Глава 13

Gen.13:1–3. “And Abram rose up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him into the wilderness. And Abram was very rich in cattle, silver and gold. And he went into the desert as far as Bethel, where he came from.” It is beautifully said that, having freed himself from Egypt, he rose. But the meaning of this verse is violated by what follows: how could he, coming out of Egypt, be very rich? This question is resolved by the Jewish truth, which says: “Abram was extremely laden ( βαρύς σϕόδρα )....” because he was weighed down by the Egyptian load. And although this seems to be wealth (cattle, gold, silver), however, if this wealth is Egyptian, then it is a burden to the holy man. And finally, he did not go into the wilderness as far as Bethel, where he came from (as it is written in the Seventy), but “went his way through the south to Bethel” (as it is written in the Hebrew text). Therefore, he left Egypt not in order to go into the desert, which he had already left along with Egypt, but in order to come through the south (Austrus), opposite the north (Aquilon), to the house of God, where his tent was located between Bethel and Ai. Gen.13:13. “The people of Sodom were very evil and sinners before God.” In the translation of the Seventy, “before God” is unnecessarily added here, since the inhabitants of Sodom were evil and sinful before people. And a sinner before God is someone who can appear righteous before people. But about Zechariah and Elizabeth, in praise of them, it is said that they were both righteous before God (Luke 1:6). And the Psalter says: “Whoever lives will not be justified before You” (Ps. 142:2). Gen.13:14–15. “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you stand to the north, to the south, to the east and to the sea, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your seed.” The four countries of the world are listed: east, west, north and south. About what you will encounter throughout Scripture, it is enough to say here once: the word “sea” is always used in the meaning of “west,” because the Palestinian region is located such that the sea is in the west.