Section 21 of 10413:1–18Genesis

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King James VersionGenesis 13:1–18

And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

And 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;

Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.

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.

And 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.

And 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.

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.

And 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.

Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

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 westward:

For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

And 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.

Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

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.

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Genesis 13:1–18

Abram and Lot Separate

When the land cannot bear both

Abram returns from Egypt wealthy. His and Lot's households become too large for the same grazing land, and their herders quarrel. Abram appeals to kinship and lets Lot choose first rather than escalate.

Lot sees the well-watered Jordan district and pitches toward Sodom, whose wickedness the narrator already names. After Lot leaves, the LORD renews land and offspring promises to Abram. Attractive land is not the same as a safe choice, and Abram's peace proposal is not a rule that abused people must surrender safety.

How this should shape us

Name resource pressure early and seek a transparent arrangement before conflict hardens. Evaluate opportunities by more than visible abundance, and never use this scene to pressure a vulnerable person into an unsafe split.

Teach it back

Explain why Genesis 13:1–18 moves from Abram's return and wealth to conflict, separation, Lot's choice, God's renewed promise, and Abram's altar. Include what the text explicitly says about Lot, what it leaves unstated, and why the land promise cannot be used as a modern license for violence or dispossession.

Explain the section in your own words

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Go deeper

The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.

Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties

Where does the unit begin and end?

Best judgment:

How certain? strong

How negatively does the narrator portray Lot's choice?

Best judgment:

How certain? strong

What does Abram's walking signify?

Best judgment:

How certain? strong

How should composition proposals be used?

Best judgment:

How certain? strong

Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Displayed wording, immediate sequence, land-and-offspring promise, Lot trajectory, Mamre, and canonical connections.

Genesis 13:1–18 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 12:7–20; 14:1–16; 18–19; 23; and later Abrahamic promise texts

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Supports: Went-up return verb, heavy-wealth idiom, land-support repetition, riv conflict, kinship phrase, kikkar district, seeing and choosing, eastward travel, Sodom evaluation, ad-olam promise, dust simile, traversing command, and Mamre tree term.

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 13:1–18

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Supports: Negeb, wealth idiom, journey language, worship phrase, carrying capacity, conflict and kinship terms, Jordan district, Sodom parentheticals, repeated sight, traversing, and oaks or terebinths.

NET Bible, Genesis 13 and notes 1–41

Genesis

Supports: Final-form movement, return to Bethel, separation, fertile district and Sodom foreboding, repeated sight, land and offspring promises, Hebron, and altar.

Genesis commentary, 'Lot Separates from Abraham (13:1–18)'

The Book of Genesis — Introduction Study Guide

Supports: Placement within the ancestral stories and distinction between received narrative meaning, historical reconstruction, and compositional proposals.

Genesis introduction and Abraham ancestral-narrative framing

Genesis

Supports: Ancestral-narrative placement, land, promise, conflict, and commentary navigation.

Genesis, official Cambridge contents and introduction; commentary locator for Genesis 13

Conflict and Conflict Resolution: Inner Controversies and Tensions as Places of Israel's Self-Conception in the Patriarchal Traditions of Genesis

Supports: Conflict-story substructure, resource pressure, riv terminology, kinship appeal, peaceful separation, ethical reading, and the distinction between final-form interpretation and reconstructed layers.

Old Testament Essays 26.3 (2013), pp. 840–863, especially pp. 842–846 on Genesis 13:5–12

Gen 13: Abraham Discovers the Land as God's Gift: Searching Out the Author's Intention

Supports: 13:1 return hinge, wealth clauses, inability to dwell together, land theme, separation link, sight contrast, land as gift, offspring, enduring promise, and plausible walking symbolism.

Melita Theologica 38.2 (1987), article pp. 53–80, especially pp. 62–69 and 78–80

Rethinking the Place and Purpose of Genesis 13

Supports: Alternative to reading Lot only as heir or unrighteous foil, chapter's land-settlement purpose, and need to avoid over-moralizing unstated motives; only abstract-level claims are used where full text was unavailable.

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 36.1 (2011), pp. 31–53, official abstract, bibliography, and purpose statement

Abraham-Lot Cycle (Genesis 12–13; 18–19): A New Proposal

Supports: Current reassessment of coherence, beginning, ending, core, and expansions in the Abraham-Lot cycle; only abstract-level compositional claims are used.

Biblica 106.1 (2025), pp. 1–26, official abstract and bibliographic record

Sources for This Section

These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Displayed wording, immediate sequence, land-and-offspring promise, Lot trajectory, Mamre, and canonical connections.

