Limitless Word
Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram.
Genesis 13:11 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB So Lot chose the Plain of the Jordan for himself. Lot traveled east, and they separated themselves the one from the other.
  • KJV Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.
  • BSB So Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan for himself and set out toward the east. And Abram and Lot parted company.
  • NKJV Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.
  • NASB So Lot chose for himself all the vicinity of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. So they separated from each other.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Lot chose the Jordan plain and they separated. His self-serving choice moves him toward danger.

Overview

Lot takes the seemingly best land for himself and parts from Abram, traveling east. The separation, while peaceful, marks Lot's gradual drift toward Sodom and trouble. His choice contrasts with Abram's faith-filled deference, illustrating the difference between living by sight and living by promise.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Gen 13:9Isn’t the whole land before you? Please separate yourself from me. If you go to the left hand, then I will go to the right. Or if you go to the right hand, then I will go to the left.”
  • Prov 27:10Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster: better is a neighbor who is near than a distant brother.
  • Heb 10:25not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.
  • 1 Pet 2:17Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
  • Ps 119:63I am a friend of all those who fear you, of those who observe your precepts.
  • Gen 13:14Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him, “Now, lift up your eyes, and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward,
  • Ps 16:3As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.
  • Gen 19:17It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, “Escape for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 13:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.

How Genesis 13:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.