Genesis 13:18

Then Abram removed [his] tent,.... From the mountain between Bethel and Hai, Genesis 13:3;

and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, or "in the oaks of Mamre" e; in a grove of oaks there, as being shady and pleasant to dwell among or under, and not through any superstitious regard to such trees and places where they grew; which has obtained since among the Heathens, and particularly among the Druids, who have their name from thence. Indeed such superstitions might take their rise from hence, being improved and abused to such purposes; and both Jerom f and Sozomen g speak of the oak of Abram being there in the times of Constantine, and greatly resorted to, and had in great veneration; and they and others make mention of a turpentine tree, which it is pretended sprung from a walking stick of one of the angels that appeared to Abram at this place, greatly regarded in a superstitious way by all sorts of persons: this plain or grove of oaks, here spoken of, was called after a man whose name was Mamre, an Amorite, a friend and confederate of Abram:

which [is] in Hebron; or near it, an ancient city built seven years before Zoan or Tanis in Egypt, Numbers 13:22; it was first called Kirjath Arbab, but, in the times of Moses, Hebron, Genesis 23:2. The place they call the Turpentine, from the tree that grows there, according to Sozomen h, was fifteen furlongs distant from Hebron to the south; but Josephus i says it was but six furlongs, or three quarters of a mile; who speaking of Hebron says,

"the inhabitants of it say, that it is not only more ancient than the cities of that country, but than Memphis in Egypt, and is reckoned to be of 2300 years standing: they report, that it was the habitation of Abram, the ancestor of the Jews, after he came out of Mesopotamia, and that from hence his children descended into Egypt, whose monuments are now shown in this little city, made of beautiful marble, and elegantly wrought; and there is shown, six furlongs from it, a large turpentine tree, which they say remained from the creation to that time.''

A certain traveller j tells us, that the valley of Mamre was about half a mile from old Hebron; from Bethel, whence Abram removed to Mamre, according to Sir Walter Raleigh k, was about twenty four miles; but Bunting l makes it thirty two:

and built there an altar unto the Lord; and gave thanks for the prevention of strife between Lot and him, and for the renewal of the grant of the land of Canaan to him and his seed; and performed all acts of religious worship, which the building of an altar is expressive of.

e באלני ממרא "juxta quercetum Mamre", Tigurine version, Pagninus, Montanus; so Ainsworth. f De loc. Heb. fol. 87. E. tom. 3. g Eccles. Hist. l. 2. c. 4. p. 447. h lbid. i De Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 9. sect. 7. j Baumgarten. Peregrinatio, l. 2. c. 4. p. 79. k History of the World, par. 1. B. 2. sect. 3. p. 132. l Travels, p. 57.