Where we'd left off last time, god brought down a plague on the Pharaoh because Abram was pimping his wife. Abram is now forced to return to Negeb, where the famine has presumably subsided and word has yet to reach everyone about how Sarai was the Pharaoh's courtesan for a while.
After all those shenanigans in Egypt and some kind of walk of shame back to Negeb, the gang wanders back further along the route they'd originally traveled. They stop again at the altar they made near Bethel before they finally realized they'd gotten too rich in Egypt.
Abram got so rich off his wife's work that he was able to give his nephew slaves and flocks and herds and whatever else the Pharaoh saw fit to send to his new girlfriend's pimp. They had so many herds and flocks that their respective shepherds were fighting too much over all the animals. Abram decided there was too much strife in their groups while there was so much land available. The gang finally breaks up, Abram allowing Lot to choose in which direction he traveled. They parted ways and I assume they had a big party and hopefully Lot thanked his aunt before he went on towards the lands of (wicked) Sodom and Abram went off towards Canaan. We won't see Lot again for a while, but he'll be back later.
After Lot left, the lord did a Lion King moment on Abram and said:
"Look about you, and from where you are, gaze to the north and the south, east and west, all the land that you see I will give to you and your descendants forever. I will make of your descendants like the dust of the earth; if anyone could count the dust of the earth, your descendants too might be counted."
This is a bit of foreshadowing about Lot. While it's possible that Abram waited until "Lot left" before he "had a talk with god" and came back proclaiming more blessings and bounties, it's also possible that this is mostly to show the reader that Lot's solo adventures won't go as well as the time he spent with the squad.
I think Abram and Lot got on pretty well. Lot was the only one that Abram took with him from his family on his initial adventures and they both got paid very well from aunt Sarai's efforts. Abram didn't need to share the riches they'd made, but he did. I believe this scene with god is mostly about Abram's blessings and there wasn't any issues between uncle and nephew, it was as it says: simply herdsmen and shepherds squabbling because of too much wealth.
The reason I go into this is because the next chapter, The Four Kings talks about what was a pretty serious war. The title says four kings, but then it proceeds to list eight and throws another one in for good measure at the end. It sounds like an alliance was formed between four cities/kingdoms at the time and they went to war with another set of four allied cities/kingdoms. There was a lot of back and forth for about 14 years until finally the losing side was chased out through a valley filled with pits where they fell to their deaths or ran off into the mountains.
When Lot and Abram parted ways, Lot headed straight into land that was about to erupt into a 14 year long war. Sodom was on the losing end of this struggle and they were pillaged along with whatever was left of Lot's belongings. A war fugitive, possibly one of the survivors of the slaughter in the valley with the mining pits, escapes the war and manages to tell Abram of his nephew's fate. Well, his nephew's stuff's fate, which included his slaves and all those herds and flocks that caused them to part ways in the first place.
Abram took out 318 of his horsed fighters and went out in search of Lot's stuff. They were successful, and it sounds like they had to fight for it because Abram "returned from his victory". While on his return home (with Lot's stuff and his slaves and whatever else) Abram stopped near Sodom but refused any assistance from the king by saying:
"I have sworn to the lord, god most high, the creator of heaven and earth, that I would not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap from anything that is yours, lest you should say 'I made Abram rich'. Nothing for me except what my servants have used up and the share that is due to the men who joined me."
A clear indication that one of these two people is a petty crazy person. I suppose it is polite to offer gifts to visitors who helped scare out some bandits from your lands and it is also polite to decline such aid from a kingdom besieged by war. However, that's a weird way to go about things. Maybe these were two proud and wounded leaders, attempting to be polite in a world that is just relearning peace. Probably, they're just assholes. It seems to be a theme.
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