Genesis 13:1–4
Back to the place of the altar
Genesis 13 begins with movement away from Egypt rather than with a new command. Abram goes up from Egypt with Sarai, Lot and everything he has.
Scene notes →Genesis 13 · visual collection
Abram and Lot separate without violence in four visual scenes.
Genesis 13 returns Abram’s household from Egypt to the earlier altar, then lets material abundance create a new problem: Abram and Lot own too many animals for the same pasture. The chapter moves from strife among herdsmen to Abram’s peace-making offer, Lot’s choice of the fertile Jordan plain, and a renewed land promise that ends with Abram at the oaks of Mamre near Hebron.
The four scenes
Genesis 13:5–9
The land cannot support them both
Lot, who has continued traveling with Abram, also owns flocks, herds and tents. The two households have become so large that the land cannot sustain them together, and strife develops between their herdsmen.
Scene notes →Genesis 13:10–13
Lot chooses the Jordan plain
Lot surveys the Jordan plain and sees that it is well watered. Genesis compares its fertility to the garden of Yahweh and the land of Egypt before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Scene notes →Genesis 13:14–18
Lift up your eyes
Only after Lot has separated does Yahweh speak again to Abram. Abram is told to lift his eyes and look north, south, east and west.
Scene notes →The separation is practical before it is symbolic
The chapter does not begin with Abram and Lot hating one another. Their households have simply grown too large for the same grazing area, and the quarrel is first located among the herdsmen. Abram’s offer creates space before rivalry becomes permanent conflict. SacraScenes therefore keeps the conversation calm and avoids turning it into a violent showdown.
Lot sees fertility; the narrator adds Sodom
Lot’s choice of the Jordan plain is understandable from what he sees: water and productive land. The narrative nevertheless immediately names Sodom and comments on its people. The visual does not solve that tension by making the valley sinister or by turning Sodom into a glamorous fantasy city. It shows a plausible attractive plain and keeps the narrator’s warning in the written layer.
English visual edition first
Every Genesis 13 scene uses the exact public-domain World English Bible (Catholic) verse range in the Scripture panel. Slovenian and German visual options remain disabled until matching historical Catholic ranges are reviewed. Images remain artistic interpretations rather than archaeological reconstructions or claims about exact faces, settlements or routes.
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Editorial overview updated 25 September 2026.