What Does Genesis 13:8 Mean in the King James?
And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew word for strife can mean a dispute brought against another, so Abram refuses to let a disagreement turn kin into opposing parties.
THE MEANING
The conflict has material stakes: two groups of herdsmen cannot keep sharing the same ground. Yet Lot remains kin before he becomes a rival, and a boundary between households can exist without severing the bond.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a conflict of interests makes the other person your enemy.
THE ROOT
מְרִיבָה
merivah
GROWS FROM
ריב
rîb
To contend, dispute, or bring a case against another.
“strife” in this verse is merivah. This word names contention as a contest between parties, not merely private irritation. Abram is stopping the relationship from becoming a case one side must win.
ALSO GROWS
rîb: Dispute, quarrel, or legal contention.
רִיב
This noun shows the force of Abram’s request: he wants to prevent the dispute from defining the relationship.
yārîb: He contends or pleads a case.
יָרִיב
This verb makes the relational shift vivid: kin can become adversaries when each side takes up a case against the other.
THE PATTERN
Shared belonging can interrupt escalation: conflict does not have to recast people as enemies.
A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?THE THREAD
The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.Proverbs uses the same root, ריב (rîb), meaning contention or dispute, and pictures conflict as water escaping through a breach. Abram names that breach while it can still be prevented; the kinship remains intact without pretending the material conflict has disappeared.
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