Genesis 13:5–12
Abram lets Lot choose, to avoid a quarrel between their herdsmen
Study it word by word5Lot also, who went with Abram, had sheep, cattle, and tents.
6But the land could not support them living together, for their possessions were great, and they could not live together.
7So there was a quarrel between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites were living then in the land.
8Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between me and you, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are men, brothers.
9Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; and if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”
10Lot lifted his eyes and saw the whole plain of the Jordan, that all of it was well-watered (before YHWH destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of YHWH, like the land of Egypt, as you go toward Zoar.
11So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward; and they separated, each from his brother.
12Abram lived in the land of Canaan, and Lot lived in the cities of the plain and moved his tent as far as Sodom.
In its context
3He went on his journeys from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,
4to the place of the altar that he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of YHWH.
…
13Now the men of Sodom were evil and great sinners against YHWH.
14YHWH said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up now your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward;
Its words in the original
- לוֹטlot· Lot
Lot, nephew of Abram, son of Haran; he settled in Sodom and was saved from its destruction. Father of Moab and Ammon.
- הֹלֵךְholech· go, walk
Go, walk, come. Figuratively, the way one lives ("walk with God").
- אַבְרָםavram· Abram
Abram, the name of Abraham before God changed it (Genesis 17:5). It means "exalted father".
- הָיָהhaya· be, become, happen
Be, exist; also "become" or "happen". It is the verb of "there was", "it was" and "it came to pass".
- צֹאןtson· flock
Flock of sheep and goats, small livestock; figuratively, a people led like a flock.
- בָקָרvakar· cattle, herd
Cattle: cows, oxen, bulls; a herd.
- אֹהָלִיםohalim· tent
Tent: the dwelling of shepherds who move from place to place; also a home.
- נָשָׂאnasa· lift, carry, bear
Lift up, carry, bear. "Bear sin" is to suffer its consequences; said of God, "taking away" sin is forgiving it. "Lift up the eyes" is to look.
- אָרֶץarets· earth, land
The earth, in two senses: the whole world in contrast with the heavens, or a particular country or region ("the land of Egypt").
- שֶׁבֶתshevet· sit, dwell
Sit, sit down; from there stay in a place, live, dwell. In the causative form, settle someone, make to dwell. Also sit as judge or as king.
- יַחְדָּוyachdav· together
Together, at the same time.
- רְכוּשָׁrechusha· possessions
Goods, possessions, property.
- רָבrav· many, great
Many, much, abundant, great; also "elder" or "chief".
- יָכְלוּyachlu· be able, can
Be able, can; also prevail, overcome.
- רִיבriv· dispute, case
Dispute, quarrel; also a case brought before a judge.
- רֹעֵיroe· shepherd
Shepherd, one who tends the flock.
- מִקְנֵהmikne· livestock
Livestock: the animals someone owns, as property.
- כְּנַעֲנִיkenaani· Canaanite
Canaanite: an inhabitant of Canaan before Israel; also a trader.
- פְּרִזִּיperizi· Perizzite
Perizzite: one of the peoples that lived in Canaan before Israel.
- יֹּאמֶרyomer· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- מְרִיבָהmeriva· quarrel
Quarrel, strife.
- אֲנָשִׁיםanashim· man, husband, each
Man, male; with a possessive, husband. Also "each one", "anyone". It is "ish", distinct from "adam" (human being); it is used for the man in contrast with the woman ("ishah").
- אַחִיםachim· brother
Brother; also a close relative, or someone of the same people.
- פָנֶיfane· face, presence
Face. From there "surface" (the face of something) and "presence" (being before someone's face); with a preposition it means "before" or "in front of".
- הִפָּרֶדhipared· separate
Separate, part, be divided; spread out.
- שְּׂמֹאלsemol· left, north
Left, left hand. Facing the east, the left is the north.
- אֵימִנָהemina· go to the right
Go to the right.
- יָּמִיןyamin· right hand, south
Right, right hand. Facing the east, the right is the south. It is also the side of honor and of strength.
- אַשְׂמְאִילָהasmila· go to the left
Go to the left.
- עֵינָיenay· eye
Eye. "In someone's eyes" means "in his opinion"; "find favor in the eyes of" is to please him. Also a spring of water.
- יַּרְאyar· see
See. Also look, observe, notice, consider; in some forms, "appear" or "show".
- כִּכַּרkikar· plain, talent, loaf
Something round: a region (the plain around the Jordan), a round loaf of bread, or a "talent", the largest weight for metals (about 34 kilograms).
- יַּרְדֵּןyarden· Jordan
Jordan, the main river of the land of Israel; it runs down from the north to the Dead Sea.
- מַשְׁקֶהmashke· cupbearer, drink
What gives drink. Said of a land, well watered; said of a person, the cupbearer who serves the king his drink.
- שַׁחֵתshachet· corrupt, destroy
Spoil, corrupt; destroy, ruin. The same verb can say what people do to the earth (corrupt it) and what God does in judgment (destroy).
- יְהוָהyehva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
- סְדֹםsedom· Sodom
Sodom, a city of the plain of the Jordan, destroyed for its wickedness; later an example of sin and of judgment.
- עֲמֹרָהamora· Gomorrah
Gomorrah, a city near Sodom, destroyed with it.
- גַןgan· garden
Garden: an enclosed and tended piece of land, with trees and water.
- מִצְרַיִםmitsrayim· Egypt, Mizraim
Mizraim, the Hebrew name of Egypt; also the Egyptians. As a person, a son of Ham, ancestor of the Egyptians.
- בֹּאֲboa· come, go in, bring
Come, arrive, go in, enter. In the causative form, "bring" or "carry in". "Go in to" a woman is to have marital relations with her.
- צֹעַרtsoar· Zoar
Zoar, a small town near Sodom. Its name means "small" (Genesis 19:20-22).
- יִּבְחַרyivchar· choose
Choose, select.
- יִּסַּעyisa· set out
Pull up the tent pegs, break camp, set out on a journey.
- קֶּדֶםkedem· east, of old
What is in front. Since in Israel one faced where the sun rises, it means "east"; applied to time, "of old", "ancient times".
- כְּנָעַןkenaan· Canaan
Canaan, son of Ham and grandson of Noah; also the land where his descendants lived, which later became the land of Israel.
- עָרֵיare· city
City: in ancient times any settlement with protection, however small.
- יֶּאֱהַלyeehal· pitch a tent
Pitch a tent, camp.