The Abraham Story Part 6: Abraham and Lot Separate

Abram and Lot Separate

A macro view, here's our little map of this section that we're in.

We began with a journey out of the fire of Babylon, and they went out.

And they go into the land of promise and arrive at a high place in Canaan, where they receive God's blessing. And they receive a promise of seed and land, and we're pitching tents on hilltops and worshiping God at sacred trees and meeting with him. 

But it was not meant to last forever. 

We're entering into and have already entered into the testing and failure narratives. 

We're gonna enter into that series of failures upon failures that are going to result in some kind of division, think Cain and Abel and the brothers separating from Noah. So some kind of, I wouldn't be surprised if we have brothers separating or people not able to be together anymore, and so they go their own separate ways. And it just is going to escalate into some kind of crisis that's gonna ruin everything if God doesn't get involved. 

That's the melody, that's where I would expect things to go, but in the Hebrew Bible, things never repeat themselves. It's always a twist.

We're nearing the center of this center section.

So Avram just gained t through ill motives is going to create a lot of trouble for him and his family. So, just to remember, the list was: sheep and oxen and donkeys and male servants and female servants, slaves, female slaves.

Sheep and oxen and donkeys and female donkeys and camels, so many livestock. Just think through where the stories are gonna be going. 

Are those livestock gonna play a role in any stories to follow? Yep, they're gonna inspire a lot of, they're gonna inspire an unfortunate separation of the brothers over the livestock. 

And of course, one of these female slaves whose name is, in Hebrew, "The Immigrant," Hagar is the phrase "the immigrant." She is going to play a major role in the story. 

What's interesting is that this ill-gotten gain, this is the Bible's depiction of ill-gotten gain, and it's fascinating to watch the narrative show that his ill-gotten gain is going to be, doesn't bring him good.

It only hurts himself and other people, and in the case of Hagar, is a very painful and abusive situation that she finds herself in.

So even there, how one gains wealth through receiving and trusting and the surprise blessing of God, versus the schemes and the plans. Two ways, right, to experience and gain abundance. So all of that is gonna play a key role in the story to follow. 

Can you just guess that this might be a story about people having to painfully separate from one another? 

Genesis 13.

Genesis 13:1–4 CSB

1 Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev—he, his wife, and all he had, and Lot with him. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold. 3 He went by stages from the Negev to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had formerly been, 4 to the site where he had built the altar. And Abram called on the name of the Lord there.

"And Avram went up, went up out of Egypt." Here he is. They went down to Egypt, now, they go up out of Egypt. This isn’t just about south and north, which it is on the map. Down is often the direction of destruction of death, Up is the direction of life. In fact if you were to hold a map of the ANE you wouldn't see north as the key direction they oriented their maps to the east.

"And he and his wife," and all of that stuff, "All that belonged to him."

And Lot, let's not forget about Lot. 

He kind of went in, into the background for the Egypt story, but let's foreground his presence here. 

So "He and his wife, all that stuff, and Lot, and they went down to the Negev," which is the southern deserts of the boundaries of the land. 

"And Avraham was very heavy." It's the word "kaved" in Hebrew, someone's heaviness. It can refer to physical weight. It can also refer to your social weight through wealth or status. So in this case, he's very heavy with all that stuff, with herds and with silver and with gold. So notice the emphasis here, he's loaded.

Which God said was gonna happen, but now, we're like, "Oh, but it's also happened through this other way, that's not awesome." And so now, this stuff and his wealth is fraught, right? With, like, moral problems. 

Well, he went on his journeys from the Negev back up to Bethel, remember, "the house of God"? Oh, you know, the place where he had that tent back at the first, between the house of God and between Ai, heap of ruins, and to that place where the altar was, right there at the beginning, remember that, dear reader?

Remember, that's where Avram called in the name of Yahweh? 

Well, he's doing it again. So notice, it's a little sandwich around the Egypt story. He had his little worship tour, staking out the land, all his worship spots. And now he comes back, loaded with all of this ambiguous wealth, but, you know, he's kind of retracing the worship tour in reverse now, back up to the beginning. 

