Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.
11. So Lot chose ] This verse points onward both to the catastrophe in 19 and to the dwelling-place of the Moabites and Ammonites. Lot’s selection ( a) disregarded the rights of Abram his senior; ( b) was based on the material attractions of the country; ( c) ignored the characteristics of the people of the land ( Gen 13:13). Its importance lay in its symbolical resignation of any claim upon the land of Palestine by the Moabites and Ammonites.
and Lot journeyed east ] This is the account according to J. The next two clauses are from P: they repeat the same thought and interrupt the sentence. The words in Gen 13:12 “and moved his tent as far as Sodom” continue the sentence “journeyed east,” and follow very awkwardly after the words “dwelled in the cities of the Plain.” This is a rare instance of unskilful combination of the two strata of tradition.
13 (J). the men of Sodom ] The mention of the wickedness of the people is here emphasized in reference to ( a) the selfish choice of Lot ( Gen 13:11); ( b) the coming story of the overthrow of the cities of the Plain (19); ( c) the immediate assurance to Abram of Jehovah’s blessing outweighing all earthly privileges.
sinners against the Lord ] i.e. by immorality, not idolatry. Jehovah’s supremacy over the heathen world is here implied, as in Gen 12:10-20 in connexion with Egypt, and in Gen 10:10 in the mention of Nimrod.
14 17 (J). The promise of the land to Abram and his seed (Gen 12:7) is renewed with more minute description, ( a) as to the extent of the country ( Gen 13:14-15); ( b) as to the infinite number of his descendants ( Gen 13:16).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 11. Then Lot chose him all the plain] A little civility or good breeding is of great importance in the concerns of life. Lot either had none, or did not profit by it. He certainly should have left the choice to the patriarch, and should have been guided by his counsel; but he took his own way, trusting to his own judgment, and guided only by the sight of his eyes: he beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered, c. so he chose the land, without considering the character of the inhabitants, or what advantages or disadvantages it might afford him in spiritual things. This choice, as we shall see in the sequel, had nearly proved the ruin of his body, soul, and family.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Lot journeyed east; Heb. from the east, or eastward, as the Hebrew particle min is sometimes used: see Gen 2:8; 2Sa 2:2, compared with 1Ch 13:6.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. Then Lot chose him all theplaina choice excellent from a worldly point of view, but mostinexpedient for his best interests. He seems, though a good man, tohave been too much under the influence of a selfish and covetousspirit: and how many, alas! imperil the good of their souls for theprospect of worldly advantage.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan,…. Because of its good pasturage, and because of the plenty of water there; the want of both which was the inconvenience he had laboured under, and had occasioned the strife between his and Abram’s servants:
and Lot journeyed east, or “eastward”; for the plain of Jordan, and that part of the land on which Sodom and Gomorrah stood, were to the east of Bethel: the phrase is by some rendered “from the east” y, and the particle used most commonly so signifies; and Jarchi observes, that he journeyed from east to west; and Aben Ezra says, that Sodom was at the west of Bethel, in which he is most certainly wrong, for it was most clearly in the eastern part of the land; wherefore others, that follow this version, interpret it, that he went from the east of Bethel, or he went into that country situated at the east with respect to the land of Canaan; but it is best to render it as we do, east or eastward, to or towards the east z:
and they separated themselves the one from the other; that is, Abram and Lot, they parted good friends by consent; and the one went with his family, flocks, and herds, to one place, and settled there; and the other in another place, and so further animosities and contentions were prevented.
y “ab Oriente”, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Cocceius, Schmidt. z “Orientem versus”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, Cartwrightus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(11) Lot journeyed east.This is the word translated eastward in Gen. 2:8, and from the east in Gen. 11:2. Here it can only mean towards the east.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘So Lot chose for himself all the Circle of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves the one from the other.’
