Genesis · Chapter 13

And Abram went up from Egypt — he and his wife and all that was his, and Lot with him — to the south.

ויעל אברם וגו' הנגבה AND ABRAM WENT UP [OUT OF EGYPT] …TOWARDS THE NEGEB — He went up to proceed to the Southern part of the land of Israel — as it is said above (Genesis 12:9) “going on more and more to the Negeb” — to the Mount Moriah. Still, when one goes from Egypt to the land of Canaan, one proceeds from South to North, because Egypt is to the South of the land of Israel, as may be proved from the account of the journeys that the Israelites made in the wilderness and from the description of the boundaries of the land of Israel (see Numbers 33 and Numbers 34).

HE, AND HIS WIFE, AND ALL THAT HE HAD. The purport thereof is to let us know that they did not rob him of any of all the great gifts they gave him on account of Sarah who was to be for the king. They did not say, “You have tricked us, and the gift was given by mistake.” This was a miraculous event.

"And he went up" — I have explained its grammatical analysis (dikduk) in the Sefer HaYesod.

ולוט עמו הנגבה, “and Lot with him, southward.” In the same direction as they had been journeying ever since they had left Charan.

And Abram was very wealthy in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

כבד מאד VERY RICH (literally, very heavy) — heavily laden with burdens.

"And Abram was very heavy" — meaning he possessed great substance (kevudah), and one who has such has heavy movement. Note that "kavod" (honor/wealth) derives from the root of "the heaviness of a stone" (Proverbs 27:3), and "kalon" (disgrace) derives from the root of "swift of foot" (II Samuel 2:18). He was a man of great livestock, and he also had much silver and gold.

ואברם כבד מאד במקנה, this is why he had to travel slowly, even though he wanted to return quickly to the site of the altar where he wanted to continue his preaching as he had done before the famine.

And he went on his journeys from the south and as far as Bethel, to the place where he had first pitched his tent, between Bethel and Ai.

וילך למסעיו AND HE WENT ON HIS JOURNEYS — When he returned from Egypt to the land of Canaan he went and lodged in the same inns as he had stayed when he travelled to Egypt. This teaches you good manners: that one should not change his inn (Arachin 16b); (where the reason is given that one who does this constantly brings discredit on himself and on others). Another interpretation: on his return he paid the debts he had previously incurred (Genesis Rabbah 41:3). (In both these comments emphasis is placed on “his” — he went on his journeys i.e. the routes he had taken before.) מנגב FROM THE SOUTH — the land of Egypt lies to the South of the land of Canaan.

"To his journeys" — he made many stages of travel as he returned from the direction of the south to Bethel, which is in the north, and came to the place of the altar to give thanks to Hashem that he had arrived in peace.

וילך למסעיו, this is why he traveled on his routes, i.e. the routes all the shepherds took when journeying in that direction.

To the place of the altar that he had made there at first, and Abram prayed there in the name of Hashem.

אשר עשה שם בראשונה [UNTO THE PLACE OF THE ALTAR] WHICH HE HAD MADE THERE AT THE FIRST and WHERE ABRAM HAD CALLED [UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD] (that is, ויקרא does not introduce a further action of Abram done at that time, but refers to a former one when he had called upon the Name of the Lord); but it may also be explained that it means that Abram now called there upon the Name of the Lord.

And Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and cattle and tents.

ההלך את אברם WHO WENT WITH ABRAM — What brought it about that he possessed all this? The fact that he was accompanying Abram (Genesis Rabbah 41:3; Pesikta Rabbati, שמיני).

"And ohalim (tents)" — in my view, this is a singular form on the pattern of kodesh, and that is the attested form. The plural is "for they dwell in ohalim" (Jeremiah 35:7), just as "he shall not eat of the holy things" (Leviticus 22:4). And "ohalim" with a holam between the alef and the vav is a singular form like goral (a lot), though that singular is not actually found.

And the land could not support them dwelling together, for their possessions were great and they were not able to dwell together.

ולא נשא אתם AND THE LAND WAS NOT ABLE TO BEAR THEM — It could not provide sufficient pasture for their cattle. The phrase is elliptical and a word must be supplied, for instance: the pasturage (מרעה) of the land was not able to bear them — for this reason the word נשא (masculine) is used (to agree in gender with מרעה; the suggestion is that נשא cannot have הארץ as subject since that noun is feminine).

"Yachdav" — this word is used for two or for many: "And all the people answered yachdav" (Exodus 19:8). It is an unusual word. Its meaning is not like "yachad," but rather like "yachid" (alone, individually).

ולא נשא אותם הארץ, the grazing land available in that region was inadequate for their combined herds.

ולא נשא אותם, “the land did not offer sufficient virgin land to support their combined flocks and herds.” The Bible using the term ארץ, as if it were masculine here, is not a unique example. It also occurs in the masculine mode in Zachariah 14,10, as well as in Isaiah 9,18, and in Isaiah 33,9. כי היה רכושם רב, “for their possessions were so vast.” The point the Torah is making is that, contrary to what could be expected, poverty leads to strife about sharing the little one owns, in this instance excessive wealth led to strife.

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

ויהי ריב AND THERE WAS A QUARREL because Lot’s shepherds were wicked men and grazed their cattle in other people’s fields. Abram's shepherds rebuked them for this act of robbery, but they replied, “The land has been given to Abram, and since he has no son as heir, Lot will be his heir: consequently this is not robbery”. Scripture, however, states: “The Canaanite and the Perizzite abode then in the land”, so that Abram was not yet entitled to possession (Genesis Rabbah 41:5).