This is a very morally realistic narrative, isn't it? Like, the bad guys aren't all bad, and the good guys are definitely not all good. 

It's as if we're coming back to an Eden beat here.

Genesis 13:5–11 CSB

5 Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks, herds, and tents. 6 But the land was unable to support them as long as they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they could not stay together, 7 and there was quarreling between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. (At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land.) 8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please, let’s not have quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, since we are relatives. 9 Isn’t the whole land before you? Separate from me: if you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.” 10 Lot looked out and saw that the entire plain of the Jordan as far as Zoar was well watered everywhere like the Lord’s garden and the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose the entire plain of the Jordan for himself. Then Lot journeyed eastward, and they separated from each other.

Now, here's the thing. There was also, belonging to Lot, you know, the Lot who went with Avram? By the way, do you remember what God said to Avram? What he was supposed to leave?

"Leave the land, leave the whole extended family, and then the house of your father." What category does Lot belong in?

Now, that's interesting, I mean, Lot's an orphan. Remember, his dad died, Avram's brother? So you think, "Man, they took in an orphan," right? His orphan nephew. That seems like a good thing. But at the same time, God said, "Leave your extended family," and Lot had an extended family he could have stayed with. Remember Terakh, Avram's father, wasn't dead.

It's a good example of how the Hebrew Bible will just narrate, "Abram did as God commanded him, and Lot went with him." So it was like mostly, he did what God said, and I wonder if that's gonna come back to haunt him, that, like, three-quarters trust and obedience.

Well, here's the thing, you know, Lot was there, the one who went with Avram, and he also had a lot of flocks and cattle and tents by now. How, who knows? Narrator doesn't care. He just wants you to know that he's loaded too. 

"The land could not carry them for dwelling together as one." It's a little Hebrew wordplay throughout this chapter, it's the word "one," ’ekhad, and then when you wanna talk about something together as one, you use this variation of the number, which is yakhdav, so together as one. The two can't seem to come together as one.

Because their possessions were just so many, so multiplied, they were not able to dwell together as one. you said that already.

Notice the emphasis is on how much stuff there is, so have they been fruitful in multiplying? Yeah. And so now, the abundance is creating this division, not unity.

"There came about this dispute between the shepherds of the herd of Avram, and between the shepherd of the herd of Lot." Oh yeah, quick note here, "Canaanite and the Perizzites, they were dwelling in the land at this time." So you know, like, why am I being told that information? Okay, just wait for it.

So Avram said to Lot, "You know, listen, don't let there be any disputing between me and between you, between my shepherds, and between your shepherds. Listen, we're brothers," we're ’akhim, ’akhim.

So the word "one" is ’ekhad, the word "brother" is ’akh, it's the first two letters of the word "one." And then "together as one" is spelled of the two letters, if you put the two words together, it's the letters of the words combined, together as one. So this is a whole question about family trying to be one, but it's hard, because our stuff gets in the way.

"So listen, isn't all of the land before you, all this land, separate from me? If you go left," north, "I'll go right," that is south. "If you go right," south, "I'll go left," north.

"And Lot, he lifted his eyes, and he saw all the valley of the Jordan.  what an entirely watered land. This is before Yahweh caused the ruin of Sodom and Gomorrah," because that's the valley that he's looking at.

"It was like the garden of Yahweh," it's like Eden, "and you know, the garden of Yahweh is also like the land of Egypt, as far as you go to Zoar."

It's a little back commentary. Egypt is Eden. Where did the first failure take place? Where did Abraham, Abram and Sarai's failure just take place? It's a little back comment. If you didn't get the Eden thing in the story with Pharaoh a chapter ago, he gives it to you now.

So Lot, right, look at this. "He looks on what is beautiful and good in his eyes, and he chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan. And so he left and went east, and each man separated from his brother."

So this is a good example of a story where you can read it and be like, "Okay, well, you know, it's too bad these guys can't get along.

