Kommentar zu Bereschit 12:9

הלוך ונסוע GOING ON MORE AND MORE TOWARDS THE NEGEB — by stages: he stayed here a month or more, then travelled on and pitched his tent in another place. Yet all his journeys were towards the Negeb to proceed to the South of the land of Israel which is the direction where Jerusalem is — which is in the territory of Judah who had their portion in the South of the land of Israel — to Mount Moriah which is his (Judah’s) possession (cf. Genesis Rabbah 39:16).

TOWARDS THE SOUTH. Rabbeinu Shlomo [Rashi] wrote, “To go to the southern part of the land of Israel, which is in the territory of the sons of Judah who took their portion in the south of the land of Israel.” This was also to happen to Abraham’s offspring in the future, as it is said, Judah shall go up⁶⁸Judges 1:2. first.

And Avram journeyed - journeyed from here, and went. Continually traveling - from place to place.

הלוך ונסוע הנגבה, when he journeyed, as is the custom of shepherds, he did not move to the east and to the west alternately, but kept moving in a southerly direction. He did this in order not to deviate from moving between one of the two towns he had been between when he first stopped between Bet El and Ai. Members of those cities had begun to trail him planning to join him.

הנגבה, “in a southerly direction.” According to Rashi, he was traveling in the southern part of the country, the area which later on formed the territory of the tribe of Yehudah. Later on, when it came to taking possession of the land, the tribe of Yehudah was also the first to take possession of these areas.

ויסע אברם הלוך ונסוע הנגבה, “Avram kept journeying steadily in a southerly direction.” The point of all his travels was to make camp in a great number of locations. He confined himself to the area which would later on form part of the territory of Yehudah which is located in the southern part of Eretz Yisrael. This area includes Mount Moriah. This is the plain meaning of our verse.
We may include a further meaning in the wording of the text, namely that each move by Avram represented a spiritual ascent to ever higher levels, keeping his spirit on the move while providing quiet and calm for the body. The Torah reported that “he pitched his tent,” to indicate his physical state; only then did it refer to constant motion, i.e. Avram’s ongoing spiritual ascent to higher levels. We read about Avram making camp in a variety of expressions such as ויאהל, ויבא, וישב, “he put up a tent, he arrived, he settled.” All of these journeys had as their purpose that he should qualify for the gift of prophecy on the level of communication with the attribute of G-d known as שדי. This is an attribute of theא-ד-נ-י level of G-d. It is alluded to in the word הנגבה (southward), whose numerical value 65 equals that of the name א-ד-נ-י. This is also the reason this name of G-d appears again and again when Avram addresses G-d such as in 15,2 when he asked: א-דני אלוקים מה תתן לי, “Lord O G-d what can you give me?”, Or a few lines later (15,8) א-דני אלוקים במה אדע כי אירשנה? “Lord, O G-d how will I know that I will inherit it (the land of Canaan)?”

But, all his travels were southward, aimed at going... Rashi is answering the question: הלוך ונסוע implies that he traveled continuously. If so, is it written before, “From there he moved ... his tent” — implying that he encamped in the meantime? [Rashi answers: “He would stay here a month or so, and then travel.”] And Rashi is answering another question: Why is it written, “Traveling steadily southward,” implying that he was traveling toward the world’s south, which is outside of Eretz Yisrael? This cannot be, for he was traveling from Charan to Eretz Yisrael. Therefore Rashi explains, “All his travels were southward, going to the south of Eretz Yisrael.” His travels were to Eretz Yisrael’s south.

Abraham zog immer weiter nach Süden. Wir haben bereits gesehen, wie Abraham nicht den Kreis der Städte aufsuchte. Er suchte sich und die Seinigen in der Isolierung erst recht fest zu begründen. Der Süden Palästinas war durchaus nicht der blühendere Teil, vielmehr wird in Secharja die ganze Gegend von Jerusalem südwärts ערבה, Öde genannt. Entsprechend der ganzen Pflanzung des jüdischen Volkes, wie die תורה in der Wüste, der Altar auf dem Ebal, wie Israel das עם קשה ערף, so ward die geistige Metropole des Volkes nicht in den nördlichen, den blühendsten, sondern in den südlichen, unfruchtbaren Teil gelegt. Das Gedeihen der תורה und durch dieselbe setzt gar nichts Irdisches voraus; "aus dem Felsen", spricht Gott, "sättige ich mit Honig dichl" Abrahams לך לך zog ihn immer weiter in den unwirtbaren Süden.

הנגבה, until he came to the southern region of the land of Canaan. According to Bereshit Rabbah, all of Avram’s journeys were in a southerly direction, towards the region where the Kingdom of Yehudah would be centred.

נגב (verwandt mit נקף ,נגף ,נקב): etwas perpendikulär auf den Kopf treffen, daher der Süden, wo die Strahlen der Sonne senkrecht treffen. Sodann gesteigert bis zum Durchbohren: נקב, und Stoßen, plötzlich stoßen, d. i plötzlicher Tod durch Gott: מגפה ,נגף. Nun wäre noch zu erklären, wie נקב zugleich auch bestimmen heißt: נקבה שכרך, es heißt vielleicht: etwas mit Worten so "auf den Kopf treffen" etwas mit Worten so umgrenzen, dass der Gegenstand dadurch entschieden fixiert wird.