Abraham and Lot's conflict (, Merivat Roey Avraham Ve'Roey Lot) is an incident recorded in the Book of Genesis, in the weekly Torah portion, Lech-Lecha, which recounts the separation of Abraham and Lot, as a result of a dispute among their shepherds. The dispute ends in a peaceful way, in which Abraham concedes a part of the Promised Land, which belongs to him, in order to resolve the conflict peacefully.
Abraham (then called Abram), his wife Sarai, and his nephew Lot return to the Negev from Egypt, and then return to the land between Bethel and Ai in Canaan, where they had lived before the famine of Genesis 12.
In Genesis 13:5-13, Abram and Lot separate, as a result of the quarrel among the shepherds. Lot is described as a very wealthy man, like Abraham is after his return from Egypt, although Abram's wealth includes gold and silver as well as livestock and herdsmen.
The biblical text does not elaborate on the exact reason for the dispute, however, as a result of this, Abraham offers Lot to separate, in order to prevent the fight, and he grants Lot the right to be the first among the two to pick the territory he desires:
Robert Alter suggests that Abraham's language is "clear, firm and polite". Lot accepts the peace deal, for the Partition of the Land, and chooses the area of the plain of the Jordan â in the area including Sodom, and the story ends with Abraham and Lot separately settling in different areas of the Land:
Genesis 13:18 sees Abram settling "by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron". He is "living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner, ... allies of Abram" in Genesis 14:13 at the time of the Battle of Siddim.
This incident provides an early example of the divide and choose procedure for fair division of a continuous resource between two parties.
Abraham finds the flows of water but, after this, these were closes. Isaac and Jacob "renew these treasures":
So this water became "bitumen", i.e. "oil". Eretz Israel was also historically full of this "element".
The reference to Sodom in verse 13 suggests that Lot made a bad choice. The narrator uses Lot's choice of land near Sodom as a way of foreshadowing Lot's role in the Battle of Siddim, in which Lot is taken captive in battle, and the role of Lot in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. According to Genesis 13:12, Lot pitches his tents near Sodom. By 14:12, Lot is living in the city itself. The destruction of Sodom is related in chapter 19.