AND THERE WAS A QUARREL. Rashi wrote, “Because Lot’s shepherds grazed their cattle in other people’s fields, Abram’s shepherds rebuked them for this act of robbery, but they replied, ‘The land has been given to Abram, and he has no [son as an] heir, and so Lot will be his heir. Hence this is not robbery.’ Scripture however states, And the Canaanite and the Perrizite abode then in the land, so that Abram was not yet the legitimate owner.” This is a Midrash of our Rabbis. But I wonder: The gift of the Land declared to Abram was for his children, as it is said above, Unto thy seed will I give this land, so how can Lot inherit it? Perhaps the shepherds heard of the gift and they mistook its meaning, for Scripture states that in the meantime, the land belonged neither to Abram nor to Lot. Accordingly, the verse stating at the outset, for their possessions were great, here. intended to say that because of their extensive possessions, the land could not support them, and Lot’s shepherds therefore found it necessary to bring their cattle into fields that had owners. This was the cause of the quarrel. By way of the plain meaning of Scripture the quarrel concerned the pasture as the land could not support them both. When Abram’s cattle were grazing in the pasture, Lot’s shepherds would come into their territory and graze their cattle there. Now Abram and Lot were both strangers and sojourners in the land. Abram, therefore, feared that the Canaanite and the Perrizite, who inhabit the land, might hear of the abundance of their cattle, [whose great number was made apparent when Lot’s shepherds encroached on Abram’s land, thereby combining the flocks], and drive them out of the land or slay them by sword and take their cattle and wealth since the mastery of the land belonged to them, not to Abram. This is the purport of the verse, And the Canaanite and the Perrizite. Scripture thus mentioned that there were many peoples dwelling in that land, they and their cattle being innumerable, and the land could not support them and Abram and Lot. From the word oz (then) — [And the Canaanite and the Perrizite abode ‘then’ in the land] — it appears to me that the nations dwelling in the land at that time were those who live in tents and have cattle, some of them converging on one district and grazing there for a year or two and then journeying from there to another district in which they had not previously pastured. And so they continued to do, as is customary among “the children of the east.” The Canaanite and the Perrizite were thus “then” in the land of the south, and in the following years the Jebusite and the Amorite would come there.

"And the Canaanite and the Perizzite" — these were his neighbors. It is possible that the Perizzite was of the sons of Canaan and was one of those already named, bearing two names, as we find two names for Samuel's son (cf. I Samuel 8:2 and I Chronicles 6:13), and likewise for his father's father (cf. I Samuel 1:1, I Chronicles 6:12, and I Chronicles 6:19).

ויהי ריב בין רועי מקנה אברם ובין רועי מקנה לוט, there was an argument between who would succeed to drive out the other from the available grazing land they would find. והכנעני והפריזי אז יושב בארץ. This is why a quarrel between two brothers who lived side by side was especially embarrassing and harmful to the image of Avram among the surrounding tribes. When those tribes would see the brothers quarrel, they would assume that neither of them was a peace-loving individual and they would reason that they had even more reason to quarrel with either one of those recent immigrants.

בין רועי מקנה אברם ובין רועי מקנה לוט, “between Avram’s shepherds and Lot’s shepherds.” Neither of them could locate additional grazing land which was not privately owned. The reason was that the Canaanites had claimed all that land as theirs.

“And there was a quarrel between Abram’s herdsmen etc.” Rashi explains the juxtaposition of and the Canaanites and Perizzites were then dwelling in the land to indicate that Abraham had not yet acquired possession of the land. However, this raises a difficulty: why does the text mention “the Perizzite” here, while earlier it only stated the Canaanite was then in the land? Also, here it uses the word dwelling“ [yoshev], which wasn’t mentioned earlier. Some say this implies that these two great nations — the Canaanites and Perizzites — settled in the land without quarreling, yet these two groups of shepherds could not dwell together. And there is still another difficulty: why should this situation lead to Please separate from me? After all, Abraham’s shepherds did what was right by rebuking [Lot’s shepherds] about theft, and if they [Lot’s shepherds] did not accept their rebuke, then Abraham’s shepherds had fulfilled their duty [literally: saved their souls]. It seems more reasonable to understand that Abram’s shepherds rebuked them [Lot’s shepherds] for theft, and they [Lot’s shepherds] claimed that all the land belonged to Abram, etc. Abram thought that if the inhabitants of the land would see that he was taking possession of the land on the premise that it belonged to Abram while “I am but few in number,” it is obvious that they would gather against him and strike him. Therefore, he also mentioned the Perizzites, who were mighty men who dwelt in unwalled [perazot] cities, as indicated by the name “Perizzite” and as per the sign Moses gave to the spies. Similarly, Jacob was especially afraid of the Perizzites, as he said, You have troubled me, making me odious among the dwellers of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites, as I am few in number, etc. (Genesis 34:30). Therefore, he mentioned “dwelling” here to say that until now they were dwelling peacefully with him, but through seeing that the shepherds were taking possession of the fields as if they were his, they would wage war against him without cause. Therefore, Please separate from me. Consequently, Lot went and settled near the people of Sodom who were not particular about theft. Therefore, the text continues to say, And the people of Sodom were wicked and sinners — to indicate that because they were sinful with their money and were not particular about theft, Lot settled among them.

