Tyndale Open Study NotesGenesis 12

These verses are structured around two commands to Abram: Leave and be a blessing (see study note on 12:2). Each command is followed by three promises conditioned upon obedience.

• Through Abram's faith and family, God started to restore the blessing. God called Abram from a pagan world to start a new nation. His promises to Abram later became a covenant (chapter 15).

• God's calling of Abram later helped convince the Israelites to leave Egypt and go to the land God promised to Abram. It also reminded the Babylonian exiles of their need to return to their own land (for example, Isaiah 51).

Abram knew that he should leave, but he did not know where he was going. Obedience required faith.

• make your name great: Abram gained the fame that the builders of the tower of Babel wanted for themselves (see 11:4 and study note).

• so that you will be a blessing: This statement is a command and a promise in Hebrew. It depends on Abram obeying God's command (12:1–3): “Go … so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.”

• Because Abram obeyed the command to be a blessing (12:2), God gave him three more promises.

• those who curse you: People who ignored Abram and his covenant were rejecting God's choice and plan.

• all the families on earth will be blessed: By faith, they could join the covenant God was making with Abram. The blessing spread worldwide through Abraham, Israel, the covenants, the prophets, Scripture, and the Messiah (Galatians 3:8, 16; compare Romans 9:4–5).

Abram obeyed God's calling and followed his commands (see study note on 12:1–3). He traveled to Canaan (12:4–6) and became a blessing (12:5–9).

Abram was middle-aged, settled, wealthy, and of high social status. He worshiped many gods (see study note on 11:27–32). When the Lord spoke to him (12:1–3), he obediently left his old ways in Ur to follow God's plan. Because Abram responded in faith, God could confirm his promises (12:2–3) in a binding covenant (15:8–21).

The people (Hebrew hannepesh, meaning "the lives") he brought into his household were probably converts. Abram first became a blessing by influencing his household to follow the Lord.

• the 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).

• the LORD appeared to Abram at Shechem (12:6) to confirm that this was the promised land. Israel was meant to live in this land, but they needed faith to share in God's promises (compare Numbers 14; Joshua 1:6–9).

• to your offspring: Abram did not own the land yet. He lived there as a temporary settler.

Abram had to keep moving camp because the Canaanites had the fertile land.

he called on the name of the LORD: Calling on the name (identity and character) of the Lord is central to worship and witness (compare 4:26; see Exodus 34:5–7). Abram needed to distinguish his sacrificial worship from that of the pagan Canaanites.

• Abram's scheme came from fear, putting his family and God's promises at risk. He lacked faith when he went to Egypt. He stopped building altars, and deception became the main pattern of his behavior. Deception would trouble his family throughout Genesis (26:1–11; 27:1–29; 29:15–30; 30:34–36; 31:6–11; 37:18–35; 39:7–20).

• Abram's plan probably followed a custom where a brother arranged his sister's marriage (compare 24:29–61). Abram may have thought that any possible suitor would have to deal with him, giving him time to leave with Sarai. He did not expect Pharaoh to act without negotiation (12:14–16).

• This story shows that God would allow Abram to put his promises at risk in this episode. Soon after Abram obeyed God’s call, a famine tested his weak faith. God rescued Abram and his family, even though Abram acted foolishly. In Egypt, he used deception instead of trusting God to protect him.

• This story intentionally mirrors Israel's later slavery in Egypt:

  • Because of a famine (compare Genesis 12:10 with Genesis 47:13), Abram and Israel went to Egypt (compare Genesis 12:10 with Genesis 47:27).

  • There was an attempt to kill the males and save the females (compare Genesis 12:12 with Exodus 1:22).

  • God sent plagues to Egypt (compare Genesis 12:17 with Exodus 7:14–11:10).

  • Abram and Israel took riches from Egypt (compare Genesis 12:16 with Exodus 12:35–36).

  • Pharaoh expelled them (Hebrew shalakh, meaning “send”; compare Genesis 12:19–20 with Exodus 12:31–33) and they went to the Negev (compare Genesis 13:1 with Numbers 13:17, 22).

  Israel was to believe that God would deliver them from bondage in Egypt through the plagues because their ancestor had already been rescued from bondage in Egypt.

The Nile River supplied plenty of water for crops, so Egypt was usually the last area to experience famine.

Please say you are my sister: This request appears three times in Genesis (see also 20:2; 26:7). The text explains that this was Abram’s usual strategy (20:13), and his son Isaac did the same thing. The first time this happened was outside the land, and the second time within it (chapter 20). This shows that God protected his promise in both regions.

Sarai was 65, but she would live to 127. If the biblical lifespans here are understood literally, she had lived only about half her life. By those standards, she may still have been at an age of full strength and maturity.

Sarai and Abram came from a noble family (see study note on 11:29), so she likely had a regal appearance and wore fine clothing. Pharaoh was drawn to both her beauty and the political advantage of an alliance with her family.

• Abram was bound by the king’s gift to an unwanted agreement about Sarai that he did not want and could not stop. His plan had put him in a dangerous situation. It put Abram, Sarai, and the promise at risk.

• Abram seemed to gain wealth from his deception, but these new possessions also led to new problems. Abram and Lot had to separate (chapter 13). Hagar, an Egyptian servant, later became the mother of Ishmael’s descendants (chapter 16). In the Bible, these descendants are often shown as being in conflict with Israel.

Pharaoh was a title for a ruler, not a personal name (37:36; Exodus 1:15).

God intervened to rescue Sarai and to preserve her marriage to Abram so that the covenant promise could be fulfilled. When Sarai was returned to Abram, Pharaoh rebuked him because of what had happened (12:18–19).

Abram did not need to answer Pharaoh’s questions (12:18–19) because Pharaoh’s rebuke was followed by expulsion. Pharaoh’s command echoed God’s command to Abram (12:1), but Pharaoh’s words brought Abram shame and disgrace. Even so, God remained faithful and preserved his promise.