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 rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.
3 And he returned by the way that he came, from the south to Beth-el, to the place where he first pitched his tent between Beth-el and Ai,
4 to the place of the altar, which he had made there at first; and there Abram called upon the name of the LORD.
5 And Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks of sheep, and livestock, and tents.
6 Neither was the land able to bear them, that they might dwell together; for their substance was great, such that they could not dwell together.
7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdsmen of Lot’s cattle; and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land.
8 And Abram said to Lot, “Please, let there be no strife between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brothers.
9 Is not the whole land before you? Choose a different place from me: if you will take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.”
10 So when Lot looked and saw the all the country about[a] the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the LORD, and like Egypt as one comes to Segor[b].
11 And so Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan for himself; and Lot departed east; thus they separated one brother from the other.
12 Abram stayed in the land of Canaan, and Lot went into the cities of the Plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom.
13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and exceedingly sinful before the LORD.
14 And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had departed from him, “Lift up now your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward:
15 for all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed, forever.
16 And I will make your seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man could number the sands of the earth, then your seed may also be numbered.
17 Arise and walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it to you.”
18 So Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the oaks[a] of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the LORD.
[3] Although ‘returned by the way he came’ is from GNV, Rashi states that he had lodged again in all the inns he had been to on the way to Egypt. He was going to visit the people he had visited previously and repay debts and give them news and talk with them again.
[5] This means, in the manner of ‘Shem, and Japeth also,’ that it was Abraham who had wealth, and Lot had wealth because he was with Abram. Later, when Lot departs from Abram he loses his share in the promise of Land to Abraham’s descendants.
[7] The Canaanites and Perizzites, who seeing their contention might blaspheme God and destroy them (GNV). Rashi states that Lot’s herdsmen were wicked, and claimed a right to the land since Abram had no heir; yet the land had not been given to Abram yet. This would have upset the Canaanite and Perizzite population who would have then had reason to suspect God and Abram.
[8] brothers in the figurative sense; lit. kinsmen or relatives.
[9] Rashi states, ‘to the left, to the right’ means I will not distance myself from you, I will stand by you as a protector and helper.
[10a] Or, Circle
[10b] or Zoar (Zo’ar). Rashi states that because Lot saw that there were secular cities there similar to Egypt, he was tempted to return to that kind of secular life and thus chose to go to those cities near the Jordan.
[11] from the east. Rashi states this means Lot chose to distance himself from Abram and return to the sort of secular life he had wanted to enjoy in Egypt. In this manner he neglected his relationship with Abraham, and with God.
[13] before the LORD — Once again we see this phrase means, “in the face of the LORD”. Rashi writes that they recognized their master and intended to rebel against him.
[18] Or, terebinths.
Selected commentary.
h.ויעל אברם וגו' הנגבה AND ABRAM WENT UP [OUT OF EGYPT] …TOWARDS THE NEGEB — He went up to proceed to the Southern part of the land of Israel — as it is said above (Genesis 12:9) “going on more and more to the Negeb” — to the Mount Moriah. Still, when one goes from Egypt to the land of Canaan, one proceeds from South to North, because Egypt is to the South of the land of Israel, as may be proved from the account of the journeys that the Israelites made in the wilderness and from the description of the boundaries of the land of Israel (see Numbers 33 and Numbers 34).
h.כבד מאד VERY RICH (literally, very heavy) — heavily laden with burdens.
h.וילך למסעיו AND HE WENT ON HIS JOURNEYS — When he returned from Egypt to the land of Canaan he went and lodged in the same inns as he had stayed when he travelled to Egypt. This teaches you good manners: that one should not change his inn (Arachin 16b); (where the reason is given that one who does this constantly brings discredit on himself and on others). Another interpretation: on his return he paid the debts he had previously incurred (Genesis Rabbah 41:3). (In both these comments emphasis is placed on “his” — he went on his journeys i.e. the routes he had taken before.)
h.מנגב FROM THE SOUTH — the land of Egypt lies to the South of the land of Canaan.
h.אשר עשה שם בראשונה [UNTO THE PLACE OF THE ALTAR] WHICH HE HAD MADE THERE AT THE FIRST and WHERE ABRAM HAD CALLED [UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD] (that is, ויקרא does not introduce a further action of Abram done at that time, but refers to a former one when he had called upon the Name of the Lord); but it may also be explained that it means that Abram now called there upon the Name of the Lord.
