And the LORD said unto Abram, after Lot was separated from him,
Lift up now your eyes, and look from the place where you are northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
All Commentaries on Genesis 13:14 Go To Genesis 13
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
There follows a passage that clearly teaches us how fast the soul progresses once the excesses of the irrational parts have been eliminated and how much evil is produced by an accumulation of vices. Not without reason did Scripture put it this way: “And God said to Abraham, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward: for all the land which you see I will give to you and to your descendants for ever.’ ” This text is the source from which the Stoic philosophers drew one of their doctrinal maxims: that everything belongs to the wise man. Indeed, north, south, east and west are the parts of the universe: they encompass the entire world. And when God promises that he will give all of this to Abraham, what else is he saying than that the wise and faithful man possesses all things, lacks nothing at all? For which reason Solomon also says in Proverbs, “The whole world of riches belongs to him who is faithful.” How much earlier did Solomon live than Zeno the teacher and founder of the Stoic school itself! How much earlier was he than Plato, the very father of philosophy, or Pythagoras, who invented the term philosophy. But who is the faithful person if not one who is wise? For “the fool changes like the moon,” but the wise person remains unchanging in faith. .
