Genesis 12

The Call of Abram

1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

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.^[a]

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.”^[b]

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.

7 The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring^[c] I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.

9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.

Abram in Egypt

10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.

11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are.

12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.

13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”

14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman.

15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace.

16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.

17 But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai.

18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?

19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.

Genesis 12 Commentary

Chapter 12

God calls Abram, and blesses him with a promise of Christ. (1-3) Abram departs from Haran. (4,5) He journeys through Canaan, and worships God in that land. (6-9) Abram is driven by a famine into Egypt, He feigns his wife to be his sister. (10-20)

Verses 1-3 God made choice of Abram, and singled him out from among his fellow-idolaters, that he might reserve a people for himself, among whom his true worship might be maintained till the coming of Christ. From henceforward Abram and his seed are almost the only subject of the history in the Bible. Abram was tried whether he loved God better than all, and whether he could willingly leave all to go with God. His kindred and his father's house were a constant temptation to him, he could not continue among them without danger of being infected by them. Those who leave their sins, and turn to God, will be unspeakable gainers by the change. The command God gave to Abram, is much the same with the gospel call, for natural affection must give way to Divine grace. Sin, and all the occasions of it, must be forsaken; particularly bad company. Here are many great and precious promises. All God's precepts are attended with promises to the obedient. 1. I will make of thee a great nation. When God took Abram from his own people, he promised to make him the head of another people. 2. I will bless thee. Obedient believers shall be sure to inherit the blessing. 3. I will make thy name great. The name of obedient believers shall certainly be made great. 4. Thou shalt be a blessing. Good men are the blessings of their country. 5. I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee. God will take care that none are losers, by any service done for his people. 6. In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Jesus Christ is the great blessing of the world, the greatest that ever the world possessed. All the true blessedness the world is now, or ever shall be possessed of, is owing to Abram and his posterity. Through them we have a Bible, a Saviour, and a gospel. They are the stock on which the Christian church is grafted.

Verses 4-5 Abram believed that the blessing of the Almighty would make up for all he could lose or leave behind, supply all his wants, and answer and exceed all his desires; and he knew that nothing but misery would follow disobedience. Such believers, being justified by faith in Christ, have peace with God. They hold on their way to Canaan. They are not discouraged by the difficulties in their way, nor drawn aside by the delights they meet with. Those who set out for heaven must persevere to the end. What we undertake, in obedience to God's command, and in humble attendance on his providence, will certainly succeed, and end with comfort at last. Canaan was not, as other lands, a mere outward possession, but a type of heaven, and in this respect the patriarchs so earnestly prized it.

Verses 6-9 Abram found the country peopled by Canaanites, who were bad neighbours. He journeyed, going on still. Sometimes it is the lot of good men to be unsettled, and often to remove into various states. Believers must look on themselves as strangers and sojourners in this world, ( hebrews 11:8 hebrews 11:13 hebrews 11:14 ) . But observe how much comfort Abram had in God. When he could have little satisfaction in converse with the Canaanites whom he found there, he had abundance of pleasure in communion with that God, who brought him thither, and did not leave him. Communion with God is kept up by the word and by prayer. God reveals himself and his favours to his people by degrees; before, he had promised to show Abram this land, now, to give it to him: as grace is growing, so is comfort. It should seem, Abram understood it also as a grant of a better land, of which this was a type; for he looked for a heavenly country, ( Hebrews 11:16 ) . As soon as Abram was got to Canaan, though he was but a stranger and sojourner there, yet he set up, and kept up, the worship of God in his family. He not only minded the ceremonial part of religion, the offering of sacrifice; but he made conscience of seeking his God, and calling on his name; that spiritual sacrifice with which God is well pleased. He preached concerning the name of the Lord; he taught his family and neighbours the knowledge of the true God, and his holy religion. The way of family worship is a good old way, no new thing, but the ancient usage of the saints. Abram was rich, and had a numerous family, was now unsettled, and in the midst of enemies; yet, wherever he pitched his tent, he built an altar: wherever we go, let us not fail to take our religion along with us.

