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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:8
Abraham, the peaceable man. "Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee." Abraham had a nephew who attached himself to his fortunes and shared his fate. Food, fodder, and water became scarce. The flocks of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:9
Is not the whole land before thee? The Bethel plateau commands an extensive view of Palestine (vide on Genesis 13:10). Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. Thus giving Lot the choice of the country. If thou wilt take…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:9
The magnanimity of Abram. I. WHEN IT WAS EVOKED. 1. On returning to the land of Canaan. Departing into Egypt, the better nature of the patriarch became obscured and enfeebled, and he himself became the subject of timoro…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:10
And Lot lifted up his eyes. Circumspexit; with a look of eager, lustful greed (cf. Genesis 3:6). The same expression is afterwards used of Abram (Genesis 13:14), where perhaps also the element of satisfaction, though in…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:10-13
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:10
The choice of Lot. I. THE EXCELLENCE OF LOT'S CHOICE. 1. Beautiful. Viewed from the Bethel plateau, at the moment perhaps gilded with the shimmering radiance of the morning sun, the Jordan circle was a scene of enchanti…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:10-13
The choice of Lot. I. WHAT LOT TOOK INTO ACCOUNT. 1. His own worldly circumstances; and, 2. The suitability of the Jordan circle to advance them. II. WHAT LOT DID NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT. 1. The reverence due to his uncle…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:11
Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan. Allured by its beauty and fertility, and heedless of other or higher considerations. And Lot journeyed east, מִקֶּדֶס = versus orientem (cf. Genesis 11:2). And they separated…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:11
Lot's unwise choice. "Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan." To Lot no doubt this seemed but a matter of prudence, a, choice of pastures, yet it stamped his after life. He was a godly man. We miss the point if we…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:11
The parting off friends. I. The SADNESS Of this parting. It was a parting— 1. Of kinsmen (men, brethren). 2. Of kinsmen in a foreign land. 3. Of kinsmen by their own hand. II. The CAUSE of this parting. 1. The difficult…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:12
Going to Sodom. I. How IT MAY HAVE LOOKED TO LOT. 1. As a matter of business it was good. 2. In its moral aspects the step was dangerous. But— 3. Doubtless at first Lot did not intend entering the city. And perhaps— 4.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:12
Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan. Strictly so called; in its larger sense Canaan included the circle of the Jordan. And Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain. Being desirous of a permanent settlement within the gate…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:13
But (literally, and) the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners their wickedness is more specifically detailed in Genesis 19:1-38; q.v.)—before the Lord—literally, to Jehovah = before the face of Jehovah; ἐναντίον τοῦ…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:14-18
EXPOSITION Genesis 13:14, Genesis 13:15 And the Lord said—speaking probably with an articulate voice; the third occasion on which the patriarch was directly addressed by God. The narrative, however, does not affirm that…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:14-18
Magnanimity rewarded, or Divine compensations. I. A REVELATION GIVEN. Immediately on Lot's departure Jehovah approaches, the appearance of the heavenly Friend compensating for the loss of the earthly kinsman, as often h…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:16
And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth. "As the land shall be great for thy people, thy posterity, so thy people shall be great or innumerable for the land" (Lunge). Afterwards the seed of Abram is likened to…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:17
Arise. According to a common mode of Oriental speech, pleonastically affixed to verbs of going, going forward, and of setting about anything with impulse. Walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 13:18
Then—literally, and, acting immediately as the heavenly voice directed—Abram removed—or rather pitched (cf. Genesis 13:12)—his tent, and dwelt—settled down, made the central point of his subsequent abode in Canaan (Word…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:1
What the Lord is to his people. I. A SHIELD against— 1. The charges of the law (Isaiah 45:24). 2. The accusations of conscience (Romans 15:13). 3. The force of temptation (Revelation 3:10). 4. The opposition of the worl…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:1-6
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:1
After these things—the events just recorded—the word of the Lord—Debar Jehovah; the first occurrence of this remarkable phrase, afterwards so common in the Hebrew Scriptures (Exodus 9:20; Numbers 3:16; Deuteronomy 34:5;…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:1-6
Under the stars with God. I. DEJECTED BEFORE GOD. 1. Apprehensive of danger. Victorious over the Asiatic monarchs, Abram nevertheless dreaded their return. Signal deliverances are not seldom followed by depressing fears…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:1-21
Faith. The substance of this chapter is the special intercourse between Jehovah and Abram. On that foundation faith rests. It is not feeling after God, if haply he be found; it is a living confidence and obedience, base…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 15:2
And Abram said, Lord God. Adonai Jehovah; the first use of these terms in combination, the second, which usually has the vowel-points of the first, being here written with the vocalization of Elohim. Adonai, an older pl…