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Genesis 13:1–9 — Abram and Lot Part Ways. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

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Alexander MaclarenExpositions of Holy Scripturec. 1905

Yes! that is the only place for a man who has faltered and gone aside from the course of obedience. He must begin over again.

Maclaren reads the return to the old altar-site (vv.3–4) as the pattern of the penitent.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

Abram returns, a wiser and a better man.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

At the first does not mean that this was the first altar erected by Abram, but that he built it on his first arrival there. His first altar was at Shechem.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

with the repeated breaking up of his camp, required by a nomad life

Glossing the plural lə·mas·sā·‘āw, "according to his journeys," carried into v.3.

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So Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev—he and his wife and all his possessions—and Lot was with him.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’aḇ·rām way·ya·‘al mim·miṣ·ra·yim han·neḡ·bāh hū wə·’iš·tōw wə·ḵāl ’ă·šer- lōw wə·lō·wṭ ‘im·mōw

Word by word11 · parsed

אַבְרָ֨ם’aḇ·rāmSo AbramH87

√ ʼAbrâm — Abram, the original name of AbrahamNounpropermasculine singular

Abram (H87) heads the clause before the verb in Hebrew word order here, foregrounding the man, not the motion.

וַיַּעַל֩way·ya·‘alwent upH5927

√ ʻâlâh — to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·ya·‘al — Qal consecutive imperfect of ʻâlâh, "to go up." Egypt sits in a low valley; Canaan is highland. But Scripture's idiom is also theological: one always "goes up" to the land of promise and "goes down" from it. After the failure of 12:10–20, the verb signals a return to the appointed place.

מִמִּצְרַ֜יִםmim·miṣ·ra·yimout of EgyptH4714

√ Mitsrayim — Mitsrajim, iPreposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

הַנֶּֽגְבָּה׃han·neḡ·bāhinto the NegevH5045

√ negeb — the south (from its drought)ArticleNounproperfeminine singularthird person feminine singular

ה֠וּאhūheH1931

√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Pronounthird person masculine singular

The emphatic independent pronoun hū ("he") is grammatically redundant after the verb's own subject-marking — its presence underlines the household-as-procession: he, then his wife, then all, then Lot.

וְאִשְׁתּ֧וֹwə·’iš·tōwand his wifeH802

√ ʼishshâh — a womanConjunctive wawNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular

וְכָל־wə·ḵāland all his possessionsH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeConjunctive wawNounmasculine singular construct

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-. . .H834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

ל֛וֹlōw. . .

Prepositionthird person masculine singular

וְל֥וֹטwə·lō·wṭand Lot [was]H3876

√ Lôwṭ — Lot, Abraham's nephewConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular

wə·lō·wṭ (H3876) is re-introduced after a chapter's silence; the verbless clause "and-Lot with-him" quietly sets up the whole unit, for the story now pivots on his fortunes.

עִמּ֖וֹ‘im·mōwwith himH5973

√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPrepositionthird person masculine singular

‘im·mōw, "with him" — the last word of the verse and the relationship the next eight verses will dissolve.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-went-up Abram out-of-Egypt toward-the-Negev, he and-his-wife and-all that [was] to-him, and-Lot with-him.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיַּעַל֩ BSB "went up" is geographically literal but loses the moral undertow of way·ya·‘al (H5927, ʻâlâh, "to ascend"). The same verb that put him geographically low in 12:10 ("went down into Egypt") now lifts him back up; the narrator measures Abram's whole detour by elevation.
אֲשֶׁר־ל֛וֹ BSB's tidy "all his possessions" smooths a bare Hebrew relative clause ’ă·šer-lōw — literally "all that [was] to-him," a possession-by-belonging idiom with no noun for "possessions" at all. The wealth is summarized, not itemized — that comes in v.2.
הַנֶּֽגְבָּה׃ "Into the Negev" treats han·neḡ·bāh (H5045) as a place-name, but the root means "the dry/parched [south]." The directional -āh ending ("toward") is a motion-marker the English flattens into a static preposition.

And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and gold.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’aḇ·rām mə·’ōḏ kā·ḇêḏ bam·miq·neh bak·ke·sep̄ ū·ḇaz·zā·hāḇ

Word by word6 · parsed

וְאַבְרָ֖םwə·’aḇ·rāmAnd AbramH87

√ ʼAbrâm — Abram, the original name of AbrahamConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular

Resumptive wə·’aḇ·rām ("And Abram") re-opens with the subject fronted, pausing the travel-narrative to inventory him before the conflict.

מְאֹ֑דmə·’ōḏhad become extremelyH3966

√ mᵉʼôd — properly, vehemence, iAdverb

כָּבֵ֣דkā·ḇêḏwealthyH3515

√ kâbêd — heavyAdjectivemasculine singular

kā·ḇêḏ, "heavy." The narrator does not say "blessed" or "rich" but "weighed down," a deliberately double-edged term: the same wealth that signals God's favor becomes the literal weight that forces the parting of vv.5–9.

בַּמִּקְנֶ֕הbam·miq·nehin livestockH4735

√ miqneh — something bought, iPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular

miqneh (livestock) named first in the triad — mobile, breathing capital, the form of wealth that needs pasture and so generates the strife.

בַּכֶּ֖סֶףbak·ke·sep̄and silverH3701

√ keçeph — silver (from its pale color)Preposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular

Silver (ke·sep̄, H3701) — Scripture's first explicit mention of the metal in a man's possession; commentators note silver was rarer than gold in Egypt of this era.

וּבַזָּהָֽב׃ū·ḇaz·zā·hāḇand goldH2091

√ zâhâb — gold, figuratively, something gold-colored (iConjunctive waw, Preposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular

Gold (zā·hāḇ, H2091) caps the ascending scale; the three nouns mount in value, livestock to silver to gold.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-Abram [was] heavy exceedingly, in-the-livestock, in-the-silver, and-in-the-gold.

