## Chizkuni, Genesis

###### Chizkuni, Genesis 13:1:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 13:1:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/13:1:1)

**ולוט עמו הנגבה** לאותו רוח שהיה דרום שלו בצאתו מחרן.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ולוט עמו הנגבה, “and Lot with him, southward.” In the same direction as they had been journeying ever since they had left Charan.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 13:6:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 13:6:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/13:6:1)

**ולא נשא אתם.** מצינו גם במקום אחר ארץ לשון זכר ״‎יסוב כל הארץ כערבה״‎ (זכריה יד,י). ״‎בעברת ה׳‎ צבאות נעתם ארץ״‎ (ישעיה ט,יח). ובפסוק אחר אנדרוגינוס, ״‎אבל אומללה ארץ״‎ (ישעיה לג,ט)

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ולא נשא אותם, “the land did not offer sufficient virgin land to support their combined flocks and herds.” The Bible using the term ארץ, as if it were masculine here, is not a unique example. It also occurs in the masculine mode in Zachariah 14,10, as well as in Isaiah 9,18, and in Isaiah 33,9.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 13:6:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 13:6:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/13:6:2)

**כי היה רכושם רב.** ודבר זה גרם מריבה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
כי היה רכושם רב, “for their possessions were so vast.” The point the Torah is making is that, contrary to what could be expected, poverty leads to strife about sharing the little one owns, in this instance excessive wealth led to strife.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 13:7:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 13:7:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/13:7:1)

**בין רעי מקנה אברם ובין רעי מקנה לוט** ולא היה בידם להרחיב מקומם למרעה מקניהם שהרי הכנעני והפרזי אז ישב בארץ.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
בין רועי מקנה אברם ובין רועי מקנה לוט, “between Avram’s shepherds and Lot’s shepherds.” Neither of them could locate additional grazing land which was not privately owned. The reason was that the Canaanites had claimed all that land as theirs.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 13:7:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 13:7:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/13:7:2)

**[אז ישב בארץ** אז בימי אברהם].


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 13:10:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 13:10:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/13:10:1)

**כי כלה משקה** י״‎מ **וירא את כל ככר** כי **הירדן** משקה את כל הארץ.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
כי כלה משקה, “for all of it was well irrigated.” Some commentators understand the verse: וירא את כל ככר הירדן, to mean that the river Jordan irrigated the entire region bountifully.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 13:10:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 13:10:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/13:10:2)

**כגן ה'.** שאינו צריך להשקות. כדכתיב ״‎ונהר יוצא מעדן״‎. כך מצרים, שהרי נילוס עולה ומשקה אותה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
כגן ה, “as if it were a garden planted by Hashem Himself, not unlike Egypt which was also irrigated by the river Nile. (Compare Genesis 2,10)


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 13:11:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 13:11:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/13:11:1)

**ויפרדו איש מעל אחיו** פרידה גדולה היתה, וכן הוא אומר לא יבא עמוני ומואבי וגו'.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויפרדו איש מעל אחיו, “they separated totally from one another.” This separation lasted historically throughout the generations so that descendants (male) of Lot were never allowed to convert to Judaism. (Deuteronomy 23,4)


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 13:12:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 13:12:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/13:12:1)

**ויאהל עד סדם** ולא בסדום, לפי שהיו רעים וחטאים וזהו שנאמר ולוט יושב בשער סדום שהיה ביתו בשער החומה ולחוץ.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויאהל עד סדום, “he erected his tents as far as Sodom.” He did not take up residence inside the city of Sodom, because he knew that those people were evil and wicked. This is also why later on the Torah described Lot as sitting in the gateway to Sodom. (19,1) His house, though part of the wall of Sodom, had its entrance outside that wall.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 13:13:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 13:13:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/13:13:1)

**ואנשי סדם רעים** לבני אדם, כדכתיב ביחזקאל (טז,מט) ״‎ויד עני ואביון לא החזיקה״‎.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ואנשי סדום רעים, “the people of Sodom behaved wickedly toward fellow human beings.” This is spelled out in greater detail in Ezekiel, 17,49,) ויד עני ואביון לא החזיקה; “It did not support the poor or the destitute.”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 13:14:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 13:14:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/13:14:1)

**וה׳‎ אמר, אחרי הפרד לוט מעמו** לא כוונת יפה, אם כוונת שדי לך במה שחלקת עם לוט.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
וה' אמר אחרי הפרד לוט מעמו, “and Hashem had said after Lot had separated from him, etc.” G-d had told Avram that he made a mistake when he thought that Lot having moved to Sodom, or the valley near it was enough, as that was also part of the territories that He had in mind to give to Avram’s descendants as their ancestral territory.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 13:14:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 13:14:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/13:14:2)

**אחרי הפרד לוט מעמו** שלא יהא ללוט טענה על אברהם אני חבירך ויהיה לי חלק עמך בארץ.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
אחרי הפרט לוט מעמו, “the need for this separation was to forestall Lot from ever claiming that his descendants were entitled to part of the land of Israel.” The relevant words concerning this interpretation are: כי את כל הארץ אשר אתה רואה, “for the whole land that you can see;” [Lot had also decided on the basis of what he could see. (13,10) Ed.] G-d emphasised that Lot should never have any claim to any part of the Holy Land.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 13:15:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 13:15:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/13:15:1)

**כי את כל הארץ אשר אתה ראה** אף ככר הירדן שנתת ללוט לך אתננה ולזרעך.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
כי את כל הארץ אשר אתה רואה, “for the whole land that you can see;” [Lot had also decided on the basis of what he could see. (13,10) Ed.] G-d emphasised that Lot should never have any claim to any part of the Holy Land.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 13:17:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 13:17:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/13:17:1)

**קום התהלך בארץ** להחזיק בה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
קום התהלך בארץ, “arise and walk throughout the land;” in order to establish claim to it.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 13:18:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 13:18:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/13:18:1)

**ויאהל אברם ויבא וישב** היה לו לכתוב ויבוא אברם ויאהל וישב, אלא **ויאהל** דהכא אינו לשון תיקון אהל, אלא לשון סתירת אהל. יש הרבה מלות בלשון הקדש כתובות בענין אחד ויש להם שני פירושים זה להפך מזה. כגון והרים את הדשן ועשית סירותיו לדשנו ועוד הרבה. אף כאן **ויאהל** אידיש״‎א אפבולינ״‎א בלע״‎ז כלומר עקר אהלו ממושבו ראשון שהיה בארץ כנען ותקעו באלני ממרא.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויאהל אברם ויבא וישב, “Avram pitched his tent and arrived and settled;” actually, we would have expected the Torah to write the following sequence: ויבא אברם ויאהל וישב, “Avram arrived, pitched his tent, and settled;” we learn from the inverted sequence that the meaning of the word: ויאהל, here cannot be the usual meaning, i.e. “he pitched his tent;” here it means that “he folded his tent.” There are many words in the holy Tongue that have two different meanings depending the context in which they appear. The second meaning may be the opposite of the usual one. The best known example of this is the word דשן, which in Leviticus 6,3 means ash, residue, whereas in Exodus 27,3 is used as something being collected in special containers instead of something to be scattered removed. At any rate, Avram moved his tent from noman’s land in the land of Canaan to inhabited regions, i.e. elon moreh.