Removed from thence unto a mountain, &c.— Either for better security from the inhabitants, or with a design of seeing more of the country. Here Abram built an altar (as it was usual on mountains); for, being fit places for contemplation, and, perhaps, by their height seeming to point the mind towards heaven above low earthly views, they were therefore chosen by pious men in ancient times, as altars of devotion raised by the Author of nature; and were approved of by God, till, like the sacred groves, they had been profaned by the impious rites of a barbarous superstition.
Related Commentaries of Genesis 12:8
Genesis 12:8
8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.