You have this abundance that's supposed to be for blessing, but it's now, part of it's ill-gotten, and then it caused conflict between the brothers. And these brothers wanna be together, but they can't, and so the brothers, who want to be one, separate. And then as they separate, one of the separate brothers, the one who's not chosen, leaves the land and goes east to a city. Are you hearing the Pattern here? 

So we've got two brothers, a chosen and a non-chosen, and the one separates and goes east, and he goes to the city of Sodom. Now, it sounds like, dear reader, Sodom is gonna get toasted in just a few chapters here. And this word "ruin" right here is one of the most repeated words in the flood narrative, about the ruin, God's going to cause ruin in the land. 

So Lot goes, and he goes eastward, just like Cain did, just like Nimrod and his descendants did. 

So we're very much, in Genesis 13, we're replaying the separation and division of the brothers from Genesis chapter 4 that leads to the city of blood, whose outcry rises up to God, and God is compelled to respond. And do you remember, that's exactly how the Sodom story is gonna go down in chapters 18 and 19. But we're not there yet.

So I just wanna pay attention to one other thing.

"To lift your eyes and to see what you think is Eden, but is really not Eden." This becomes an interesting back commentary on the Cain story. What did Cain think he was doing when he went and he built a city? God said, "I'll protect you," he gives Cain a sign. What that sign is has stumped interpreters for thousands of years. The point is, actually, I think not that we know what the sign is, it's that we know that God protected him. And Cain decided to go give himself his own form of protection in the form of a city. 

So the city represents, in this parallel, if we're letting this parallel kind of give us back illumination, Cain was after his own version of Eden, his own plan. And in this case, Lot is after what he thinks is Eden, but in this case it's anti, it's the opposite of Eden, but it looks like it. So now Something could actually look like Eden, and unless you are trusting God's wisdom, you will not know the difference. Isn't that interesting? 

That sounds like my life. Fooled into false Edens.

Lot Saw That It Was Good … and He Took

"And so Lot chooses for himself." So what's interesting, and I mapped this out in the notes here, this language of "Lot lifted his eyes, and he saw what was good." This is exactly what the woman does in Genesis chapter 3. But where we're at in the Pattern is that the separation of the brothers, that's Cain and Abel, isn't it?

And he goes east, but then this language of "he chose for himself," the last time that little phrase was used was "When the sons of God saw the daughters of Adam, that they were good, and they took for themselves all that they chose," to choose for oneself. 

So literally, the three failure stories in Genesis 1 to 11, chapter 3, chapter 4, and chapter 6 are all bundled together and wrapped into this one story right here. 

So it's like hyper speed through this part of the story. So instead of having three separate stories that echo them all, we're just gonna bundle 'em all together here.

This is really in the melody in how this is gonna get played out, think through the rest of Genesis, of the rival brother motif, the inability of brothers to tolerate each other or tolerate that one of them might be the one chosen for blessing. And like God says to Cain, "Hey, listen, there's exaltation for you too, if you do the right thing, but that doesn't mean that you are the chosen one." And Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers, the northern tribes and the southern kingdom, Israel and Judah, and kings, it's all, David and Jonathan. 

So this is a key part of the melody. Oh, but also, Rachel and Leah, sisters, or Sarah and Hagar, rival wives. 

So this is a key part of the Bible's exploration of the human condition, relationships where we have to find a way to exist together and share God's blessing. And it's very difficult, and, mostly, these are gonna be portraits of people doing terrible things to each other and hurting each other, but then there will be some moments where people will come together as one, and we will get a little Eden beat in the story. 

But if Genesis 3 is a very personal, individualized portrait of personal desire that's distorted, it hurts me and hurts others, this motif of the brothers, or of the sisters or the parents and their children, this is essentially the parallel, but it's the Bible's way of exploring corporate sin, communal sin, the inability of tribes and families and whole communities to live together as one, and share the blessings of Eden. 

