0 SAB Genesis 12

Genesis

CHAPTER 12

Abraham travels to Canaan
12:1-9

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:

God said to Abraham,

Leave your country for a land that I'll show you.

I'll bless you, make your name great, and you will 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.

I will bless those that bless you, and curse those that curse you. [1]

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.

So when Abraham was 75 years old, he left Haran. [2]

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.

Abraham, Sarah, and Lot gathered all their possessions (and souls) and traveled from Haran to Canaan.

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.

When they arrived in the land of Canaan, God appeared to Abraham [3], and said:

I will give all this land to your descendants.

Abraham built an altar for God at the place he appeared to him.

9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

Then Abraham continued his journey south.
Sarah lies for Abraham (the first time)

 12:10-16,
Cf. Gen 20:2, 26:7

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. [4]

There was a famine in the land of Canaan, So Abraham and Sarah went to Egypt.

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:

As they approached Egypt, Abraham said to Sarah,

You are a beautiful woman. [5]

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.

Therefore the Egyptians will say, "This is his wife" and they'll kill me, but keep you alive.

13Say, 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.

So tell them you are my sister [6], so things will go well for me.

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.

And sure enough, when they arrived in Egypt, Pharaoh couldn't resist the "very fair", 65-year-old Sarah, and he takes her into his harem.

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.

To pay Abraham for the use of his "sister", the Pharaoh gave him sheep, oxen, male and female asses, slaves, and camels. .
God sends plagues on the Pharaoh and his household
12:17-20

17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.

God sent "great plagues" on the Pharaoh and his household because the Pharaoh believed Abraham's lie.

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?

Pharaoh called Abraham and said,

What have you done to me? Why didn't you tell me Sarah was your 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.

Why did you say, "She's my sister" so I would take her as my wife?

Now Go. Take your wife and leave.

20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

So Abraham and Sarah left, with all the stuff Pharaoh had given Abraham for the use of his "sister".
ConnorE9 months ago

Abraham leaves for Canaan, but decides not to stay there, as there's a famine going on, so instead, he and Sarah head to Egypt. When he gets there, he worries that the Egyptians may kill him and take Sarah for themselves, so he tells everyone, including the Pharaoh, that she is his sister, which is obviously not true.

Pharaoh buys it, bribes Abraham, and then gets plague'd for believing Abraham. Pharaoh kicks Abraham and Sarah out of Egypt without even thinking once to just kill them and get it over with, but I'm pretty sure things would have gotten worse if he did.

They say that lying lips are detestable to God—unless they belong to his favorite person at the time.

VegetableEMPEROR9 months ago

God has it out for the Pharaoh, as we will continue to see in future books. Abram concocts a lie, Pharaoh naturally believes it because there wouldn't have been a way to confirm or deny Abram's claim, God decides to punish Pharaoh for the sin of trusting someone's mundane statement. Note that this never makes it into the commandment ledger, ever. "Thou shalt not bear false witness" does, however. Abram breaks a future commandment and is unpunished, but Pharaoh commits a non-existing sin and receives "great plagues" as a result.

More perfect omniscience from our wondrous god thing.

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