John Gill Commentary Genesis 13

And Abram went up out of Egypt
That country lying low, and so more easy to be watered by the river Nile, as it was, and Canaan being higher; whither he went, but not till the famine in Canaan ceased: he went out of Egypt, as the Jewish ^F16 chronologers say, after he had been there three months; but Artapanus ^F17 an Heathen writer, says, he stayed there twenty years:

he and his wife, and all that he had ;
servants and cattle:

and Lot with him :
from which it is clear that he went down with him into Egypt, and it is highly probable had great respect and favour shown him on account of his relation to Abram and Sarai; for it appears by what follows, that he was become very rich: and they all went up

into the south ;
into the southern part of the land of Canaan, for otherwise they came to the north; for as Egypt lay south with respect to Canaan, Canaan was north from Egypt; but they journeyed to that part of that land which was commonly called the south, either Negeb, as here, or Daroma; (See Gill on Zechariah 7:7).

FOOTNOTES:

• F16: Seder Olam Rabba, p. 2.
• F17: Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 18. p. 420.

And Abram was very rich He was rich in spiritual things, in faith, and in all other graces, and was an heir of the kingdom of heaven; and in temporal things, as it sometimes is the lot of good men to be, though but rarely, at least to be exceeding rich, as Abram was; or "very heavy" ^F18 , as the word signifies, he was loaded with wealth and riches, and sometimes an abundance of riches are a burden to a man, and, instead of making him more easy, create him more trouble; and, as we may observe presently, were the occasion of much trouble to Abram and Lot. Abram's riches lay

in cattle, in silver, and in gold ; cattle are mentioned first, as being the principal part of the riches of men in those days, such as sheep and oxen, he and she asses and camels, see (Genesis 12:16) and besides these he had great quantities of silver and gold: the Jews say

FOOTNOTES:

• F18: (dam dbk) "gravis valde", Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius, Schmidt.
• F19: Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 2. 1. he coined money in his own name, and that his coin had on one side an old man and an old woman, and on the other side a young man and a young woman. His riches no doubt were greatly increased by the gifts and presents he received from the king of Egypt during his stay there.

And he went on in his journeys from the south
He took the same tour, went the same road, stopping at the same resting places, as when he went down to Egypt; having learned, as Jarchi observes, the way of the earth, that a man should not change his host. Though some, as Ben Gersom, understand it of his taking his journeys as were suitable for his cattle, as they were able to bear them, and not overdrive them, lest he should kill them, but made short stages, and frequently stopped and rested.

And thus he went on through the southern part of the land, until he came

even to Bethel ;
as it was afterwards called, though now Luz, (Genesis 28:19)

unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning ;
when he first came into the land of Canaan, to a mountain

between Bethel and Hai ;
afterwards called Mount Ephraim, and was four miles from Jerusalem on the north ^F20 ; see (Genesis 12:8) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F20: Bunting's Travels p. 59.

Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the
first
When he first came to that place, and before he went down to Egypt: it is not said he came to the altar, but "to the place", where it had stood, for it seems now to have been demolished, either having fallen of itself, being made of earth, or had been destroyed by the Canaanites, since Abram left it; or perhaps it might be pulled down by Abram himself before he went from thence, that it might not be used and polluted by the idolatrous Canaanites.

And there Abram called on the name of the Lord ;
prayed unto him, and gave him thanks for the preservation of him and his wife in Egypt; for the support of himself and his family there during the famine in Canaan; for the increase of his worldly substance, and for the protection of him, and all that belonged to him, in his journey from Egypt thither; and for all the instances of his grace, and the rich experiences of his goodness he had favoured him with; (See Gill on Genesis 12:8) where the same form of expression is used.

And Lot also, which went with Abram
into Egypt, and was now come back with him; had flocks, and herds, and tents ;
flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle, of oxen, asses and camels, and tents for himself and his servants to dwell in, and put his substance in.