Genesis 13

Genesis 13:1

It all begins with God An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Genesis www.easyenglish.info Marie Wetherill and Keith Simons This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 13 Abram and Lot separate, 13:1-18 v1 Then Abram went up from Egypt. He took his wife with him. And he took everything that they had. Lot went with them to the area called the Negev. v2 Abram was very rich. He had a lot of *cattle, silver and gold.

v3 Abram travelled from the Negev to Bethel. He stopped sometimes on the way. Then he went beyond Bethel towards Ai. That was the place where he had had his tent at the beginning. v4 That was where he had made an *altar before. There Abram *worshipped the *Lord.

v5 Lot, who was with Abram, also had *flocks, *herds and tents. v6 When Abram and Lot were together, there were a lot of people and animals. The land could not produce enough to keep them all alive. Abram and Lot owned so much that they could not live near each other. v7 Some *herdsmen looked after Abram’s *cattle and some *herdsmen looked after Lot’s *cattle. And there were quarrels between those two groups of *herdsmen. The people called *Canaanites and Perizzites were living in that part of Canaan then.

v8 So Abram said to Lot, ‘We are men and we belong to the same family. So we must not argue, nor must our *herdsmen quarrel. v9 Here is the whole country. Go away from me. If you go to the left, I shall go to the right. If you go to the right, I shall go to the left.’

v10 So Lot looked round. He saw the plain in valley of the Jordan River. It spread as far as Zoar. It was a very good place to grow crops. And Lot saw that. It was like the *Lord’s garden and it was like the country called Egypt. That was before the *Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. v11 Lot chose all the plain in the valley of the Jordan River. He chose that for himself. Therefore Lot went east, so that he and Abram were not together. v12 Abram lived in the country called Canaan. But Lot lived among the cities on the plain. And he put up his tents close to Sodom. v13 Now the men in Sodom were evil and they *sinned greatly against the *Lord.

v14 The *Lord spoke to Abram, after Lot had gone away from him. The *Lord said, ‘Look about you. Look from there, where you are. Look north, south, east and west. v15 All of the land that you see, I shall give to you. I shall give it to you and your *descendants for always. v16 It will be impossible to count your *descendants, as it is impossible to count tiny bits of dust. v17 Come! Walk all through the country. Walk north, south, east and west because I shall give it all to you.’

v18 So Abram moved his tent. And he went to live by the *oaks that Mamre owned. They are in the area called Hebron. There he built an *altar for the *Lord’s honour.

Abram had travelled with his nephew, called Lot. Like Abram, Lot was a *righteous man (2 Peter 2:7-8). So, Lot wanted to do the right things. But there was a problem with Lot’s character. Wealth tempted Lot. In time, it became too difficult for Abram and Lot to live together. Lot wanted to live in a place where he could become more wealthy. He did not seem to care that he would be living near wicked men. Their deeds would upset Lot greatly. But Lot still chose to live with them.

Lot’s attitudes were like the attitudes of many Christians today. They are glad to be Christians. And the wicked behaviour of other people upsets them. But those Christians allow wealth to tempt them. They may even do things that they should not do, because of money. They themselves are not evil people. But their wrong attitudes cause them many troubles. And they cannot trust God completely because of their wrong ambitions.

Abram was different. He did not care about wealth. He knew that God had led him to Canaan. And he knew that God had given his (Abram’s) wealth to him. So, Abram allowed Lot to choose whatever land he (Lot) wanted. And Abram was confident, because he trusted God. God would give to Abram whatever land Abram needed.

Afterwards, God repeated his promise to Abram. God promised Abram the country in which Abram was now living. Abram was in the right place. This was the country that God had chosen for Abram and his *descendants.

Verse 2 Abram was ‘very’ rich. And the *famine had been ‘very’ bad (Genesis 12:10). In both those cases, the writer uses the same word for ‘very’.

Verse 3 Abram was eager to return to the country that God had promised to him. And he was eager to keep in close friendship with God.

Verse 6 Abram had received more animals from *Pharaoh. All Abram’s animals needed grass to eat. So he needed more land for the animals.

Verse 8 Abram said that the men should not quarrel. Close relatives should not quarrel. He said that they should separate. Then they would be friendly again. They must not live near to each other, because that caused them to quarrel.

Verse 9 Abram was generous and he let Lot choose first.

Verse 12 From this verse, we get the idea that Lot was willing to live outside Canaan. Lot was selfish. He chose the place that he liked best. He thought that it was the best place to live. But the reasons for his decision were wrong. People must respect older people and parents. Abram was older than Lot. And Abram cared about Lot. In Sodom, Lot would live near wicked people. But Lot did not worry about that.

Lot put up tents close to Sodom so that his animals could eat grass in that area.

Verse 13 The writer gives us some idea about the trouble that the wicked people in Sodom would cause.

Verses 14-15 God told Abram more about his (God’s) promise. All the land that Abram could see would become his (Abram’s) country. God would give it to Abram himself. God would not give it just to Abram’s *descendants. God said that it would always belong to Abram.

Verses 16-17 Abram’s *descendants would be so many that nobody would be able to count them. God will *bless us when we trust him completely. Abram walked through the country. He was showing that one day he would own the country.

Verse 18 Abram built another *altar for the *Lord’s honour. Abram wanted to thank God for his goodness.

© 2006, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

May 2006

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