ויהי ריב, “A quarrel had broken out, etc.” Rashi explains that the quarrel had its origin in Lot’s shepherds allowing their herds to graze in pastures belonging to others, whereas Avraham objected, respecting private property of the Canaanites. Nachmanides writes that they were actually not grazing in fields owned by others seeing G’d had already promised the entire country to Avraham and his descendants. Seeing that Lot was not an heir of Avraham, his sheep were not entitled to graze anywhere without express permission of the owners. The plain explanation of our verse is that the quarrel originated due to what has been written in verses 5 and 6 that due to the extensive flocks and herds of both Avraham and Lot, there was not enough grazing land (land not privately owned) so that the shepherds felt obliged to allow their flocks to eat whatever they could find. This is the reason why the Torah records that at that time the Canaanite and the Perisite were dwelling in the land, i.e. they owned it. There was no land which was hefker, ownerless.

And Abram said to Lot: Let there be no strife now between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are kinsmen.

אנשים אחים BROTHERS — i. e. kinsmen. The Midrashic explanation is: that they resembled each other in their facial features (Genesis Rabbah 41:6).

ביני ובינך, in the future. When either one of them would select for his herds a certain grazing area. אל נא תהי מריבה, the result of competing aspirations to the same grazing land. ובין רועי ובין רועיך, now that we dwell here.

אל נא תהי מריבה, Let no quarrel develop between me and you. Abraham told Lot that what had started as an argument between their respective shepherds was bound to lead to a quarrel between the two of them even though Lot claimed that he would never allow this to happen. After all, he respected his uncle too highly as the senior member of the family. The substance of the shepherds' arguments concerned the fact that Lot allowed his shepherds to graze on privately owned land, counting on G'd's promise that the land would belong to Abraham's family in the future. Seeing that Abraham had no children and was genetically unable to father children, Lot viewed himself as Abraham's heir. Abraham alluded to this by the superfluous comment that they were brothers. Another reason Abraham referred to their being brothers may be understood in light of our sages' comment on Psalms 50,20 [I have not found that commentary. Ed.]. The Psalmist describes a brother who lives with another brother as maligning him. Applied to our context this means that Abraham was afraid that if the local inhabitants would take Lot to court for stealing from them, his own reputation as the elder brother (uncle) would become tarnished. He could not allow this to happen. Abraham may also have hinted to Lot that the very fact that their principals were brothers made Lot's shepherds take that relationship for granted. Familiarity breeds contempt; had the two not been related, Lot's shepherds would have given Abraham the respect due him as an elder and as a person whom G'd had obviously favoured.

Is not all the land before you? Separate yourself now from beside me. If you go to the north, I will go to the south; and if you go to the south, I will go to the north.

אם השמאל ואימינה IF THOU WILT TAKE THE LEFT HAND, THAN I WILL GO TO THE RIGHT —Wherever you settle down I will not go far from you and I will stand by you as a shield and as a helper. Ultimately, indeed, he (Lot) was really in need of him, as it is said, (Genesis 14:14) “And Abram heard that his brother was taken captive etc.” ואימינה I WILL GO TO THE RIGHT — The word means “I will direct myself towards the right”, just as ואשמאילה means “I will direct myself towards the left.” If you say that it should be punctuated וְאַיְמִינָה (the regular Hiphil form) I answer that in another place also we find this form, (2 Samuel 14:19) אם יש לְהֵמִין “none can turn to the right hand”, where the punctuation is not לְהַיְמִין.

"And I will go right (ve-iminah)" — from the root yamin (right). The alef of "smol" (left) appears to belong to the root, yet we do not know whether it is indeed a root letter, since it is absent from the word "ha-yemini... ha-semili" (Ezekiel 21:21).

הלא כל הארץ לפניך, I’ll let you choose the area which you prefer. Therefore, הפרד נא מעלי, move away from me in the direction you prefer and I will move in the opposite direction. If you select grazing land to the left, I will select grazing land to the right.

השמאל ואימינה, “to the left, and I will turn to the right.” This meant that if Lot chose to go to the left, Avram would go to the right, i.e. to the South, as this was the direction in which he was headed. We had been told already prior to the famine which broke out in the land of Canaan that Avram journeyed steadily in a southerly direction (12,9). On the other hand, ואם הימין, if Lot ”were to turn to the right,” Avram would force himself to move to the “left.” This is what Rashi explains. It is somewhat amazing that Rashi should say of Avram that he said: “I will force myself to go to the left.” Since it had been Avram’s intention to travel in a southerly direction, why would he change direction? What Rashi must have meant is: “I will cause you to turn to the left.” [in other words, Avram did not really offer Lot a choice in the matter. Ed.] He would force Lot to move in a northerly direction. I have heard that the more accurate versions of Onkelos have the following wording: אם את לצפונא ואנא לדרומא ואם את לדרומא ואצפנך “If you turn north I will turn south; if you want to turn south I will have to force you to turn north.” Avram made it plain that the size of his herds dictated to him to travel in a southerly direction.

And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that it was all well-watered — before Hashem destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah — like the garden of Hashem, like the land of Egypt, as far as Zoar.