Where the English smooths the original

כָּבֵ֣ד "Wealthy" is interpretation; kā·ḇêḏ (H3515) literally means "heavy." Hebrew has no neutral word for "rich" here — it weighs Abram down. The same root yields kāḇôḏ, "glory/weight," so the line hovers between burden and honor.
מְאֹ֑ד BSB folds mə·’ōḏ (H3966, "vehemence, muchness") into the adverb "extremely," but in Hebrew it stands as its own intensifier piled onto "heavy" — "heavy unto vehemence." The doubling stresses excess, not just abundance.
בַּמִּקְנֶ֕ה "In livestock" understates bam·miq·neh (H4735), which derives from qânâh, "to acquire/buy." The word means literally "the acquired thing" — wealth-as-purchase. In the ancient idiom cattle are capital; the term will recur (v.7) as the very thing the herdsmen quarrel over.

From the Negev he journeyed from place to place toward Bethel, until he came to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been pitched,

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

min·ne·ḡeḇ way·yê·leḵ lə·mas·sā·‘āw bêṯ- ’êl wə·‘aḏ- ‘aḏ- ham·mā·qō·wm bên bêṯ- ’êl ū·ḇên hā·‘āy ’ă·šer- ʾå̄·ho·lōh bat·tə·ḥil·lāh hā·yāh šām

Word by word18 · parsed

מִנֶּ֖גֶבmin·ne·ḡeḇFrom the NegevH5045

√ negeb — the south (from its drought)Preposition-mNounproperfeminine singular

וַיֵּ֙לֶךְ֙way·yê·leḵhe journeyedH1980

√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yê·leḵ, "and he went" — Qal consecutive imperfect of hâlak; the plain verb of pilgrimage that frames the whole nomadic life.

לְמַסָּעָ֔יוlə·mas·sā·‘āwfrom place to placeH4550

√ maççaʻ — a departure (from striking the tents), iPreposition-lNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine singular

lə·mas·sā·‘āw — "by his stages." The repeated breaking and pitching of camp; nothing he builds for himself is permanent, which is exactly Maclaren's point about the tent versus the altar.

בֵּֽית־bêṯ-towardH1008

√ Bêyth-ʼÊl — Beth-El, a place in PalestinePreposition

אֵ֑ל’êlBethelH1008

√ Bêyth-ʼÊl — Beth-El, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

וְעַד־wə·‘aḏ-until he cameH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Conjunctive wawPreposition

עַד־‘aḏ-toH5704

√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition

הַמָּק֗וֹםham·mā·qō·wmthe placeH4725

√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iArticleNounmasculine singular

בֵּ֥יןbênbetweenH996

√ bêyn — between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles)Preposition

בֵּֽית־bêṯ-vvvH1008

√ Bêyth-ʼÊl — Beth-El, a place in PalestinePreposition

אֵ֖ל’êlBethelH1008

√ Bêyth-ʼÊl — Beth-El, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

וּבֵ֥יןū·ḇênandH996

√ bêyn — between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles)Conjunctive wawPreposition

הָעָֽי׃hā·‘āyAiH5857

√ ʻAy — Ai, Aja or Ajath, a place in PalestineArticleNounproperfeminine singular

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-whereH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

אָהֳלֹהʾå̄·ho·lōhhis tentH168

√ ʼôhel — a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)Nounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

בַּתְּחִלָּ֔הbat·tə·ḥil·lāhhad formerlyH8462

√ tᵉchillâh — a commencementPreposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular

bat·tə·ḥil·lāh, "at the beginning." Paired with "at the first" in v.4, the doubled time-word presses the lesson: the man who wandered must return to where he started before Egypt.

הָ֨יָהhā·yāhbeen pitchedH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

hā·yāh (H1961) "had been" — the pluperfect sense the English supplies with "formerly"; the tent had stood here; now only the site remains.

שָׁ֤םšām. . .H8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-he-went on-his-journeys from-the-Negev even-unto Bethel, unto the-place where had-been his-tent there at-the-beginning, between Bethel and-Ai.

Where the English smooths the original

לְמַסָּעָ֔יו "From place to place" renders lə·mas·sā·‘āw (H4550) loosely. The noun comes from nâsaʻ, "to pull up [tent-pegs]," so it means literally "according to his pullings-up of camp" — the verb-of-the-nomad. Each "journey" is a striking of the tent, the very act the next clause measures against the altar that stays.
בַּתְּחִלָּ֔ה BSB's "formerly" thins bat·tə·ḥil·lāh (H8462, from châlal, "to begin"). The word is literally "at the beginning / the first" — the narrator deliberately rewinds Abram to his starting line (cf. 12:8), a thematic word the smoother English loses.
הַמָּק֗וֹם "The place" undersells ham·mā·qō·wm (H4725), which already carries weight as "the [appointed] standing-place." In Genesis mâqôwm repeatedly marks a site of encounter with God (12:6; 22:3–4; 28:11). It is not just geography; it is the place of the altar.

to the site where he had built the altar. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’el- mə·qō·wm ’ă·šer- ‘ā·śāh bā·ri·šō·nāh ham·miz·bê·aḥ šām ’aḇ·rām way·yiq·rā šām bə·šêm Yah·weh

Word by word12 · parsed

אֶל־’el-toH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

מְקוֹם֙mə·qō·wmthe siteH4725

√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iNounmasculine singular construct

mə·qō·wm in construct, "place of the altar" — Keil notes v.4 resumes the main sentence ("he went... and there called"), the altar being the destination of the journeys in v.3.

אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-whereH834

√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative

עָ֥שָׂה‘ā·śāhhe had builtH6213

√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

בָּרִאשֹׁנָ֑הbā·ri·šō·nāh. . .H7223

√ riʼshôwn — first, in place, time or rank (as adjective or noun)Preposition-b, ArticleAdjectivefeminine singular

bā·ri·šō·nāh (H7223), "at the first / at the former time" — a second beginning-word reinforcing v.3's "at the beginning."

הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַham·miz·bê·aḥthe altarH4196

√ mizbêach — an altarArticleNounmasculine singular

שָׁ֖םšāmAnd thereH8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

אַבְרָ֖ם’aḇ·rāmAbramH87

√ ʼAbrâm — Abram, the original name of AbrahamNounpropermasculine singular

וַיִּקְרָ֥אway·yiq·rācalledH7121

√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yiq·rā, "and he called" — Qal consecutive imperfect of qârâʼ; the same verb that in 4:26 inaugurates corporate worship ("then began men to call on the name of the LORD"). Abram resumes that ancient act.

שָׁ֛םšām. . .H8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

בְּשֵׁ֥םbə·šêmon the nameH8034

√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

bə·šêm, "in/by the name" — H8034, shêm, an appellation as the mark of individuality; to call in the name is to invoke the revealed person of God.

יְהוָֽה׃Yah·wehof the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

The Tetragrammaton, here pointed and read aloud as the covenant name. Restored fellowship after Egypt is sealed not by sacrifice (the altar may be in ruins) but by proclamation of the Name.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

Unto the-place-of the-altar which he-had-made there at-the-first; and-called there Abram on-the-name of-YHWH.

Where the English smooths the original

וַיִּקְרָ֥א "Called on" is right but the Hebrew construction way·yiq·rā... bə·šêm (H7121 + H8034) is a fixed cultic idiom — "to call with/in the name of YHWH" — meaning public proclamation and worship, not merely private petition. The English "called on" can read as a cry for help; the Hebrew is liturgy.
הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ "The altar" — ham·miz·bê·aḥ (H4196) is literally "the place of slaughter/sacrifice" (root zâḇaḥ). The narrative carefully says Abram returns to "the place of the altar," not necessarily the standing altar; the structure of earth may be gone, but the appointed ground remains.
יְהוָֽה׃ BSB's "the LORD" (small caps) is the conventional substitution for the divine name YHWH (H3068). The Hebrew names God by His covenant name precisely at the moment of restored worship — the personal name, not a title, is what Abram proclaims.

Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

lə·lō·wṭ ha·hō·lêḵ ’eṯ- ’aḇ·rām wə·ḡam- hā·yāh ṣōn- ū·ḇā·qār wə·’ō·hā·lîm

Word by word9 · parsed

לְל֔וֹטlə·lō·wṭNow LotH3876

√ Lôwṭ — Lot, Abraham's nephewPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular

Dative-fronted lə·lō·wṭ, "to Lot [there was]" — the Hebrew possessive idiom ("to X there was Y"), mirroring "all that was to him" of v.1.

הַהֹלֵ֖ךְha·hō·lêḵwho was travelingH1980

√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)ArticleVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

ha·hō·lêḵ — articular participle of hâlak, "the one going with Abram." Lot is defined by his companionship; the same verb (hâlak) that describes Abram's pilgrimage (v.3) here marks Lot as merely walking alongside, not called.

אֶת־’eṯ-withH854

√ ʼêth — properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), nearPreposition

אַבְרָ֑ם’aḇ·rāmAbramH87

√ ʼAbrâm — Abram, the original name of AbrahamNounpropermasculine singular

וְגַם־wə·ḡam-alsoH1571

√ gam — properly, assemblageConjunction

הָיָ֥הhā·yāhhadH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

hā·yāh, singular verb governing a compound subject (flock, herd, tents) — Hebrew often keeps the verb singular when it precedes a list.

צֹאן־ṣōn-flocksH6629

√ tsôʼn — a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats)Nounfeminine singular

וּבָקָ֖רū·ḇā·qārand herdsH1241

√ bâqâr — beef cattle or an animal of the ox family of either gender (as used for plowing)Conjunctive wawNounmasculine singular

וְאֹהָלִֽים׃wə·’ō·hā·lîmand tentsH168

√ ʼôhel — a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance)Conjunctive wawNounmasculine plural

’ō·hā·lîm, "tents" — the Pulpit Commentary, following Rosenmüller, takes the tents to include the domestici, the household that dwelt in them.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-also to-Lot, the-[one]-going with Abram, there-was flock and-herd and-tents.

Where the English smooths the original

הַהֹלֵ֖ךְ "Who was traveling" renders the participle ha·hō·lêḵ (H1980) — literally "the [one] walking/going [with Abram]." The grammar makes Lot's wealth derivative: his prosperity hangs on his going-along-with Abram, a dependence the English subordinate clause obscures.
וְאֹהָלִֽים׃ "And tents" (wə·’ō·hā·lîm, H168, plural) is more than camping gear. The plural "tents" is shorthand for an entire retinue — households, servants, dependents — so Lot's holdings, like Abram's, name people as well as livestock; commentators read tents as the men who dwell in them.
וְגַם־ The opening wə·ḡam- (H1571, "and also") quietly couples Lot's verse to Abram's in v.2. The narrator is not merely informing us Lot is rich; the "also" sets the two wealths side by side so the land's inability to bear both (v.6) is felt as inevitable.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

The two opulent sheiks (elders, heads of houses) cannot dwell together anymore. Their serfs come to strife. The carnal temper comes out among their dependents.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

what one would think would make them more comfortable together, is the cause and occasion of their separation.

Gill's irony: the very abundance meant to ease them divides them.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

The Canaanites and other former inhabitants of the country undoubtedly occupied the best of the land

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

This inconvenience came by their riches, which break friendships and the bounds of nature.

The earliest voice in this unit (1599); the Reformation marginal note names wealth as what severs both friendship and kinship.

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But the land was unable to support both of them while they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they were unable to coexist.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hā·’ā·reṣ wə·lō- nā·śā ’ō·ṯām lā·še·ḇeṯ yaḥ·dāw kî- hā·yāh rāḇ rə·ḵū·šām yā·ḵə·lū wə·lō lā·še·ḇeṯ yaḥ·dāw

Word by word14 · parsed

הָאָ֖רֶץhā·’ā·reṣBut the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular

hā·’ā·reṣ, "the land," fronted as subject; the promised land itself becomes the agent that cannot hold the two households.

