(א) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ׃
(1) The LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
(ד) אכן הטעם הוא להיות כי בערך צער הפרידה קטן הוא צער פרידתו מארצו מפרידת מולדתו ופרידתו ממולדתו מפרידתו מבית אביו לזה סדר ההדרגות ממטה למעלה. וליטול שכר על כל פרט ופרט, כדרך אומרו (לקמן כב כ) את בנך וגו' כי ה' ישתדל להטיב ב"ה לאוהביו:
(4) The Torah lists the departures according to the pain of leave-taking involved. It is less painful to leave one's country than to leave one's birthplace, and it is even more painful to leave one's family. Abraham is commanded to leave in an ascending order of the nostalgia involved. He complied with the most difficult part of the test by leaving his parental home. The manner in which the Torah describes the process indicates that Abraham received an additional reward for each stage. We have a similar description of the gradually increasing difficulty of complying with G'd's command when G'd told Abraham to take: "your son, your only one, the one you love," as an introduction to the עקדה in Genesis 21,2.
(ז) וממולדתך. על דרך אומרם ז"ל (רמב"ם דעות ו') לעולם ידור אדם בשכונת אריה ולא בעיר עם רשעים ע"כ:
(7) וממולדתך, and from your birthplace. The lesson here is that living in a place endangered by lions is preferable to living in a place surrounded by sinners, though the latter appeared secure.
(ח) אל הארץ אשר אראך. פירוש שלא הודיעו, לראות אם ימהר לעשות דבר מלך שלטון מבלי דעת המקום, וזה נסיון מהנסיונות. עוד רמזו שיראנה לו כולה דכתיב (לקמן י"ג י"ד) שא נא עיניך וראה צפונה ונגבה וגו' ונתן לו כח הראיה לראות כולה:
(8) אל הארץ אשר אראך, to the land which I will show you. G'd did not tell Abraham if he was meant to set out on his journey immediately or if he should wait till He would specify the exact location He wanted Abraham to move to. This ambiguity was part of the test to which G'd subjected Abraham. G'd also hinted that He would show Abraham the whole of the land of Israel by broadening his field of vision, etc, as we know from 13,14: "lift your eyes from where you are and look northward, southward, eastward, and westward."
(ו) עוד יכוון לומר על זה הדרך לך לך לתועלתך...
(6) An additional meaning of the instruction to Abraham to "go for yourself," is not so much that he was to be alone but that he was to benefit spiritually by this migration...