Genesis 13:11
וַיִּבְחַר־לוֹ לוֹט אֵת כָּל־כִּכַּר הַיַּרְדֵּן וַיִּסַּע לוֹט מִקֶּדֶם וַיִּפָּרְדוּ אִישׁ מֵעַל אָחִֽיו׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
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✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיִּבְחַר־ל֣וֹ ל֗וֹט אֵ֚ת כָּל־כִּכַּ֣ר הַיַּרְדֵּ֔ן וַיִּסַּ֥ע ל֖וֹט מִקֶּ֑דֶם וַיִּפָּ֣רְד֔וּ אִ֖ישׁ מֵעַ֥ל אָחִֽיו׃
καὶ ἐξελἐξατο ἑαυτῷ Λὼτ πᾶσαν τὴν περίχωρον τοῦ Ἰορδάνου, κα ἀπῆρεν Λὼτ ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν. καὶ διεχωρίσθησαν ἕκαστος ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Elegitque sibi Lot regionem circa Jordanem, et recessit ab oriente: divisique sunt alterutrum a fratre suo.
Entonces Lot escogió para sí todo el valle del Jordán y partió hacia el oriente. Así fue como se separaron el uno del otro.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Entonces Lot escogió para sí toda la llanura del Jordán: y partióse Lot de Oriente, y apartáronse el uno del otro.
So Lot chose the whole plain of the Jordan for himself and set out toward the east. And Abram and Lot parted company.
✦ What the text says
Summary
Genesis 13:11 narrates Lot's choice: he selects the entire kikkar ("valley/plain", H3603H) of the Jordan for himself, then departs, and the text states that he and (by implication) Abram separated from one another.
Key words
- va-yivchar ("and he chose", H0977) — qal narrative verb, third person masculine singular, opening the sequence of actions with the standard "and then" narrative chain.
- lo ("for himself", H9033) — pronominal suffix attached to the preposition, marking that the choice is made in Lot's own interest.
- kikkar ("valley of", H3603H) — feminine singular construct noun, grammatically bound to "the Jordan" that follows, meaning it cannot stand alone but requires the following word to complete its sense ("valley of the Jordan").
- miqqedem ("from the east", H6924G) — noun with the preposition min ("from") prefixed, indicating the direction from which Lot journeys away.
- va-yippare'du ("and they separated", H6504) — niphal narrative verb, third person masculine plural, using the passive/reflexive stem to describe the two parties becoming divided from each other.
What the text says
The verse is built on three sequential narrative verbs joined by the vav-consecutive (H9001): va-yivchar ("he chose"), va-yissa' ("he set out", H5265), and va-yippare'du ("they separated"). This chain structure presents the actions as a single unfolding sequence rather than isolated events.
The object of Lot's choice is marked by the direct object indicator 'et (H0853, untranslated) followed by kol-kikkar ha-Yarden ("all the valley/plain of the Jordan"), a construct chain where kikkar (H3603H) is grammatically dependent on "the Jordan" (H3383) to form a single unit of meaning.
The final verb, va-yippare'du (H6504), is in the niphal stem, which in Biblical Hebrew often carries passive or reflexive/reciprocal force. Here it describes a mutual, reciprocal separation rather than one party acting upon the other. The phrase 'ish me-'al 'achiv ("each from upon his brother", H0376I + H0251G) reinforces this reciprocity: 'ish ("each/a man") paired with 'achiv ("his brother," construct form with pronominal suffix "his") expresses "each one from his brother," a common Hebrew idiom for mutual separation between two parties.
Differences between versions
The Hebrew text does not name Abram in this verse; the separation is expressed only through 'ish me-'al 'achiv ("each from his brother"). The BSB translation renders this explicitly as "Abram and Lot parted company," supplying Abram's name where the Hebrew, LXX (ἕκαστος ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ, "each from his brother"), and Vulgate (alterutrum a fratre suo, "one from the other, from his brother") all use only the reciprocal "each/one from his brother" construction without naming either party.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.