כי כלה משקה THAT IT WAS WELL WATERED — a land of water-streams. לפני שחת ה' את סדום ואת עמורה BEFORE THE LORD DESTROYED SODOM AND GOMORRAHH that land was 'כגן ה LIKE THE GARDEN OF GOD in respect of trees, כארץ מצרים LIKE THE LAND OF EGYPT in respect of seed (vegetables) (Genesis Rabbah 41:7). באכה צער means AS THOU GOEST עד צוער to Zoar. The Midrashic explanation (Horayot 10b; Genesis Rabbah 41:7) explains it to Lot’s discredit — just because they (the people of Sodom and Gomorrah) were addicted to lewdness did Lot choose their locality.

AS THE GARDEN OF THE ETERNAL, LIKE THE LAND OF EGYPT. The verse states that the whole land of the Plain was adequately irrigated from the Jordan by working with the foot, just as was done with the garden of G-d, concerning which it is stated, And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and as is the way in the land of Egypt, concerning which it is stated, And thou didst water it with thy foot. The verse mentions both places: it says that the land of the Plain was as adequately irrigated as the garden of the Eternal, which is the most perfect place on this earth, and it also mentions, like the land of Egypt, a place well known for pasture. Our Rabbis have said, The Sifre is a Tannaitic Midrash on the book of Numbers and the book of Deuteronomy. “As the garden of the Eternal for trees; Like the land of Egypt — for herbs.” Their intent was to explain that there were large rivers in the Plain, which watered the trees of the gardens, as was the case in the garden of G-d, and that there were also ponds in it, as in the land of Egypt, from which vegetable gardens were watered. Lot chose this part, for a land which is so irrigated is unlikely to suffer from a drought and is good for pasture.

"The plain (kikar) of the Jordan" — a place of vegetation. The kaf is doubled, or [a letter] is missing from "kar nirchav" (a broad, fertile valley; Isaiah 30:23). Likewise, "bat ayin" (apple of the eye; Psalms 17:8) is derived from "be-vat eino" (Zechariah 2:12). — "Watered" is masculine following a feminine noun; so too: "fire that was not blown consumes it" (Job 20:26). — "Before Hashem destroyed" — that is, before He destroyed. It is the infinitive of the heavy, doubled conjugation (binyan ha-kaved ha-dagush).

כי כלה משקה, “for all of it was well irrigated.” Some commentators understand the verse: וירא את כל ככר הירדן, to mean that the river Jordan irrigated the entire region bountifully. כגן ה, “as if it were a garden planted by Hashem Himself, not unlike Egypt which was also irrigated by the river Nile. (Compare Genesis 2,10)

And Lot chose for himself the entire plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward; and they separated, each man from beside his kinsman.

ככר The word means “a plain” as the Targum translates it. מקדם FROM THE EAST — He removed from Abram and went westward of Abram — consequently he travelled from the East to the West. A Midrashic explanation is: He wandered away from the Originator (מקדמונו) of the Universe, saying, “I want neither Abram nor his God” (Genesis Rabbah 41:7).

"And Lot journeyed from the east" — for Sodom is to the west of Bethel.

ויבחר לו לוט, he selected as much area as he himself with his shepherds would manage to control as their grazing land. In this section of the earth Avram and his shepherds would not be allowed to graze. ויסע לוט מקדם, he did not turn right or left which were north and south, but he moved from the east to the west to distance himself from Avram [the author translated מקדם as meaning “from the east,” though this is difficult to reconcile with the fact that the Jordan valley is east from the region of Bet El and Ai where Avram and Lot had been reported last in verse 3. The area of the Jordan valley was the area from which the Israelites under the leadership of Joshua would enter the land of Canaan (Joshua chapter 4)

ויפרדו איש מעל אחיו, “they separated totally from one another.” This separation lasted historically throughout the generations so that descendants (male) of Lot were never allowed to convert to Judaism. (Deuteronomy 23,4)

Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent as far as Sodom.

ויאהל means he pitched tents for his shepherds and cattle עד סדום throughout the whole district extending AS FAR AS SODOM.

ABRAM DWELT IN THE LAND OF CANAAN. The meaning thereof is that he dwelt in the remainder of the entire land of Canaan; he did not stay in one place but abode in the entire land of Canaan while Lot settled in one place thereof, namely, the cities of the Plain, for the cities of the Plain are part of the land of Canaan. The meaning of [the plural “cities” in the expression, and Lot dwelt in] the cities of the Plain, is that he dwelt for a time in this city and a time in the other on account of his many cattle. This is the reason that the verse says, So Lot chose him all the plain of the Jordan; here. he made a condition with Abram that he [Abram] should not come into the entire Plain.

"Va-ye'ahel" — he pitched his tents.

אברם ישב בארץ כנען, even though the city of Sodom and its satellite towns are on the border of the land of Canaan, the people living in those cities at that time, were not Canaanites. It was therefore in order for the Torah to write that Avram- as opposed to Lot- settled in the land of Canaan. He settled in the part of the land inhabited by Canaanites. They were not as evil as the Sodomites. Avram did not move close to the boundary of Sodom at all.

ויאהל עד סדום, “he erected his tents as far as Sodom.” He did not take up residence inside the city of Sodom, because he knew that those people were evil and wicked. This is also why later on the Torah described Lot as sitting in the gateway to Sodom. (19,1) His house, though part of the wall of Sodom, had its entrance outside that wall.

