And Abram said unto Lot: ‘Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me; if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou take the right hand, then I will go to the left.’ (Genesis 13:8–9)
וַיֹּאמֶר אַבְרָם אֶל לוֹט: אַל נָא תְהִי מְרִיבָה בֵּינִי וּבֵינֶיךָ וּבֵין רֹעַי וּבֵין רֹעֶיךָ – כִּי אֲנָשִׁים אַחִים אֲנָחְנוּ. הֲלֹא כָל הָאָרֶץ לְפָנֶיךָ. הִפָּרֶד נָא מֵעָלָי, אִם הַשְּׂמֹאל – וְאֵימִנָה, וְאִם הַיָּמִין – וְאַשְׂמְאִילָה. (בראשית י"ג, ח-ט)
Abraham proposed dividing the land between himself and Lot. He let Lot choose the part suitable for him and offered to take the remainder. This was more than a personal separation; it separated the two peoples destined to descend from them:
And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou goest unto Zoar. So Lot chose him all the plain of the Jordan; and Lot journeyed east; and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the Plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. (Genesis 13:10–12)
וַיִּשָּׂא לוֹט אֶת עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא אֶת כָּל כִּכַּר הַיַּרְדֵּן, כִּי כֻלָּהּ מַשְׁקֶה – לִפְנֵי שַׁחֵת ה' אֶת סְדֹם וְאֶת עֲמֹרָה, כְּגַן ה' כְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם – בֹּאֲכָה צֹעַר. וַיִּבְחַר לוֹ לוֹט אֵת כָּל כִּכַּר הַיַּרְדֵּן. וַיִּסַּע לוֹט מִקֶּדֶם, וַיִּפָּרְדוּ אִישׁ מֵעַל אָחִיו. אַבְרָם יָשַׁב בְּאֶרֶץ כְּנָעַן – וְלוֹט יָשַׁב בְּעָרֵי הַכִּכָּר, וַיֶּאֱהַל עַד סְדֹם. (פסוקים י'-י"ב)
When Lot chose “all the plain of the Jordan,” with emphasis on “all,” he effectively chose his inheritance for generations. More than four hundred years later, when Abraham’s descendants, the Israelites, were about to conquer the land from the east, the LORD forbade them to touch the inheritance of Ammon and Moab, descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew:
And the LORD said unto me: ‘Be not at enmity with Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give thee of his land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.– … and when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, harass them not, nor contend with them; for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.– (Deuteronomy 2:9, 19)
וַיֹּאמֶר ה' אֵלַי: אַל תָּצַר אֶת מוֹאָב וְאַל תִּתְגָּר בָּם מִלְחָמָה – כִּי לֹא אֶתֵּן לְךָ מֵאַרְצוֹ יְרֻשָּׁה כִּי לִבְנֵי לוֹט נָתַתִּי אֶת עָר יְרֻשָּׁה… וְקָרַבְתָּ מוּל בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן. אַל תְּצֻרֵם וְאַל תִּתְגָּר בָּם – כִּי לֹא אֶתֵּן מֵאֶרֶץ בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן לְךָ יְרֻשָּׁה, כִּי לִבְנֵי לוֹט נְתַתִּיהָ יְרֻשָּׁה. (דברים ב', ט-יט)
Many regard Abraham’s conduct as an exemplary willingness to compromise over land for peace. But we must remember the context. Abraham was commanded: “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee” (Genesis 12:1), and obeyed. He did not go alone: his nephew Lot accompanied him. Just as Moses offered Jethro a share in the land in gratitude – “And it shall be, if thou go with us, yea, it shall be, that what good soever the LORD shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee” (Numbers 10:32) – it was fitting that Abraham’s relative Lot, who accompanied him, receive an inheritance in that same land.
