Genesis 12 Commentary
Please choose a passage:
Genesis 12:1-3
God tells Abram to leave his home and country in order to move to another land. God promises blessings to Abram and that through Abram all the families of the earth will be blessed.
Genesis 12:4-7
Abram, his wife and nephew leave Haran and travel to Canaan. Abram builds an altar for the Lord in Canaan.
Genesis 12:8-10
There is a great famine in the land, so Abram goes to Egypt.
Genesis 12:11-13
In Egypt, Abram asks his wife to only say she is his sister for fear that the people will kill him and kidnap Sarai because she is a beautiful woman.
Genesis 12:14-17
Pharaoh learned of Sarai’s beauty and treated Abram well by giving him gifts and servants. But God sent plagues to Pharaoh because Sarai was Abram’s wife.
Genesis 12:18-20
Pharaoh realizes that Sarai is Abrams wife and not his sister. He tells them to leave.
Additional Resources
Genesis is a book about many beginnings. The beginnings of the world, the human race, sin and redemption, and the nation of Israel to name a few. In fact, the word Genesis from the Greek means “origin,” and in Hebrew it means “beginning.” The book of Genesis contains the events of the flood, tower of Babel, Sodom and Gomorrah, and the lives of the Patriarchs.
In the beginning, God created everything by simply speaking, “God said…and it was so” (Genesis 1:6-7, 9, 11, 14-15). This is not a scientific technical account of creation, but it shows a loving God creating a universe and mankind to rule it and fellowship with God. Man was formed especially from the ground and given the breath of life from God. The woman was made from the man’s rib (Genesis 2:7).
After man fell into sin, things began to spin out of control quickly. Cain murdered his brother Abel and the human race became so violent that God decided to destroy them all with a flood. God saved one righteous man (Noah) and his family in an ark filled with animals to deliver the human race from extinction. God chose Abraham and blessed a special group of people named “Israel.” God began to unfold a plan of salvation from a coming famine by sending Joseph to rule in Egypt. The failure of man in every circumstance is met by the salvation of God. We fail, but the good news is God saves us.
Genesis chapter 12 contains the call of Abram and the beginning of God’s covenant with him. The chapter begins as God calls Abram to leave his home country and travel to a promised land. There is a great famine in Canaan, so Abram heads to Egypt where he makes an error. To Abraham, God gives many promises, one of which is that he will have many descendants who will form a great nation.
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