1Abram went up from Egypt to the Negeb, he and his wife, with all he had and Lot with him. 2Now Abram was very rich in flocks, silver and gold. 3As he journeyed on, he went from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where he first pitched his tent between Bethel and Ai 4at the spot where he had formerly made an altar and called on the Name of Yahweh.
Abram and Lot separate
5 ① Lot who went with Abram also had flocks, cattle and tents. 6The land was not sufficient to allow them to stay together, for their possessions were too great for them to live together.
7A quarrel arose between the herdsmen of Abram’s flock and those of Lot. (The Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at the time.) 8Abram said to Lot, “Don’t let there be a dispute between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and yours, since we are brothers! 9Isn’t the whole land there before you? Let us part company. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”
10Lot looked up and saw the whole valley of the Jordan: how well it was watered! Before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, this was like one of Yahweh’s gardens, like the country of Egypt, on coming to Zoar. 11Lot chose for himself all the Jordan valley and journeyed eastward. In this way they separated from each other. 12Abram settled in the country of Canaan while Lot lived among the towns of the plain and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13Now the people of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against Yahweh.
14Yahweh said to Abram after Lot had left him, “Raise your eyes and look from where you are, towards the north, the south, the east and the west; 15all the land you see I will give to you and your descendants forever. 16I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; if the grains of the dust can be counted, then your descendants may be counted. 17Come, travel through the length and breadth of the land, for it is to you that I am giving it.”
18So Abram moved his tent and came to live by the oaks of Mamre at Hebron. There he built an altar to Yahweh.
- Gen 13,5 A quarrel occurs between Abraham's servants and those of Lot. Abraham values peace above his own interests so he allows Lot to choose his land. If you go to the left, I will go to the right. Abraham already has the insight of faith. He still does not know that the land he is going to select is only an image of the mysterious land which is the kingdom of God within us. Yet, instead of being the one to choose, he allows Lot to have the first option. He acts out of love without realizing it. Without trying, he discovered the true land, the human heart, which is where the kingdom of God is realized. On the surface Lot chooses the better part, but in fact he loses it. All the land you see I will give to you and your descendants forever. This is the land of Canaan, today's Palestine. Abraham, however, will not yet own it himself: God only promises him that the land will be his. At the time it is still occupied by the Canaanites. It would be worthwhile to see why, for centuries, God formed people with the promise of a land they would have to conquer. It is because people cannot discover their dignity as children of God if they are not given specific hopes such as land and a home. The human personality cannot develop unless a person has something to care for and to defend, something to fight for.
