Genesis 12
12
The Call of Abram
1And Yahweh said to Abram, “Go out from your land and from your relatives, and from the house of your father, to the land that I will show you. 2And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great. And you will be a blessing. 3And I will bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I will curse. And all families of the earth will be blessed in you.”
Abram’s Journey
4And Abram went out as Yahweh had told him, and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old#Literally “the son of five years and seventy years” when he went out from Haran. 5And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his nephew,#Literally “the son of his brother” and all their possessions that they had gathered, and all the persons that they had acquired in Haran, and they went out to go to the land of Canaan. And they went to the land of Canaan. 6And Abram traveled through the land up to the place of Shechem, to the Oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. 7And Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” And he built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him. 8And he moved on from there to the hill country, east of Bethel. And he pitched his tent at Bethel on the west, and at Ai on the east. And he built an altar there to Yahweh. And he called on the name of Yahweh. 9And Abram kept moving on,#Literally “And Abram moved on, going and moving on” toward the Negev. 10And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down to Egypt to dwell as an alien there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11And it happened that as he drew near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “Look now, I know that you are a woman beautiful of appearance, 12and it shall happen that, if the Egyptians see you, then they will say, ‘This is his wife,’ then they will kill me but let you live. 13Please say you are my sister so that it will go well for me on your account. Then I will live#Literally “And my soul will live” on account of you.” 14And it happened that as Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15And the officials of Pharaoh saw her, and they praised her beauty to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh. 16And he dealt well with Abram on account of her, and he had sheep, cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 17Then#Or “And” Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues on account of the matter of Sarai the wife of Abram. 18Then Pharaoh called for Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19Why did you say ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to myself as a wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go.” 20And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, and then sent him and his wife and all that was with him away.
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Genesis 12: LEB
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Genesis 12
12
Abram’s Call and Migration. 1The Lord said to Abram: Go forth#Go forth…find blessing in you: the syntax of the Hebrew suggests that the blessings promised to Abraham are contingent on his going to Canaan. from your land, your relatives, and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you.#Acts 7:3; Heb 11:8. 2#The call of Abraham begins a new history of blessing (18:18; 22:15–18), which is passed on in each instance to the chosen successor (26:2–4; 28:14). This call evokes the last story in the primeval history (11:1–9) by reversing its themes: Abraham goes forth rather than settle down; it is God rather than Abraham who will make a name for him; the families of the earth will find blessing in him. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.#Gn 17:6; Sir 44:20–21; Rom 4:17–22. 3#Gn 18:18; 22:18; Acts 3:25; Gal 3:8. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will find blessing in you.#Will find blessing in you: the Hebrew conjugation of the verb here and in 18:18 and 28:14 can be either reflexive (“shall bless themselves by you” = people will invoke Abraham as an example of someone blessed by God) or passive (“by you all the families of earth will be blessed” = the religious privileges of Abraham and his descendants ultimately will be extended to the nations). In 22:18 and 26:4, another conjugation of the same verb is used in a similar context that is undoubtedly reflexive (“bless themselves”). Many scholars suggest that the two passages in which the sense is clear should determine the interpretation of the three ambiguous passages: the privileged blessing enjoyed by Abraham and his descendants will awaken in all peoples the desire to enjoy those same blessings. Since the term is understood in a passive sense in the New Testament (Acts 3:25; Gal 3:8), it is rendered here by a neutral expression that admits of both meanings.
4#Gn 11:31; Jos 24:3; Acts 7:4. Abram went as the Lord directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5#The ancestors appear in Genesis as pastoral nomads living at the edge of settled society, and having occasional dealings with the inhabitants, sometimes even moving into towns for brief periods. Unlike modern nomads such as the Bedouin, however, ancient pastoralists fluctuated between following the herds and sedentary life, depending on circumstances. Pastoralists could settle down and farm and later resume a pastoral way of life. Indeed, there was a symbiotic relationship between pastoralists and villagers, each providing goods to the other. Persons: servants and others who formed the larger household under the leadership of Abraham; cf. 14:14. Abram took his wife Sarai, his brother’s son Lot, all the possessions that they had accumulated, and the persons they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6#Abraham’s journey to the center of the land, Shechem, then to Bethel, and then to the Negeb, is duplicated in Jacob’s journeys (33:18; 35:1, 6, 27; 46:1) and in the general route of the conquest under Joshua (Jos 7:2; 8:9, 30). Abraham’s journey is a symbolic “conquest” of the land he has been promised. In building altars here (vv. 7, 8) and elsewhere, Abraham acknowledges his God as Lord of the land. Abram passed through the land as far as the sacred place at Shechem, by the oak of Moreh. The Canaanites were then in the land.
7The Lord appeared to Abram and said: To your descendants I will give this land. So Abram built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.#Ex 33:1; Dt 34:4; Acts 7:5. 8From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel, pitching his tent with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there to the Lord and invoked the Lord by name. 9Then Abram journeyed on by stages to the Negeb.#The Negeb: the semidesert land south of Judah.
Abram and Sarai in Egypt.#12:10–13:1] Abraham and Sarah’s sojourn in Egypt and encounter with Pharaoh foreshadow their descendants’ experience, suggesting a divine design in which they must learn to trust. The story of Sarah, the ancestor in danger, is told again in chap. 20, and also in 26:1–11 with Rebekah instead of Sarah. Repetition of similar events is not unusual in literature that has been orally shaped. 10There was famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, since the famine in the land was severe.#Gn 26:1. 11When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai: “I know that you are a beautiful woman. 12When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘She is his wife’; then they will kill me, but let you live. 13Please say, therefore, that you are my sister,#You are my sister: the text does not try to excuse Abraham’s deception, though in 20:12 a similar deception is somewhat excused. so that I may fare well on your account and my life may be spared for your sake.”#Gn 20:12–13; 26:7. 14When Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15When Pharaoh’s officials saw her they praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16Abram fared well on her account, and he acquired sheep, oxen, male and female servants, male and female donkeys, and camels.#Camels: domesticated camels did not come into common use in the ancient Near East until the end of the second millennium B.C. Thus the mention of camels here (24:11–64; 30:43; 31:17, 34; 32:8, 16; 37:25) is seemingly an anachronism.
17But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.#Ps 105:14. 18Then Pharaoh summoned Abram and said to him: “How could you do this to me! Why did you not tell me she was your wife? 19Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now, here is your wife. Take her and leave!”
20Then Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning Abram, and they sent him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.
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