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13:1 Ascendit ergo Abram de Aegypto, ipse et uxor ejus, et omnia quae habebat, et Lot cum eo, ad australem plagam.
*H And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him into the south.


Ver 1. South. With respect to Judea, which the sacred writers have always in view.

13:2 Erat autem dives valde in possessione auri et argenti.
*H And he was very rich in possession of gold and silver.


Ver. 2. Rich in possession. Heb. may be "heavy laden with cattle, gold," &c. M.

13:3 Reversusque est per iter, quo venerat, a meridie in Bethel, usque ad locum ubi prius fixerat tabernaculum inter Bethel et Hai,
And he returned by the way, that he came, from the south to Bethel, to the place where before he had pitched his tent between Bethel and Hai,
13:4 in loco altaris quod fecerat prius : et invocavit ibi nomen Domini.
In the place of the altar which he had made before, and there he called upon the name of the Lord.
13:5 Sed et Lot qui erat cum Abram, fuerunt greges ovium, et armenta, et tabernacula.
But Lot also, who was with Abram, had flocks of sheep, and herds of beasts, and tents.
13:6 Nec poterat eos capere terra, ut habitarent simul : erat quippe substantia eorum multa, et nequibant habitare communiter.
*H Neither was the land able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, and they could not dwell together.


Ver. 6. To bear or feed their flocks, as well as those of the Chanaanites. C.

13:7 Unde et facta est rixa inter pastores gregum Abram et Lot. Eo autem tempore Chananaeus et Pherezaeus habitabant in terra illa.
Whereupon also there arose a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and of Lot. And at that time the Chanaanite and the Pherezite dwelled in that country.
13:8 Dixit ergo Abram ad Lot : Ne quaeso sit jurgium inter me et te, et inter pastores meos et pastores tuos : fratres enim sumus.
*H Abram therefore said to Lot: Let there be no quarrel, I beseech thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen: for we are brethren.


Ver. 8. Abram therefore, for fear of raising a quarrel with the Pherezites also, who might complain that these strangers were eating up what they had before taken possession of, suggests to his nephew the propriety of their taking different courses. Being the older, he divides, and the younger chooses, according to an ancient and laudable custom. S. Aug. de C. D. xvi. 20.

13:9 Ecce universa terra coram te est : recede a me, obsecro : si ad sinistram ieris, ego dexteram tenebo : si tu dexteram elegeris, ego ad sinistram pergam.
Behold the whole land is before thee: depart from me, I pray thee: if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will take the right: if thou choose the right hand, I will pass to the left.
13:10 Elevatis itaque Lot oculis, vidit omnem circa regionem Jordanis, quae universa irrigabatur antequam subverteret Dominus Sodomam et Gomorrham, sicut paradisus Domini, et sicut Aegyptus venientibus in Segor.
And Lot lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the Jordan, which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes to Segor.
13:11 Elegitque sibi Lot regionem circa Jordanem, et recessit ab oriente : divisique sunt alterutrum a fratre suo.
*H And Lot chose to himself the country about the Jordan, and he departed from the east: and they were separated one brother from the other.


Ver. 11. From the east of Pentapolis to Sodom, (M.) or to the east of the place where Abram was, as Onkelos has it. The Heb. may signify either. Grotius.

13:12 Abram habitavit in terra Chanaan ; Lot vero moratus est in oppidis, quae erant circa Jordanem, et habitavit in Sodomis.
Abram dwelt in the land of Chanaan: and Lot abode in the towns, that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom.
13:13 Homines autem Sodomitae pessimi erant, et peccatores coram Domino nimis.
*H And the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinners before the face of the Lord beyond measure.


Ver. 13. Sinners before, &c. That is truly, without restraint or disguise. Lot might not have been acquainted with their dissolute morals, when he made this choice; in which however he consulted only his senses, and looked for temporal advantages, which ended in sorrow. This God permitted for a warning to us; and to restrain the Sodomites, by the example of Lot's justice, contrasted with the abominable lives. H. — Ezechiel xvi. 49. explains the causes of their wickedness.

13:14 Dixitque Dominus ad Abram, postquam divisus est ab eo Lot : Leva oculos tuos et vide a loco, in quo nunc es, ad aquilonem et meridiem, ad orientem et occidentem.
And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him: Lift up thy eyes, and look from the place wherein thou now art, to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west.
* Footnote * Deuteronomy 34 : 4 And the Lord said to him: This is the land, for which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to thy seed. Thou hast seen it with thy eyes, and shalt not pass over to it.
13:15 Omnem terram, quam conspicis, tibi dabo, et semini tuo usque in sempiternum.
*H All the land which thou seest, I will give to thee, and to thy seed for ever.


Ver. 15. And to: This is by way of explanation to the former words: (Ha.) for Abram never possessed a foot of this land by inheritance. Acts viii. 5. Even his posterity never enjoyed it, at least, for any long time. S. Augustine gives the reason; because the promise was conditional, and the Jews did not fulfil their part by obedience and fidelity. q. 31. in Gen. It is better, however, to understand these promises of another land, which the people, who imitate the faith of Abram, shall enjoy in the world to come. C. Rom. iv. 16.

13:16 Faciamque semen tuum sicut pulverem terrae : si quis potest hominum numerare pulverem terrae, semen quoque tuum numerare poterit.
*H And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: if any man be able to number the dust of the earth, he shall be able to number thy seed also.


Ver. 16. As the dust, an hyperbole, to express a very numerous offspring, which is more exact, if we take in the spiritual children of Abram. M.

13:17 Surge, et perambula terram in longitudine et in latitudine sua : quia tibi daturus sum eam.
*H Arise and walk through the land in the length, and the breadth thereof: for I will give it to thee.


Ver. 17. Through. Lot has chosen a part, I give the whole to thee. Thou mayest take possession of it, and go wherever thou hast a mind. C.

13:18 Movens igitur tabernaculum suum Abram, venit, et habitavit juxta convallem Mambre, quae est in Hebron : aedificavitque ibi altare Domino.
*H So Abram removing his tent, came, and dwelt by the vale of Mambre, which is in Hebron: and he built there an altar to the Lord.


Ver. 18. Vale, or grove of oaks, where there was a famous one which was called the oak of Mambre, either from the neighbouring city, or from a man of that name. C. xiv. 13. M. — Hebron was on the hill above. C.

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