Genesis 12:1

CHAPTER XII

God calls Abram to leave Haran and go into Canaan, 1;

promises to bless him, and through him all the families of

the earth, 2, 3.

Abram, Sarai, Lot, and all their household, depart from Canaan, 4, 5;

pass through Sichem, 6.

God appears to him, and renews the promise, 7.

His journey described, 8, 9.

On account of a famine in the land he is obliged to go into Egypt, 10.

Fearing lest, on account of the beauty of his wife, the Egyptians

should kill him, he desires her not to acknowledge that she is his

wife, but only his sister, 11-13.

Sarai, because of her beauty, is taken into the palace of Pharaoh,

king of Egypt, who is very liberal to Abram on her account, 14-16.

God afflicts Pharaoh and his household with grievous plagues on

account of Sarai, 17.

Pharaoh, on finding that Sarai was Abram's wife, restores her

honourably, and dismisses the patriarch with his family and their

property, 18-20.

NOTES ON CHAP. XII

Verse Genesis 12:1. Get thee out of thy country] There is great dissension between commentators concerning the call of Abram; some supposing he had two distinct calls, others that he had but one. At the conclusion of the preceding chapter, Genesis 11:31, we find Terah and all his family leaving Ur of the Chaldees, in order to go to Canaan. This was, no doubt, in consequence of some Divine admonition. While resting at Haran, on their road to Canaan, Terah died, Genesis 11:32; and then God repeats his call to Abram, and orders him to proceed to Canaan, Genesis 12:1.

Dr. Hales, in his Chronology, contends for two calls: "The first," says he, "is omitted in the Old Testament, but is particularly recorded in the New, Acts 7:2: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was (at Ur of the Chaldees) in Mesopotamia, BEFORE HE DWELT IN CHARRAN; and said unto him, Depart from thy land, and from thy kindred, and come into the land (γην, a land) which I will show thee. Hence it is evident that God had called Abram before he came to Haran or Charran." The SECOND CALL is recorded only in this chapter: "The Lord said (not HAD said) unto Abram, Depart from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto THE LAND, הארץ HA-arets, (Septuagint, Την γην), which I will show thee." "The difference of the two calls," says Dr. Hales, "more carefully translated from the originals, is obvious: in the former the land is indefinite, which was designed only for a temporary residence; in the latter it is definite, intimating his abode. A third condition is also annexed to the latter, that Abram shall now separate himself from his father's house, or leave his brother Nahor's family behind at Charran. This call Abram obeyed, still not knowing whither he was going, but trusting implicitly to the Divine guidance."

Thy kindred] Nahor and the different branches of the family of Terah, Abram and Lot excepted. That Nahor went with Terah and Abram as far as Padan-Aram, in Mesopotamia, and settled there, so that it was afterwards called Nahor's city, is sufficiently evident from the ensuing history, see Genesis 25:20; Genesis 24:10; Genesis 24:15; and that the same land was Haran, see Genesis 28:2; Genesis 28:10, and there were Abram's kindred and country here spoken of, Genesis 24:4.

Thy father's house] Terah being now dead, it is very probable that the family were determined to go no farther, but to settle at Charran; and as Abram might have felt inclined to stop with them in this place, hence the ground and necessity of the second call recorded here, and which is introduced in a very remarkable manner; לך לך lech lecha, GO FOR THYSELF. If none of the family will accompany thee, yet go for thyself unto THAT LAND which I will show thee. God does not tell him what land it is, that he may still cause him to walk by faith and not by sight. This seems to be particularly alluded to by Isaiah, Isaiah 41:2: Who raised up the righteous man (Abram) from the east, and called him to his foot; that is, to follow implicitly the Divine direction. The apostle assures us that in all this Abram had spiritual views; he looked for a better country, and considered the land of promise only as typical of the heavenly inheritance.