The motif of the brothers—or the sisters or the parents and their children—is the Bible’s way of exploring communal sin. It represents the inability of tribes, families, and whole communities to live together as one and share the blessings of Eden. - Tim Mackie, The Bible Project

God’s Second Promise to Abram

Genesis 13:12–18 NASB95

12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord. 14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; 15 for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. 16 “I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. 17 “Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.” 18 Then Abram moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

"So Abvam," in contrast to Lot who's dwelling down in Sodom, "Abram dwelt up in the land of Canaan, as for Lot, he was dwelling down in the cities down in the valley, and his tent was set up by Sodom."

So you have a tent down low in the valley, Sodom, and then you've got a tent up high in the hills by sacred trees. Now remember Sodom, after we say he is down in Sodom,

"To Yahweh, the men of Sodom were 'ra. 

They were bad, and they were khatta’im sinners." It's the word "sin,".  It's the word for "to fail," and specifically to fail morally. So moral failure, I kind of, it's clunky. It's not a three letter word, it's two words."They were bad and they were moral failures, very much."

So notice the contrast here. Avram above, Lot below in the valley, in the city. Bad moral failure. It's clear the contrast here. It's almost like the visual or the spatial difference of high and low becomes an image for good and bad.

"And Yahweh said to Avram after Lot separated from him, 'Please lift up your eyes and see,'" remember what Lot did? Lot lifted his eyes, and he saw the false Eden. Now in contrast, "Abram lift up your eyes and see from the place where you are. Look to the north and look to the south. Look to the east, and look to the west," the four points of the compass, "'Because all the land that you see, to you I will give it, and to your seed forever.

And I will make your seed like the dust of the land, which if one was able to count the dust of the land, then also your seed could be counted.

Get up, walk about the land, walk along its length, walk along its width, because to you, I will give it.'

And Abram set up his tent." Notice in contrast to Lot's tent, which is down low, Avram set up his tent. 

"And he went and dwelt by the sacred trees, the oaks of Mamre, which are by Hebron. And there he built an altar to Yahweh." The altar and the tent. You guys, the altar by the tent.

Up in the hills. So in contrast to Lot down below, which is, you know, sin and badness, we have Avram up above. And if you were looking for Eden imagery, I mean, what more do you want? We've got sacred trees. Oh, do you remember the name of the oaks that he camped by at first? Back in chapter 12? This is great Bible trivia.

The oaks of Moreh. "Moreh," which is the word for "vision." Here, it's the oaks of Mamre. It's one letter different in Hebrew, Moreh, Mamre, which is a place name, an actual place name. But it's as if, and notice then it says, "which are by Hebron." So instead of just saying, you know, he camped by Hebron, but in order to create the two narratives of him entering the land, going down to Egypt and coming back up in, so this is his coming up out of, and it's this new Eden beat. And we've got a tent here with an altar.

This is as proto temple and tabernacle and Eden imagery as you could ask for. 

So clearly the first and last bits of narrative are contrasting Lot's dwelling down in the valley as an anti-Eden, Abram's dwelling up above. So if Abram's in an Eden dwelling up above here.

So has God, God's already said back in chapter 12, "I'm gonna give the land to you and to your seed." We already have that. So what I'm interested in here is this image of "making your seed like the dust," The dust of the land.

Has dust been an important role in the narrative, in just anywhere?

So do you remember back in Genesis 2, God plants the garden. And then there's a river running out of the garden. And anywhere, time you've got a river running into dirt, you've got a lot of mud. And so Yahweh forms human from the dust of the ground.

So people out of dust.

And then he puts the human in the garden that he planted. 

So this image, here, dust is talking about, like, particles that's like the foreground meaning 'cause it's about counting the dust. But the idea that God is going to make seed out of dust?

This is new humanity imagery. So we've got new, there's a new creation. God's gonna create the new Adam and Eve family in the garden. So we're continuing this garden imagery with the dust language.

But then this interesting little verse 17 here, "get up and walk about."

That's this phrase right here. So the phrase in English, it's the word "walk," but with a little twist on it. It's called the hyphae form in English.

