Literary Devices – Bereshit 13/0

Literary Devices – Bereshit 13

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Relationship Epithets

Lot and Sarai

• When Avraham begins the journey to Egypt in Bereshit 12:5, Sarai is identified as his wife and Lot as his brother’s son.  By contrast, when the family leaves Egypt in Bereshit 13:1, Sarai is still identified as his wife but Lot is not given a relational epithet.  This implies that Lot’s relationship with Avraham frayed during the time in Egypt, leading to their separation in Chapter 13.
• It is also, possible, however that after Lot is introduced as Avraham's nephew in Chapter 12 there is no reason to continue mentioning the relationship throughout Chapter 13. However, the text goes out of its way to refer to Sarai as Avram's wife, to emphasize that her being taken by Paroh did not change the relationship between her and Avraham.

Articles

See R. Joseph Soloveitchik, Abraham’s Journey (New York, 2008):117-119, who discusses how Lot's being attracted to Egyptian materialistic culture contributed to the rift between him and Avraham.¹

Parenthetical Statements

• Bereshit 13:7 states parenthetically that the Canaanite and the Perizzites lived in the land. Abarbanel and Sforno suggest that the purpose of this background information is to explain Avraham’s motivation for suggesting a separation from Lot: he was concerned that tension between the two of them might invite the animosity or aggression of their neighbors.
• Another parenthetical statement appears in Bereshit 13:13, where we are told that the people of Sedom were exceedingly wicked. See RashiBereshit 13:13Bereshit 13:13About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, RambanBereshit 13:13Bereshit 13:13About R. Moshe b. Nachman and others that this background shines a negative light on Lot’s choice to live there, preparing the reader for the story to come in Bereshit 19.

¹ He writes, “Something happened in Egypt . . . . Lot also traveled with him, but no longer as a member of Abraham’s family. . . Egypt was the world’s most advanced country, and Abraham was a shepherd. Lot was completely overpowered and overwhelmed by the stupendous Egyptian culture, civilization, and technology. He could not resist the influence of the environment. Abraham could, Sarah could, but Lot couldn’t. Here is the acid test of a Jew: can he resist environmental pressures, can he withstand the impact of a culture that is materially great but morally and ethically very primitive?”