h.ההלך את אברם WHO WENT WITH ABRAM — What brought it about that he possessed all this? The fact that he was accompanying Abram (Genesis Rabbah 41:3; Pesikta Rabbati, שמיני).
h.ולא נשא אתם AND THE LAND WAS NOT ABLE TO BEAR THEM — It could not provide sufficient pasture for their cattle. The phrase is elliptical and a word must be supplied, for instance: the pasturage (מרעה) of the land was not able to bear them — for this reason the word נשא (masculine) is used (to agree in gender with מרעה; the suggestion is that נשא cannot have הארץ as subject since that noun is feminine).
h.ויהי ריב AND THERE WAS A QUARREL because Lot’s shepherds were wicked men and grazed their cattle in other people’s fields. Abram's shepherds rebuked them for this act of robbery, but they replied, “The land has been given to Abram, and since he has no son as heir, Lot will be his heir: consequently this is not robbery”. Scripture, however, states: “The Canaanite and the Perizzite abode then in the land”, so that Abram was not yet entitled to possession (Genesis Rabbah 41:5).
h.אנשים אחים BROTHERS — i. e. kinsmen. The Midrashic explanation is: that they resembled each other in their facial features (Genesis Rabbah 41:6).
h.אם השמאל ואימינה IF THOU WILT TAKE THE LEFT HAND, THAN I WILL GO TO THE RIGHT — Wherever you settle down I will not go far from you and I will stand by you as a shield and as a helper. Ultimately, indeed, he (Lot) was really in need of him, as it is said, (Genesis 14:14) “And Abram heard that his brother was taken captive etc.”
h.ואימינה I WILL GO TO THE RIGHT — The word means “I will direct myself towards the right”, just as ואשמאילה means “I will direct myself towards the left.” If you say that it should be punctuated וְאַיְמִינָה (the regular Hiphil form) I answer that in another place also we find this form, (2 Samuel 14:19) אם יש לְהֵמִין “none can turn to the right hand”, where the punctuation is not לְהַיְמִין.
h.כי כלה משקה THAT IT WAS WELL WATERED — a land of water-streams.
h.לפני שחת ה' את סדום ואת עמורה BEFORE THE LORD DESTROYED SODOM AND GOMORRAHH that land was 'כגן ה LIKE THE GARDEN OF GOD in respect of trees, כארץ מצרים LIKE THE LAND OF EGYPT in respect of seed (vegetables) (Genesis Rabbah 41:7).
h.באכה צער means AS THOU GOEST עד צוער to Zoar. The Midrashic explanation (Horayot [10]b; Genesis Rabbah 41:7) explains it to Lot’s discredit — just because they (the people of Sodom and Gomorrah) were addicted to lewdness did Lot choose their locality.
h.ככר The word means “a plain” as the Targum translates it.
h.מקדם FROM THE EAST — He removed from Abram and went westward of Abram — consequently he travelled from the East to the West. A Midrashic explanation is: He wandered away from the Originator (מקדמונו) of the Universe, saying, “I want neither Abram nor his God” (Genesis Rabbah 41:7).
h.ויאהל means he pitched tents for his shepherds and cattle עד סדום throughout the whole district extending AS FAR AS SODOM.
h.ואנשי סדום רעים BUT THE MEN OF SODOM WERE WICKED, and yet Lot did not refrain from living with them. Our Rabbis learned from here how the text (Proverbs 10:11) “and the name of the wicked shall rot” should be applied (Yoma 38b).
h.רעים WICKED in their persons וחטאים AND SINNERS with their wealth (Sanhedrin 109a)
h.לה' מאד BEFORE THE LORD, EXCEEDINGLY — They knew their Master and yet intentionally rebelled against Him (Sifra, Bechukotai, Section 2 2).
h.אחרי הפרד לוט AFTER LOT WAS SEPARATED FROM HIM — So long as the wicked (Lot) was with him the word of God kept away from him (i. e. God had no communion with Abraham) (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayetzei [10]).
h.אשר אם יוכל איש SO THAT IF A MAN IS ABLE [TO COUNT] — just as it is impossible for the dust to be counted, so, too, your seed shall not be counted.
h.ממרא MAMRE — the name of a man.