## Tur HaArokh, Genesis

###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 13:7:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 13:7:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/13:7:1)

**ויהי ריב וגו'.**פירש"י לפי שהיה רועיו של לוט מרעים בשדות אחרים כו'. והרמ"בן פי' שלא היו מרעים בשדות אחרים בשביל הירושה שהרי מפורש שזרעו יירשנה ולוט אינו מזרעו אלא קאי אקרא דלעיל כי היו רכושם רב לומר מפני הרכוש הרב לא נשא אותם הארץ והוצרכו רועי לוט לרעות בשדות שיש להם בעלים וזה סבת המריבה שהוכיחם על זה. ולפי הפשט היתה המריבה על המרעה וזהו שאמר והכנעני והפרזי אז יושב בארץ ולא יכלו לרעות כאשר ירצו מפני יושבי הארץ וזו היתה סבת הריב:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ויהי ריב, “A quarrel had broken out, etc.” *Rashi* explains that the quarrel had its origin in Lot’s shepherds allowing their herds to graze in pastures belonging to others, whereas Avraham objected, respecting private property of the Canaanites.
 Nachmanides writes that they were actually not grazing in fields owned by others seeing G’d had already promised the entire country to Avraham and his descendants. Seeing that Lot was not an heir of Avraham, his sheep were not entitled to graze anywhere without express permission of the owners. The plain explanation of our verse is that the quarrel originated due to what has been written in verses 5 and 6 that due to the extensive flocks and herds of both Avraham and Lot, there was not enough grazing land (land not privately owned) so that the shepherds felt obliged to allow their flocks to eat whatever they could find. This is the reason why the Torah records that at that time the Canaanite and the Perisite were dwelling in the land, i.e. they owned it. There was no land which was *hefker,* ownerless.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 13:14:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 13:14:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/13:14:1)

**וה' אמר אל אברם אחרי הפרד לוט מעמו.**פירש"י בעוד שהי' הרשע עמו היה הדבור פורש ממנו וקש' לפירושו דהא לעיל כתיב ויאמר ה' אל אברם אף בעודנו עמו:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
וה' אמר אל אברם אחרי הפרד לוט מעמו, “and G’d had spoken (again) to Avram after Lot had separated from him.” According to *Rashi* G’d had stopped communicating with Avraham while the latter kept company with the wicked Lot. The difficulty with this commentary is that we read in verse 7 that G’d appeared to Avraham and spoke to him (while he was in the company of Lot, [whom he had taken along without having been instructed to. Ed.])


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 13:17:1
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 13:17:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/13:17:1)

**קום התהלך בארץ.**אינו ציווי אלא פי' בכל אשר תלך בה לארכה ולרחבה אל תירא כי אהיה עמך. א"נ שצווהו לילך בכולה להחזיק בה ומ"מ לא צוהו שיעשה זה מיד והוא עשה כן שהרי עתה היה במזרח דכתיב ויסע לוט מקדם והלך לחברון בגבול נגב ואחר כך הלך אל ארץ פלשתים שהוא במערב הרי קיים מצותו בחייו ועל דרך הפשט יתכן שיהיה מושל עליה ונשיא בתוכה בכל מקום שילך בארץ ההיא:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
קום התהלך בארץ, “arise and walk freely throughout the land, etc.” This is not a command; G’d merely told Avraham to feel free to travel anywhere in the land as He would protect him against any danger.
 Alternatively, it is possible to see in these words an instruction to traverse the entire land in order to establish a claim to ownership of that country. In any event, this advice or instruction did not have to be carried out immediately. Nonetheless, Avraham immediately began to carry out this advice/instruction for while we find him in the easterly part of the country at this stage, the Torah reports that he moved south to the region of Hebron (verse 18). Somewhat later, after the destruction of Sodom, he moved to the region controlled by the Philistines (20,1). According to the plain meaning of the text, wherever Avraham pitched his tent, (virgin land) he established property rights and was recognized as its owner.


###### Tur HaArokh, Genesis 13:17:2
[Tur HaArokh, Genesis 13:17:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Genesis/r/13:17:2)

**כי לך.**פי' שתחזיק בה מעתה להנחילה לזרעך אחריך. י"מ קום התהלך בארץ שאמר לו הקב"ה לא יפה עשית שחלקת עם לוט שאמרת אם אשמאל ואימינה כי לא יספיק לך חלקך כי ימין ושמאל תפרוצי ואם תשאל מה אני צריך לכל זו הירושה ובן אין לי ושמתי את זרעך כעפר הארץ ואתה צריך לירושה. ד"א כעפר הארץ דיש לבריות אף זרעך דיש למלכיות:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
כי לך, “for to you, etc.” You are to establish your claim to this land already now, in your lifetime, whereas your descendants will claim it as in inalienable inheritance.
 Some commentators see in the words קום התהלך בארץ which G’d said to Avraham a criticism for Avraham voluntarily having agreed to share the land with Lot when he offered him the choice of selecting areas to his right or to his left, as if he were saying that he did not need such a vast inheritance for himself alone, seeing that he did not even have a son to bequeath it to. G’d told him that he would indeed spread out to the north, south, east and west, as his descendants would be so numerous. If Avraham were to ask why he needed all this, G’d added that his descendants would be so numerous that they would defy attempts to count them all. Still another explanation of the words כעפר הארץ, “as the dust of the earth” is that just as ordinary people use dust to step on, to thresh around in, so kingdoms will (at times) use your descendants as something to be threshed (to extract their full value from?).