Ab'ram and Lot were prosperous before they went into E'gypt, and when they returned to Ca'naan they were rich in cattle, silver, and gold. In the vicinity of Bethel, where Ab'ram again built an altar and worshiped God, the shepherds of these two kinsmen searched the hill country for sufficient pasturage to feed their greatly increased flocks and herds. Some of the land was occupied by herdsmen of the native people, so the servants of Ab'ram and Lot found difficulty in securing grass for their sheep and cattle. Quarrels and contention arose between the two groups of herdsmen, and when Ab'ram learned of the unhappy situation he said to Lot:
"Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left."
In these generous words Ab'ram displayed the spirit of true meekness and recognized the obligations of kinship. Rather than permit another to be injured he was willing to yield his own rights and privileges, even to suffer loss. The grasping, assertive spirit so common among other men in similar circumstances was wholly lacking; his conduct was marked by generosity and self-denial, and by a spirit of true humility. As the elder, more prominent of the partners, and as Lot's uncle and benefactor he had the right to choose his part of the country first, but he yielded the privilege to Lot. He could have claimed the entire country for himself, or selected the best parts of it, but he deferred to Lot's preference, taking the land which Lot had refused.
From the vantage point afforded by the high hills around Bethel, where Ab'ram and Lot resided, one could look eastward toward the Jor'dan, beholding a beautiful plain, fertile and covered with luxuriant vegetation. Beyond the plain and within the immediate vicinity of the Jor'dan, perhaps on what now constitutes a part of the bed of the northern end of the Dead Sea, stood the wealthy and wicked cities of Sod'om and Go-mor'rah. The fame of this area for beauty and fertility was comparable to that of the Garden of Ed'en or the valley of the Nile in E'gypt. No crust of salt, volcanic action, or curse from God had yet blasted its verdure, or wrecked the civilization of the Phoenician settlements which had developed into these two great cities. All that here takes place was before the Lord had destroyed the cities of Sod'om and Go-mor'rah, and the country was wholly unlike the present barren waste.
Lot was attracted by the fertility of this plain, and impressed also by the commercial advantages offered by the two great cities. Disregarding the moral contamination and spiritual disaster that might result from contact with immoral neighbors, he chose the plains for himself. Going down from the mountains where God was known and worshiped, Lot took all his possessions and "pitched his tent toward Sod'om." He did not settle within either of the wicked cities at first, but gradually moved closer and closer, becoming more and more involved in their low standards of morality and gross paganism.
