Genesis 12:1-8

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 show 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."

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 whom 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 Shechem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.

7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram and said, "Unto thy seed will I give this land." And there built 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 Ai on the east; and there he built an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

Genesis 12:1-8 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.