Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord. Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land. So Abram said to Lot, "Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left." And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go towards Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord. And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: "Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are - northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. and I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you." Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the Lord. Genesis 13NKJV
So Abram and Lot are both wealthy by the standards of their time, but so much so that the land is unable to support them dwelling together. We can relate well to silver and gold, but it was not the only measure of their wealth. The livestock provided food, clothing and the trade of necessity. I would imagine that much gold was given up at that time for food; everyone has to eat.
Strangely, Abram, the elder of the two men, allows Lot to choose which part of the land he will take his family and herds to dwell in. This leaves Abram with whatever is left over. Lot chooses what would appear to be a no brainer, and apparently based on the needs of his herds. Could this also be an act of faith on Abram's part? God has taken care of him thus far, but there is in this also a certain patriarchal wisdom. It is the antithesis to greed which we know even now ends in war. The two families will be separated somewhat, geographically, but by deferring the choice and standing by his word without offense, it squashes the tension and keeps the alliance. It is quite possible that if Abram would have claimed the right of elder, and told the younger where to move based on his seniority, that animosities would have grown between the tribes. We have seen Abram avoid conflict, most recently in Egypt, but that was against great odds in a land where he was seeking asylum. Here, he defers the right of elder and maintains peace. In contrast to a faithless and self serving motive, as we saw in Egypt, this would appear to come from the wisdom of a peace maker.
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Matthew 5:5 NKJV
As one writer had so greatly put it. "Meekness is not weakness; it is power under control."
