The big picture
Abram, a wealthy herdsman called by God, returns from Egypt, a kingdom to the south, with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot. Canaan, the region where Abram has been living as a migrant, becomes their home again. Lot also owns many animals and tents. The two households travel back toward Beth-el, a settlement where Abram had built an altar. Their wealth now creates a practical problem. The same grazing land must support both large herds. Their workers begin to quarrel, so Abram must deal with a family conflict before it grows worse.
In this chapter
- Large Herds Cause a Dispute Genesis 13:1-7
Abram leaves Egypt with Sarai, Lot and all their goods.
- Lot Chooses the Jordan Plain Genesis 13:8-13
Abram steps in before the quarrel breaks the family apart.
- God Repeats His Promise Genesis 13:14-18
After Lot leaves, the LORD tells Abram to look north, south, east and west.
Central truth
Growing wealth pushes Abram and Lot apart, while God repeats his promise of land and many descendants to Abram.
Scripture beside the summary
Genesis · King James Version · 18Genesis 13:1-7
Large Herds Cause a Dispute
Abram leaves Egypt with Sarai, Lot and all their goods. He travels north through southern Canaan and returns to Beth-el. There he comes again to the altar he built earlier and calls on the LORD. Lot has also become wealthy in animals and tents. Their combined herds are now too large for the land to support together. Abram's herders and Lot's herders begin to fight over the available space. Genesis adds that Canaanites and Perizzites, peoples already living in the region, also occupy the land. Abram and Lot are therefore sharing land that is not empty.
In everyday life
A ranch owner watches his brother's family add another herd to the same pasture. Their hired hands soon argue over grass and water because the land cannot support both groups. More livestock has brought more pressure, not more peace. Abram and Lot face a wider land problem as migrants among other peoples, not a dispute on property they own outright.
Notice
Genesis 13:4 Abram returns to the altar he built before going to Egypt. His first act there is to call on the LORD again.
Genesis 13:1-7
King James Version1And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.
2And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
3And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Hai;
4Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
5And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
6And 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.
7And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
Genesis 13:8-13
Lot Chooses the Jordan Plain
Abram steps in before the quarrel breaks the family apart. He tells Lot there should be no strife between them because they are relatives. Abram suggests that they separate and gives Lot the first choice. Lot looks across the plain of Jordan, the lowland along the Jordan River, and sees rich, well-watered land. He chooses that area and travels east. Abram stays in Canaan. Lot settles near Sodom, a city in the plain. Genesis then gives an important warning: the people of Sodom are very wicked before the LORD. The land looks good, but Lot is moving close to serious evil.
In everyday life
Two business partners divide their delivery routes after their drivers keep arguing over territory. The older partner lets the other choose first. The second partner takes the district with the best numbers, even though the area has clear signs of trouble. Their deal ends the quarrel. Abram's choice is about family peace and grazing land, not a modern business contract.
Notice
Genesis 13:10 Lot makes his choice by what the land looks like. Genesis then tells the reader something Lot's view does not show: Sodom is deeply wicked.
Genesis 13:8-13
King James Version8And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.
9Is 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.
10And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
11Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.
12Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
13But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
Genesis 13:14-18
God Repeats His Promise
After Lot leaves, the LORD tells Abram to look north, south, east and west. God promises to give all the land Abram can see to him and to his descendants. God also says Abram's future family will be too large to count, like the dust of the earth. Then God tells Abram to walk through the land in both directions. Abram moves his tents to the plain of Mamre, an area by Hebron, a town in Canaan, and settles there. He builds another altar to the LORD. Lot has chosen one part of the region, but God's promise to Abram still covers the land around him.
In everyday life
A mother walks her adult daughter past three rental houses that have stayed in the family for decades. She points out each building and explains that she plans to leave the property to her. The walk makes a future inheritance feel real before ownership changes. Abram, however, receives a promise from God while he still lives in the land as a migrant.
Notice
Genesis 13:14 God speaks after Lot has separated from Abram. Lot's choice of land does not reduce what God now tells Abram to look over.
Genesis 13:14-18
King James Version14And 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 westward:
15For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
16And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
17Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
18Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Genesis 13:1 begins with “And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.”
Where the chapter turns
Genesis 13:9 forms a natural hinge: “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…”
The final note
Genesis 13:18 leaves the reader with “Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Abram, land, LORD, herdmen, plain, cattle help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- herdmen
- Herders, workers who care for cattle and other livestock.
- substance
- Property and wealth, especially livestock and other household possessions.
- brethren
- Relatives or close kin; here Abram and Lot are members of the same family.
- seed
- Descendants, the later generations of Abram's family.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
