Genesis 13: Abram and Lot part

Lot chooses the plain toward wicked Sodom; the LORD gives Abram all the land he sees and countless offspring.

Chapter 13 of 5018 verses3 sectionsBSB

Where Genesis 13 sits

Genesis66 books · 1,189 chaptersRevelation

In the story: Act III, Promise: Genesis 12–50; Job
In the Bible: Old Testament · The Law · chapter 13 of 50 in Genesis
In Genesis: Terah's line: Abraham, 11:27–25:11 · part of One family
Before: Genesis 12: The call of Abram
After: Genesis 14: Abram and Melchizedek

Genesis 13 summary

Abram returns from Egypt rich and goes back to his altar near Bethel. Strife between herdsmen forces a parting, and Abram gives Lot first choice; Lot looks out, chooses the Jordan plain that looks like the garden of the LORD, and pitches his tent toward Sodom, whose men are wicked. After Lot leaves, the LORD tells Abram to look in every direction: all that land is his and his offspring's forever, and his offspring will be as the dust; Abram settles at Mamre near Hebron and builds an altar.

Genesis 13 in context

Speaking: Moses, narrating; Abram makes the peace offer, and the LORD speaks the promise
Written for: Israel, tempted by what looks fertile and safe, learning to trust what God has promised
Around it: Follows the descent to Egypt (12:10–20); Lot's choice sets up his capture (ch. 14) and Sodom's fall (ch. 19)

How Genesis 13 points to Christ

The land promise grows into Abraham's being “heir of the world” (Rom 4:13), and the fathers looked beyond Canaan for a city whose builder is God (Heb 11:9–10)

The sections of Genesis 13

Back to the altar
Abram returns from Egypt rich and goes back to his altar near Bethel, calling on the name of the LORD.
13:1–4
Lot chooses
Strife parts Abram and Lot; Lot picks the Jordan plain, like the garden of the LORD, and pitches toward wicked Sodom.
13:5–13
Lift up your eyes
After Lot leaves, the LORD gives Abram and his offspring all the land he can see, forever, and offspring like the dust.
13:14–18

Read Genesis 13

Abram and Lot Part Ways

¹So Abram went up out of Egypt into the Negev—he and his wife and all his possessions—and Lot was with him. ²And Abram had become extremely wealthy in livestock and silver and gold.

³From 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, ⁴to the site where he had built the altar. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

⁵Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶But 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. ⁷And 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.

⁸So 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. ⁹Is 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.”

Lot Proceeds toward Sodom

¹⁰And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹So Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan for himself and set out toward the east. And Abram and Lot parted company.

¹²Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom. ¹³But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.

God Renews the Promise to Abram

¹⁴After Lot had departed, the LORD said to Abram, “Now lift up your eyes from the place where you are, and look to the north and south and east and west, ¹⁵for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.

¹⁶I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted. ¹⁷Get up and walk around the land, through its length and breadth, for I will give it to you.”

¹⁸So Abram moved his tent and went to live near the Oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where he built an altar to the LORD.

Berean Standard Bible, 18 verses. The BSB is in the public domain.

Around Genesis 13

Also in Terah's line: Abraham

Places

Bethel
Plain of the Jordan
Sodom
Mamre
Egypt
The Negev
Ai
The Jordan
Hebron

Read alongside

2 Peter 2:7–8 Righteous Lot, tormented day after day by the lawless deeds he saw in Sodom.
Hebrews 11:9–10 Abraham dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country, looking forward to the city with foundations.

How Genesis 13 connects

Land · Genesis 13:14–17 · The land given to Abram and his offspring forever. (Galatians 3:16; Romans 4:13)
The Seed Line · Genesis 13:16 · Offspring as the dust of the earth, repeated to Jacob (28:14).
Promise · Genesis 13:15, kept in Galatians 3:16; Romans 4:13
Covenant with Abraham · Genesis 13:14–17 · The land promise widened: all he can see, to him and his offspring forever, with offspring beyond counting.

Doctrines Genesis 13 teaches

Saving faith · Genesis 13:8–9; Hebrews 11:9–10
Worship and the Lord's Day · Genesis 13:4; Genesis 13:18

Questions on Genesis 13

Lot looks out over the plain and chooses (13:10); what does God then tell Abram to do with his eyes (13:14)?
Show the answer
To lift up his eyes from where he stands and look north, south, east and west, for all the land he sees God will give to him and his offspring forever (13:14–15). Lot chose by sight; Abram receives by promise.
Where does Abram settle and build an altar at the end of chapter 13?
Show the answer
Near the Oaks of Mamre at Hebron, where Abram moves his tent and builds an altar to the LORD (13:18). His altars mark the land promised to him, as at Shechem and near Bethel before (12:7–8).

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