וְלֹא־wə·lō-was unableH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

נָשָׂ֥אnā·śāto supportH5375

√ nâsâʼ — to lift, in a great variety of applications, literal and figurative, absolute and relativeVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

nā·śā, perfect of nâsâʼ, "to bear/carry." The narrator chooses a personifying verb: the land strains under the combined weight of their flocks.

אֹתָ֛ם’ō·ṯām[both of] themH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person masculine plural

לָשֶׁ֣בֶתlā·še·ḇeṯwhile they stayedH3427

√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgePreposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

יַחְדָּ֑וyaḥ·dāwtogetherH3162

√ yachad — properly, a unit, iAdverb

yaḥ·dāw, "together" — the repeated key-word; its second occurrence in v.6 closes the inclusio and names the exact good now lost.

כִּֽי־kî-forH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

הָיָ֤הhā·yāhthey hadH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

רָ֔בrāḇso manyH7227

√ rab — abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality)Adjectivemasculine singular

rāḇ (H7227), "much/abundant" — the same overflowing abundance that was a blessing (vv.2,5) is now named as the cause of rupture.

רְכוּשָׁם֙rə·ḵū·šāmpossessionsH7399

√ rᵉkûwsh — property (as gathered)Nounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine plural

rə·ḵū·šām (H7399), "their substance" — from râkash, "to collect." Cambridge notes this is the Priestly source's characteristic word for accumulated property (cf. 12:5; 36:7).

יָֽכְל֖וּyā·ḵə·lūthat they were unableH3201

√ yâkôl — to be able, literally (can, could) or morally (may, might)VerbQalPerfectthird person common plural

וְלֹ֥אwə·lō. . .H3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

לָשֶׁ֥בֶתlā·še·ḇeṯto coexistH3427

√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgePreposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

יַחְדָּֽו׃yaḥ·dāw. . .H3162

√ yachad — properly, a unit, iAdverb

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-not bore the-land them to-dwell together, for had-been their-substance much, and-not were-they-able to-dwell together.

Where the English smooths the original

נָשָׂ֥א "Was unable to support" paraphrases the vivid nā·śā (H5375, "to lift, carry, bear"). Literally, "the land did not carry them." The land is personified as a bearer too overloaded to hold them up — the same root used of bearing burdens, fitting the "heavy" wealth of v.2.
לָשֶׁ֣בֶת "While they stayed" (and again, BSB "to coexist") both render the one Hebrew infinitive lā·še·ḇeṯ (H3427, yâshab, "to sit/dwell"). The verse uses the identical phrase lā·še·ḇeṯ yaḥ·dāw ("to dwell together") twice — a deliberate envelope the English variation ("stayed" / "coexist") hides.
יַחְדָּ֑ו yaḥ·dāw (H3162, "together, as one") frames both halves of the verse. It is the very word the Psalter celebrates — brethren dwelling yaḥad (Ps 133:1) — and Genesis here records its failure: the brothers cannot do the one thing the word names.

And there was discord between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were also living in the land.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·hî- rîḇ bên rō·‘ê ’aḇ·rām ū·ḇên miq·nêh- rō·‘ê lō·wṭ miq·nêh- ’āz wə·hak·kə·na·‘ă·nî wə·hap·pə·riz·zî yō·šêḇ bā·’ā·reṣ

Word by word15 · parsed

וַֽיְהִי־way·hî-And there wasH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

רִ֗יבrîḇdiscordH7379

√ rîyb — a contest (personal or legal)Nounmasculine singular

rîḇ — "strife/contention," a forensic noun; its cognate verb is used of God's lawsuit with His people (Mic 6:1–2). Here the legal heat is over wells and grass.

בֵּ֚יןbênbetweenH996

√ bêyn — between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles)Preposition

רֹעֵ֣יrō·‘êthe herdsmenH7462

√ râʻâh — to tend a flockVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural construct

אַבְרָ֔ם’aḇ·rāmof AbramH87

√ ʼAbrâm — Abram, the original name of AbrahamNounpropermasculine singular

וּבֵ֖יןū·ḇên. . .H996

√ bêyn — between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles)Conjunctive wawPreposition

מִקְנֵֽה־miq·nêh-. . .H4735

√ miqneh — something bought, iNounmasculine singular construct

רֹעֵ֣יrō·‘êand the herdsmenH7462

√ râʻâh — to tend a flockVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural construct

ל֑וֹטlō·wṭof LotH3876

√ Lôwṭ — Lot, Abraham's nephewNounpropermasculine singular

מִקְנֵה־miq·nêh-. . .H4735

√ miqneh — something bought, iNounmasculine singular construct

אָ֖ז’āzAt that timeH227

√ ʼâz — at that time or placeAdverb

’āz (H227), "at that time / then" — the temporal marker introducing the narrator's aside about who else held the land.

וְהַֽכְּנַעֲנִי֙wə·hak·kə·na·‘ă·nîthe CanaanitesH3669

√ Kᵉnaʻanîy — a Kenaanite or inhabitant of KenaanConjunctive waw, ArticleNounpropermasculine singular

wə·hak·kə·na·‘ă·nî, "the Canaanite" — the indigenous lowland inhabitants; in the J source's idiom the resident owner of the land (cf. 12:6).

וְהַפְּרִזִּ֔יwə·hap·pə·riz·zîand the PerizzitesH6522

√ Pᵉrizzîy — a Perizzite, one of the Canaanitish tribesConjunctive waw, ArticleNounpropermasculine singular

wə·hap·pə·riz·zî (H6522), "the Perizzite" — likely "dweller of the open country/villages," a people not listed among Canaan's descendants (ch. 10), introduced to explain why pasture was scarce and the danger of a quarrel real.

יֹשֵׁ֥בyō·šêḇwere also livingH3427

√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgeVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

yō·šêḇ, participle of yâshab — "dwelling," the same verb the cousins cannot do "together" (v.6); the foreigners dwell securely while the brothers cannot.

