Genesis 13:3
in Genesis 13From the Negev he journeyed from place to place toward Bethel, until he came to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been pitched,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he went on his journeys from the South even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Ai,
KJV
And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth–el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth–el and Hai;
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This verse in Genesis 13
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd 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.
This site's exposition
where his tent had formerly been pitched
on Genesis 13:3-4
Abram goes back up to Bethel, to the ground where his tent had formerly been pitched and to the site of the altar he had built. Gill reads bare ground there with the stones gone, and Genesis records no altar and no word from God for the whole time he was in Egypt. He takes his life up where he set it down.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Consider, I ask you, how he was a lover of peace and quiet and was constantly attentive to divine worship. The text says, remember, that he went down to that place where he had previously built the altar. By calling on the name of God he right from the very beginning fulfilled in anticipation that saying of David, "I would rather be of no account in the house of my God than take up residence in sinners' dwellings." In other words, solitude turned out to be preferred by him for invoking the name of God, instead of the cities. After all, he well knew that cities' greatness is not constituted by multitude of inhabitants but by the virtue of its residents. Hence too the desert proved to be more desirable than the cities, adorned as it was by the just man's virtue and thus a more resplendent vision than the whole world.
The Medieval Church2 voices
To the place where he had previously pitched his tent between Bethel and Ai: at the place of the altar which he had made formerly, and he called upon the name of the Lord.
And he returned by the way he had come from Bethel in the south. For by the south, we indeed tend towards Bethel through the light of heavenly knowledge, and through the inspiration of intimate love, we hasten by frequent steps of good works to …
The words behind it
18 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּ֙לֶךְ֙ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| לְמַסָּעָ֔יו | lemasaav | to journeyings his | H4550 → | |
| מִנֶּ֖גֶב | minegev | from [the] Negev | H5045 → | 112 times |
| וְעַד־ | vead- | and to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| בֵּֽית־ | beit- | Beth- | H1008 → | 142 times |
| אֵ֑ל | ʾel | -el | H1008 → | 142 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַמָּק֗וֹם | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הָ֨יָה | hayah | it had been | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| שָׁ֤ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| אָֽהֳלוֹ֙ | ʾoholo | tent his | H168 → | 345 times |
| בַּתְּחִלָּ֔ה | batechilah | at the beginning | H8462 → | 22 times |
| בֵּ֥ין | bein | between | H996 → | 407 times |
| בֵּֽית־ | beit- | Beth- | H1008 → | 142 times |
| אֵ֖ל | ʾel | -el | H1008 → | 142 times |
| וּבֵ֥ין | uvein | and between | H996 → | 407 times |
| הָעָֽי׃ | haai | <the> Ai | H5857 → |
וַיֵּ֙לֶךְ֙and he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
לְמַסָּעָ֔יוto journeyings his
lemasaavH4550 →
מִנֶּ֖גֶבfrom [the] Negev
minegevH5045 →112 times
וְעַד־and to
vead-H5704 →1261 times
בֵּֽית־Beth-
beit-H1008 →142 times
אֵ֑ל-el
ʾelH1008 →142 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
הַמָּק֗וֹםthe place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
אֲשֶׁר־where
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
הָ֨יָהit had been
hayahH1961 →3559 times
שָׁ֤םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
אָֽהֳלוֹ֙tent his
ʾoholoH168 →345 times
בַּתְּחִלָּ֔הat the beginning
batechilahH8462 →22 times
בֵּ֥יןbetween
beinH996 →407 times
בֵּֽית־Beth-
beit-H1008 →142 times
אֵ֖ל-el
ʾelH1008 →142 times
וּבֵ֥יןand between
uveinH996 →407 times
הָעָֽי׃<the> Ai
haaiH5857 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 12:6Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the Oak of Moreh at Shechem. And at that time the Canaanites were in the land.
it leads to
- Hebrews 11:9
By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.
- Deuteronomy 11:30
Are not these mountains across the Jordan, west of the road toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal near the Oak of Moreh?
- Genesis 35:4
So they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and all their earrings, and Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem.
- Genesis 13:7
And there was discord between the herdsmen of Abram and the herdsmen of Lot. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were also living in the land.
- Judges 7:1
Early in the morning Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the men with him camped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the…
- Hebrews 11:9
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 33.5; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.