Genesis 12:3-13

3 And 1I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. 2And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
4 So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and 3Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
5 Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew *, and all their 4possessions which they had accumulated, and 5the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set * out for the land of Canaan; 6thus they came to the land of Canaan.
6 Abram passed through the land as far as the site of 7Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land.
7 The LORD 8appeared to Abram and said, "9To your descendants I will give this land." So he built 10an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.
8 Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with 11Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and 12called upon the name of the LORD.
9 Abram journeyed on, continuing * toward 13the Negev.
10 Now there was 14a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was 15severe in the land.
11 It came about when he came * near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "See now, I know that you are a 16beautiful woman;
12 17and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife '; and they will kill me, but they will let you live.
13 "Please say that you are 18my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that 19I may live on account of you."

Genesis 12:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 12

In this chapter an account is given of the call of Abram to depart from his own country, with a promise of a divine blessing, Ge 12:1-3 of his obedience to it, Ge 12:4,5 of his journey through the land of Canaan, and of the Lord's appearance to him in it, and his promise of it to his seed, and of Abram's building altars in it, and calling on the name of the Lord, Ge 12:6-9 and of a famine there, which occasioned him to go into Egypt, Ge 12:10 where, through fear of being slain, he desired his wife to call herself his sister, Ge 12:11-13 and she being greatly admired by the Egyptians for her beauty, it went well with Abram for her sake, Ge 12:14-16 but the Egyptians were plagued because of her, who, when they understood she was Abram's wife, sent them both away, and all that belonged to them, Ge 12:17-20.

Cross References 19

  • 1. Genesis 24:35; Genesis 27:29; Numbers 24:9
  • 2. Genesis 22:18; Genesis 26:4; Genesis 28:14; Acts 3:25; Galatians 3:8
  • 3. Genesis 11:27, 31
  • 4. Genesis 13:6
  • 5. Genesis 14:14; Leviticus 22:11
  • 6. Genesis 11:31; Hebrews 11:8
  • 7. Genesis 35:4; Deuteronomy 11:30
  • 8. Genesis 17:1; Genesis 18:1
  • 9. Genesis 13:15; Genesis 15:18; Deuteronomy 34:4; Ps 105: 9-12; Acts 7:5; Galatians 3:16
  • 10. Genesis 13:4, 18; Genesis 22:9
  • 11. Joshua 8:9, 12
  • 12. Genesis 4:26; Genesis 21:33
  • 13. Genesis 13:1, 3; Genesis 20:1; Genesis 24:62
  • 14. Genesis 26:1
  • 15. Genesis 43:1
  • 16. Genesis 26:7; Genesis 29:17
  • 17. Genesis 20:11
  • 18. Gen 20:2, 5, 12; Genesis 26:7
  • 19. Jeremiah 38:17, 20

Footnotes 10

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