Genesis 12

Genesis 12:3

3.—in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.] “In thee,” that is, in thy Seed, chap. xxii. 18. “And that Seed is Christ.” Gal. iii. 16, Acts iii. 25. Bp. Kidder. It seems plain from hence, that Abram, as our Lord observes, John viii. 56, “saw His day, and was glad;” that is, he saw, and it was made known to him, that the Messiah was to come out of his family. It is plain also that in this and the foregoing verse are two distinct covenants or blessings: the first temporal, which respects only Abram and his family; the second spiritual, which has regard to Christ and the whole world. And all future prophecies have a regard to these two covenants. Ishmael and Esau, and all the family of Abram, had a right to the blessings of the first; and all the world to the blessings of the second. The Jews indeed expect, by virtue of the last, to bear rule over the whole world; but surely this would be no great blessing to the rest of the nations of the world, whatever it might be to them. Therefore saith St. Paul, with respect to this promise, Gal. iii. 28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus,” the promised Seed, in which all the families of the earth were to be happy. The terrible judgment of God upon the wicked world by the flood was now almost forgotten, and the greatest part of the world fallen into idolatry; when God, to preserve all the well-disposed from being infected, appeared to Abram, and by him kept up and preserved the knowledge of the true God in his family and posterity. From this time a particular providence attended the people of Israel, his posterity by his sons Isaac and Jacob: correcting, trying, punishing, redeeming them out of the hands of their enemies, until the promised Seed came. Bp. Wilson. Abram journeyeth through Canaan. He feigneth his wife Before CHRIST 1921.

Genesis 12:4

4. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken &c.] In the foregoing benediction of Abram, we observe the

special privileges and advantage of the second, or Christian, covenant. In this noble pattern of his ready

obedience, we may as plainly see the obligations, which every Christian takes upon him, when he enters into this covenant of grace. Abram “departed,” and forsook all, to follow his Lord and Master: so must we. He believed, “as the Lord had spoken unto him:” so must we believe “all the articles of our Christian faith.” “He went forth to go, &c.” he actually set about and performed what he was commanded and undertook to do: so must we fulfil our solemn engagement of “keeping God’s holy will and commandments, and walking in the same all the days of our life,” never stopping, much less turning back again to those things we have renounced, till we arrive, as he did, in Canaan, the promised land, and lot of our inheritance. Wogan. Here begin the 430 years, mentioned Exod. xii. 40, 41; Gal. iii. 17. Bp. Kidder.

Genesis 12:5

5. — and the souls that they had gotten] That is, all the slaves born in their house, or bought with their money. Bp. Patrick. They were “the little ones of their household,” which formed part of the riches of the primitive patriarchal times. See Job xxi. 11; and compare Gen. xiv. 14. Dr. Hales. — the land of Canaan;] It lies between the Mediterranean sea and the mountains of Arabia, and extends from Egypt to Phenicia. It is bounded to the east by the mountains of Arabia; to the south by the wilderness of Paran, Idumea, and Egypt; to the west by the Mediterranean, called in Hebrew the Great Sea; and to the north by the mountains of Libanus. Its length from the city of Dan, since called Cesarea Philippi, which stands at the foot of these mountains, to Beer-sheba, is about 70 leagues, or 210 miles; and its breadth from the Mediterranean sea to the eastern border, in some places

Genesis 12:6

6. — unto the place of Sichem,] That is, the place where Sichem, Sechem, or Sychar, afterwards was. It was a town of Samaria, in the borders of Ephraim. Stackhouse. — unto the plain of Moreh,] Or, oak of Moreh. It was under this oak, that Jacob hid the strange gods, (chap. xxxv. 4;) and that Rebekah’s nurse was buried, (ver. 8.) It was here Joshua set up a great stone, (Joah. xxiv. 26;) and here Abimelech was made king, (Judg. ix. 6;) and here the sons of the old Prophet found the man of God, (1 Kings xiii. 14.) Bp. Wilson. — the Canaanite was then in the land.] This may relate, not to the whole country, but to the part of it where Sichem was. By the Canaanite is meant, not all the posterity of Canaan, or all the Canaanitish tribes, but only one particular tribe of them. Biblioth. Bibl. The Canaanite tribe, as distinguished from the rest; the Hivites, Perizzites, &c. Dr. Hales. See note on chap. xiii. 7.

