This sheet on Genesis 13 was written by Sarah Rudolph for 929 and can also be found here
As soon as Avraham arrived in Canaan, he was faced with famine and left for Egypt. This was his first introduction to the challenges of life in the land to which God had directed him; as we find throughout the Torah, rain is uncertain in Canaan and depends on the grace of God, on human actions, and on the intersection between the two. In Egypt, however, one could depend on the Nile – and would have no need to turn to God for rain.
The contrast between these two lands became a theme in Avraham’s life, beginning immediately upon his return from Egypt when it became clear that Avraham and his nephew, Lot, would have to split up; Canaan’s limited resources couldn’t sustain their abundant livestock together. Lot settled in Sodom because it reminded him of the “paradise” of Egypt: “the Jordan plain, for it was fully irrigated…..like the Garden of God, like the land of Egypt…” (13:10). Avraham, however, “lived in the land of Canaan” (ibid. 12).
Most commentaries place Sodom in Canaan – so why state that Avraham “lived in Canaan,” as if it were a completely different place? Perhaps to indicate that Avraham had begun to actively choose not just the physical land of Canaan, but the ideal it represented – which indeed differed from the model of Egypt and Sodom. He saw that true value might be found not in physical comforts but in building a connection to God, despite the uncertainty and challenges involved.
The contrast between these two lands became a theme in Avraham’s life, beginning immediately upon his return from Egypt when it became clear that Avraham and his nephew, Lot, would have to split up; Canaan’s limited resources couldn’t sustain their abundant livestock together. Lot settled in Sodom because it reminded him of the “paradise” of Egypt: “the Jordan plain, for it was fully irrigated…..like the Garden of God, like the land of Egypt…” (13:10). Avraham, however, “lived in the land of Canaan” (ibid. 12).
Most commentaries place Sodom in Canaan – so why state that Avraham “lived in Canaan,” as if it were a completely different place? Perhaps to indicate that Avraham had begun to actively choose not just the physical land of Canaan, but the ideal it represented – which indeed differed from the model of Egypt and Sodom. He saw that true value might be found not in physical comforts but in building a connection to God, despite the uncertainty and challenges involved.
(י) וַיִּשָּׂא־ל֣וֹט אֶת־עֵינָ֗יו וַיַּרְא֙ אֶת־כָּל־כִּכַּ֣ר הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן כִּ֥י כֻלָּ֖הּ מַשְׁקֶ֑ה לִפְנֵ֣י ׀ שַׁחֵ֣ת יְהוָ֗ה אֶת־סְדֹם֙ וְאֶת־עֲמֹרָ֔ה כְּגַן־יְהוָה֙ כְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בֹּאֲכָ֖ה צֹֽעַר׃
(10) Lot looked about him and saw how well watered was the whole plain of the Jordan, all of it—this was before the LORD had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—all the way to Zoar, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt.
Sarah Rudolph is a freelance Jewish educator, writer, and editor.
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