Abraham’s Character

Moshe Ben-Chaim

God commanded Abraham to leave Charan. Abraham did so and headed towards Canaan:

“And Avram traversed the land until the place of Shechem; until Alon Moreh; and the Canaanite people were in the land.” (Gen. 12:6)

Later we read,

“And also to Lote who traveled with Avram were there sheep and cattle and tents. And the land could not sustain them both for their property was great and they could not dwell together. And there was a dispute between the shepherds of Avram (Abraham) and the shepherds of Lote; and the Canaanite and Prizzite then dwelled in the land. And Avram said to Lote, ‘Please let there not be a dispute between myself and you, and between my shepherds and yours, for we are brothers. Is not the entire land before you? Separate before me; if you go left I will go to the right; if you go right I will go to the left’.” (Gen. 13:5-9)

What is significant to mention that these nations were “in the land”? Why mention this obscure detail, and why join this detail with seemingly unrelated information, regarding Avram’s travels, and the shepherds’ dispute?

Rashi (Gen. 13:7) teaches that Avram’s shepherds justly rebuked Lote’s shepherds for their grazing in pastures belonging to others. Lote’s shepherds’ justification was that Avram is to eventually inherit all of Canaan. But Avram’s shepherds knew that Avram did not “yet” receive that promise.

We learn Avram’s perfection, through this Rashi citing his shepherd’s perfection. We are told that Avram initially “traversed the land until the place of Shechem; until Alon Moreh”. He traveled “until” this location. “Until” is stated twice in this verse, stressing Avram’s respect of others’ property. He didn’t travel further for the reason that the verse explains, the Canaanite people “were in the land.” Similarly, the verse that describes the dispute of the shepherds also ends with “and the Canaanite and Prizzite then dwelled in the land.” (ibid 13:7)

The Torah’s means of catching our attention is often through repetition. Repeating the idea that the Canaanite were in the land causes us to compare that verse 13:7 with the previous verse 12:6. We then note the context of both verses. The first verse describes how Avram traveled “until” a certain location, due to the presence of the Canaanites. The second verse describes the shepherd’s dispute, also related to the Canaanite’s presence in the land. Through this repetition, and the seemingly unrelated content of both verses, we learn that Avram did not trespass occupied land, nor did he allow his shepherds to graze there; the cause of the dispute with Lote’s shepherds as Rashi teaches.