Genesis 12:4

4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.

Genesis 12:4 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
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.
English Standard Version (ESV)
4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
New Living Translation (NLT)
4 So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
The Message Bible (MSG)
4 So Abram left just as God said, and Lot left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
American Standard Version (ASV)
4 So Abram went, as Jehovah had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
4 So Abram left, just as the LORD had told him. Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.

Genesis 12:4 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 12:4

So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him
Or, "when the Lord had spoken to him", as Cocceius renders the words; when he had called him a second time, even when in Haran, immediately after the death of his father Terah; as soon as ever the words were spoken to him before recorded, he immediately prepared and got all things ready for his journey, and departed from Haran, as he had done before from Ur of the Chaldees:

and Lot went with him;
of his own accord, and he only, besides his wife Sarai and his servants, for Terah was dead, and Nahor and his family stayed behind.

And Abram was seventy five years old when he departed out of Haran;
by which it appears, as has been observed, that he was not Terah's eldest son, born when he was seventy years of age, ( Genesis 11:26 ) for then he must have been at this time, one hundred and thirty five years old, since his father, who was just now dead, lived to be two hundred and five years old, ( Genesis 11:32 ) so that Abram must be born in the one hundred and thirtieth year of Terah: how many years before this time he was converted from idolatry cannot be said with any certainty; various are the accounts given by the Jewish writers; some say that at three years of age he knew his Creator; others at eight; others thirteen; others more probably when forty; others fifty one; others fifty two; and others say he was sixty years old when he began publicly to assert the unity of God in heaven F26: however, all agree it was before the age here mentioned, as it may well be concluded.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 Vid. Pirke Eliezer, c. 26. Maimon. Hilchot obede cocabim, c. 1. sect. 3. & Comment. in ib. Juchasin, fol. 9. 2. Shalshelet, fol. 2. 2.

Genesis 12:4 In-Context

2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.
5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.

Cross References 3

  • 1. S Genesis 11:27
  • 2. Genesis 16:3,16; Genesis 17:1,17,24; Genesis 21:5
  • 3. S Genesis 11:31
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