Genesis 13:6

וְלֹא־נָשָׂא אֹתָם הָאָרֶץ לָשֶׁבֶת יַחְדָּו כִּֽי־הָיָה רְכוּשָׁם רָב וְלֹא יָֽכְלוּ לָשֶׁבֶת יַחְדָּֽו׃

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The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

וְלֹא־נָשָׂ֥א אֹתָ֛ם הָאָ֖רֶץ לָשֶׁ֣בֶת יַחְדָּ֑ו כִּֽי־הָיָ֤ה רְכוּשָׁם֙ רָ֔ב וְלֹ֥א יָֽכְל֖וּ לָשֶׁ֥בֶת יַחְדָּֽו׃

Greek (Septuagint)

καὶ οὐκ ἐχώρει αὐτοὺς ἡ γῆ κατοικεῖν κεῖν ἅμα, ὅτι ἦν τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτῶν πολλά καὶ οὐκ ἐδύναντο κατοικεῖν ὁμὰ.

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

Nec poterat eos capere terra, ut habitarent simul: erat quippe substantia eorum multa, et nequibant habitare communiter.

Spanish

Pero la región no bastaba para que los dos vivieran juntos, porque tenían demasiadas posesiones.

Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)

Y la tierra no podía darles para que habitasen juntos: porque su hacienda era mucha, y no podían morar en un mismo lugar.

English

But the land was unable to support both of them while they stayed together, for they had so many possessions that they were unable to coexist.

What the text says

Summary

Genesis 13:6 states that the land could not sustain Abram and Lot dwelling together, because their combined possessions were too great. The verse gives the cause (abundance of possessions) for the effect (inability to remain in the same territory).

Key words

na.Sa' ("it supported", H5375K) — qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular, agreeing with ha'Aretz ("the land"); the verb's basic sense of "to carry/lift/bear" is used here to express the land's capacity to "bear" or sustain the two groups.

la.She.vet ("to dwell", H3427) — qal infinitive construct with the preposition le-, appearing twice in the verse (lines 9 and 20); this infinitive construction expresses purpose or result ("in order to dwell" / "for dwelling").

yach.Dav ("together", H3162B) — adverb, also repeated twice, modifying both occurrences of the dwelling-infinitive and emphasizing the shared, joint nature of the dwelling that becomes impossible.

re.khu.Sha + m ("possession[s]" + "their", H7399/H9028) — masculine singular noun in construct form with a 3rd person plural suffix, meaning "their possession(s)" as a collective singular noun despite referring to accumulated goods.

Rav ("much", H7227A) — masculine singular adjective modifying re.khu.Sham, agreeing in gender and number with the collective singular noun it describes.

What the text says

The verse divides into two parts connected by ki ("for", H3588A), a subordinating particle introducing the causal clause. The first clause (items 1-10) states the effect: ve-lo' na.Sa' 'otam ha'Aretz la.She.vet yach.Dav — "and the land did not carry/support them to dwell together." The verb na.Sa' takes ha'Aretz ("the land") as its subject and 'otam (the direct object marker with 3rd plural suffix, "them") as its object, so grammatically it is the land that performs the action of (failing to) support the two parties.

The second clause (items 11-21) gives the reason: ki hayah rekhusham rav ve-lo' yakhlu la.She.vet yachdav — "for their possession was great, and they were not able to dwell together." Here the subject shifts from the land to the men themselves (yakhlu, "they were able," 3rd plural), producing a parallel structure: first the land is said to be unable to "carry" them, then the men are said to be unable to "dwell" together. Both final clauses repeat the identical phrase la.She.vet yachdav ("to dwell together"), reinforcing the outcome through repetition rather than new vocabulary.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew verb na.Sa' ("to carry/bear/support") is rendered in the LXX with ἐχώρει ("had room for" / "could contain"), and in the Vulgate with poterat capere ("was able to hold/contain"). Both versions shift from the Hebrew's image of the land "carrying" or "bearing" the people to an image of spatial capacity ("containing" or "holding"), which is a different verbal metaphor than the Hebrew's use of na.Sa'.

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.