בָּאָֽרֶץ׃bā·’ā·reṣin the landH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)Preposition-b, ArticleNounfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-there-was strife between the-shepherds-of Abram's-livestock and-between the-shepherds-of Lot's-livestock; and-the-Canaanite and-the-Perizzite then dwelling in-the-land.

Where the English smooths the original

רִ֗יב "Discord" softens rîḇ (H7379), which is a near-legal term — "a contention, a lawsuit, a quarrel pressed." It is the word for a formal dispute, the same root behind Meribah. This is not vague friction but an open, escalating contest over rights to pasture and water.
רֹעֵ֣י "The herdsmen" renders the participle rō·‘ê (H7462, râʻâh, "to shepherd"). The narrator is careful: the rîḇ is between the shepherds, not the masters. The very word for the peaceful work of pasturing now heads the verse of conflict.
וְהַֽכְּנַעֲנִי֙ BSB "the Canaanites" pluralizes a Hebrew collective singular wə·hak·kə·na·‘ă·nî (H3669). The singular-for-plural names the resident peoples as a single watching presence — and Poole notes this is Moses' parenthesis, not Abram's: the land was already owned, so the cousins were squeezed into shared scraps.

So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no contention between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen. After all, we are kinsmen.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

’aḇ·rām way·yō·mer ’el- lō·wṭ nā ṯə·hî ’al- mə·rî·ḇāh bê·nî ū·ḇê·ne·ḵā ū·ḇên rō·‘ay ū·ḇên rō·‘e·ḵā kî- ’ă·nā·šîm ’ă·nā·ḥə·nū ’a·ḥîm

Word by word18 · parsed

אַבְרָ֜ם’aḇ·rāmSo AbramH87

√ ʼAbrâm — Abram, the original name of AbrahamNounpropermasculine singular

וַיֹּ֨אמֶרway·yō·mersaidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

way·yō·mer (H559), "and he said" — Abram, not Lot, speaks first; the greater man initiates reconciliation.

אֶל־’el-toH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

ל֗וֹטlō·wṭLotH3876

√ Lôwṭ — Lot, Abraham's nephewNounpropermasculine singular

נָ֨אnāPleaseH4994

√ nâʼ — 'I pray', 'now', or 'then'Interjection

nā, the entreating particle — Abram does not command but pleads; Henry calls this the soft answer that turns away wrath.

תְהִ֤יṯə·hîlet there beH1961

√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalImperfect Jussivethird person feminine singular

ṯə·hî, jussive of hâyâh — "let there [not] be"; a wish/command form, Abram legislating peace into the relationship.

אַל־’al-noH408

√ ʼal — not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative)Adverb

מְרִיבָה֙mə·rî·ḇāhcontentionH4808

√ mᵉrîybâh — quarrelNounfeminine singular

בֵּינִ֣יbê·nîbetween you and meH996

√ bêyn — between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles)Prepositionfirst person common singular

וּבֵינֶ֔יךָū·ḇê·ne·ḵāor betweenH996

√ bêyn — between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles)Conjunctive wawPrepositionsecond person masculine singular

וּבֵ֥יןū·ḇên. . .H996

√ bêyn — between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles)Conjunctive wawPreposition

רֹעַ֖יrō·‘ayyour herdsmenH7462

√ râʻâh — to tend a flockVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural constructfirst person common singular

וּבֵ֣יןū·ḇên. . .H996

√ bêyn — between (repeated before each noun, often with other particles)Conjunctive wawPreposition

רֹעֶ֑יךָrō·‘e·ḵāand my herdsmenH7462

√ râʻâh — to tend a flockVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

כִּֽי־kî-After allH3588

√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction

kî- (H3588), "for" — introduces the ground of the appeal: not advantage, but kinship.

אֲנָשִׁ֥ים’ă·nā·šîm. . .H582

√ ʼĕnôwsh — a man in general (singly or collectively)Nounmasculine plural

אֲנָֽחְנוּ׃’ă·nā·ḥə·nūweH587

√ ʼănachnûw — wePronounfirst person common plural

אַחִ֖ים’a·ḥîmare kinsmenH251

√ ʼâch — a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relationship and metaphorical affinity or resemblance (like father))Nounmasculine plural

’a·ḥîm, "brothers" — used broadly (Lot is nephew); the bond Abram invokes is the same one the New Testament presses on believers (cf. the sermon-on-the-mount ethic Barnes hears here).

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-said Abram unto Lot, "Let there be no contention, I-pray, between-me and-between-you, and-between my-shepherds and-between your-shepherds; for men brethren [are] we."

Where the English smooths the original

מְרִיבָה֙ "Contention" renders mə·rî·ḇāh (H4808) — note Abram shifts from the herdsmen's rîḇ (v.7) to its rare intensive form mᵉrîybâh. This exact word becomes the place-name Meribah, where Israel's own quarrel cost Moses the land (Num 20; 27:14); Abram refuses at the start what Israel will fail at later.
נָ֨א BSB "Please" captures part of nā (H4994), the particle of entreaty/softening ("I pray"). But it carries social weight the English flattens: the elder and superior begs the younger — a deliberate self-lowering the commentators call condescension and generosity.
אַחִ֖ים "Kinsmen" is accurate but blunts ’a·ḥîm (H251, "brothers"). The literal phrase is ’ă·nā·šîm ’a·ḥîm — "men, brothers, [are] we" — the same idiom ("men brethren") used in covenant appeals; Abram grounds peace not on his rights but on shared blood and shared faith.

Is not the whole land before you? Now separate yourself from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

hă·lō ḵāl hā·’ā·reṣ lə·p̄ā·ne·ḵā nā hip·pā·reḏ mê·‘ā·lāy ’im- haś·śə·mōl wə·’ê·mi·nāh wə·’im- hay·yā·mîn wə·’aś·mə·’î·lāh

Word by word13 · parsed

הֲלֹ֤אhă·lōIs notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle

hă·lō, "is not...?" — a rhetorical interrogative inviting Lot to see the whole land as open; Poole reads it as Abram granting full power of choice.

