John Calvin Commentary Genesis 13:9

"Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If [thou wilt take] the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if [thou take] the right hand, then I will go to the left." — Genesis 13:9 (ASV)

Is not the whole land before thee? Here is that moderation of which I have spoken; namely, that Abram, for the sake of appeasing disputes, voluntarily sacrifices his own right. For as ambition and the desire of victory is the mother of all contentions, so when everyone meekly and moderately departs, in some degree, from his just claim, the best remedy is found for the removal of all cause of bitterness. Abram might indeed, with an honorable pretext, have more stubbornly defended the right which he relinquished, but he shrinks from nothing for the sake of restoring peace, and therefore he leaves the option to his nephew.