abram was very ^arich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.		1^a TG Creation ^b Isa. 45:12; D&C 29:36; D&C 38:1; D&C 45:1; Moses 3:1; Abr. 5:1 2^a OR done ^b HEB stopped, ceased; from the verb shavat, the noun shabbat (Engl. Sabbath) means a stopping of cessation; D&C 77:12; Moses 3:2; Abr. 5:2 (1-3); TG Rest ^c TG Industry 3^a TG Sabbath ^b Ex. 20:11; Mosiah 13:19 (16-19); D&C 77:12; Moses 3:3 (1-3); Abr. 5:3 (1-3); TG Sacred ^c Ex. 31:17 ^d OR created through working
3 And he went on his journeys from the south even to ^aBeth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and ^bHai; 4 Unto the place of the ^aaltar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram ^bcalled on the name of the LORD.		1^a TG Creation ^b Isa. 45:12; D&C 29:36; D&C 38:1; D&C 45:1; Moses 3:1; Abr. 5:1 2^a OR done ^b HEB stopped, ceased; from the verb shavat, the noun shabbat (Engl. Sabbath) means a stopping of cessation; D&C 77:12; Moses 3:2; Abr. 5:2 (1-3); TG Rest ^c TG Industry 3^a TG Sabbath ^b Ex. 20:11; Mosiah 13:19 (16-19); D&C 77:12; Moses 3:3 (1-3); Abr. 5:3 (1-3); TG Sacred ^c Ex. 31:17 ^d OR created through working
5 ¶ And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. 6 And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the ^aCanaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.		1^a TG Creation ^b Isa. 45:12; D&C 29:36; D&C 38:1; D&C 45:1; Moses 3:1; Abr. 5:1 2^a OR done ^b HEB stopped, ceased; from the verb shavat, the noun shabbat (Engl. Sabbath) means a stopping of cessation; D&C 77:12; Moses 3:2; Abr. 5:2 (1-3); TG Rest ^c TG Industry 3^a TG Sabbath ^b Ex. 20:11; Mosiah 13:19 (16-19); D&C 77:12; Moses 3:3 (1-3); Abr. 5:3 (1-3); TG Sacred ^c Ex. 31:17 ^d OR created through working
8 And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no ^astrife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be ^bbrethren. 9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed ^aSodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD^a, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto ^bZoar. 11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.	*10^a even* as the garden of the LORD** The changing of 'climate' and of the structure of the and over time, beginning here just some years before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, is highly significant. The land to the east and south of the Dead Sea down to the right or eastern arm of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, was a 'garden paradise'. From that time, some 1500 years to 600 BC, the land would have been in a state of change, but even at the time of Lehi, a sizable river ran into the Red Sea and the climate was much more temperate than what it is some 2600 years since the time of Lehi. This is further evident with that band of land which begins across North Africa even unto the land surrounding the ancient sea port know as Ezion-Geber or Elath.
12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and ^aLot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. 13 But the men of ^aSodom were ^bwicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
14 ¶ And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and ^awestward: 15 For all the ^aland which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 16 And I will make thy ^aseed as the ^bdust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. 18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt ^ain the plain of Mamre, which is in ^bHebron, and built there an ^caltar unto the LORD.