Now Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold is a typical statement of the wealth of the patriarchs. Rich translates a Hebrew term meaning literally “heavy,” “weighty.” A wealthy desert nomad’s goods might be thought of as “heavy” because of the necessity of transporting them wherever he went with his livestock. Cattle translates a word referring to all kinds of livestock, as used in 4.20. See there for discussion. Silver is used here for the first time in Genesis. From archaeology it is known that silver was used before Abram’s time for making artefacts. Silver was also used for exchange; in 23.16 Abram purchased the burial cave with weighed silver. See also 44.2 for the example of an article made of silver. For gold see comments on 2.11.

Although a language may not have a term for “silver,” most peoples are acquainted with silver and sometimes speak of it by using a borrowed word. In some languages a rich person is spoken of as “one who has many loads,” “one who has stored up many things,” or “an owner of much metal.” A typical translation says “Abram was a really rich man with silver, gold, and all kinds of animals.”

Some translators find the order of clauses in the Hebrew difficult to follow, not only in verse 1 but in verses 1-2; so these verses are rearranged. For example, one translation goes as follows: “Abram was very very rich, having silver and gold and sheep… He left Egypt and went to the Negeb region. He took his wife and all his possessions, and Lot went with him too.” Another says “So Abram went away from that country called Egypt, and he went from there with his wife Sarai and Lot and everything that he possessed. He was a really rich man with silver and gold and… Well, with all of those possessions he came to that country called Negeb.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .