The land was not able to bear them, that they might live together; for their possessions were so great that they couldn’t live together.
Parallel Translations
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The land was not able to bear them, that they might live together; for their possessions were so great that they couldn’t live together.
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And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
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And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together; for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to Genesis 13:6 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 36:6-7 Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, with his livestock, all his animals, and all his possessions, which he had gathered in the land of Canaan, and went into a land away from his brother Jacob. For their substance was too great for them to dwell together, and the land of their travels couldn’t bear them because of their livestock.
- Ecclesiastes 5:10-11 He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity. When goods increase, those who eat them are increased; and what advantage is there to its owner, except to feast on them with his eyes?
- Luke 12:17-18 He reasoned within himself, saying, ‘What will I do, because I don’t have room to store my crops?’ He said, ‘This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
- 1 Timothy 6:9 But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation, a snare, and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain This incommodity came by their riches, which brake friendship…
This incommodity came by their riches, which brake friendship and as it were the bound of nature.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 13:6 And the land was not able to…
Gen 13:6 And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
Ver. 6. And the land was not able to bear them.] This was sour sauce to their sweet meat, lest they should surfeit of their abundance. All earthly comforts are dissweetened with crosses, and there are thorns in all the world’s roses. It is seldom seen that God allows any, though never so dear to himself, a perfect contentment. Something they must have to complain of, that shall give an unsavoury verdure to their sweetest morsels, that they may long after heaven. It could not but be a great cut to this good couple, to be now at length sundered, and deprived of mutual society.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the land was not able to bear them,…
And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together,.... That part of the country where Abram and Lot were could not afford them room enough for their several tents; or however could not furnish them with sufficient pasturage for their flocks and herds, they were so numerous; at least could not do it so as to be contiguous to each other, that there was a necessity of one of them going further off:
for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together; we have before an account of the substance of each of them, how great it was; and here now is noted an inconvenience which arises from a large increase of riches, that relations and friends are obliged to part, and cannot dwell together; what one would think would make them more comfortable together, is the cause and occasion of their separation.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The land was not able to bear them -…
The land was not able to bear them - The place was too strait for them, and they had not room for their flocks.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 6. Their substance was great] As their families…
Verse 6. Their substance was great] As their families increased, it was necessary their flocks should increase also, as from those flocks they derived their clothing, food, and drink. Many also were offered in sacrifice to God.
They could not dwell together]
Read full note →
1. Because their flocks were great.
2. Because the Canaanites and the Perizzites had already occupied a considerable part of the land.
3. Because there appears to have been envy between the herdmen of Abram and Lot.
To prevent disputes among them, that might have ultimately disturbed the peace of the two families, it was necessary that a separation should take place.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 13:6. The land was not able to bear…
Gen 13:6. The land was not able to bear them — The Canaanites and other former inhabitants of the country undoubtedly occupied the best of the land, and what remained was not sufficient to supply their flocks and herds with pasturage.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain To bear or feed their flocks, as well as…
To bear or feed their flocks, as well as those of the Chanaanites. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 6. Land was not able to bear them —…
6. Land was not able to bear them — Having been impoverished by the recent great famine, and being already occupied, as the next verse states, by other dwellers, they were cramped for pasturage for their immense flocks and herds.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 6. And the land, &c.] The account, according to…
6. And the land, &c.] The account, according to P, of the reason for Lot’s separation. The flocks and herds of the two chieftains when combined were so numerous, that there was not pasturage enough to feed them. Cf. a similar reason, in P’s narrative, for the separation of Jacob and Esau, Gen_36:7. The word “substance” is characteristic of P. Cf. Gen_12:5.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.