Genesis 2:14

2:14 The name of the third river is Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. ¹  The fourth river is the Euphrates.

Genesis 13:11

13:11 Lot chose for himself the whole region of the Jordan and traveled ²  toward the east.

So the relatives separated from each other. ³ 

Genesis 13:14

13:14 After Lot had departed, the Lord said to Abram, ⁴  “Look ⁵  from the place where you stand to the north, south, east, and west.

Genesis 25:6

25:6 But while he was still alive, Abraham gave gifts to the sons of his concubines ⁶  and sent them off to the east, away from his son Isaac. ⁷ 

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¹ tn Heb “Asshur” (so NEB, NIV).

² tn Heb “Lot traveled.” The proper name has not been repeated in the translation at this point for stylistic reasons.

³ tn Heb “a man from upon his brother.”

sn Separated from each other. For a discussion of the significance of this event, see L. R. Helyer, “The Separation of Abram and Lot: Its Significance in the Patriarchal Narratives,” JSOT 26 (1983): 77-88.

⁴ tn Heb “and the Lord said to Abram after Lot separated himself from with him.” The disjunctive clause at the beginning of the verse signals a new scene.

⁵ tn Heb “lift up your eyes and see.”

sn Look. Earlier Lot “looked up” (v. 10), but here Abram is told by God to do so. The repetition of the expression (Heb “lift up the eyes”) here underscores how the Lord will have the last word and actually do for Abram what Abram did for Lot – give him the land. It seems to be one of the ways that God rewards faith.

⁶ tn Heb “the sons of the concubines who [belonged] to Abraham.”

⁷ tn Heb “And he sent them away from upon Isaac his son, while he was still living, eastward to the land of the east.”