Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
6. And Abram passed through the land . Here Moses shows that Abram did not immediately, on his entering into the land, find a habitation in which he might rest. For the expression passed through, and the position of the place (Sichem) to which he passed, show that the length of his journey had been great.
One would have expected that Abram having had such an extraordinary call to Canaan some great event should have followed upon his arrival there, that he would have been introduced with all possible marks of honour and respect, and that the kings of Canaan should immediately have surrendered their crowns to him, and done him homage.
Commenting on Genesis 12:6-9
And Abram passed through the land,.... Entering the northern part of it, as appears by his going southward, Gen 12:9 he went on unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh; the place afterwards called Shechem, from a prince of that name in the times of Jacob; and so it was called when Moses wrote, and therefore, by way of anticipation, calls it...