פרשת לך לך תשט"ו - אברם ולוט

ההלך את אברם WHO WENT WITH ABRAM — What brought it about that he possessed all this? The fact that he was accompanying Abram (Genesis Rabbah 41:3; Pesikta Rabbati, שמיני).

בת בתואל מפדן ארם אחות לבן THE DAUGHTER OF BETHUEL THE SYRIAN OF PADAN-ARAM, THE SISTER TO LABAN —Has it not already been written that she was the daughter of Bethuel and sister of Laban of Padanaram? But we are told these facts once more to proclaim her praise — she was the daughter of a wicked man, sister of a wicked man, and her native place was one of wicked people, and yet she did not learn from their doings (Genesis Rabbah 63:4).

באלוני ממרא BY THE TEREBINTHS OF MAMRÉ — It was he (Mamre) who advised him (Abraham) regarding the circumcision and therefore He revealed himself to him in his (Mamre’s) territory (Genesis Rabbah 42:8).

אל המדבר INTO THE DESERT — Indeed we know that they were in the wilderness, and it appears unnecessary to state that Jethro came to Moses there. But by stressing this Scripture is speaking in praise of Jethro: that he was living amidst all the splendour that the world could provide, and nevertheless his heart prompted him to go forth into the desert, a waste place (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 18:5:2), to hearken to the words of the Torah.

סיחן … אשר יושב בחשבון [AFTER HE HAD SMITTEN] SIHON … WHO DWELT IN HESHBON — Even if Sihon himself had not been difficult to defeat, but had resided at Heshbon, he would have been difficult to defeat, because the city was a difficult one to capture: and if it had been a matter of some other city, but Sihon had resided in it, it would have been difficult to capture, because its king, at least, would have been difficult to defeat. How much more was this so now when the king was difficult to defeat and the land difficult to capture (Sifrei Devarim 3:3; cf. Rashi on Numbers 21:23).

ולא נשא אתם AND THE LAND WAS NOT ABLE TO BEAR THEM — It could not provide sufficient pasture for their cattle. The phrase is elliptical and a word must be supplied, for instance: the pasturage (מרעה) of the land was not able to bear them — for this reason the word נשא (masculine) is used (to agree in gender with מרעה; the suggestion is that נשא cannot have הארץ as subject since that noun is feminine).

כארץ מצרים LIKE THE LAND OF EGYPT in respect of seed (vegetables) (Genesis Rabbah 41:7).

מקדם FROM THE EAST — He removed from Abram and went westward of Abram — consequently he travelled from the East to the West. A Midrashic explanation is: He wandered away from the Originator (מקדמונו) of the Universe, saying, “I want neither Abram nor his God” (Genesis Rabbah 41:7).

מעמק חברון FROM THE VALE OF HEBRON — But was not Hebron situated on a hill, as it is said (Numbers 13:22) “And they went up into the South and they came unto Hebron” why then does it state that Jacob sent him from the עמק, (the vale, the deep part) of Hebron? But the meaning is that Jacob sent him in consequence of the necessity of bringing into operation the profound (עמוקה) thought of the righteous man who was buried in Hebron (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 22) — in order that there might be fulfilled that which was spoken to Abraham when the Covenant was made ‘between the parts” (cf. 15:13), “thy seed shall be a stranger etc.”

ממדבר קדמות [AND I SENT MESSENGERS] FROM THE WILDERNESS OF KEDEMOTH — Although the Omnipresent had not commanded me to proclaim peace unto Sihon I learnt to do so from what happened in the wilderness of Sinai, i.e. from an incident that relates to the Torah which pre-existed (קדמה) the world. For when the Holy One, blessed be He, was about to give it (the Torah) to Israel, he took it round to Esau and Ishmael. It was manifest before Him that they would not accept it, but yet He opened unto them with peace. Similarly I first approached Sihon with words of peace. — Another explanation of ממדבר קדמות: Moses said to God, "I learnt this from what Thou didst say in the wilderness — from Thee Who wast in existence before (קדמת) the world. Thou couldst have sent one flash of lightning to bum up the Egyptians, but Thou didst send me from the wilderness to Pharaoh, to say gently, (Exodus 5:1) "Let my people go” (Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 764:27).

אם השמאל ואימינה IF THOU WILT TAKE THE LEFT HAND, THAN I WILL GO TO THE RIGHT —Wherever you settle down I will not go far from you and I will stand by you as a shield and as a helper. Ultimately, indeed, he (Lot) was really in need of him, as it is said, (Genesis 14:14) “And Abram heard that his brother was taken captive etc.”

And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land.

ויהי ריב AND THERE WAS A QUARREL because Lot’s shepherds were wicked men and grazed their cattle in other people’s fields. Abram's shepherds rebuked them for this act of robbery, but they replied, “The land has been given to Abram, and since he has no son as heir, Lot will be his heir: consequently this is not robbery”. Scripture, however, states: “The Canaanite and the Perizzite abode then in the land”, so that Abram was not yet entitled to possession (Genesis Rabbah 41:5).