כָל־ḵālthe wholeH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

הָאָ֙רֶץ֙hā·’ā·reṣlandH776

√ ʼerets — the earth (at large, or partitively a land)ArticleNounfeminine singular

לְפָנֶ֔יךָlə·p̄ā·ne·ḵābefore youH6440

√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Preposition-lNouncommon plural constructsecond person masculine singular

lə·p̄ā·ne·ḵā (H6440), "before your face" — the land laid out for Lot's eyes; the same idiom (the land "before" one) recurs when God shows Abram the land in v.14.

נָ֖אnāNowH4994

√ nâʼ — 'I pray', 'now', or 'then'Interjection

הִפָּ֥רֶדhip·pā·reḏseparate yourselfH6504

√ pârad — to break through, iVerbNifalImperativemasculine singular

hip·pā·reḏ — the imperative of parting; from this verb's noun-relatives come the partings of peoples in Genesis 10. The brother lets the brother choose first.

מֵעָלָ֑יmê·‘ā·lāyfrom meH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition-mfirst person common singular

אִם־’im-IfH518

√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction

הַשְּׂמֹ֣אלhaś·śə·mōlyou go to the leftH8040

√ sᵉmôʼwl — properly, dark (as enveloped), iArticleNounmasculine singular

haś·śə·mōl / 9: wə·’ê·mi·nāh / 11: hay·yā·mîn / 12: wə·’aś·mə·’î·lāh — the chiastic left–right / right–left pattern. These directional roots (sâmaʼl, yâman) are rare in the Hebrew Bible and recur as a fixed idiom of total, no-favoritism choice (cf. 2 Sam 14:19).

וְאֵימִ֔נָהwə·’ê·mi·nāhI will go to the rightH3231

√ yâman — to be right-handed or take the right-hand sideConjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive imperfect Cohortativefirst person common singular

וְאִם־wə·’im-ifH518

√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction

הַיָּמִ֖יןhay·yā·mînyou go to the rightH3225

√ yâmîyn — the right hand or side (leg, eye) of a person or other object (as the stronger and more dexterous)ArticleNounfeminine singular

וְאַשְׂמְאִֽילָה׃wə·’aś·mə·’î·lāhI will go to the leftH8041

√ sâmaʼl — to use the left hand or pass in that direction)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive imperfect Cohortativefirst person common singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

"Is not the-whole land before-you? Separate-yourself, I-pray, from-upon-me. If [you go] to-the-left then-I-will-go-right; and-if [you go] to-the-right then-I-will-go-left."

Where the English smooths the original

הִפָּ֥רֶד "Separate yourself" renders hip·pā·reḏ (H6504, pârad, Niphal imperative) — literally "be parted / divide off." The reflexive-passive stem leaves the act to Lot: Abram does not drive him out, he releases him. The same root names the parting of waters and the dividing of nations (10:5,32).
וְאֵימִ֔נָה BSB "I will go to the right" hides that Hebrew uses a denominative verb wə·’ê·mi·nāh (H3231, "to go right/use the right hand"), not "go" plus "right." The right/left here are rare verbs (the directions verbed), and the cohortative form ("let me go") makes Abram's yielding a resolve, not a mere prediction.
מֵעָלָ֑י "From me" thins mê·‘ā·lāy (H5921 + suffix) — literally "from upon me." The compound preposition ("from off / from over me") hints at a lifting of weight: the "heavy" wealth of v.2 is precisely what is now divided off.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The ascent back — Egypt undone — 13:1–4

The unit opens with a single word of moral geography: Abram way·ya·‘al, "went up," out of Egypt (v.1). Albert Barnes reads the whole detour in that verb — "Abram returns, a wiser and a better man" — and the narrator confirms it by sending him not forward but backward, to "the place where his tent had been at the beginning" (bat·tə·ḥil·lāh, v.3) and to "the altar which he had made there at the first" (v.4). Alexander Maclaren turns this into the law of the penitent: "Yes! that is the only place for a man who has faltered and gone aside from the course of obedience. He must begin over again." Charles Ellicott guards the detail against over-reading — "At the first does not mean that this was the first altar erected by Abram, but that he built it on his first arrival there. His first altar was at Shechem." The restoration is sealed not by sacrifice but by speech: Abram way·yiq·rā... bə·šêm YHWH, "called in the name of the LORD" (v.4) — the cultic idiom of 4:26. Matthew Henry presses the point home: "You may as soon find a living man without breath as one of God's people without prayer."

ii. The weight of blessing — 13:2, 5–6

The Hebrew refuses to call Abram simply "rich." He is kā·ḇêḏ mə·’ōḏ — "very heavy" — and Matthew Henry catches the literal sting: "he was very heavy, so the Hebrew word is; for riches are a burden; and they that will be rich, do but load themselves with thick clay." The Cambridge Bible notes the inventory of v.2 climbs an "ascending scale of value" (livestock, silver, gold). Lot's wealth is introduced with a deliberate wə·ḡam, "and also" (v.5), so the two heaps stand side by side — and the land, personified, simply cannot nā·śā, "carry," them both (v.6). Twice the verse uses the identical phrase lā·še·ḇeṯ yaḥ·dāw, "to dwell together," and twice it fails. John Gill names the irony exactly: "what one would think would make them more comfortable together, is the cause and occasion of their separation." Henry's epigram becomes the hinge of the unit: "Mine and thine are the great make-bates of the world. Poverty and labour, wants and wanderings, could not separate Abram and Lot; but riches did so."

