16 And I will make your children like the dust of the earth, so that if the dust of the earth may be numbered, then will your children be numbered.
For this reason it is of faith, so that it may be through grace; and so that the word of God may be certain to all the seed; not only to that which is of the law, but to that which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (As it is said in the holy Writings, I have made you a father of a number of nations) before him in whom he had faith, that is, God, who gives life to the dead, and to whom the things which are not are as if they were. Who without reason for hope, in faith went on hoping, so that he became the father of a number of nations, as it had been said, So will your seed be.
If only you had given ear to my orders, then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness as the waves of the sea: Your seed would have been like the sand, and your offspring like the dust: your name would not be cut off or come to an end before me.
This is the number of them, listed by their families, the captains of thousands of Judah: Adnah, the captain, and with him three hundred thousand men of war; Second to him Jehohanan, the captain, and with him two hundred and eighty thousand; After him Amasiah, the son of Zichri, who freely gave himself to the Lord, and with him two hundred thousand men of war; And the captains of Benjamin: Eliada, a great man of war, and with him two hundred thousand armed with bows and body-covers; And after him Jehozabad, and with him a hundred and eighty thousand trained for war.
And I will make of you a great nation, blessing you and making your name great; and you will be a blessing: To them who are good to you will I give blessing, and on him who does you wrong will I put my curse: and you will become a name of blessing to all the families of the earth.
Now these are the generations of Esau, that is to say, Edom. Esau's wives were women of Canaan: Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite, And Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, the sister of Nebaioth. Adah had a son Eliphaz; and Basemath was the mother of Reuel; Oholibamah was the mother of Jeush, Jalam, and Korah; these are the sons of Esau, whose birth took place in the land of Canaan. Esau took his wives and his sons and his daughters, and all the people of his house, and his beasts and his cattle and all his goods which he had got together in the land of Canaan, and went into the land of Seir, away from his brother Jacob. For their wealth was so great that the land was not wide enough for the two of them and all their cattle. So Esau made his living-place in the hill-country of Seir (Esau is Edom). And these are the generations of Esau, the father of the Edomites in the hill-country of Seir: These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz, the son of Esau's wife Adah, and Reuel, the son of Esau's wife Basemath. The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. And Eliphaz, the son of Esau, had connection with a woman named Timna, who gave birth to Amalek: all these were the children of Esau's wife Adah. And these are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah: they were the children of Esau's wife Basemath. And these are the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon: she was the mother of Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These were the chiefs among the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz, Esau's first son: Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, Korah, Gatam, Amalek: all these were chiefs in the land of Edom, the offspring of Eliphaz, the seed of Adah. And these are the sons of Esau's son Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, Mizzah: these were the chiefs of Reuel in the land of Edom, the children of Esau's wife Basemath. And these are the sons of Esau's wife Oholibamah: Jeush, Jalam, and Korah: these were the chiefs who came from Esau's wife Oholibamah, daughter of Anah. These were the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these were their chiefs. These are the sons of Seir the Horite who were living in that country; Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan: these are the chiefs of the Horites, offspring of Seir in the land of Edom. The children of Lotan were Hori and Hemam; Lotan's sister was Timna. And these are the children of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam. And these are the children of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah; that same Anah who made the discovery of the water-springs in the waste land, when he was looking after the asses of his father Zibeon. And these are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah his daughter. These are the children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Keran. These are the children of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan. These are the children of Dishan: Uz and Aran. These were the Horite chiefs: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. Such were the Horite chiefs in their order in the land of Seir. And these are the kings who were ruling in the land of Edom before there was any king over the children of Israel. Bela, son of Beor, was king in Edom, and the name of his chief town was Dinhabah. At his death, Jobab, son of Zerah of Bozrah, became king in his place. And at the death of Jobab, Husham, from the country of the Temanites, became king in his place. And at the death of Husham, Hadad, son of Bedad, who overcame the Midianites in the field of Moab, became king; his chief town was named Avith. And at the death of Hadad, Samlah of Masrekah became king. And at the death of Samlah, Shaul of Rehoboth by the River became king in his place. And at the death of Shaul, Baal-hanan, son of Achbor, became king. And at the death of Baal-hanan, Hadar became king in his place; his chief town was named Pau, and his wife's name was Mehetabel; she was the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-zahab. These are the names of the chiefs of Esau in the order of their families and their places: Timna, Alvah, Jetheth, Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, Magdiel, Iram; these are the Edomite chiefs, in their places in their heritage; this is Esau, the father of the Edomites.
