Genesis 13:17 Komentář

In this chapter we have a further account concerning Abram. I. In general, of his condition and behaviour in the land of promise, which was now the land of his pilgrimage. 1. His removes (Gen 13:1, Gen 13:3, Gen 13:4, Gen 13:18). 2. His riches (Gen 13:2). 3. His devotion (Gen 13:4, Gen 13:18). II. A particular account of a quarrel that happened between him and Lot. 1. The unhappy occasion of their strife (Gen 13:5, Gen 13:6). 2. The parties concerned in the strife, with the aggravation of it (Gen 13:7). III. The making up of the quarrel, by the prudence of Abram (Gen 13:8, Gen 13:9). IV. Lot's departure from Abram to the plain of Sodom (Gen 13:10-13). V. God's appearance to Abram, to confirm the promise of the land of Canaan to him (Gen 13:14, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 13 This chapter gives an account of the return of Abram from Egypt to the land of Canaan, and to the same place in it he had been before, Gen 13:1 and of a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot, and the occasion of it, Gen 13:5 which was composed by the prudent proposal of Abram, Gen 13:8 upon which they parted; Abram continued in Canaan, and Lot chose the plain of Jordan, and dwelt near Sodom, a place infamous for wickedness, Gen 13:10 after which the Lord renewed to Abram the grant of the land of Canaan to him, and to his seed, Gen 13:14 and then he removed to the plain of Mamre in Hebron, and there set up the worship of God, Gen 13:18.

Arise, walk through the land,.... And take a survey of it, and see what a land it is, how good and how large, and take possession of it for himself and his, though he was only to be a sojourner in it; and so the Targum of Jonathan adds, and making in it a possession, which in civil law was done by walking: in the length of it, and in the breadth of it; the extent of it is variously settled by geographers; some giving it no more than about one hundred and seventy or eighty miles in length, from north to south, and about one hundred and forty in breadth from east to west, where broadest, as it is towards the south, and but about seventy where narrowest, as it is towards the north: but it is observed (d) from the latest and most accurate maps, that it appears to extend near two hundred miles in length, and about eighty in breadth about the middle, and ten or fifteen more or less where it widens or shrinks: for I will give it unto thee; that is, to his seed, the whole of it, in its utmost extent, as to length and breadth; which if he pleased for his own satisfaction he might take a tour through, whereby he would be a judge what was bestowed on him and his(d) Vid. Universal History, vol. 2. p. 385.

Abram and his family return out of Egypt to Canaan, Gen 13:1, Gen 13:2. He revisits Beth-el, and there invokes the Lord, Gen 13:3, Gen 13:4. In consequence of the great increase in the flocks of Abram and Lot, their herdsmen disagree; which obliges the patriarch and his nephew to separate, Gen 13:5-9. Lot being permitted to make his choice of the land, chooses the plains of Jordan, Gen 13:10, Gen 13:11, and pitches his tent near to Sodom, while Abram abides in Canaan, Gen 13:12. Bad character of the people of Sodom, Gen 13:13. The Lord renews his promise to Abram, Gen 13:14-17. Abram removes to the plains of Mamre, near Hebron, and builds an altar to the Lord, Gen 13:18.

RETURN FROM EGYPT. (Gen. 13:1-18) went up . . . south--Palestine being a highland country, the entrance from Egypt by its southern boundary is a continual ascent.

Abram, having returned from Egypt to the south of Canaan with his wife and property uninjured, through the gracious protection of God, proceeded with Lot למסּעיו "according to his journeys" (lit., with the repeated breaking up of his camp, required by a nomad life; on נסע to break up a tent, to remove, see Exo 12:37) into the neighbourhood of Bethel and Ai, where he had previously encamped and built an altar (Gen 12:8), that he might there call upon the name of the Lord again. That ויּקרא (Gen 13:4) is not a continuation of the relative clause, but a resumption of the main sentence, and therefore corresponds with ויּלך (Gen 13:3), "he went...and called upon the name of the Lord there," has been correctly concluded by Delitzsch from the repetition of the subject Abram.