Biblical Hebrew Forum

[jimstinehart AT aol.com]

Rob:
 
As my prior post made clear, Sarah gets pregnant with Isaac, and Abraham 
moves to GRR, immediately after Lot is reduced to living in a cave (which is 
years after Hagar bears Ishmael).
 
I agree that YHWH never made any promises to Lot.  But Abraham on his own 
motion could not unilaterally cut out Lot.  Rather, the divine promise of all 
of Canaan to Abraham could not be fulfilled until after YHWH determined that 
Lot had completely forfeited any claim to Canaan that Lot might otherwise 
have had, based on Lot failing to affirmatively object to Sodom’s turn to the 
dark side.  [Abram does not split from Lot at Bethel because there’s not 
enough pasturage.  Rather, Abram needs to be by himself so he can righteously 
live by YHWH’s divine commandments, while Lot for his part will show Lot’s 
merit or lack thereof by the manner in which Lot, on his own, handles himself 
in the face of the iniquity of Sodom that begins to occur only after Abram 
has returned Lot to Sodom at the end of chapter 14 of Genesis.] 
 
I agree that Genesis 13: 17 is important.  Abram begins the process of 
walking the length of Canaan by sojourning at the Patriarchs’ XBRWN, in 
southern Canaan.  But Sarah will not get pregnant until Abraham fulfills the 
divine commandment of Genesis 13: 17 and walks all the long way north to the 
far northwest corner of Upper Galilee/GRR, the home of Biblical and 
historical Abimelek (of the Amarna Letters).  Abraham cannot go north until 
Lot’s provisional claim to the northern two-thirds of Canaan has been 
definitively rejected by YHWH.  That’s why all three issues are resolved 
almost simultaneously:  (i) Lot is reduced to living in a cave [chapter 19] 
and (ii) Abraham moves way up north to GRR [chapter 20] and (iii) Sarah gets 
pregnant with Isaac (with Isaac’s actual birth, of course, coming 9 months 
later [chapter 21]).
 
Why do you think that Abraham hurries to watch the destruction of Sodom?  Why 
do you think that Abraham never inquires what happened to Lot when Sodom was 
destroyed?  Why does Abraham move to GRR immediately upon Sodom’s 
destruction?  The reason is that Abraham knew that, at long last, all three 
problems would now be divinely resolved, all at the same time.  That’s what 
YHWH had in effect foretold, that’s what is demanded by Genesis 13: 17, and 
that’s exactly what is portrayed as happening in the text.  Sarah could not 
get pregnant with Isaac until Abraham moved way up north to GRR and perfected 
his claim to all of Canaan, because that move was required by the divine 
commandment of Genesis 13: 17.
 
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois