Genesis 12:15

_THE PRINCES ALSO OF PHARAOH SAW HER, AND COMMENDED HER BEFORE PHARAOH: AND THE WOMAN WAS TAKEN INTO PHARAOH'S HOUSE._ The Egyptians beheld the woman, that she was very fair ... and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. The fears of Abram were well founded. What he apprehended did take place; but in a way which he was entirely unprepared for. The monuments show that women appeared unveiled in ancient Egypt, and enjoyed generally as great an amount of freedom as that gender does in European countries; also that the ancient courtiers exhibited a spirit of abject servility, and were much given to flattery and adulation-of which we have a fair specimen in those 'princes of Pharaoh,' who were ready to pander to the tastes and passions of their royal master by carrying high-coloured reports of Sarai's charms to the palace. Although it was customary for Egyptians to have only one wife, the...

15._And commended her before Pharaoh _(351) Although Abram had sinned by fearing too much and too soon, yet the event teaches, that he had not feared without cause: for his wife was taken from him and brought to the king. At first Moses speaks generally of the Egyptians, afterwards he mentions the courtiers; by which course he intimates, that the rumor of Sara’s beauty was everywhere spread abroad; but that it was more eagerly received by the courtiers who indulge themselves in greater license. Whereas he adds, that they told the king; we hence infer, how ancient is that corruption which now prevails immeasurably in the courts of kings. For as all things there are full of blandishments and flatteries, so the nobles principally apply their minds to introduce, from time to time, what may be gratifying to royalty. Therefore we see, that whosoever among them desires to rise high in favor, is...

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 12:15. _THE WOMAN WAS TAKEN INTO PHARAOH'S HOUSE._] _Pharaoh_ appears to have been the common appellative of the Cuthite shepherd kings of Egypt, who had conquered this land, as is conjectured, about seventy-two years before this time. The word is supposed to signify _king_ in the ancient Egyptian language. If the meaning be sought in the Hebrew, the root פרע _para_ signifies to be _free_ or _disengaged_, a name which such _freebooters_ as the Cuthite shepherds might naturally assume. All the kings of Egypt bore this name till the commencement of the Grecian monarchy, after which they were called _Ptolemies_. When a woman was brought into the seragilo or harem of the eastern princes, she underwent for a considerable time certain purifications before she was brought into the king's presence. It was in this interim

- 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

THE PRINCES ALSO OF PHARAOH SAW HER, AND COMMENDED HER BEFORE PHARAOH,.... The king of Egypt; so it seems by this, that Abram and Sarai were at the place where the court was kept, which the Arabic writers t say was Mesr (or Memphis), the capital of the kingdom. And these princes were the king's courtiers, who taking notice of Sarai, and admiring her beauty, praised her for it to the king, and recommended her to be taken into the number of his wives or concubines, they understanding that she was a single woman and the sister of Abram: and this they did to gratify their king, and gain his favour: AND THE WOMAN WAS TAKEN INTO PHARAOH'S HOUSE; or palace, as the Jerusalem Targum; his royal palace, as the Targum of Jonathan; very probably into that part of his palace where his women were kept, or to some apartment where she might be purified and prepared for him; and this requiring time, was...

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....

PHARAOH. the official title of all kings of Egypt, like Kaiser, Czar, &c....