Genesis 12:9

_AND ABRAM JOURNEYED, GOING ON STILL TOWARD THE SOUTH._ Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south - х_ NEGEB_ (H5045), the south, was the name given to that large undulating tract of country which separated Central Canaan from Egypt]. Abram doubtless went along the ordinary caravan road which runs through that district. The first journey through Canann was one of exploration, and it seems to have been rapidly performed....

9._And Abram journeyed_. This was the third removal of the holy man within a short period, after he seemed to have found some kind of abode. It is certain that he did not voluntarily, and for his own gratification, run hither and thither, (as light-minded persons are wont to do:) but there were certain necessities which drove him forth, in order to teach him, by continual habit, that he was not only a stranger, but a wretched wanderer in the land of which he was the lord. Yet no common fruit was the result of so many changes; because he endeavored, as much as in him lay, to dedicate to God, every part of the land to which he had access, and perfumed it with the odour of his faith....

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, no...

- The Call of Abram 6. שׁכם _shekem_ Shekem, “the upper part of the back.” Here it is the name of a person, the owner of this place, where afterward is built the town called at first Shekem, then Flavia Neapolis, and now Nablous. אלון _'ēlôn_ “the oak;” related: “be lasting, strong.” מורה _môreh_ In Onkelos “plain;” Moreh, “archer, early rain, teacher.” Here the name of a man who owned the oak that marked the spot. In the Septuagint it is rendered ὑψηγήν _hupseegeen_. 8. בית־אל _bēyt_-_'êl_, Bethel, “house of God.” ים _yam_ “sea, great river, west.”...

EXPOSITION GENESIS 12:6 AND ABRAM PASSED THROUGH—literally, _passed over, _or traveled about as a pilgrim (cf. Hebrews 11:9) in—THE LAND UNTO (or as far as) THE PLACE OF SICHEM. A prolepsis for the place where the city Shechem (either built by or named after the Hivite prince, Genesis 34:2) was afterwards situated, viz; between Ebal and Gerizim, in the middle of the land; "the most beautiful, perhaps the only very beautiful, spot in Central Palestine" (Stanley's 'Sinai and Palestine,' 5:234). The modern name of Sichem is Nablus, a corruption of Neapolis. UNTO THE PLAIN. אֵלוֹן, from אוּל or אִיל, to

AND ABRAM JOURNEYED,.... He did not stay long in the mountain between Bethel and Hai, but moved from thence, and kept on journeying in the land of Canaan: GOING ON STILL TOWARD THE SOUTH; the southern part of the land of Canaan, which lay nearest Egypt, into which he is said to go next, the occasion of which follows....

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:...

THE CALL OF ABRAHAM, HIS MIGRATION TO CANAAN, AND YAHWEH'S PROMISE TO HIM. From J, except Genesis 12:4_ b_, Genesis 12:5, which is clearly from P. Abraham is called to leave country, kindred, and home for an unnamed land. His faith is thus challenged at the outset (Hebrews 11:8); at the call of God, without question or demur, he abandons the tangible certainties of the present for a vague destination, and the hazards of travel and settlement in a new land. But he goes in confidence, staking his all on the faithfulness of God's promise, that He would make of him a mighty nation, the incarnation of blessedness, to such a degree that all nations would bless themselves by him, that is, use his name in the invocation of blessin

AND ABRAM JOURNEYED, GOING STILL TOWARD THE SOUTH. He journeyed by repeated encampments, as the necessities of pasturage required, partly, we fancy, to survey the land which he saw by faith occupied by. great nation of his descendants. PRACTICAL AND SUGGESTIVE. Prompt, unquestioning, unconditional obedience to God is the fruit of faith. No man who dallies with the word of the Lord, puts off obedience, or seeks to modify his ordinances, can claim to be. believer. Faith justifies, but the faith that justifies is. faith that moves to action. The faith of Abraham, which secured the divine favor, was strong enough to carry him from Ur of the Chaldees to Canaan. The man of faith, at God's command, will go forth where God tells him, even not knowing where his steps will lead. Thus did Abraham. Thus did Paul and all the ancient saints. Thus did Luther. Thus does every one who surrenders hims...

SOUTH. Hebrew the _Negeb_ or hill country S. of Judah (Compare Genesis 13:1; Genesis 13:3). The Egyptian texts mention the Negeb. Towns taken by Shishak are mentioned as being there, e.g. Jerahmeel, Gerar, Kadesh, and Gaza....