Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Genesis 13:5 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 5. 5And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Lot, who has continued traveling with Abram, also has flocks, herds, and tents. His household is substantial in its own right, which explains why the next verse describes a shared-capacity problem.
Read It With
- Genesis 13:1–18
Read verses 5–7 together. Verse 5 identifies Lot's possessions; verse 6 states that the land cannot support both households together; and verse 7 shows the resulting herder conflict.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Lot's parallel livestock and tents establish that two substantial households—not Abram's wealth alone—press on the land.
Read Genesis 13:5–7 together
Why these verses belong together: Lot's possessions, the land's inability to support both households, herder strife, and the resident-peoples notice establish the conflict.
Verse 5. 5 And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
Verse 6. 6 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.
Verse 7. 7 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.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
Lot's possession of flocks, herds, and tents does not by itself portray him as greedy, inferior to Abram, or responsible for the coming quarrel.
What Remains True
Resource conflict may arise from the combined scale of multiple households rather than from one person's existence or worth.
How It Can Shape Life
- Before blaming a person, identify whether the real problem is capacity, access, planning, or unclear shared-resource expectations.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 13:1–18 — Abram and Lot SeparateSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? very strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
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 ↗