Genesis 13:1-18
Abraham and Lot

13:1-4. Abram's itinerary. Since the household is depicted as pastoral nomads, they would have had to stop periodically to find pasture and water for the herds and flocks. The Negev was more heavily populated in the early second millennium and might have provided specific staging points for this journey (see Ex 17:1). The return to the vicinity of Bethel marks the resumption of the covenantal narrative and sets the stage for the separation from Lot. From the border of Egypt to the area of Bethel/Ai would be a journey of about two hundred miles.

13:5-7. herding needs and lifestyle. The primary requirements for a successful herding group are pasturage and water sources. The hot, dry months from April through September require movement of herds to higher elevations where grass remains and streams and springs can be found. In the colder, wet months of October through March, the animals will be brought back to the plains for grazing. This seasonal movement necessitates long separations of herders from their villages or the establishment of an unconnected, seminomadic lifestyle in which whole families travel with the herds. The knowledge of natural resources along their routes of travel would be their primary lore. Disputes over grazing land and water rights would be the most frequent cause of quarrels between herdsmen.

13:7. Canaanites and Perizzites. See comment on Exodus 3:7-10.

13:10. the plain of the Jordan. It would be possible to get a good view of the Jordan Valley and the northern area of the Dead Sea from the hills around Bethel. While the area around the Dead Sea is not a particularly hospitable region today, this verse makes it clear that prior to the Lord's judgment the area had a far different quality. It should be noted that there are extensive areas along the Jordan Plateau that do provide ample grazing, and this may also be represented in this narrative.

13:12. the boundaries of Canaan. The eastern boundary of Canaan is everywhere identified as the Jordan River (see especially Num 34:1-12 and the comments on it). Thus it becomes clear that by moving to the vicinity of the cities of the plain Lot has gone outside the land of Canaan, leaving it entirely to Abram.

13:18. Hebron. The city of Hebron is located in the Judean hill country (c. 3,300 feet above sea level) approximately nineteen miles southeast of Jerusalem and twenty-three miles east of Beersheba. Ancient roadways converge on this site coming east from Lachish and connecting with the road north to Jerusalem, indicating its importance and continuous settlement. Its springs and wells provide ample water for olive and grape production and would have supported a mixed agricultural-pastoral economy such as that described in Genesis 23. Hebron is said to have been founded “seven years before Zoan” (Avaris in Egypt), dating it to the seventeenth century b.c. (see comment on Num 13:22). The construction of an altar here, as at Bethel, transforms this into an important religious site, and its subsequent use as a burial place for the ancestors established its political importance (reflected in the Davidic narrative—2 Sam 2:1-7; 15:7-12).