32 | Genesis 12:4
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So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was sev en ty-five years old when he set out from Har ran. 5 He took his wife Sa rai, his neph ew Lot, all the pos ses sions they had ac cu mu lat ed and the peo ple they had ac quired in Har ran, and they set out for the land of Ca naan, and they ar rived there.
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Abram trav eled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Mo reh at She chem. At that time the Ca naan ites were in the land. 7 The Lord ap peared to Abram and said,“ To your off spring a I will give this land.” So he built an al tar there to the Lord, who had ap peared to him.
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From there he went on to ward the hills east of Beth el and pitched his tent, with Beth el on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an al tar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
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Then Abram set out and con tin ued to ward the Ne gev.
Abram in Egypt
12:10-20Ref— Ge 20:1-18; 26:1-11
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Now there was a fam ine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while be cause the fam ine was se vere. 11 As he was about to en ter Egypt, he said to his wife Sa rai,“ I know what a beau ti ful wom an you are. 12 When the Egyp tians see you, they will say,‘ This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.
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Say you are my sis ter, so that I will be treat ed well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
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When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyp tians saw that Sa rai was a very beau ti ful wom an. 15 And when Phar aoh’ s of fi cials saw her, they praised her to Phar aoh, and she was tak en into his pal ace. 16 He treat ed Abram well for her sake, and Abram ac
a
7 Or seed
12:4 Lot Lot is Abram’ s nephew( Ge 11:27). See the people diagram“ Lot’ s Family Tree” on p. 42. 12:5 land of Canaan Refers to the land along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, all the way north to modern Lebanon and Syria, and inland to the boundary of the Jordan River. 12:6 great tree of Moreh A place of sacred significance since Yahweh appears to Abram here and reveals that he has arrived in the land to which Yahweh originally sent him( Ge 12:7). Shechem This later becomes a sacred site commemorating the appearance of Yahweh to Abram, who builds an altar there( v. 7). Other notable events at Shechem include: the rape of Dinah, Jacob’ s daughter— an act avenged by her brothers Simeon and Levi( ch. 34); the burial of Jacob’ s household gods( teraphim in Hebrew; 35:4); the burial of Joseph’ s bones( Jos 24:32; compare Ac 7:16); Joshua recording matters in the Book of the Law( Jos 24:26); and Rehoboam’ s coronation and the splitting of the Israelite kingdom, after which Shechem becomes the first capital of the rival northern kingdom of Israel( 1Ki 12). Canaanites Refers generically to pre- Israelite inhabitants of the promised land. 12:7 appeared Other passages note Yahweh appearing visibly— even embodied— to Abram( Ge 18). The appearance to Abram marks the continuation of an overarching motif in both testaments— that God or an angelic figure often visibly appears to those chosen to be his representatives and specifically prophets( 20:7). your offspring The Hebrew word used here, zera’, often translated“ offspring” or“ seed,” represents an important element of Yahweh’ s promise to Abram: The land of Canaan is promised to his descendants. this land Yahweh confirms to Abram that he is standing in the promised land. he built an altar there to the Lord Abram did not use an existing altar to another deity. See the infographic“ Ancient Altars” on p. 127; see the table“ Altars in the Old Testament” on p. 249. 12:8 Bethel Bethel means“ house of God”; it would become a sacred site for Israelites( see 1Ki 12:26 – 29). 12:9 the Negev Refers to southern and southeastern Judah around Beersheba.
12:10 – 20 Abram’ s trek through southern Canaan( the Negev) results in him journeying to Egypt to avoid a severe famine. Yahweh does not instruct Abram to leave Canaan, but neither does he explicitly demand that he stay. This is different than Yahweh’ s instructions to Isaac not to leave Canaan during a famine in( Ge 26:2 – 6).
FAMINES IN GENESIS
Abram and Sarai Travel to Egypt Ge 12:10 Isaac and Family Settle in Gerar Ge 26:1 Joseph’ s Family Follows Him to Egypt Ge 41:53— 42:5
12:11 – 16 Abram fears that Sarai’ s beauty will lead the Egyptians to procure her for Pharaoh at any cost. He also believes he will be killed if the Egyptians learn of their marriage, so he has Sarai tell a half-truth about their relationship. Abram’ s fears are well-founded— the Egyptians kidnap Sarai. While Abram can be faulted for a lack of faith, given the accuracy of his suspicions, the incident can be cast as a dilemma in which Abram was forced to choose between two evils. Yahweh does not chastise Abram for the episode. Abram may have reasoned that at least both he and Sarai would live( though she would be sexually violated) if they deceived the Egyptians. The story can be read as presenting Abram with a choice between human life and human dignity.
12:13 Say you are my sister Denotes a sibling relationship, which was true in a way( see 20:12). 12:15 she was taken into his palace This indicates that Sarai becomes a member of Pharaoh’ s harem. Unlike the similar story in 20:1 – 18, this text does not explicitly indicate that Pharaoh does not have sex with Sarai( compare 20:3 – 4). 12:16 male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels Abram profits considerably from his ruse. The Pharaoh’ s gifts to Abram may have been a type of dowry in exchange for taking Sarai into his harem. The mention of camels is somewhat problematic, as domesticated camels may not have existed in Canaan during the time of the patriarchal stories. Camels are not mentioned in Egyptian texts until centuries after the patriarchal period, during the Persian period. In addition, camels are absent from the Mari texts of Mesopotamia, which provide abundant details about nomadic groups at this time. However, there is some other ambiguous, though suggestive, data that domesticated camels were in Mesopotamia during the patriarchal period.