In verses 8-9 Abram takes the initiative to solve the problem brought on by the overcrowding of the grazing lands.
Then Abram said to Lot: Then is a suitable transition marker in English to show that the next event is about to take place. Other languages may require a more direct reference to the previous events; for example, “When Abram heard about the strife…” or “When Abram learned what had happened….” In some languages the transition will be shown in other ways. Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says “So one day Abram said….”
Let there be no strife between you and me: the Hebrew expression begins with an idiomatic exclamation of plea or entreaty that Holladay translates “For goodness sakes.” King James Version retains something of the sense of entreaty with “I pray thee….” Bible en français courant says “There should be no disputes between….” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy has “It is not good that there should be quarrels between us.” We may also translate “If it pleases you, let us not quarrel,” “I beg you, we should not quarrel with each other.”
And between your herdsmen and my herdsmen: the plea to avoid quarrels applies also to each owner’s herdsmen.
For we are kinsmen is doubtless the key reason why Abram and his nephew should not argue. Such quarrels could easily lead to war between these wealthy men and threaten to destroy the very purpose for which Abram has been called to lead his people into Canaan. Note that Good News Translation and others shift this clause forward to make it the opening appeal to Lot. Because the two men are relatives, disputes should not take place, not even between their workers. If the order of the clauses is changed, the element of entreaty referred to above may be expressed in a variety of ways. For instance one translation says “We-two are family, but our workmen are always arguing. This isn’t right. It would be better if we-two separated….” Another has “We are relatives. Our men shouldn’t be fighting… What about we split up?”
Kinsmen translates what is literally “men brothers.” The word “brothers” in this context refers to a wider relationship than sons of the same father. Note that Abram refers to Lot as “brother” in the Hebrew of 14.14, 16, where the sense is “relative” or “kinsmen,” as here. In languages that do not have a general term referring to kinsmen, that is, people who are descended from the same forefathers and who recognize a bond of kinship, it may be necessary here for Abram to use the appropriate kinship term and say, for example, “I am your [paternal] uncle,” “You are my nephew [son of my younger brother],” “Your father is my [dead] brother,” or “We are people of the same family.” In one of the languages where the paternal uncle is addressed as “father,” the translation says “There shouldn’t be arguing between us-two or … because we-two are father-son.”
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 .