English · KJV

Genesis 12

Listen to this chapter
0:00 0:00

The Call of Abram and the Covenant Promises 1–3

1
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: ​
2
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: ​
3
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. ​

Abram Journeys to Canaan 4–9

4
So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. ​
5
And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
6
And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. ​
7
And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. ​
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. ​
9
And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

Abram Deceives Pharaoh in Egypt 10–20

10
And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. ​
11
And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
12
Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
13
Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee. ​
14
And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
15
The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
16
And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.
17
And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife. ​
18
And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? ​
19
Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
20
And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Genesis 12

Verse 1

Get thee out — Yalak, to walk or go, the verb that returns as ‘departed’ in v.4 and again in ‘get thee into the land of Moriah’ (Gen 22:2). The call narrows from country to kindred to father’s house, ending at ‘a land that I will shew thee’. Stephen dates it to Mesopotamia, before Charran (Acts 7:2–3); Abraham obeyed ‘not knowing whither he went’ (Heb 11:8).

Verse 2

make thy name great — Three promises, each its own verb: ‘make’ a great nation (goy), ‘bless’, and make the name great (gadal). At Babel men said ‘let us make us a name’ (Gen 11:4); here the name is given. David is told in 2 Sam 7:9, ‘have made thee a great name’, though the Hebrew verbs differ.

Verse 3

curse him that curseth thee — Two Hebrew words: God will ‘curse’ (arar) the one who ‘curseth’ (qalal, to treat lightly) Abram. The root of ‘bless’ sounds five times in vv.2–3. Paul says the Scripture ‘preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed’ (Gal 3:8).

Verse 4

seventy and five years old — The verb of obedience, yalak (‘departed’), is the verb of the command in v.1: he did what he was told. Lot, the son of Abram’s brother Haran (Gen 11:27), goes with him; Stephen places the move into this land after Terah’s death (Acts 7:4).

Verse 6

the Canaanite was then in the land — Elon, rendered ‘plain’, is a great tree such as an oak; ‘the plains of Moreh’ are named again in Deut 11:30. The land is occupied when the promise comes in v.7. The Canaanites are among the peoples whose land is named in the covenant of Gen 15:18–21.

Verse 7

Unto thy seed will I give this land — This is the first time the land is promised, and the promise is to the ‘seed’ (zera), which Paul reads as singular: ‘And to thy seed, which is Christ’ (Gal 3:16). ‘Appeared’ is the verb ra’ah, used twice; the altar he builds is the first of the altars recorded in the land (cf. 13:18).

Verse 8

called upon the name of the LORD — The phrase first appears when ‘then began men to call upon the name of the LORD’ in Seth’s line (Gen 4:26). Abram later comes back ‘unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first’ between Bethel and Hai (Gen 13:3–4).

Verse 10

went down into Egypt — ‘Went down’ (yarad) is the verb used of going into Egypt; v.9 has him journeying ‘toward the south’. He goes ‘to sojourn’ (gur), not to settle, with no word from the LORD recorded. When famine came on Isaac the LORD spoke: ‘Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of’ (Gen 26:2).

Verse 13

thou art my sister — Sarai was in fact his father’s daughter (Gen 20:12), so the words were half true. The same words are spoken again to Abimelech (Gen 20:2) and by Isaac of Rebekah (Gen 26:7). ‘My soul’ is nephesh, his life; v.12 gives the fear that ‘they will kill me, but they will save thee alive’.

Verse 17

plagued Pharaoh — Naga’, to strike, with its noun nega’, ‘plagues’. The stroke falls ‘because of Sarai Abram’s wife’. The psalmist recalls such protection of the patriarchs: ‘he reproved kings for their sakes’ (Ps 105:14), and ‘Touch not mine anointed’ (Ps 105:15).

Verse 18

What is this that thou hast done unto me? — The question God put to Eve, ‘What is this that thou hast done?’ (Gen 3:13), is now put to Abram by Pharaoh. Abimelech later reproves Abraham and Isaac in the same way for the same device (Gen 20:9; 26:9–10).

Verse 20

sent him away — Shalach, to send off. Pharaoh’s men escort Abram out with his wife ‘and all that he had’. He goes up out of Egypt ‘very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold’ (Gen 13:1–2). The psalmist’s ‘Touch not mine anointed’ (Ps 105:15) recalls this kind of protection of the patriarchs.