Exact location: Genesis 13:1–18 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 12:7–20; 14:1–16; 18–19; 23; and later Abrahamic promise texts

Open source ↗

hebrew text morphology and lemma data

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project

Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026

Supports: Went-up return verb, heavy-wealth idiom, land-support repetition, riv conflict, kinship phrase, kikkar district, seeing and choosing, eastward travel, Sodom evaluation, ad-olam promise, dust simile, traversing command, and Mamre tree term.

Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 13:1–18

Open source ↗

Translation and textual notes

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026

Supports: Negeb, wealth idiom, journey language, worship phrase, carrying capacity, conflict and kinship terms, Jordan district, Sodom parentheticals, repeated sight, traversing, and oaks or terebinths.

Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 13 and notes 1–41

Open NET Genesis 13 ↗

modern open whole book commentary

Genesis

T. Desmond Alexander

The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023

Supports: Final-form movement, return to Bethel, separation, fertile district and Sodom foreboding, repeated sight, land and offspring promises, Hebron, and altar.

Exact location: Genesis commentary, 'Lot Separates from Abraham (13:1–18)'

Open source ↗

modern critical open study guide

The Book of Genesis — Introduction Study Guide

Joel S. Baden and Yale Bible Study

Yale Divinity School, 2021 course; page inspected 2026

Supports: Placement within the ancestral stories and distinction between received narrative meaning, historical reconstruction, and compositional proposals.

Exact location: Genesis introduction and Abraham ancestral-narrative framing

Open source ↗

modern scholarly commentary publisher material

Genesis

Bill T. Arnold

Cambridge University Press, 2009

Supports: Ancestral-narrative placement, land, promise, conflict, and commentary navigation.

Exact location: Genesis, official Cambridge contents and introduction; commentary locator for Genesis 13

Open source ↗

peer reviewed open literary ethical and compositional study

Conflict and Conflict Resolution: Inner Controversies and Tensions as Places of Israel's Self-Conception in the Patriarchal Traditions of Genesis

Theodor Seidl

Old Testament Essays 26.3, 2013

Supports: Conflict-story substructure, resource pressure, riv terminology, kinship appeal, peaceful separation, ethical reading, and the distinction between final-form interpretation and reconstructed layers.

Exact location: Old Testament Essays 26.3 (2013), pp. 840–863, especially pp. 842–846 on Genesis 13:5–12

Open source ↗

peer reviewed open Hebrew literary and structural study

Gen 13: Abraham Discovers the Land as God's Gift: Searching Out the Author's Intention

Anthony Abela

Melita Theologica 38.2, 1987

Supports: 13:1 return hinge, wealth clauses, inability to dwell together, land theme, separation link, sight contrast, land as gift, offspring, enduring promise, and plausible walking symbolism.

Exact location: Melita Theologica 38.2 (1987), article pp. 53–80, especially pp. 62–69 and 78–80

Open source ↗

peer reviewed literary and purpose study

Rethinking the Place and Purpose of Genesis 13

Dan Rickett

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 36.1, 2011

Supports: Alternative to reading Lot only as heir or unrighteous foil, chapter's land-settlement purpose, and need to avoid over-moralizing unstated motives; only abstract-level claims are used where full text was unavailable.

Exact location: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 36.1 (2011), pp. 31–53, official abstract, bibliography, and purpose statement

Open source ↗

peer reviewed current compositional study

Abraham-Lot Cycle (Genesis 12–13; 18–19): A New Proposal

Itzhak Amar

Biblica 106.1, 2025

Supports: Current reassessment of coherence, beginning, ending, core, and expansions in the Abraham-Lot cycle; only abstract-level compositional claims are used.

Exact location: Biblica 106.1 (2025), pp. 1–26, official abstract and bibliographic record

Open source ↗

Genesis 13:1–18, King James Version

When the land cannot bear both

How this should shape us

Teach it back

Go deeper

Where does the unit begin and end?

How negatively does the narrator portray Lot's choice?

What does Abram's walking signify?

How should composition proposals be used?

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Genesis

The Book of Genesis — Introduction Study Guide

Genesis

Conflict and Conflict Resolution: Inner Controversies and Tensions as Places of Israel's Self-Conception in the Patriarchal Traditions of Genesis

Gen 13: Abraham Discovers the Land as God's Gift: Searching Out the Author's Intention

Rethinking the Place and Purpose of Genesis 13

Abraham-Lot Cycle (Genesis 12–13; 18–19): A New Proposal