iii. Strife, and the peace of the man of faith — 13:7–9

The blessing curdles into rîḇ (v.7) — a near-forensic word, a pressed quarrel — between the rō·‘ê, the shepherds, of the two camps, and the narrator adds the watching presence of "the Canaanite and the Perizzite" then in the land. Joseph Benson reads the danger plainly: "if Abram and Lot cannot agree to feed their flocks together, it is well if the common enemy do not come upon them and plunder them both." Matthew Henry sees the deeper scandal: "The quarrels of professors are the reproach of religion, and give occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme." Abram, the elder and the heir of the promise, answers by lowering himself. He shifts from the herdsmen's rîḇ to its rare intensive mᵉrîybâh (v.8) and forbids it; he pleads with the entreating nā; he grounds the appeal not on his rights but on blood — ’ă·nā·šîm ’a·ḥîm, "men, brethren, are we." Albert Barnes hears the Gospel already breathing here: "The heavenly principle of forbearance evidently holds the supremacy in Abram's breast. He walks in the moral atmosphere of the sermon on the mount." Joseph Benson marvels that the greater man "voluntarily, and without reluctance or hesitation, relinquishes his own right to his inferior for the sake of peace." Then comes the offer of v.9 in its chiastic, no-favoritism form — left for right, right for left — of which Jamieson, Fausset & Brown say simply: "Waiving his right to dictate, he gave the freedom of choice to Lot."

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

Read under Sola Scriptura, the chapter teaches that the security of the heir of promise is so total that he can afford to lose. Abram holds the deed to the whole land (God will repeat it in v.14, the moment Lot is gone), yet he hands the first choice to the man with no claim at all. The faith that brought him "up" out of Egypt is the same faith that lets him take the leftovers of Canaan — because a man who truly believes the land is already his does not need to grab the best acre of it. The peril is not Abram's poverty but his heaviness: the text twice marks the wealth (vv.2, 5) as the literal weight that drives brothers apart, and Lot, choosing by his eyes, will discover that the well-watered plain (v.10) is Sodom. The unit thus sets two responses to abundance side by side — the man who lets it be divided off "from upon" him (v.9), and the man who follows it toward the fire. This is a fallible reading, offered to be tested against the whole counsel of Scripture.

The heir who owns the whole land can afford to be handed the leftovers of it.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

Abram's <i>mᵉrîybâh</i> refused — Israel's Meribah failed verbal / quotation — confirmed

In v.8 Abram forbids mə·rî·ḇāh (H4808), the rare intensive of the strife (rîḇ) named in v.7. The same noun crystallizes into the place-name Meribah, where Israel's quarreling over water cost both Moses and Aaron the land (Num 27:14, "the waters of Meribah"). The Verifier records mᵉrîybâh as a genuinely rare lexeme (only 2 occurrences in the index), so the verbal link is firm: what Abram successfully refuses at the chapter's outset, the nation later embodies and is judged for. The figural weight is interpretive, but the word itself is the recorded basis.

Genesis 13:8 · Numbers 27:14

basis: shared rare lexeme H4808 mᵉrîybâh ("contention/Meribah"), freq 2 in index — Verifier-confirmed verbal link

"To the right or to the left" — the idiom of total, impartial choice verbal / quotation — confirmed

Abram's offer in v.9 verbs the directions themselves: wə·’ê·mi·nāh (H3231, "go right") and wə·’aś·mə·’î·lāh (H8041, "go left"). Both denominative verbs are genuinely rare — the Verifier counts only 4 and 5 occurrences across the whole Hebrew Bible — and the two appear together, the surest mark of a fixed idiom for an exhaustive, no-favoritism range of choice, as in the woman of Tekoa's "to turn to the right hand or to the left" (2 Sam 14:19; the same paired verbs recur in 1 Chr 12:2 and Ezek 21:16). Because both shared lexemes are rare, the Verifier confirms a verbal link; we note it is a shared stock idiom rather than one text citing the other. The force is the same either way: Abram's offer is deliberately total — Lot may have anything, in any direction.

Genesis 13:9 · 2 Samuel 14:19

basis: Verifier-confirmed shared rare paired lexemes H3231 yâman (freq 4) and H8041 sâmaʼl (freq 5) — a fixed right/left idiom (shared phraseology, not one verse quoting the other)

"All the land before you" — Lot's choice and God's gift structural / thematic — confirmed

The same triad of names — Abram (H87), Lot (H3876), and the Negev (H5045) — that opens this unit (v.1) reappears in v.14, where, the instant Lot has separated, the LORD tells Abram to lift his eyes and see all the land, for it is his. The Verifier confirms these three proper names co-occur across 13:1 and 13:14, and although it mechanically promotes the pair to "verbal" on Lot's lower frequency (30 vv), we DOWNGRADE to structural: recurring proper place- and person-names inside one continuous narrative are narrative continuity, not a quotation of one text by another. The thematic payoff is the unit's own: Abram offers Lot "the whole land before you" (v.9) and forfeits the choice; God answers — the moment Lot is gone — by giving Abram the whole land he had just surrendered. The contrast of choosing is itself verbal: Lot "lifts his eyes" by his own greed in v.10, then the LORD bids Abram "lift your eyes" in v.14.

Genesis 13:1 · Genesis 13:9 · Genesis 13:14

basis: Verifier-computed shared proper-name lexemes H87 ʼAbrâm (50 vv), H3876 Lôwṭ (30 vv), H5045 negeb (98 vv) co-occurring across Gen 13:1 and Gen 13:14; EDITOR DOWNGRADE from the Verifier's mechanical 'verbal' — recurring proper names within one continuous narrative is recurrence, not quotation

"The land could not bear them" — Abram/Lot and Jacob/Esau structural / thematic — confirmed

The exact economic logic of the rupture — "their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together; and the land was not able to bear them" (vv.6) — recurs almost word for word when Jacob and Esau part: "their substance was too great for them to dwell together; and the land of their sojournings could not bear them because of their cattle" (Gen 36:7). The Cambridge Bible flags the parallel directly, noting v.6 and 36:7 give "a similar reason, in P's narrative, for the separation," and that "substance" (rᵉkûwsh) "is characteristic of P." The Verifier confirms the shared cluster rᵉkûwsh (H7399, 27 vv), yachad ("together"), yâkôl ("be able"), rab ("great"), nâsâʼ ("bear"), and yâshab ("dwell") — the whole formula, not one stray word. This is structural/thematic: a repeated narrative pattern (abundance forces the separation of kinsmen) rather than a quotation, and Genesis tells it twice so the reader weighs Abram's generosity against Esau's later parting.

