_GOD COMMANDETH ABRAM TO DEPART FROM HIS COUNTRY; PROMISING HIM THAT A GREAT NATION SHALL SPRING FROM HIM, AND THAT ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED IN HIM. HE IS DRIVEN, BY A FAMINE, INTO AEGYPT; WHERE SARAI IS TAKEN FROM HIM, BUT QUICKLY RESTORED._... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THE LORD HAD SAID UNTO ABRAM, &C.— It is observable how Moses hastens over other events, to introduce the principal subject of his history; he comprises the history of the world, from the creation to the deluge, in six Chapter s, though that was a period of one thousand six hundred and fifty yea... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL MAKE OF THEE A GREAT NATION, &C.— In these two verses the twofold covenant, or promise, is comprised. See note on ch. Genesis 9:9. 1st, The temporal one, in which God promises to make of Abram a great nation, "to multiply his posterity, and to render them famous; and by that means to _make hi... [ Continue Reading ]
SO ABRAM DEPARTED— The Lord HAD commanded Abram, Genesis 12:1 to leave his country; in consequence of which, with Terah his father, he came forward 120 miles from Ur to Haran (ch. Genesis 11:31.) on his journey: but being delayed there by Terah's death and other particulars, he now prosecutes his pu... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTO THE PLACE OF SICHEM— That is, to the place where Sichem, or Sychem, afterwards was: a frequent mode of expression in the writings of Moses. From this place Abram passed _unto the plain of Moreh;_ which Mr. Mede, says Mr. Locke, following the LXX, will have to be _the oak of Moreh,_ understandin... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD APPEARED, &C.— Now that he was arrived in the promised land, the Lord graciously vouchsafed to appear to him again, and renew his covenant. "Abram," says Bishop Warburton, "at his first leaving his father's house, entirely resigned himself to the disposal of heaven, not knowing, for cer... [ Continue Reading ]
REMOVED FROM THENCE UNTO A MOUNTAIN, &C.— Either for better security from the inhabitants, or with a design of seeing more of the country. Here Abram _built an altar_ (as it was usual on mountains); for, being fit places for contemplation, and, perhaps, by their height seeming to point the mind towa... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ABRAM JOURNEYED, &C.— Without any fixed abode, this favoured patriarch removed his tents from place to place, Hebrews 11:9 as he found it most convenient, in primitive and happy simplicity; still directing his course towards the south: and provisions failing in the land of Canaan, he _went down... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE WAS A FAMINE, &C.— It was a discouraging providence, to be in the land of promise, and so soon to be driven out of it by famine. It required strong faith to weather these trials. Severe temptations are usually the portion of the believer; and they are permitted, _that the trial of his fait... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SAID UNTO SARAI HIS WIFE, &C.— "Sarai," says Mr. Locke, "was then sixty-five, as Abram was seventy-five, she being ten years younger than he."—"And though at this age," Mr. Le Clerc observes, "the beauty of women is seldom very tempting; yet as in these ages they were longer-lived, so was their b... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY WILL KILL ME, &C.— Abram, it is plain, had a very bad opinion of the AEgyptians, for which most probably he had good grounds: he knew them to be libidinous to an extreme degree, and consequently ready to commit the most atrocious crimes, in order to gratify their lust. And, from Genesis 12:15 i... [ Continue Reading ]
SAY, I PRAY THEE, THOU ART MY SISTER, &C.— See the notes on ch. 20: where this conduct of Abram is distinctly considered.... [ Continue Reading ]
PHARAOH— Was a common name of the AEgyptian kings; and was a title of dignity, like that of Caesar assumed by the Roman emperors, and Ptolemy afterwards among the AEgyptians. Authors disagree about the meaning of it: Josephus says, it signifies the same as _king;_ and Ludolphus says, it imports as m... [ Continue Reading ]
HE ENTREATED ABRAM WELL, &C.— Supposing Abram to be Sarai's brother, great respect was for her sake paid to him, and great presents were made him.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD PLAGUED PHARAOH, &C.— In ch. 20: Genesis 12:18 it is said, that _the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs in Abimelech's house, because of Sarah:_ whence it is very probable, that the plague and punishment here inflicted upon Pharaoh's house was of the same kind, as the occasion was the sa... [ Continue Reading ]
PHARAOH COMMANDED HIS MEN, &C.— Pharaoh, struck with the divine punishment and admonition, (for men had not yet shaken off all degree of regard to a Supreme Being,) restored his wife to Abram, and dismissed the patriarch with an honourable and safe conduct. The AEgyptian kingdom, it is computed, had... [ Continue Reading ]