Genesis 12:11

_AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN HE WAS COME NEAR TO ENTER INTO EGYPT, THAT HE SAID UNTO SARAI HIS WIFE, BEHOLD NOW, I KNOW THAT THOU ART A FAIR WOMAN TO LOOK UPON:_ When he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife. On reaching the confines of Egypt, which was the greatest primeval kingdom of the world, he began to feel uneasy. Increasing signs of civilization, grandeur, and power, met his eye on every side; and as the immigration of so numerous a tribe as his from the neighbouring desert would certainly arrest public attention, the prospect of encountering the authorities of Egypt, so different from the simple nomads of Asia, to whom his experience had hitherto been limited, filled him with awe. But all other anxieties were forgotten and absorbed in one cause of alarm. I KNOW THAT THOU ART A FAIR WOMAN. Sarai's complexion, coming from a mountainous country, would...

11._He said unto Sarai his wife_. He now relates the counsel which Abram took for the preservation of his life when he was approaching Egypt. Andy since this place is like a rock, on which many strike; it is proper that we should soberly and reverently consider how far Abram was deserving of excuse, and how he was to be blamed. First, there seems to be something of falsehood, mixed with the dissimulations which he persuades his wife to practice. And although afterwards he makes the excuse, that he had not lied nor feigned anything that was untrue: in this certainly he was greatly culpable that it was not owing to his care that his wife was not prostituted. For when he dissembles the fact, that she was his wife, he deprives her chastity of its legitimate defense. And hence certain perverse cavilers take occasion to object, (349) that the holy patriarch was a pander to his own wife; and th...

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 no...

Verse Genesis 12:11. _THOU_ ART _A FAIR WOMAN TO LOOK UPON_] Widely differing in her _complexion_ from the swarthy Egyptians, and consequently more likely to be coveted by them. It appears that Abram supposed they would not scruple to take away the life of the husband in order to have the undisturbed possession of the wife. The age of Sarai at this time is not well agreed on by commentators, some making her _ninety_, while others make her only _sixty-five_. From Genesis 17:17, we learn that Sarai was ten years younger than Abram, for she was but _ninety_ when he was _one hundred_. And from Genesis 12:4, we find that Abram was _seventy-five_ when he was called to leave...

- XXXVIII. Abram in Egypt 15. פרעה _par‛oh_, Par‘oh, “ouro.” Coptic for “king,” with the masculine article pi. or p. P-ouro, “the king.” If we separate the article p. from the Hebrew form, we have רעה _re‛oh_ for king, which may be compared with רעה _ro‛eh_, “pastor, leader,” and the Latin _rex_, king. This is the common title of the Egyptian sovereigns, to which we have the personal name occasionally added, as Pharaoh-Necho, Pharaoh-Hophrah. Genesis 12:1 This first visit of Abram to Mizraim, or Egypt, is occasioned by the famine in the land of promise. This land is watered by periodical rains. A season of drought arrests the progress of vegetation, and brings on a

EXPOSITION GENESIS 12:10 AND THERE WAS A FAMINE. רָעָב, from a root signifying to hunger, the primary. idea appearing to lie in that of an ample, _i.e._ empty, stomach (Gesenius, Furst). The term is used of individuals, men or animal (Psalms 34:11; Psalms 50:12); or of regions (Psa 41:1-13 :55). IN THE LAND. Of Canaan, which, though naturally fertile, was, on account of its imperfect cultivation, subject to visitations of dearth (cf. Genesis 26:1; Genesis 41:56), especially i

AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN HE WAS COME NEAR TO ENTER INTO EGYPT,.... Just entering into it, having travelled from the mountain between Bethel and Hai, two hundred and forty miles p; or when he "caused to come near" q, either his camp, as Aben Ezra supplies it, or his tent, or his family, as others: THAT HE SAID UNTO SARAI HIS WIFE, BEHOLD NOW, I KNOW THAT THOU ART A FAIR WOMAN TO LOOK UPON; though sixty five years of age, being ten years younger than her husband, see Genesis 17:17 who was now seventy five years old, Genesis 12:4 yet might still be a fair woman, having a good complexion and comely features, and having never bore children, and especially she would be reckoned so among the Egyptians, whose women were of a blackish, sallow, swarthy complexion. p Travels of the Hol

CHAPTER 12 THE FIRST EVENTS IN ABRAM'S LIFE _ 1. The call and the promise (Genesis 12:1)_ 2. Abram's obedience (Genesis 12:4) 3. The second communication of Jehovah (Genesis 12:7) 4. Abram in Egypt and first denial of Sarai (Genesis 12:10) We come now to a new beginning, the Abrahamic covenant. It marks the beginning of that wonderful race, the seed of Abraham, the people of Israel. Abraham's name is mentioned 74 times in the New Testament. How closely his history is interwoven into New Testament doctrine. This may be learned by consulting the following passages:...

GENESIS 12:1 TO GENESIS 25:18. THE STORY OF ABRAHAM. In this section the three main sources, J. E, P are present. Gunkel has given strong reasons for holding that J is here made up of two main sources, one connecting Abraham with Hebron, the other with Beersheba and the Negeb. The former associates Abraham with Lot. (For details, see ICC.) On the interpretation to be placed on the figures of Abraham and the patriarchs, see the Introduction. The interest, which has hitherto been diffused over the fortunes of mankind in general, is now concentrated on Abraham and his posterity, the principle of election narrowing it down to Isaac, Ishmael being left aside, and then to Jacob, Esau being excluded....

Genesis 12:10 to Genesis 13:2. Abram in Egypt. (J.) The narrative in this section should be compared with the similar ones in 20, 26. It is repellent to our sense of honour, chivalry, and purity. It is true that Abram's cowardice is reproved, and that the action of the Egyptian Pharaoh is represented in a more favourable light. On the other hand, Abram, though dismissed from the court, leaves Egypt enriched with great spoil. By a subterfuge he had hoped to save his own life at the cost of his wife's honour. His cowardly deceit is detected: and his life is not imperilled. Sarai's honour is spared; and the patriarch withdraws immensely enriched in possessions. This story, doubtless, would not have appeared so sordid to the ancient Israelite as it does to us. Perhaps the cunning, the detection, and the increase