אברם ישב בארץ כנען, “Avram dwelled in the land of Canaan.” This means that he lived all over the land of Canaan as opposed to Lot who lived only in the Jordan valley. Avram continued the life of a nomad whereas Lot had a firm abode. The words בערי הככר do not mean that Lot lived in several towns of the valley simultaneously but that he lived “in one of the towns of the valley at a time.” This too was due to the extent of his herds. All of those towns were part of the land of Canaan. This is why the Torah wrote that Lot “chose for himself the entire valley of the Jordan river;” he concluded a treaty with Avram that the latter would not move to any part of that valley. ויאהל עד סדום “his tent extended as far as the town of Sodom.” Here the Torah taught us something detrimental about Lot. He chose the proximity of evil people and pitched his tent among them. This is why the Torah immediately continues with telling us what kind of people lived in Sodom.

But the men of Sodom were wicked in their wealth and sinful in their bodies — exceedingly so before Hashem.

ואנשי סדום רעים BUT THE MEN OF SODOM WERE WICKED, and yet Lot did not refrain from living with them. Our Rabbis learned from here how the text (Proverbs 10:11) “and the name of the wicked shall rot” should be applied (Yoma 38b). רעים WICKED in their persons וחטאים AND SINNERS with their wealth (Sanhedrin 109a) לה' מאד BEFORE THE LORD, EXCEEDINGLY — They knew their Master and yet intentionally rebelled against Him (Sifra, Bechukotai, Section 2 2).

NOW THE MEN OF SODOM WERE WICKED AND SINNERS. The purport thereof, as Rashi wrote, is that Scripture accuses Lot for not restraining himself from dwelling with them and also speaks of the merit of the righteous one [Abraham] whose lot did not fall in a place of wickedness for the rod of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous. And all the cities of the Plain were wicked and sinners against the Eternal exceedingly. This was why they alone were overthrown even though all the Canaanites were people of great abominations, for so it is written.

"Wicked" — toward other people. Ezekiel expounded this: "and the hand of the poor and the needy they did not strengthen" (Ezekiel 16:49).

ואנשי סדום רעים, “the people of Sodom behaved wickedly toward fellow human beings.” This is spelled out in greater detail in Ezekiel, 17,49,) ויד עני ואביון לא החזיקה; “It did not support the poor or the destitute.”

And Hashem said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: Lift up your eyes now and look from the place where you are — northward and southward and eastward and westward.

אחרי הפרד לוט AFTER LOT WAS SEPARATED FROM HIM — So long as the wicked (Lot) was with him the word of God kept away from him (i. e. God had no communion with Abraham) (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayetzei 10).

אחרי הפרד לוט, G’d did not say what follows while Lot was still in Avram’s company, so that the latter would not boast and his shepherds would engage in stealing grazing land from the local inhabitants claiming G’d’s promise to Avram of future possession as their justification.

וה׳ אמר אל אברם. G'd said to Abram. The form of address is unusual. We would have expected ויאמר השם "now G'd said to Abraham, etc." The reason for the form of address chosen by the Torah maybe that the Torah wanted to give us a hint that G'd had already waited a long time to tell Abraham what He now told him, but that as long as the wicked Lot was part of his entourage He could not do so. G'd now fulfilled the second part of what He had said to Abraham in 12,1 i.e. אל הארץ אשר אראך. וראה מן המקום, "and look from the place, etc." G'd had to emphasise the word מן המקום to alert us to the miracle that He expanded Abraham's sense of vision so that he could see the entire land of Israel from the place he stood on. He did not even have to turn around to look in the different directions.

וה' אמר אחרי הפרד לוט מעמו, “and Hashem had said after Lot had separated from him, etc.” G-d had told Avram that he made a mistake when he thought that Lot having moved to Sodom, or the valley near it was enough, as that was also part of the territories that He had in mind to give to Avram’s descendants as their ancestral territory. אחרי הפרט לוט מעמו, “the need for this separation was to forestall Lot from ever claiming that his descendants were entitled to part of the land of Israel.” The relevant words concerning this interpretation are: כי את כל הארץ אשר אתה רואה, “for the whole land that you can see;” [Lot had also decided on the basis of what he could see. (13,10) Ed.] G-d emphasised that Lot should never have any claim to any part of the Holy Land.

אחרי הפרד לוט, “after Lot had separated, etc.” The verse teaches that G’d had not communicated with Avram until he had separated himself from a wicked companion.