Verses 10-20 There is no state on earth free from trials, nor any character free from blemishes. There was famine in Canaan, the glory of all lands, and unbelief, with the evils it ever brings, in Abram the father of the faithful. Perfect happiness and perfect purity dwell only in heaven. Abram, when he must for a time quit Canaan, goes to Egypt, that he might not seem to look back, and meaning to tarry there no longer than needful. There Abram dissembled his relation to Sarai, equivocated, and taught his wife and his attendants to do so too. He concealed a truth, so as in effect to deny it, and exposed thereby both his wife and the Egyptians to sin. The grace Abram was most noted for, was faith; yet he thus fell through unbelief and distrust of the Divine providence, even after God had appeared to him twice. Alas, what will become of weak faith, when strong faith is thus shaken! If God did not deliver us, many a time, out of straits and distresses which we bring ourselves into, by our own sin and folly, we should be ruined. He deals not with us according to our deserts. Those are happy chastisements that hinder us in a sinful way, and bring us to our duty, particularly to the duty of restoring what we have wrongfully taken or kept. Pharaoh's reproof of Abram was very just: What is this that thou hast done? How unbecoming a wise and good man! If those who profess religion, do that which is unfair and deceptive, especially if they say that which borders upon a lie, they must expect to hear of it; and they have reason to thank those who will tell them of it. The sending away was kind. Pharaoh was so far from any design to kill Abram, as he feared, that he took particular care of him. We often perplex ourselves with fears which are altogether groundless. Many a time we fear where no fear is. Pharaoh charged his men not to hurt Abram in any thing. It is not enough for those in authority, that they do not hurt themselves; they must keep their servants and those about them from doing hurt.

