Genesis Vol 3.pdf - College Press

ABRAHAM AND LOT 13~1-18
copious streams along its course, descending chiefly from
the mountains of Moab. Leupold (EG, 430) : “The separa-
tion from Lot is a necessity growing out of deeper reasons
than those usually cited. Lot is an element that is not
suited to be an integral part of the chosen people, as his
later deterioration shows. Circumstances soon arise which
make it eminently desirable to remove this unsuitable
material as early as possible. Behind the outward separa-
tion lies a deeper motivation. At the same time, the inci-
dent has always served in the church as a typical case of
how to deal in a pra,ctical way with the problem of in-
compatibility. If persons simply cannot get along together,
nothing is gained by attempting to force the issue or by
discussing the point until a solution is reached. Incom-
patibility is best dealt with by separation: let those that
cannot agree get out of one another’s way. To Ambrose
is attributed the saying, divide ut inemeat amicitia, a
procedure which does not merit the criticism, ‘a wretched
but practicable rule’ (Delitzsch) .”
The Plaiiz of the Jordaiz, literally, the circle or circuit
of the Jordan, that is, at the southern end of the Dead
Sea. keuyold (EG, 437): “It is not the whole basin of
the Jordan from the Lake of Gennesareth to the Dead Sea,
but only that portion which extends from about Jericho
down to and including the northern end of the Dead Sea
to Zoar. . . . Now when Moses reminds us that this region
was so attractive ‘before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah,’ he clearly implies that in his time the region
was sadly altered. One question will perhaps never be
determined at this point and that is how far the devastating
effects of the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah affected
the rest of the Dead Sea region. Some hold that the Bible
indicates that the entire Dead Sea is the result of that
cataclysmic overthrow. We personally believe that indeed
only the southern shallow end of the Dead Sea became
covered with water as a result of the overthrow of these
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