Literally it means to walk about, to stroll.

And this has been a key strategic phrase. It's a little loaded hyperlink phrase that comes right from

Genesis 3:8 CSB

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Do you remember when after the humans eat from the tree in Eden and Genesis 3 verse 8, after they make their own clothing out of leaves, they hear the sound of Yahweh God hithallek, going for a walkabout in the garden. You know, at the cool or, literally in Hebrew, "the windy," at the windy time of day.

Yahweh shows up for the walk, for the walkabout in the garden. Strolling about the garden. And who's not there to meet him this time? Well, the humans, 'cause they're hiding, 'cause they're ashamed, 'cause they're naked, and on goes that scene. This is the first time this word appears, the walkabout. 

So it's this image of strolling with God and touring about the garden together, right? So that is, you know, where this phrase "to walk with God," it's where it comes from because who's another person who said to go on walkabouts with God?

Genesis 6:8–9 CSB

8 Noah, however, found favor with the Lord. 9 These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God.

Well, when all the land is filled with bloodshed because of the warriors and the sons of God and the Nephilim and all that stuff, there's one guy who, Genesis 6 verse 8, "Noach found favor in the eyes of Yahweh.

These are the generations of Noakh. Noalh was righteous, blameless in his generation." He hithalleked, he took strolls with Elohim. He walked about with God.

So walking about with God's becomes this image of he's, I mean, maybe to say your buddy is a little too nonchalant, but intimacy, intimacy.

Genesis 6:13–15 CSB

13 Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth. 14 “Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it with pitch inside and outside. 15 This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.

So his image of walking about the garden, now here, he walks with God. And so the first thing that God is going to say is that, to Noakh in the next paragraph, is "The end of all flesh has come up before me 'cause the earth is filled with violence. Look, I'm going to," and this is that word, "cause the ruin of the land." Just that same word that just we saw with the Sodom and Gomorrah later narrative. "So make for yourself an ark.

This is how you should make it: about this much in the length and about this much in the width and about this much in the heights, and then you will go into it and with all the animals." The man who walks about with God is to make this refuge that is going to be a safe place along its length and along its width,

So these, this language of walking with God and a safe refuge of blessing that's this wide and this long, the only narrative next where these words occur is the one that we just read in Genesis chapter 13. 

What do you think the analogy is, the comparison, and what am I being asked? What insight does it give into the portrait of Abram going into this land here in chapter 13?

So one thought could be that it's a refuge in contrast to Sodom, because our story is consistently giving us, "Sodom is gonna be destroyed. Wait, it's about to happen." And now we have contrasting that at the beginning of the story with Abraham now has a refuge here, you know, so similar to the ark, this now becomes Abraham's ark.

It's like the land is the safe, is the ark.  The land is the ark. And remember, what is the ark? The ark is a floating Eden.

It's this promise of eternity of a new Eden.The promise of an eternal land. New Creation.

Hebrews 11:5–10 CSB

5 By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God. 6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 7 By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

when the author of Hebrews goes through the faith chapter in Hebrews chapter 11, when he talks about "By faith Abraham," since it's in Greek, "when he was called, he obeyed by going out to a place that he would receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an immigrant in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents just like Isaac and Jacob who inherited the same promise. 

He was looking for the city, which has its foundations and whose architect and builder is," Cain? Nimrod? Have you ever wondered that this? Like, where'd he get this? How does he know what Abraham was looking for? And what he is doing is he is actually thinking about the whole motif of the city in these early chapters of Genesis, where these cities represent people after their own version of Eden. And he's constantly skirting the cities, and so the author of Hebrews is like, yeah, so he's waiting for the new Jerusalem that can claim no human as its architect 'cause usually when humans build cities, they want to have a great name, and they wanna name stuff after themselves. And I'm like, you know. just go down to any city and you'll see people's names all over the buildings. And I'm not saying it's inherently a bad thing, I'm just saying these narratives just have a way of saying, "Man, humans and their cities, and they wanna make a name." Anyway, I've always thought this is a cool reflection and it's based on the act, it's based on how the narrative is designed. And it exactly was what you were just bringing up.