Genesis 12:7

7. And the Lord appeared unto Abram,] Abram had entirely resigned himself to the disposal of heaven, not knowing whither he was to go. When he was come into Canaan, his faith was rewarded with a farther revelation of God’s will, and he was told that this was the land given to him and to his seed. Bp. Warburton.

Genesis 12:8

8. — unto a mountain] Mount Ephraim, which lay between Beth-el, a town not far from Jerusalem, northwards, and Hai, which is situated toward the west of Beth-el. Dr. Wells. — Beth-el,] The name of a place called Lus; and after this Beth-el, which signifies the House of God, chap. xxviii. 19. Bp. Kidder. — pitched his tent,] He did not build an house, being but a sojourner in a strange land, Heb. xi. 9. Bp. Kidder. Before CHRIST 1921. going and journeying. to be his sister. Sarai is restored to him. Before CHRIST 1921. and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.

Genesis 12:13

13. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: ] He explains in what sense she was so, chap. xx. 12. Bp. Patrick. In those early ages of the world, the rules about marrying with their kindred were not so strict, neither was there any reason that they should be. The prohibited degrees came not to be minutely laid down, till the Levitical law commenced; which has been the standard ever since to those that admit Divine Revelation. Dr. Waterland.

If this conduct of Abram was weakness and defect in faith, (as who is perfect and sinneth not?) let it teach us to fear for ourselves, to “watch and to pray, lest we also enter into temptation.” And if at any time, through frailty of the flesh, we happen to fall, let it also be an encouragement to us, that we shall not perhaps be cast away; that God is gracious, and may overlook our infirmities. But be it considered likewise, that, at this time, Abram was, as it were, in the state of natural religion: he was not yet circumcised, nor yet professedly entered into covenant with God, as we are. His fall therefore, if it was a fall, is no excuse for ours, when in any article of danger we shall happen to betray an unworthy fear, or use unlawful means for our escape. Wogan.

Genesis 12:15

15. — Pharaoh ] This name was very ancient, and continued to be the name of all the kings of Egypt till the captivity of Babylon, perhaps longer: as Ptolemy was their name after the times of Alexander; and Cesar Augustus the names of the Roman Emperours; and Candace the name of the queens of Ethiopia. Pharaoh is supposed to mean Father of the country. Bp. Patrick.

The name signified “the king,” in the Egyptian tongue. Dr. Hales.

Genesis 12:16

16. And he entreated Abram well &c. ] The valuable acquisitions, made by Abram in Egypt, were not a consideration paid by Pharaoh, for permission to espouse one that was taken for Abram’s sister; for a brother appears not to have had such a right: but they are to be understood as a gift of generosity, like that made to Laban, mentioned in Gen. xxiv. Harmer.

— sheep, and oxen. ] The word, rendered “sheep,” includes both the goat kind and the sheep kind. It denotes also a flock of either kind; as the word, rendered

“oxen,” has also an extended signification, and implies sometimes a herd of cattle. Script. illust.

Genesis 12:17

17. — his house ] Pharaoh’s courtiers partake of the punishment, because they were partners in the intended sin. Bp. Patrick.

Genesis 12:19

19. Why saidst thou, She is my sister? ] Notwithstanding the piety and worth of Abram, it must be acknowledged, that in this instance of denying his wife Sarai, he was guilty of a manifest dissimulation. This may be said in extenuation of his fault, that it proceeded from a weakness of faith, and a prevalency of fear, which are incident to the best of men. He considered himself as a stranger, among a licentious sort of people, and exposed to the power of an arbitrary government; and from a principle of worldly caution, both to preserve his own life, and his wife’s virtue, he concluded, that this would be the best expedient: but much more wisely had he done, had he committed the whole matter to God’s management, in reliance on His promises, and in confidence of His protection. “The most celebrated saints of God,” says St. Austin, “are not secure from sinning: and from their faults there is no arguing to the prejudice of the Book, in which as we find them recorded as matter of history, so we find them condemned as matter of morality. God has informed us of what passed, but not authorized it; and set the example before us, not for a pattern, but for a warning.” Slackhouse.

Chap. XIII. ver. 1. — into the south. ] Not southward; for Canaan was north of Egypt; but into the southern part of Canaan. This part of the land is called the south, Josh. x. 40; and the south country, Josh. xi. 16. Bp. Kidder.