English Standard Version
Genesis 12:6
6Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
Genesis 12:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
- New International Version (NIV)Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites.
Context of Genesis 12:6
4So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8From there he moved to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.
Read all of Genesis 12Genesis 12:6 word by word
וַיַּעֲבֹ֤ר אַבְרָם֙ בָּאָ֔רֶץ עַ֚ד מְק֣וֹם שְׁכֶ֔ם עַ֖ד אֵל֣וֹן מוֹרֶ֑ה וְהַֽכְּנַעֲנִ֖י אָ֥ז בָּאָֽרֶץ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And Abramאַבְרָם'abrâm · AbramH87
- passed throughעָבַר‛âbar · to passH5674
- the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- unto the placeמָקוֹםmâqôm mâqôm meqômâh meqômâh · placeH4725
- of Sichemשְׁכֶםshekem · ShechemH7927
- unto the plainאֵלוֹן'êlôn · terebinthH436
- of Morehמוֹרֶהmôreh môreh · MorehH4176
- And the Canaaniteכְּנַעֲנִיkena‛anîy · CanaaniteH3669
- thenאָז'âz · thenH227
Cross-references for Genesis 12:6
- Hebrews 11:9By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.
- Genesis 33:18And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city.
- Genesis 34:2And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her.
- Genesis 35:4So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem.
- Joshua 20:7So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
- Joshua 24:32As for the bones of Joseph, which the people of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried them at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. It became an inheritance of the descendants of Joseph.
- Judges 9:1Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother's relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family,
- 1 Kings 12:1Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
- John 4:5So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
- Acts 7:16and they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
- Deuteronomy 11:30Are they not beyond the Jordan, west of the road, toward the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, beside the oak of Moreh?
- Judges 7:1Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
- Genesis 10:15Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth,
- Genesis 13:7and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.
- Genesis 15:18On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,
Commentaries on Genesis 12:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6The plain of Moreh - אלון elon should be translated oak, not plain; the Septuagint translate ̔, the lofty oak; and it is likely the place was remarkable for a grove of those trees, or for one of a stupendous height and bulk. The Canaanite was then in the land - This is thought to be an interpolation, because it is supposed that these words must have been written after the Canaanites were expelled from the land by the Israelites under Joshua; but this by…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-9Verses 1-9 - The Call of Abram 6. שׁכם shekem Shekem, “the upper part of the back.” Here it is the name of a person, the owner of this place, where afterward is built the town called at first Shekem, then Flavia Neapolis, and now Nablous. אלון 'ēlôn “the oak;” related: “be lasting, strong.” מורה môreh In Onkelos “plain;” Moreh, “archer, early rain, teacher.” Here the name of a man who owned the oak that marked the spot. In the Septuagint it is rendered…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-9Verses 6-9 Abram found the country peopled by Canaanites, who were bad neighbours. He journeyed, going on still. Sometimes it is the lot of good men to be unsettled, and often to remove into various states. Believers must look on themselves as strangers and sojourners in this world, He 11:8, 13, 14. But observe how much comfort Abram had in God. When he could have little satisfaction in converse with the Canaanites whom he found there, he had abundance of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6-7the Oak of Moreh: This was probably a Canaanite shrine. Fertile groves were sacred to the Canaanites (compare Isaiah 1:29), and Moreh means "teacher." Abram proclaimed the Lord's name beside a pagan place of worship and instruction (Genesis 12:8). Abram continued to be a blessing by building an altar to worship God at Shechem and east of Bethel (12:8).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. the place of Sichem--or Shechem, a pastoral valley then unoccupied (compare Ge 33:18). plain of Moreh--rather, the "terebinth tree" of Moreh, very common in Palestine, remarkable for its wide-spreading branches and its dark green foliage. It is probable that in Moreh there was a grove of these trees, whose inviting shade led Abram to choose it for an encampment.Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 12:6
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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