So Lot makes his choice. He will dwell among the cities of the plain. He is prepared to leave the place that first welcomed them, to which God had led them, for what he sees as better pastures. He does not realise what his choice is going to mean. How important it is that we make our choices aright and with much prayer and thought about what matters most.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 13:11. Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan Struck as he was with the beauty of the country, without any regard to the manners of the inhabitants; which became afterwards, as we shall see, a source of much discontent and uneasiness to him; The plain of Jordan comprehends, according to Dr. Wells, the greatest part of the flat country, through which the river Jordan runs, from its coming out of the sea of 1 Kings 7. 1 Kings 7. , to its falling into the Dead-sea: and (from 1Ki 7:46.) it extends northward as far as Succoth, which stood not far from the sea of Galilee. This river was so called, most probably, from its rapidity, iarden, or Jordan, signifying a torrent, a stream, rapid by its deep descent. When Mr. Maundrell saw this river, the water was too rapid to be swam against. In summertime its water is very shallow; but about the time of barley-harvest, or the feast of the Passover, it constantly overflows its banks, and greatly fructifies the plain, as the Nile, by its overflowing, fructifies Egypt; for which reason, it is most likely, the comparison is here made with AEgypt.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 13:11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.
Ver. 11. And they separated themselves the one from the other. ] But not very far asunder. And herein they became a symbol of friendship: for friends, as parallel lines, neither go far apart, nor yet interfere one with another.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
chose. Lot lifted up his own eyes (Gen 13:10), and made his own choice. Compare Abram, Gen 13:14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
am 2087, bc 1917
chose: Gen 19:17
they: Gen 13:9, Gen 13:14, Psa 16:3, Psa 119:63, Pro 27:10, Heb 10:25, 1Pe 2:17
Reciprocal: Gen 11:2 – from the east Gen 36:6 – went Gen 36:7 – their riches Num 32:1 – the place Eze 16:46 – thy younger sister
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
13:11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the {h} one from the other.
(h) This was done by God’s providence, that only Abram and his seed might dwell in the land of Canaan.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Lot, however, chose neither of these options, north or south. Instead he decided to move east into the Jordan Valley (Gen 13:11). Earlier we read that Adam, Eve, and Cain traveled east after they sinned (Gen 3:24; Gen 4:16) and that the people of Babel went east and rebelled against God (Gen 11:2). Thus Lot’s move east makes us a bit uneasy (cf. Gen 12:3). At this time the Jordan River was the eastern border of Canaan that continued south from the southeastern end of the Salt (Dead) Sea and southwest toward Kadesh (lit. cultic shrine) Barnea (Gen 10:19). It then proceeded to the Great (Mediterranean) Sea along the Wadi el Arish (Brook of Egypt; cf. Num 34:1-12; Jos 15:1-12). The text contrasts "the land of Canaan" with "the cities of the Valley" (Gen 13:12). The place Lot chose to settle was on the eastern frontier of the Promised Land (Gen 13:11).
The location of Sodom is still uncertain. There are three primary possibilities: north of the Dead Sea, southeast of the Dead Sea, or under the southern basin of the Dead Sea. The second option seems most probable.
". . . this choice by Lot made rather final the rupture between him and Abram." [Note: Harold Stigers, Commentary on Genesis, p. 146.]
Lot’s choice erected another hurdle for Abram’s faith in the promises of God and precipitated another crisis in the "obstacle story" of how God would fulfill His promises to Abram. Lot chose the Jordan Valley.
"Due to the combination of water (emerging from underground springs fed by the limestone hills farther west [of Jericho]), soil (deposited on the plain from the same hills) and climate (warm and sunny during most of the year), the region is known for all types of agricultural products, especially dates and balsam (used in ancient ointments). . . . It is not surprising that Lot, who with Abraham had lived for a short time in the lush Nile Valley of Egypt [chose as he did] . . . His choice appears to have been made from the mountains northeast of Bethel, with a view of the Jericho oasis or the Plains of Moab." [Note: James Monson, The Land Between, pp. 163-64.]
Lot’s choice seems to have been influenced to some extent by a desire to ally with the native inhabitants (cf. Gen 13:7; Gen 13:12; Gen 19:1-26) as well as by the natural fruitfulness of the Jordan Valley (Gen 13:10).
"In any given situation, what you are determines what you see, and what you see determines what you do." [Note: Haddon Robinson, Leadership 3:1 (Winter 1982):104.]
"The close parallels between the two [cities, i.e., Babylon and Sodom] which are created in the narrative of chapter 13 suggest that the author intends both cities to tell the same story. As in the case of parallels and repetitions throughout the book, the double account of God’s destruction of the ’city in the east’ is intended to drive home the point that God’s judgment of the wicked is certain and imminent (cf. Gen 41:32)." [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 144.]