And God said to Abram after Lot had parted from him. Rashi explains that as long as the wicked one was with him, Divine speech was withheld from him. Commentators raise a difficulty here: Hadn’t it already been stated And God appeared to Abram when Lot was still with him? It seems to me that this is not difficult at all, because in the first promise it was stated To your offspring I will give this land. This promise actually served as justification for Lot’s shepherds, misleading them to say that all the land belonged to Abram and Lot would inherit it. Therefore, they would graze their animals in others’ fields. However, if one were to analyze their legal claim, there is a rebuttal to their argument, as Abram had not acquired any rights to the land at all, for the land was only given to his descendants and not to him directly. Therefore, logically, Lot should not have agreed with his shepherds, who were mere cattle herders and not wise men in asking about this. However, in this promise, the Holy One, Blessed be He said to him For I will give it to you. This implies that Abram himself acquired rights to the land. Therefore, this promise was not given to Abram until after Lot had separated from him, so that Lot would not rely on this promise — which was greater than the first one — and come to steal openly, without being deterred by anything. As for what was said For I will give it to you, it will be explained, God willing, in Parshat Vaera, in what way Abram acquired rights to the land. Another explanation for why God appeared to him [Abraham]: Even though Lot was with him [initially], this was because he [Lot] had not yet become wicked by grazing in others’ fields. For perhaps Lot did not yet have sheep and cattle at that time. However, after he went with Abram, Lot was also given gifts, as it is written And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds (Genesis 13:5). And our Sages said (Bava Kamma 93): What caused this for him? His going with Abram. From this we can deduce that before he went with Abram, he did not yet have sheep and cattle, until he came with him to Egypt where they gave gifts to Abraham and also to Lot so that they would agree to give Sarah to him [Pharaoh] as a wife. It was then that he [Lot] began to graze his animals in others’ fields and became wicked. Because of him, Divine communication withdrew from Abram, for theft causes the Divine Presence to depart, as it is written Because of the plundering of the poor, because of the groaning of the needy, Now I will arise, says the Lord (Psalms 12:6).

וה' אמר אל אברם אחרי הפרד לוט מעמו, “and G’d had spoken (again) to Avram after Lot had separated from him.” According to Rashi G’d had stopped communicating with Avraham while the latter kept company with the wicked Lot. The difficulty with this commentary is that we read in verse 7 that G’d appeared to Avraham and spoke to him (while he was in the company of Lot, [whom he had taken along without having been instructed to. Ed.])

For all the land that you see I will give to you and to your descendants forever.

"I will give it to you" — through speech. And likewise: "and he shall place them upon the head of the goat" (Leviticus 16:21).

כי את כל הארץ, For the entire land, etc. We are all familiar with the limitations of our eyesight. We can see for a certain distance, no more. We are also familiar with the so-called קפיצת הדרך, telescoping a distance of earth under one into a very small distance such as was experienced by Eliezer on his way to Charan, and Jacob on his way to Charan. In this instance G'd brought the various borders of the land of Israel closer to Abraham so that he could see them all with his normal eyesight. Abraham took possession of the land symbolically because all of it was within his view. Normally speaking, there is no more absolute sign of possession than to move a rock from its location. Here G'd moved the entire land from its location to bring it within the sight of Abraham's eyes.

כי את כל הארץ אשר אתה רואה, “for the whole land that you can see;” [Lot had also decided on the basis of what he could see. (13,10) Ed.] G-d emphasised that Lot should never have any claim to any part of the Holy Land.

And I will make your children as numerous as the dust of the earth — just as a man cannot count the dust of the earth, so too your descendants cannot be counted.

אשר אם יוכל איש SO THAT IF A MAN IS ABLE [TO COUNT] —just as it is impossible for the dust to be counted, so, too, your seed shall not be counted.

And I will make thy sons manifold as the dust of the earth, as that, as it is impossible for a man to number the dust of the earth, so also it shall be impossible to number thy sons.

Arise, walk through the land, its length and its breadth, for to you I will give it.

ARISE, WALK THROUGH THE LAND IN THE LENGTH AND IN THE BREADTH OF IT. It is possible that this is a matter of option, depending on his will. The Eternal thus told Abraham, “Go wherever you wish to go in the land for I will be with you and guard you from the evil of the nations, for unto thee will I give it, that is to say, the land will be yours.” And if it be a command that Abraham should traverse the length and breadth of the land in order to take possession of his gift, as I have explained, he was not commanded to do this immediately. He did so ultimately for he was now in the east, and afterwards he went to the land of the Philistines which is in the west, and thus he fulfilled the command during his lifetime. The meaning of the expression, to thee… and to thy children, here. is that you are to take possession of the gift now, in order to transmit it to your children, even as our Rabbis have said: “The land of Israel is an inheritance to the people of Israel from their patriarchs.”By way of the plain meaning of Scripture, it is possible that the meaning of the verse is that Abraham was to be a ruler over the land and a prince of G-d in its midst, wherever he will go in this land.

לך אתננה, for even in your own lifetime you will be regarded as a prince of G’d, and deserving of great honour (compare Genesis 23,6)

קום התהלך בארץ. "Arise, and walk through the land." The Talmud Baba Batra 100 discusses how one acquires title to land. [The context of the discussion is whether the fact that people used someone's private property as a shortcut entitles them to continue to do so even if the property in question changed hands. Ed.] Rabbi Eliezer, basing himself on our verse, claims that merely traversing the land assures one of one's rights to the area one has traversed; the other rabbis hold that one has to go through the regular legal procedure for acquiring title. The rabbis say that our verse is not to be taken as a general rule, but that an exception was made in the case of Abraham who was especially beloved of G'd. G'd intended to facilitate Abraham's descendants taking possession of the land when the time came. According to these rabbis, Abraham's title to the land stems from verse 15 where G'd had promised it to Abraham. The reason G'd rolled the land up so as to bring it close to Abraham was in order that the act of moving it would demonstrate ownership by the person on whose behalf it was moved.

קום התהלך בארץ, “arise and walk throughout the land;” in order to establish claim to it.