Genesis 12-13 as Replay of Genesis 2-6

Go through Chart

If Genesis 2 was about the Eden blessing, Genesis 3, failure one, Genesis 4 and 6, we kind of already traced through that. And it led up to an unleashing of violence on the land, and God met it with cosmic collapse and the flood. We're clearly walking along that cycle here, Eden blessing, failure in Egypt, the division of the brothers, and now down to Sodom. And Sodom, we keep being told, is like, it's not good, bad stuff going on down there. But God's preparing of refuge, an ark-like refuge for his Noah, right, of this generation with Avram. What do you just know is going to happen next?

This literature is trying to train us in how to discern the will of God in our life's, in life circumstances. 

That there comes a time in every human life and in every human community when the sins of the parents keep accumulating over the generations, and history reaches these crisis moments, and these crisis moments are usually full of untold pain and destruction. But yet, also at the same time, there are moments of courage and faith, and the human story continues out the other side. And every time that cycle happens, it's a chance for yet another round for the images of God to tune in to God's purpose.  - Tim Mackie The Bible Project

And isn't that interesting? It's like, and we're only in chapter 13 for goodness' sakes. I mean this is, so what can you just guess? So what's gonna happen is an outbreak of horrendous violence among nine kings who were, I mean, just death galore in the next paragraph, early parts of Genesis 14. But just to kind of close the bit on this, our land as a refuge. While the kings of this world are murdering and plundering, where's Avram?

Genesis 14:13 CSB

13 One of the survivors came and told Abram the Hebrew, who lived near the oaks belonging to Mamre the Amorite, the brother of Eshcol and the brother of Aner. They were bound by a treaty with Abram.

So we get this whole scene in the next chapter of this terrible war battle scene. And then the camera just shifts to Avram. Do you remember where we left him? Up on the hilltop hanging out by his altar in the tent in the tree.

There's a battle happening down below. And this refugee, a remnant, a remnant from the battle, from the flood of violence, comes up to him and tells Avram. And you know, he was just chilling by the oaks. Oh, you know who was also there with him? A bunch of Canaanites, a bunch of Canaanites were up there. Yeah, and Amorites, this guy Eshcol, his brother Aner.

These were, and the word here is they were members of a covenant with Avram.

And they're just fine. No problems up there.

So while the battle and the flood of human violence is raging down below in the valley of Sodom, you've got God's chosen one, chilling in his safety up in his refuge, and you know who else is with him? A bunch of Canaanites. So, and how are these Canaanites experiencing the blessing of this refuge? 

they are participating in, they're in on the covenant. You got these non-Israelites, and you're just like, I feel like I'm reading the New Testament here. 

He's become a blessing. So he was a curse to Pharaoh. Maybe he learned a thing or two, but now he's making pacts and covenants of peace with Canaanites. And the Canaanites who make peace in covenant with Avram, they get in the ark. Whereas the Canaanites down below who are, you know, building the city of man, oh, they just, they're wiped out in the flood of violence. Isn't this an interesting portrait? 

I think it just has so much payoff, this little scene here in chapter 14. You're just like, what? Why am I being told he's sitting by a tree with some Canaanites that he made a covenant with? Like, what does that matter? But if you're tracking with a melody, this is Noah and his wives and his sons and their wives. Anybody who was with Noah, you were safe. And so this, this becomes the image, those who are associated by covenant with God's chosen one will be saved from the flood.

A Flood of Violence

Bibliography

https://bibleproject.com/classroom/abraham

Middleton, J. Richard. Abraham’s Silence: The Binding of Isaac, the Suffering of Job, and How to Talk Back to God. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2021.

Cotter, David W. Genesis. Edited by Jerome T. Walsh, Chris Franke, and David W. Cotter. Berit Olam Studies in Hebrew Narrative and Poetry. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2003.

Josephus, Flavius, and William Whiston. The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987.