When, in response to God's command, Abram set out from Haran on the final stage of his long journey toward Canaan, he found that this would involve his traveling at least three hundred miles before he reached the center of the land; whereas the nature of the terrain to be traversed would probably require his covering a far greater distance.
With him came his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and a considerable retinue of servants, who tended his numerous flocks and herds. His arrival at Shechem (spelled Sichem in Gen. 12:6) was marked by a further revelation from God, who assured him that the land would belong to him and to his descendants. He at once built altars in God's honor, one in Shechem and one near Bethel, some twenty miles to the south.
After a brief sojourn in the fertile land of Egypt, necessitated by a famine in the land of Canaan, Abram and his company returned to Bethel (see Gen. 13:3, 4), where he again proceeded to worship God in accord with his highest understanding of Him.