קום התהלך בארץ, “arise and walk throughout the land, etc.” According to the plain meaning of the words, G’d wanted Avram to stake a claim to different parts of the land already now by setting foot on it and by pointing out its boundaries and his having set foot on it. From a rational/investigative aspect, the word התהלך is one that occurs in connection with the emanation חכמה such as in Proverbs 6,22 בהתהלכך תנחה אותך, “when you walk it will guide you (the wisdom of Torah).” A similar thought is reflected in Psalms 39, 7 אך בצלם יתהלך איש, “man can walk (successfully) only if he enjoys the ‘image’ of G’d.” This is a reference to the format of the spiritual soul. Only selected righteous people have been mentioned as possessing such distinction. Examples of people who strove for the acquisition of such wisdom are Noach, Chanoch, and Avraham, and others like them. Seeing that Avraham acquired such wisdom in stages and that his soul kept traveling הלוך ונסוע הנגבה, “constantly approaching further to the ‘south,’ the symbol of חכמה, G’d said to Him: ‘arise and walk throughout the land.” This was in response to his unspoken request to attain ever greater insights. (Torat Chayim points out that the numerical value of the word הנגבה=65 equals that of א-דני the attribute of G’d which communicated with him). The relevance of this interpretation of our verse is based on the fact that the Torah nowhere reports that Avram actually traversed the land physically in accordance with G’d’s instructions. All the Torah reports is that Avram pitched his tent in Chevron. In other words, the Torah seems to emphasize that instead of walking Avram ישב “sat” in Chevron. We have already pointed out earlier that even the word ויאהל does not mean to pitch a physical tent as much as it refers to “pitching the tent of Torah”, i.e. establishing a spiritual abode. When G’d added כי לך אתננה, “for to you I will give it,” He also referred to the חכמה Avram had been searching for. G’d was going to grant Avram progressively greater insights into the workings of the universe, and He would help him acquire greater spiritual eminence. This is similar to Kings I 5,29 where the prophet reports וה' נתן חכמה לשלמה, ‘and the Lord had granted חכמה,’the emanation wisdom’ to Solomon.”

Arise, walk through the land in its length and in its breadth. Look to the right and see that initially, the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Abraham, Please lift up your eyes and see from the place where you are standing there, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see, I will give to you and to your descendants forever. This implies that sight alone was sufficient to acquire it. But afterwards, He reversed this and said, Arise, walk through the land in its length and in its breadth, for I will give it to you. This implies that one needs to make an actual possession like marking the boundaries (Bava Kamma 9a), and sight alone was not enough to acquire it. Furthermore, initially He said to your descendants forever, but afterwards He said for I will give it to you, without mentioning descendants or “forever.” Additionally, He said please lift [na in Hebrew, indicating a request], but when saying arise, walk through the land, He did not use the term na. And with Moses our Rabbi, peace be upon him, the approach is reversed, as it says Let me cross over, please, and see the land (Deuteronomy 3:25). Here, the term na is used with the actual crossing, which is similar to arise, walk through the land, but regarding seeing, he did not use na, as he didn’t say “and let me see, please.” Moreover, what is meant by saying here and see from the place where you are standing there? Would you think he would see from a place where he is not standing? What appears most correct to me in all of this is that the Holy One, blessed be He, granted Abraham the land to acquire two types of benefits: one spiritual, which is acquired through sight alone, and one physical, which is acquired through walking its boundaries. The spiritual benefit is that the location of the earthly Temple is aligned with the heavenly Temple, and there God established His dwelling place, blessed be He, and there is the hiding place of His might, blessed be He. Anyone who gazes upon that holy place is immediately clothed in a spirit of purity and holiness, and their eyes behold the Supreme King in His beauty, blessed be He. Sight alone is sufficient for a person to acquire that perfection in the place which Abraham called Hashem yireh (Genesis 22:14), which can be read both as “will see” [with a chirik under the yud] and “will be seen” [with a tzerei under the yud], for just as one comes to see, so does one come to be seen. For immediately upon arriving there, just as the Divine Presence sees him, so does he see the face of the Divine Presence, and he immediately becomes influenced, elevated, and attached to the radiance of His Divine Presence, blessed be He — a taste of the World to Come, for there too the righteous sit and enjoy the radiance of His Divine Presence, blessed be He. A person does not merit this perfection in every place in the land, but only in the place called “Hashem yireh,” which is Mount Moriah and Bethel, for it is written above (verses 3-4) to Bethel, to the place of the altar, etc. And later in Parshat Vayetzei (28:17), Rashi explains that the Temple came to meet him at Bethel, and the commentators explained that from that time onward, the two places — the Temple site and Bethel — merged and became one place. Therefore, it is said here to Abram, Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are. It pointed specifically that this spiritual perfection, which is acquired through sight alone, can only be acquired from the place where he was standing, namely Bethel. For this is how the verses’ simple meaning suggests: And he went on his journeys… to Bethel, etc. And this is what is meant by to the land that I will show you — that I will show it to You there, and for this reason, Your eyes shall behold the king in His beauty. And this spiritual benefit will never be removed from his descendants forever. For even in times when the earthly Temple is not standing, nevertheless, the eternal heavenly Temple that corresponds to it will never depart, and at all times its divine abundance flows down upon Abraham’s holy descendants. For this reason, many righteous people yearned with their souls to stand in that holy place, for they desired its stones etc. And corresponding to this spiritual benefit, the Holy One, Blessed be He said Please lift up your eyes and see from the place where you are — meaning, from the holy place where you are standing, for in it you will acquire spiritual perfection and merit to see the Divine Presence. And regarding that perfection He said I will give it to you and your descendants forever because this spiritual perfection will never depart. And afterwards, He spoke regarding the physical perfection that would be acquired in the land, namely the basic inheritance of field and vineyard. And regular land can only be acquired through complete possession from when he walks along the boundaries. Therefore He said Arise, walk through the land in its length and its width, for I will give it to you — and He did not mention “to your descendants forever” because the land was given to Israel conditionally: If they keep His statutes and observe His laws. And regarding the acquisition of these two types of perfection, Moses said Let me cross over, please, and see the good land (Deuteronomy 3:25). For in saying let me cross over, please, he requested to acquire a general portion in the land, which requires actual crossing over, just as it was said [to Abraham] Arise, walk through the land (Genesis 13:17). And in saying and let me see the land, he requested to acquire spiritual perfection, which is acquired through sight alone. And corresponding to what was said here from the place where you are — namely Bethel, the place of the Temple — he said later this good mountain and Lebanon. And regarding what is written here Please lift up your eyes (Genesis 13:14) — the word “please” [na] was specifically mentioned regarding the perfection acquired through sight, but for physical perfection, the word “please” was not mentioned. And with Moses, the opposite is written — but it’s all for the same reason: Since physical perfection is what appears more visibly to human eyes, therefore the Holy One, blessed be He doesn’t need to beseech people with pleading language to accept it from Him. Rather, the opposite — people beseech God with pleading language, as it is desirable to the eyes to see the pleasures of this world. However, regarding spiritual desire, which no eye has seen (Isaiah 64:3), [human] nature is not so drawn to it, and people don’t naturally beseech for it with pleading language. Rather, the opposite — God beseeches people with pleading language to cleave to this spiritual perfection. Therefore, God said to Abraham please lift up — “please” is only used as a request and plea, as God asked him to cleave to this spiritual acquisition. But arise, walk through the land — to acquire inheritance of field and vineyard — He didn’t need to beseech him for this. But when Moses requested these two things from God, he used the word “please” when saying let me cross over — referring to acquiring a portion in the land, which [human] nature desires and requests. But when he said and let me see the land he didn’t mention the word “please,” because it’s all for the same reason. And even though it’s not appropriate to say this about two righteous people like Abraham and Moses, nevertheless the Torah spoke in the common language of people. God spoke to Abraham “please lift up” and arise, walk, as if speaking to an ordinary person, and Moses also didn’t want to consider himself completely righteous. Another explanation: Abraham did not have haughty eyes and would always keep his eyes lowered downward. Therefore, it was said to him Please lift up your eyes — where “please” [na] indicates “now,” meaning that for this moment, just for now, please lift up your eyes upward and see.

