מדרש על בראשית 13:14

When Abraham went up to the land of Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, had said to him: Lift up thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it (Gen. 13:14–15); therefore, when He desired to destroy the five cities, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: I cannot destroy them without first consulting Abraham. If you should believe that the land was not part of Canaan, observe that it is written elsewhere: And the border of the Canaanite was from Sidon, as thou goest toward Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest toward Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 10:19). That is why, when He wanted to destroy them, He consulted Abraham, as it says: Shall I hide from Abraham, etc.

And the Lord said unto Jacob: “Return unto the land of thy fathers” (Gen. 31:3). May it please our master to teach us whether an Israelite may light a candle with another candle upon which is engraved an idolatrous symbol? Thus did our masters teach us: An Israelite is forbidden to light a candle with another candle upon which an idolatrous symbol is engraved. This is in accordance with the verse And thou shalt not bring an abomination into thy house (Deut. 7:26). The Shekhinah does not rest in a home in which there is an idolatrous symbol, as is said: In every place where I cause My name to be mentioned I will come unto thee (Exod. 20:21). A proof of this is that as long as Lot remained with Abraham, the Holy One, blessed be He, did not appear to him, but after Lot’s departure, He did reveal Himself to him. Whence do we know this to be so? R. Eleazar the son of Pedat said in the name of R. Yosé the son of Zimra: We know this from the verse And the Lord said unto Abraham (Gen. 13:14). When did this occur? After Lot departed from him (ibid.).

R. Chanina b. Akiva says: "More beloved" was the seeing of our father Abraham than that of Moses. For Abraham was not caused to exert himself whereas Moses was. What is stated of Abraham? (Genesis 13:14) "Lift up your eyes now and see from the place where you are north and south and east and west. "And of Moses what is stated? (Devarim, Ibid.) "Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west, to the north, to the south and to the east, and see with your eyes" — Go up, and look, and see. And whence is it derived that all of Moses' requests were granted by the Holy One Blessed be He? From (Ibid. 34:1) "And the L rd showed him the whole land." This is Eretz Israel. He asked to see the Temple and He showed it to him, viz. (Ibid.) "and Gilead," Gilead being the Temple, viz. (Jeremiah 22:6) "Gilead are you (the Temple) to Me, the head of the Levanon." Whence is it derived that He showed Him also Shimshon the son of Manoach? From (Devarim, Ibid.) "until Dan," it being written elsewhere (Judges 13:2) "And there was a man from Tzarah, of the family of Dan, whose name was Manoach, etc." Variantly: "until Dan" ("ad Dan"). The tribes had not yet come to the land, and Eretz Yisrael had not yet ("adayin" [acronymic of "ad dan"]) been apportioned among the tribes. What, then, is the intent of "ad Dan"? The L rd had said to Abraham: Twelve tribes are destined to issue from your loins, and this is the portion of one of them. Similarly, (Genesis 14:14) "And he (Abraham) pursued (them) until Dan." The tribes had not yet come to the land, and Eretz Yisrael had not yet been apportioned among the tribes. What, then, is the intent of "until Dan"? It was told to our father Abraham: In this place your children are destined to serve idolatry, and his strength (in pursuing them) waned.