Genesis 13:2

And Abram was very rich,.... He was rich in spiritual things, in faith, and in all other graces, and was an heir of the kingdom of heaven; and in temporal things, as it sometimes is the lot of good

And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. Very rich - compared with the pastoral tribes to which Abram belonged.

Genesis 13:2 And Abram [was] very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.Ver. 2. And Abram was very rich.] All rich men therefore are not rejected of God, though it be hard for such to hit on heaven. Poor Lazarus lies in the bosom of rich Abraham there. Riches neither further nor hinder in themselves, but as they are used: as a cipher by itself is nothing, but a figure being set before it, it increaseth the sum. Wealth, if well used, is an ornament, an encouragement to duty, and an instrument of much good. All the danger lies in loving these things. Have them we may, and use them too, as a traveller doth his staff, to help him the sooner to his journey’ s end; but when we pass away our hearts to them, they become a mischief, and as the word here rendered rich, signifies in the original a burden. Let not therefore the bramble be king: let not earthly things bear rule over thy affections; "fire will rise out of them that will consume thy cedars," emasculate all the powers of thy soul, as they did Solomon’ s, whose wealth did him more hurt than his wisdom good. How many have we now-a-days, that when poor, could pray, read, &c., who, grown rich, resemble the moon, which, grown full, gets farthest off from the sun, never suffers eclipse but then, and that by earth’ s interposition! Let rich men therefore take heed how they handle their thorns; let them gird up the loins of their minds, lest their long garments hinder them in the way to heaven; let them see to it, that they be not tied to their abundance, as little Lentulus was said to have been to his long sword; that they be not held prisoners in those golden fetters, as the king of Armenia was by Anthony, and so sent by him for a present to Cleopatra, lest at length they send their mammon of unrighteousness, as Croesus did his fetters, for a present to the devil, who had deluded him with false hopes of victory. Socrates divitias comparabat tunicis talaribus . Quis generum meum ad gladium alligavit ? - Cic. Dio in Augusto. Herodot.

XIII. ABRAM’S RETURN FROM EGYPT AND HIS FROM LOT.(1-4) He went on his journeys.—Or, according to his stations, which the Vulgate very reasonably translates, “by the same route by which he had come.” This route was first into the south, the Negeb, which is virtually a proper name, and thence to the spot between Beth-el and Ai mentioned in Genesis 12:8. 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. As regards his wealth, while his cattle had been greatly increased in Egypt, he had probably brought the silver and gold with him from Mesopotamia. Gold, however, was plentiful at that time in Egypt, but silver rare.

Verse 2. Abram was very rich] The property of these patriarchal times did not consist in flocks only, but also in silver and gold; and in all these respects Abram was דבד מאד cabed meod, exceeding rich. Josephus says that a part of this property was acquired by teaching the Egyptians arts and sciences. Thus did God fulfil his promises to him, by protecting and giving him a great profusion of temporal blessings, which were to him signs and pledges of spiritual things.

2. cattle … silver … gold] Abram’s wealth described in an ascending scale of value. Cf. Genesis 12:16, Genesis 24:35. on his journeys] i.e. by successive encampments. the place … his tent] See Genesis 12:8; to which passage also the phrases “at the beginning,” and “at the first” (Genesis 13:3-4) refer.

2. Very rich in cattle — Largely acquired in Egypt. Comp. Genesis 12:16.