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Here we have a testimonial as to the Divine origin of the Torah. No human writer would have attributed the Ishmaelite nations to Avrohom. At most, he would perhaps have given them lineage from a brother of Avrohom. The fact that the Torah openly declares that Yishmoel was born to Avrohom is clear evidence that no human author composed the Torah. From the days of Moshe the Ishmaelite nations were idolators and enemies of Am Yisroel. It would therefore be unthinkable that any Jewish author would confer upon them the pedigree of descent from the hallowed Father of our Nation….

When speaking of Lot in posuk 12 the Torah uses the term “and he was living”; when speaking of Avrom in posuk 13 the Torah uses the term “and he dwelt”. These phrases contrast the attitudes of Avrom and Lot in their relations with their neighbors. The posuk tells us that Avrom remains the Ivri, which means “one who stands on the other side”, whether this means spiritually in opposition to the whole world, or geographically from across the river, he was known as an outsider. The Torah describes this relationship to his neighbors with the term “and he dwelt”,…