And Abraham took another wife named Keturah. She became the mother of Zimran and Jokshan and Medan and Midian and Ishbak and Shuah. And Jokshan became the father of Sheba and Dedan. And from Dedan came the Asshurim and Letushim and Leummim. And from Midian came Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the offspring of Keturah. Now Abraham gave all his property to Isaac; But to the sons of his other women he gave offerings, and sent them away, while he was still living, into the east country. Now the years of Abraham's life were a hundred and seventy-five. And Abraham came to his death, an old man, full of years; and he was put to rest with his people. And Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, put him to rest in the hollow rock of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, near Mamre; The same field which Abraham got from the children of Heth: there Abraham was put to rest with Sarah, his wife. Now after the death of Abraham, the blessing of God was with Isaac, his son. Now these are the generations of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, whose mother was Hagar the Egyptian, the servant of Sarah: These are the names of the sons of Ishmael by their generations: Ishmael's first son was Nebaioth; then Kedar and Adbeel and Mibsam And Mishma and Dumah and Massa, Hadad and Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah: These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names in their towns and their tent-circles; twelve chiefs with their peoples. And the years of Ishmael's life were a hundred and thirty-seven: and he came to his end, and was put to rest with his people. And their country was from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt: they took their place to the east of all their brothers. Now these are the generations of Abraham's son Isaac: Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramaean of Paddan-aram, and the sister of Laban the Aramaean, to be his wife. Isaac made prayer to the Lord for his wife because she had no children; and the Lord gave ear to his prayer, and Rebekah became with child. And the children were fighting together inside her, and she said, If it is to be so, why am I like this? So she went to put her question to the Lord. And the Lord said to her, Two nations are in your body, and two peoples will come to birth from you: the one will be stronger than the other, and the older will be the servant of the younger. And when the time came for her to give birth, there were two children in her body. And the first came out red from head to foot like a robe of hair, and they gave him the name of Esau. And after him, his brother came out, gripping Esau's foot; and he was named Jacob: Isaac was sixty years old when she gave birth to them. And the boys came to full growth; and Esau became a man of the open country, an expert bowman; but Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. Now Isaac's love was for Esau, because Esau's meat was greatly to his taste: but Rebekah had more love for Jacob. And one day Jacob was cooking some soup when Esau came in from the fields in great need of food; And Esau said to Jacob, Give me a full meal of that red soup, for I am overcome with need for food: for this reason he was named Edom. And Jacob said, First of all give me your birthright. And Esau said, Truly, I am at the point of death: what profit is the birthright to me? And Jacob said, First of all give me your oath; and he gave him his oath, handing over his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave him bread and soup; and he took food and drink and went away, caring little for his birthright.
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Commentary on Genesis 13 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
Abram, having returned from Egypt to the south of Canaan with his wife and property uninjured, through the gracious protection of God, proceeded with Lot למסּעיו “ according to his journeys ” (lit., with the repeated breaking up of his camp, required by a nomad life; on נסע to break up a tent, to remove, see Exodus 12:37) into the neighbourhood of Bethel and Ai, where he had previously encamped and built an altar (Genesis 12:8), that he might there call upon the name of the Lord again. That ויּקרא (Genesis 13:4) is not a continuation of the relative clause, but a resumption of the main sentence, and therefore corresponds with ויּלך (Genesis 13:3), “ he went...and called upon the name of the Lord there, ” has been correctly concluded by Delitzsch from the repetition of the subject Abram.
But as Abram was very rich ( כּבד , lit., weighty ) in possessions ( מקנה , cattle and slaves ), and Lot also had flocks, and herds, and tents אהלים for אהלים , Ges. §93, 6, 3) for his men, of whom there must have been many therefore, the land did not bear them when dwelling together ( נשׁא , masculine at the commencement of the sentence, as is often the case when the verb precedes the subject, vid., Ges. §147), i.e., the land did not furnish space enough for the numerous herd to graze. Consequently disputes arose between the two parties of herdsmen. The difficulty was increased by the fact that the Canaanites and Perizzites were then dwelling in the land, so that the space was very contracted. The Perizzites , who are mentioned here and in Genesis 34:30; Judges 1:4, along with the Canaanites, and who are placed in the other lists of the inhabitants of Canaan among the different Canaanitish tribes (Genesis 15:20; Exodus 3:8, Exodus 3:17, etc.), are not mentioned among the descendants of Canaan (Genesis 10:15-17), and may therefore, like the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, and Rephaim (Genesis 15:19-21), not have been descendants of Ham at all. The common explanation of the name Perizzite as equivalent to פּרזות ארץ ישׁב “inhabitant of the level ground” (Ezekiel 38:11), is at variance not only with the form of the word, the inhabitant of the level ground being called הפּרזי (Deuteronomy 3:5), but with the fact of their combination sometimes with the Canaanites, sometimes with the other tribes of Canaan, whose names were derived from their founders. Moreover, to explain the term “Canaanite,” as denoting “the civilised inhabitants of towns,” or “the trading Phoenicians,” is just as arbitrary as if we were to regard the Kenites, Kenizzites, and the other tribes mentioned Genesis 15:19. along with the Canaanites, as all alike traders or inhabitants of towns. The origin of the name Perizzite is involved in obscurity, like that of the Kenites and other tribes settled in Canaan that were not descended from Ham. But we may infer from the frequency with which they are mentioned in connection with the Hamitic inhabitants of Canaan, that they were widely dispersed among the latter. Vid., Genesis 15:19-21.
To put an end to the strife between their herdsmen, Abram proposed to Lot that they should separate, as strife was unseemly between אחים אנשׁים , men who stood in the relation of brethren, and left him to choose his ground. “ If thou to the left, I will turn to the right; and if thou to the right, I will turn to the left .” Although Abram was the older, and the leader of the company, he was magnanimous enough to leave the choice to his nephew, who was the younger, in the confident assurance that the Lord would so direct the decision, that His promise would be fulfilled.
Lot chose what was apparently the best portion of the land, the whole district of the Jordan, or the valley on both sides of the Jordan from the Lake of Gennesareth to what was then the vale of Siddim. For previous to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, this whole country was well watered, “ as the garden of Jehovah, ” the garden planted by Jehovah in paradise, and “ as Egypt, ” the land rendered so fertile by the overflowing of the Nile, “ in the direction of Zoar .” Abram therefore remained in the land of Canaan, whilst Lot settled in the cities of the plain of the Jordan, and tented (pitched his tents) as far as Sodom. In anticipation of the succeeding history (Gen 19), it is mentioned here (Genesis 13:13), that the inhabitants of Sodom were very wicked, and sinful before Jehovah .
After Lot's departure, Jehovah repeated to Abram (by a mental, inward assurance, as we may infer from the fact that אמר “said” is not accompanied by ויּרא “he appeared”) His promise that He would give the land to him and to his seed in its whole extent, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward, and would make his seed innumerable like the dust of the earth. From this we may see that the separation of Lot was in accordance with the will of God, as Lot had no share in the promise of God; though God afterwards saved him from destruction for Abram's sake. The possession of the land is promised עולם עד “ for ever .” The promise of God is unchangeable. As the seed of Abraham was to exist before God for ever, so Canaan was to be its everlasting possession. But this applied not to the lineal posterity of Abram, to his seed according to the flesh, but to the true spiritual seed, which embraced the promise in faith, and held it in a pure believing heart. The promise, therefore, neither precluded the expulsion of the unbelieving seed from the land of Canaan, nor guarantees to existing Jews a return to the earthly Palestine after their conversion to Christ. For as Calvin justly says, “ quam terra in saeculum promittitur, non simpliciter notatur perpetuitas; sed quae finem accepit in Christo .” Through Christ the promise has been exalted from its temporal form to its true essence; through Him the whole earth becomes Canaan (vid., Genesis 17:8). That Abram might appropriate this renewed and now more fully expanded promise, Jehovah directed him to walk through the land in the length of it and the breadth of it. In doing this he came in his “ tenting ,” i.e., his wandering through the land, to Hebron, where he settled by the terebinth of the Amorite Mamre (Genesis 14:13), and built an altar to Jehovah . The term ישׁב (set himself, settled down, sat, dwelt) denotes that Abram made this place the central point of his subsequent stay in Canaan (cf. Genesis 14:13; Genesis 18:1, and Gen 23). On Hebron, see Genesis 23:2.