Genesis 13:17-18

‘Arise, walk through the land, the length of it and the breadth of it, for I will give it to you.'

Wherever Abram walks he can look around and say, ‘one day this will all belong to my children's children, for Yahweh has given it to me'. And walk around he must for it is the necessity of his manner of living. So every step he takes reminds him of the unmerited goodness of God. Lot walked around thinking of money. Abram walked around thinking of God. That is the test of the true child of God.

Genesis 13:18

‘And Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre which are in Hebron, and built there an altar to Yahweh.'

Abram now transfers the centre of his activities from Bethel to Hebron, in the hill country of the South. There he establishes his main camp and builds an altar for the worship of God. Trees denote water, and Abram has chosen well. It is a reasonably safe part of the country and will enable his family tribe to expand and grow.

The summons of Genesis 13:17 followed by the action in Genesis 13:18 is a semi-legal act of taking possession in the name of Yahweh so that the occupation is recognised legally by those round about, in accordance with the customs at that time. The fact of the occupation of Mamre around this time has been established by excavations in the area which revealed the remains of a Bronze age settlement. (While this cannot be specifically attached to Abram it demonstrates, as does so much else, that the narrative is in accord with the times).

“Which are in Hebron”. This is probably an added geographical note. The town of Hebron itself came into being around 1720 BC (see Numbers 13:22).

This is the end of this covenant record. There is no colophon but there seems little doubt it once formed a record of its own.

Abram, Lot, the kings of the North, the covenant with Melchizedek and others, Yahweh's renewed covenant with Abram (Genesis 14:1 to Genesis 15:21).

The initial record we now read (chapter 14) is one of the most distinctive in Genesis. It deals not with a covenant with Yahweh, but with a historic episode where the wider world infringes on Abram's world and where he makes a firm covenant with neighbouring kings as a result of what ensues. It is this covenant which ensured that these details were put in writing.

The lives of Abram and his family tribe were rarely troubled from outside. Their comparative strength meant that while they left others untroubled they were untroubled themselves. The main routes taken by more powerful peoples led through the coastal plain to their West or along the King's Highway to their East. The central highlands were left largely alone.

But it was different for Lot. The place he had chosen was indeed fruitful but it was close to the King's Highway coming down from the North and extending southwards, a regular trade route. It was always possible that one day trouble would be seen on the horizon on that road. And so it proved.

The King's Highway was the name given to the direct road running from Damascus in Syria to the Gulf of Aqabah, then downwards East of the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. It was in use between the 23rd and 20th centuries BC, and was marked along its length by early Bronze age settlements and fortifications. It was a crucially important trade route.

This period at the beginning of the second millennium BC was a time when Mesopotamia was not one great powerful empire. Roving bands led by lesser kings would continually make their forays in an attempt to seize wealth and slaves. And the King's highway was a convenient route. It was just such a band which would prove the downfall of Lot. But the fact that control was exercised afterwards for twelve years suggests that this is also an attempt to safeguard the trade route.