Genesis 13:6 · Genesis 36:7

basis: Verifier-computed shared lexemes H7399 rᵉkûwsh (27 vv), H3162 yachad (139 vv), H3201 yâkôl (183 vv), H7227 rab (437 vv), H5375 nâsâʼ (612 vv), H3427 yâshab (973 vv) across Gen 13:6 and Gen 36:7 — a repeated separation-of-kinsmen formula (Cambridge-noted), structural pattern not quotation

"For we are brethren" — kinship pressed across the Abram–Lot cycle structural / thematic — confirmed

Abram grounds peace on ’a·ḥîm, "brethren" (v.8). The bond is structural to the whole cycle: it is precisely because "his brother" (Lot) is taken captive that Abram arms his men in 14:14, and the shared name Abram (H87) plus the kinship vocabulary thread the two scenes. The Verifier confirms the shared lexemes are common (ʼâch, freq 571; Abram, freq 50), so this is a thematic/structural tie, not a rare-word quotation — Abram's appeal to brotherhood in ch. 13 is what makes his rescue of his "brother" in ch. 14 the same man's consistency.

Genesis 13:8 · Genesis 14:14

basis: shared common lexemes H251 ʼâch ("brother", freq 571) and H87 ʼAbrâm — thematic continuity of the kinship motif, not a rare-word quotation

Calling on the name of the LORD — Abram and the altar-place of 12:8 structural / thematic — confirmed

Verse 4 says Abram returned to "the place of the altar which he had made there at the first... and there Abram called on the name of the LORD" — explicitly recalling 12:8, where he first built that altar and first called on the name. Keil & Delitzsch read v.4 as the resumption of the journey of v.3 so that Abram "called upon the name of the Lord again." The Verifier finds the two verses share the altar-and-worship vocabulary (mizbêach H4196, qârâʼ H7121, shêm H8034, shâm H8033), but every one of these is a high-frequency word (338, 687, 771, 732 occurrences), so the tie is the recurrence of a stock cultic formula, not a rare-word quotation. The whole-Bible weight of "call on the name of the LORD" first surfaces in 4:26 and threads forward; here it marks the deliberate re-staging of Abram's first Canaan worship. Held at structural/thematic — the narrator's own back-reference ("at the first") plus the common-word formula, not a verbal quotation.

Genesis 13:4 · Genesis 12:8

basis: Verifier-computed shared lexemes H4196 mizbêach (338 vv), H7121 qârâʼ (687 vv), H8034 shêm (771 vv), H8033 shâm (732 vv) — all high-frequency; recurrence of the cultic 'called on the name of the LORD / altar' formula across one continuous narrative, not a rare-word quotation

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The greater Heir who waives His right widely-held

Abram, holder of the promise to the whole land, lets his lesser kinsman choose first and takes what is left (vv.8–9). Albert Barnes already sees here the moral air of the Sermon on the Mount — the yielding of one's rights for peace. The Church has long read this self-emptying generosity as a shadow of the One who, "though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor" (2 Cor 8:9), and who "did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped" (Phil 2:6). Abram's refusal to grab the best acre, secure because the land is already his by promise, prefigures the Heir of all things who descends to take the lowest place. This is a widely-held typological reading, offered as figure, not as the verse's plain sense.

Genesis 13:8 · Genesis 13:9

Calling on the name of the LORD — worship restored after the fall ancient

The restored Abram seals his return not with sacrifice (the altar may lie in ruins) but by proclaiming the divine name (v.4), the same act that in 4:26 inaugurates corporate worship of YHWH. The pattern — a people brought back from a far country and given again to call on the Name — finds its fullness where "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Joel 2:32; Rom 10:13), the Name now confessed as Jesus. Reading Abram's invocation as anticipating the Gospel's universal call is an ancient and widely-held Christian reading of the "call on the name" formula, offered here as type rather than as the verse's lexical claim.

Genesis 13:4

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (c. 1905)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Several voices in this unit (Henry, Maclaren, Barnes, JFB) print one block of commentary across a verse-range (13:1–4, 13:5–9, etc.); each excerpt above is a verbatim contiguous substring of the block as attached to that verse in voices_raw, trimmed only at the ends. Where BSB renders the same Hebrew phrase two ways (lā·še·ḇeṯ yaḥ·dāw as both "stayed together" and "coexist" in v.6; the omitted verb supplied as "[you go]" in v.9), the literal lines and divergences restore the Hebrew's actual repetition and ellipsis. Two cross-references are badged "verbal — confirmed" because they rest on genuinely rare shared lexemes the Verifier computed: H4808 mᵉrîybâh (freq 2) for the Meribah thread, and the paired H3231/H8041 right–left verbs (freq 4/5) — the latter a shared stock idiom rather than one verse quoting another. Two threads the Verifier mechanically promoted to "verbal" on a lower-frequency proper name (Gen 13:1↔13:14; and the 13:4↔12:8 cultic-formula tie) have been EDITOR-DOWNGRADED to structural/thematic: recurring proper names and a high-frequency "call on the name / altar" formula inside one continuous narrative are recurrence, not quotation. (The earlier draft's claim that the Verifier found no shared lexeme for 13:4↔12:8 was inaccurate and has been corrected: it returns four shared but high-frequency lexemes.) The Gen 13:6↔36:7 thread is newly added on a Cambridge-noted, Verifier-confirmed shared separation-of-kinsmen formula. No cross-Testament link in this unit is tiered "verbal," since Hebrew↔Greek pairs cannot share Strong's numbers; the Christ readings are marked as type (ancient/widely-held), not as quotation. All Hebrew parses follow the supplied Berean/Strong's data and are not contradicted here.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)