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 20:13; Genesis 24:4,27,40
• 2. S Genesis 10:19
• 3. Genesis 15:7; Genesis 26:2; Joshua 24:3; Acts 7:3*; Hebrews 11:8
• 4. 1 Chronicles 27:23;1 Kings 3:8;1 Kings 4:20;2 Chronicles 1:9;2 Samuel 17:11;Isaiah 10:22;Deuteronomy 13:17;Deuteronomy 1:10;Deuteronomy 26:5;Exodus 1:7;Exodus 32:13;Exodus 5:5;Exodus 5:5;Genesis 13:16;Genesis 17:2,4;Genesis 18:18;Genesis 22:17;Genesis 26:4;Genesis 28:3,14;Genesis 32:12;Genesis 35:11;Genesis 41:49;Genesis 46:3;Genesis 47:27;Genesis 48:4,16,19;Isaiah 10:22;Isaiah 48:19;Isaiah 51:2;Isaiah 54:3;Isaiah 60:22;Isaiah 6:13;Jeremiah 33:22;Joshua 11:4;Joshua 24:3;Micah 4:7;Nehemiah 9:23;Psalms 107:38
• 5. Genesis 24:1,35; Genesis 25:11; Genesis 26:3; Genesis 28:4; Exodus 20:24; Numbers 22:12; Numbers 23:8,20; Numbers 24:9; Psalms 67:6; Psalms 115:12; Isaiah 44:3; Isaiah 61:9; Isaiah 65:23; Malachi 3:12
• 6. Genesis 22:18; Isaiah 19:24; Jeremiah 4:2; Haggai 2:19; Zechariah 8:13
• 7. Genesis 27:29; Exodus 23:22; Numbers 24:9; Deuteronomy 30:7
• 8. Genesis 15:5; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 22:18; Genesis 26:4; Genesis 28:4,14; Deuteronomy 9:5; Psalms 72:17; Isaiah 19:25; Acts 3:25; Galatians 3:8*
• 9. S Genesis 11:27
• 10. Genesis 16:3,16; Genesis 17:1,17,24; Genesis 21:5
• 11. S Genesis 11:31
• 12. S Genesis 11:29
• 13. ver 16; Genesis 13:2,6; Genesis 31:18; Genesis 46:6
• 14. Genesis 14:14; Genesis 15:3; Genesis 17:23; Ecclesiastes 2:7
• 15. Genesis 11:31; Genesis 16:3; Hebrews 11:8
• 16. Hebrews 11:9
• 17. Genesis 35:4; Deuteronomy 11:30; Joshua 24:26; Judges 7:1; Judges 9:6
• 18. Genesis 33:18; Genesis 37:12; Joshua 17:7; Joshua 20:7; Joshua 24:1; Judges 8:31; Judges 21:19; 1 Kings 12:1; Psalms 60:6; Psalms 108:7
• 19. S Genesis 10:18
• 20. Genesis 17:1; Genesis 18:1; Genesis 26:2; Genesis 35:1; Exodus 6:3; Acts 7:2
• 21. Exodus 3:8; Numbers 10:29; Deuteronomy 30:5; Hebrews 11:8
• 22. Genesis 13:15,17; Genesis 15:18; Genesis 17:8; Genesis 23:18; Genesis 24:7; Genesis 26:3-4; Genesis 28:13; Genesis 35:12; Genesis 48:4; Genesis 50:24; Exodus 6:4,8; Exodus 13:5,11; Exodus 32:13; Exodus 33:1; Numbers 11:12; Deuteronomy 1:8; Deuteronomy 2:31; Deuteronomy 9:5; Deuteronomy 11:9; Deuteronomy 34:4; 2 Kings 25:21; 1 Chronicles 16:16; 2 Chronicles 20:7; Psalms 105:9-11; Jeremiah 25:5; Ezekiel 47:14; Acts 7:5; Romans 4:13; Galatians 3:16*
• 23. S Genesis 8:20; Genesis 13:4
• 24. Genesis 13:3; Genesis 28:11,19; Genesis 35:1,8,15; Joshua 7:2; Joshua 8:9; 1 Samuel 7:16; 1 Kings 12:29; Hosea 12:4; Amos 3:14; Amos 4:4
• 25. Genesis 26:25; Genesis 33:19; Hebrews 11:9
• 26. Joshua 7:2; Joshua 12:9; Ezra 2:28; Nehemiah 7:32; Jeremiah 49:3
• 27. S Genesis 4:26; S Genesis 8:20
• 28. Genesis 13:1,3; Genesis 20:1; Genesis 24:62; Numbers 13:17; Numbers 33:40; Deuteronomy 34:3; Joshua 10:40
• 29. Genesis 41:27,57; Genesis 42:5; Genesis 43:1; Genesis 47:4,13; Ruth 1:1; 2 Samuel 21:1; 2 Kings 8:1; Psalms 105:19
• 30. Ge 41:30,54,56; Genesis 47:20; Psalms 105:16
• 31. S Genesis 11:29
• 32. ver 14; Genesis 24:16; Genesis 26:7; Genesis 29:17; Genesis 39:6
• 33. Genesis 20:2; Genesis 26:7
• 34. S ver 11
• 35. S ver 5; Genesis 24:35; Genesis 26:14; Genesis 30:43; Genesis 32:5; Genesis 34:23; Genesis 47:17; Job 1:3; Job 31:25
• 36. 2 Kings 15:5; Job 30:11; Isaiah 53:4,10
• 37. 1 Chronicles 16:21; Psalms 105:14
• 38. Genesis 20:9; Genesis 26:10; Genesis 29:25; Genesis 31:26; Genesis 44:15
• 39. Isaiah 43:27; Isaiah 51:2; Ezekiel 16:3
• 40. Genesis 20:5; Genesis 26:9

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "be seen as blessed"
• [b]. Or "earth" / "will use your name in blessings" (see 48:20)
• [c]. Or "seed"

Chapter Summary

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.