Genesis 13:16
Ver. 16. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth,.... An hyperbolical expression denoting the great multitude of Abram's posterity, as they were in the days of Solomon, and as they will be in the latter day; and especially as this may respect all the spiritual seed of Abram, Jews and Gentiles, and as they will be in the spiritual reign of Christ, see Ho 1:10;so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, [then] shall thy seed be numbered; but as it is impossible to do the one, so the other is not practicable, see Nu 23:10. Genesis 13:17Ver. 17. Arise, walk through the land,.... And take a survey of it, and see what a land it is, how good and how large, and take possession of it for himself and his, though he was only to be a sojourner in it; and so the Targum of Jonathan adds, and making in it a possession, which in civil law was done by walking:in the length of it, and in the breadth of it; the extent of it is variously settled by geographers; some giving it no more than about one hundred and seventy or eighty miles in length, from north to south, and about one hundred and forty in breadth from east to west, where broadest, as it is towards the south, and but about seventy where narrowest, as it is towards the north: but it is observed {d} from the latest and most accurate maps, that it appears to extend near two hundred miles in length, and about eighty in breadth about the middle, and ten or fifteen more or less where it widens or shrinks:for I will give it unto thee; that is, to his seed, the whole of it, in its utmost extent, as to length and breadth; which if he pleased for his own satisfaction he might take a tour through, whereby he would be a judge what was bestowed on him and his{d} Vid. Universal History, vol. 2. p. 385. Genesis 13:18Ver. 18. Then Abram removed [his] tent,.... From the mountain between Bethel and Hai, Ge 13:3;and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, or "in the oaks of Mamre" {e}; in a grove of oaks there, as being shady and pleasant to dwell among or under, and not through any superstitious regard to such trees and places where they grew; which has obtained since among the Heathens, and particularly among the Druids, who have their name from thence. Indeed such superstitions might take their rise from hence, being improved and abused to such purposes; and both Jerom {f} and Sozomen {g} speak of the oak of Abram being there in the times of Constantine, and greatly resorted to, and had in great veneration; and they and others make mention of a turpentine tree, which it is pretended sprung from a walking stick of one of the angels that appeared to Abram at this place, greatly regarded in a superstitious way by all sorts of persons: this plain or grove of oaks, here spoken of, was called after a man whose name was Mamre, an Amorite, a friend and confederate of Abram:which [is] in Hebron; or near it, an ancient city built seven years before Zoan or Tanis in Egypt, Nu 13:22; it was first called Kirjath Arbab, but, in the times of Moses, Hebron, Ge 23:2. The place they call the Turpentine, from the tree that grows there, according to Sozomen {h}, was fifteen furlongs distant from Hebron to the south; but Josephus {i} says it was but six furlongs, or three quarters of a mile; who speaking of Hebron says,"the inhabitants of it say, that it is not only more ancient than the cities of that country, but than Memphis in Egypt, and is reckoned to be of 2300 years standing: they report, that it was the habitation of Abram, the ancestor of the Jews, after he came out of Mesopotamia, and that from hence his children descended into Egypt, whose monuments are now shown in this little city, made of beautiful marble, and elegantly wrought; and there is shown, six furlongs from it, a large turpentine tree, which they say remained from the creation to that time.''A certain traveller {j} tells us, that the valley of Mamre was about half a mile from old Hebron; from Bethel, whence Abram removed to Mamre, according to Sir Walter Raleigh {k}, was about twenty four miles; but Bunting {l} makes it thirty two:and built there an altar unto the Lord; and gave thanks for the prevention of strife between Lot and him, and for the renewal of the grant of the land of Canaan to him and his seed; and performed all acts of religious worship, which the building of an altar is expressive of.{e} armm ynlab "juxta quercetum Mamre", Tigurine version, Pagninus, Montanus; so Ainsworth. {f} De loc. Heb. fol. 87. E. tom. 3. {g} Eccles. Hist. l. 2. c. 4. p. 447. {h} lbid. {i} De Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 9. sect. 7. {j} Baumgarten. Peregrinatio, l. 2. c. 4. p. 79. {k} History of the World, par. 1. B. 2. sect. 3. p. 132. {l} Travels, p. 57.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.