Genesis 13:6 Commentary and Bible Study

We are not surprised to read that the land was not able to bear them, because, as the narrative goes on to note, the Canaanites and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land, so it wasn't entirely unoccupied land. There were the mountainous areas and there was a fertile plain, and there were other people living there, keeping their flocks and herds, building their towns, and so there are two very large prosperous wealthy groups of herdsmen in the same area, as well as the existing occupants. Obviously that was going to lead to difficulty. But there was also bickering between their respective herdsmen, and so Abram said to Lot, ‘Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.’ You wonder if Abram is realising that they're not fitting together anyway, that they have rather different objectives, rather different aspirations. But anyway, there is a practical necessity for separation.