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 .