Genesis Chapter 13

Returning to his altar, Abram ends a family quarrel by yielding first choice to Lot, who chooses Sodom’s plain, while God renews the promise of land and seed.

Genesis 13:1-4

Back to the Altar at Bethel

Genesis 13:5-9

Strife and a Generous Offer

Genesis 13:10-13

Lot Chooses the Plain

Genesis 13:14-17

The Promise Enlarged

Genesis 13:18

A New Altar at Mamre

Genesis 13:1

The scene in Egypt closes with Pharaoh’s men escorting Abram to the border, and this verse records the return without a word of explanation or conversation. “Went up” fits the terrain, for the road climbs from the Nile delta through the wilderness to the higher ground of southern Canaan, but the phrase also marks a reversal. Abram had gone “down into Egypt” in fear (12:10); now he goes up toward the land God had promised. The destination is “the south,” the Negeb, the dry region where he had been travelling before the famine drove him away (12:9). He resumes the journey at the point where he left it.

The inventory is complete: “he, and his wife, and all that he had.” Sarai is restored to him, and nothing has been lost, although Abram’s scheme had placed both his marriage and the promise in danger. That outcome is the work of God, who struck Pharaoh’s house to protect her (12:17; Psalm 105:14–15). The patriarch leaves Egypt preserved by mercy, not by his own cleverness.

Lot is named last, almost as an afterthought, after the household and possessions. The placement prepares for what follows, since Lot and his property are about to become the subject of the story. The departure also anticipates a later exodus, when Abram’s descendants would go up out of Egypt carrying wealth, after plagues had fallen on the royal house (Exodus 12:35–38). The God who brought Abram out would bring Israel out, and in the fullness of time would call his own Son out of Egypt (Matthew 2:15).

Study Links

Cross References

Genesis 12:9-10Genesis 12:17-20

Word / Phrase Notes

וַיַּעַל (wayyaʿal) — and he went up

The verb ʿalah describes ascent, and travel from Egypt to Canaan is regularly called going up because the land rises from the Nile valley to the hill country. It stands opposite the “went down” (yarad) of 12:10, framing the Egyptian episode. The same pairing returns when Jacob’s family goes down to Egypt and Israel later goes up out of it.

Genesis 12:10Genesis 46:4

הַנֶּגְבָּה (hannegbah) — into the south

Negeb names the arid southern region of Canaan around and beyond Beersheba, a land of seasonal pasture rather than settled farming. Because Canaan lies north of Egypt, the term here designates a region, not merely a compass direction. Abram had been moving toward the Negeb when the famine struck.

Genesis 12:9Genesis 20:1