Genesis 12:6

Abram passed through the land. Palestine was heavily wooded at that time. Its roads are described in ancient Egyptian documents as being a nightmare to travelers. Progress of the caravan may have been very slow, in view of the great number of animals and people accompanying the patriarch. The journey was probably broken by frequent pauses for rest. Having crossed Galilee, the wanderers came to the plain of Esdraelon, in which there were already several powerful Canaanite cities, such as Megiddo and Taanach. Then they crossed the Carmel ridge and entered the hilly country that would later belong to Ephraim, and here made their first prolonged halt. This was probably done because the Lord told Abram (v. 7) that he had reached the end of his journey and was now in the land that had been promised him.

Sichem. This city is called Shechem elsewhere in the OT (Gen. 35:4; etc.). Situated at the eastern entrance to a narrow valley flanked by the mountains Ebal and Gerizim, it occupied a strategically important place. It is a deserted site today, called Balatah, close to Nablus. Excavations and documentary evidence prove that Shechem was a flourishing and fortified city early in the second millennium B.C., when Abram camped in its vicinity. One of the earliest Egyptian military expeditions into Palestine of which a clear record has been preserved was directed against this very city. The stele of an Egyptian warrior who served under King Sen-Usert III (1878-1840 B.C.) of the Twelfth Dynasty describes a campaign against Sekemem, the Egyptian name for Sichem or Shechem, and relates that the native Asiatics were defeated. At the time Abram entered the country of Canaan, Egypt exerted a great influence over its Canaanite neighbors. Though Egypt did not actually exercise political control over Canaan, the latter country was economically dependent upon Egypt, which had royal representatives in its principal cities. These commissioners guarded Egypt’s economic interests and played the role of advisers to the local Canaanite rulers. Such was the political situation Abram found in Canaan.

The plain of Moreh. The word “plain” is not an accurate rendering of the Heb. ’elon, literally, “a great tree.” RSV says “oak.” The word is presumably used here in a generic and collective sense, and may or may not refer to one particular tree. It has been suggested that a grove of oaks is meant. This view is supported by a later reference Moses makes to the same locality, using the plural form of ’elon, “trees” (KJV, “plains”), clearly indicating that Moreh possessed more than one such tree (Deut. 11:30). The grove itself has not been identified, but must have been in the immediate vicinity of Shechem, as this text and Deut. 11:29, 30 indicate.

Moreh means “teacher.” The ancient Jewish translators of the LXX rendered it by the Greek word hupselen, “lofty.” Commentators have attempted to explain the name Moreh as an indication that Abram understood he was to be “taught” there by God, or that the grove belonged to a teacher of fame.

The Canaanite. If Abram had expected to be led into an unpopulated land whose pastures he would not have to share with others, he was mistaken. For this reason, perhaps, the statement is added, “the Canaanite was then in the land.” Finding himself an alien amidst a strange people, Abram could not regard the land as his own and actually take possession of it (see Heb. 11:9, 13). This he could do only by faith.