קום התהלך בארץ, “arise and walk freely throughout the land, etc.” This is not a command; G’d merely told Avraham to feel free to travel anywhere in the land as He would protect him against any danger. Alternatively, it is possible to see in these words an instruction to traverse the entire land in order to establish a claim to ownership of that country. In any event, this advice or instruction did not have to be carried out immediately. Nonetheless, Avraham immediately began to carry out this advice/instruction for while we find him in the easterly part of the country at this stage, the Torah reports that he moved south to the region of Hebron (verse 18). Somewhat later, after the destruction of Sodom, he moved to the region controlled by the Philistines (20,1). According to the plain meaning of the text, wherever Avraham pitched his tent, (virgin land) he established property rights and was recognized as its owner. כי לך, “for to you, etc.” You are to establish your claim to this land already now, in your lifetime, whereas your descendants will claim it as in inalienable inheritance. Some commentators see in the words קום התהלך בארץ which G’d said to Avraham a criticism for Avraham voluntarily having agreed to share the land with Lot when he offered him the choice of selecting areas to his right or to his left, as if he were saying that he did not need such a vast inheritance for himself alone, seeing that he did not even have a son to bequeath it to. G’d told him that he would indeed spread out to the north, south, east and west, as his descendants would be so numerous. If Avraham were to ask why he needed all this, G’d added that his descendants would be so numerous that they would defy attempts to count them all. Still another explanation of the words כעפר הארץ, “as the dust of the earth” is that just as ordinary people use dust to step on, to thresh around in, so kingdoms will (at times) use your descendants as something to be threshed (to extract their full value from?).

And Abram pitched his tent and came and dwelt in the plains of Mamre, which is in Hebron; and he built an altar there before Hashem.

ממרא MAMRE — the name of a man.

Here he explains that the elonei (oaks/terebinths) of Mamre are in Hebron.

ויאהל אברם, an expression denoting the encamping, erecting one’s many tents.

ויאהל אברם ויבא וישב, “Avram pitched his tent and arrived and settled;” actually, we would have expected the Torah to write the following sequence: ויבא אברם ויאהל וישב, “Avram arrived, pitched his tent, and settled;” we learn from the inverted sequence that the meaning of the word: ויאהל, here cannot be the usual meaning, i.e. “he pitched his tent;” here it means that “he folded his tent.” There are many words in the holy Tongue that have two different meanings depending the context in which they appear. The second meaning may be the opposite of the usual one. The best known example of this is the word דשן, which in Leviticus 6,3 means ash, residue, whereas in Exodus 27,3 is used as something being collected in special containers instead of something to be scattered removed. At any rate, Avram moved his tent from noman’s land in the land of Canaan to inhabited regions, i.e. elon moreh.