the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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Genesis 12:14
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Now it happened when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
It came about when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
And so when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians behelde the woman, for she was very fayre.
So when Abram went into Egypt, the Egyptian men saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman.
When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
And so whanne Abram hadde entrid in to Egipt, Egipcians sien the womman that sche was ful fair; and the prynces telden to Farao, and preiseden hir anentis him;
And it came to passe, that when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman, that shee was very faire.
And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
Now whan he came in to Egipte, ye Egipcians sawe ye woman, yt she was very faire:
When Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians took one look and saw that his wife was stunningly beautiful. Pharaoh's princes raved over her to Pharaoh. She was taken to live with Pharaoh.
Now it came about, when Abram entered Egypt, that the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
And so it was that when Abram came into Egypt, the men of Egypt, looking on the woman, saw that she was fair.
And it came to pass, that, when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman that she was very fair.
And it came to pass, that when Abram had come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she [was] very fair.
It happened that when Abram had come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.
As soon as Abram and Sarai arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians noticed how beautiful she was.
(ii) When Avram entered Egypt, the Egyptians did notice that the woman was very beautiful.
And it came to pass when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
Nowe when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians behelde the woman: for she was very faire.
And it came to pass when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that his wife was very beautiful.
When he crossed the border into Egypt, the Egyptians did see that his wife was beautiful.
It happened that when Avram had come into Mitzrayim, the Mitzrim saw that the woman was very beautiful.
And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
And sure enough, when Abram arrived in Egypt, everyone noticed Sarai's beauty.
When Abram came into Egypt, the men of Egypt saw that the woman was very beautiful.
When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
And it came to pass when Abram entered into Egypt—the Egyptians having seen his wife that she was very beautiful—
And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
So when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
And so it was when Abram entered into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman, that fair, was she exceedingly.
And when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman that she was very beautiful.
And it happened that as Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.
And it happened, when Abram had come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful.
When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was very beautiful.
When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.
And it cometh to pass, at the entering of Abram into Egypt, that the Egyptians see the woman that she [is] exceeding fair;
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
beheld: Genesis 3:6, Genesis 6:2, Genesis 39:7, Matthew 5:28
Reciprocal: Genesis 12:11 - a fair Genesis 39:6 - a goodly person Deuteronomy 21:11 - desire Esther 2:2 - Let there be Psalms 105:14 - General Isaiah 37:12 - Haran
Cross-References
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise and insightful, she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate.
that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and desirable; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose and desired.
Then after a time his master's wife looked at Joseph with desire, and she said, "Lie with me."
but I say to you that everyone who [so much as] looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt,.... To the city of Heliopolis; for there it was that Abram had his abode, as Eupolemus r says, when upon the famine he went into Egypt, and where he conversed with the Egyptian priests, and taught them astrology, and other things belonging to it; and of this descent of Abram into Egypt, and teaching astrology, Artapanus s, another Heathen writer, speaks; Abram, he says, having learned the science of astrology, went first into Phoenicia and taught it the Phoenicians, and afterwards went into Egypt, and taught it there.
[The] Egyptians beheld the woman, that she was very fair; Abram knew that Sarai was a fair woman; but in the eyes of the Egyptians she was very fair, exceeding fair, they not being used to see very beautiful women.
r Apud Euseb. ut supra. (Praepar. Evangel. c. 17. p. 418, 419.) s Apud ib. c. 18. p. 420.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- XXXVIII. Abram in Egypt
15. פרעה par‛oh, Par‘oh, “ouro.” Coptic for “king,” with the masculine article pi. or p. P-ouro, “the king.” If we separate the article p. from the Hebrew form, we have רעה re‛oh for king, which may be compared with רעה ro‛eh, “pastor, leader,” and the Latin rex, king. This is the common title of the Egyptian sovereigns, to which we have the personal name occasionally added, as Pharaoh-Necho, Pharaoh-Hophrah.
Genesis 12:10
This first visit of Abram to Mizraim, or Egypt, is occasioned by the famine in the land of promise. This land is watered by periodical rains. A season of drought arrests the progress of vegetation, and brings on a famine. But in Egypt, the fertility of the loamy soil depends not on local showers, but on the annual rise of the Nile, which is fed by the rains of a far-distant mountain range. Hence, when the land of Kenaan was wasted by drought and consequent famine, Egypt was generally so productive as to be the granary of the neighboring countries. As Kenaan was the brother of Mizraim, the contact between the two countries in which they dwelt was natural and frequent. Dry seasons and dearth of provisions seem to have been of frequent occurrence in the land of Kenaan Genesis 26:1; Genesis 41:56-57. Even Egypt itself was not exempt from such calamitous visitations. Famine is one of God’s rods for the punishment of the wicked and the correction of the penitent 2 Samuel 24:13. It visits Abram even in the land of promise. Doubtless the wickedness of the inhabitants was great even in his day. Abram himself was not out of the need of that tribulation that worketh patience, experience, and hope. He may have been left to himself under this trial, that he might find out by experience his own weakness, and at the same time the faithfulness and omnipotence of Yahweh the promiser. In the moment of his perplexity he flees for refuge to Egypt, and the Lord having a lesson for him, there permits him to enter that land of plenty.
Genesis 12:11-13
It is not without misgivings, however, that Abram approaches Egypt. All the way from Ur to Haran, from Haran to the land of Kenaan, and from north to south of the land in which he was a stranger, we hear not a word of apprehension. But now he betakes himself to an expedient which had been preconcerted between him and Sarai before they set out on their earthly pilgrimage Genesis 20:13. There are some obvious reasons for the change from composure to anxiety he now betrays. Abram was hitherto obeying the voice of the Lord, and walking in the path of duty, and therefore he was full of unhesirating confidence in the divine protection. Now he may be pursuing his own course, and, without waiting patiently for the divine counsel, venturing to cross the boundary of the land of promise. He may therefore be without the fortifying assurance of the divine approval. There is often a whisper of this kind heard in the soul, even when it is not fully conscious of the delinquency which occasions it.
Again, the countries through which be had already passed were inhabited by nomadic tribes, each kept in check by all the others, all unsettled in their habits, and many of them not more potent than himself. The Kenaanites spoke the same language with himself, and were probably only a dominant race among others whose language they spoke, if they did not adopt. But in Egypt all was different. Mizraim had seven sons, and, on the average, the daughters are as numerous as the sons. In eight or nine generations there might be from half a million to a million of inhabitants in Egypt, if we allow five daughters as the average of a family. The definite area of the arable ground on the two sides of the Nile, its fertilization by a natural cause without much human labor, the periodical regularity of the inundation, and the extraordinary abundance of the grain crops, combined both to multiply the population with great rapidity, and to accelerate amazingly the rise and growth of fixed institutions and a stable government. Here there were a settled country with a foreign tongue, a prosperous people, and a powerful sovereign. All this rendered it more perilous to enter Egypt than Kenaan.
If Abram is about to enter Egypt of his own accord, without any divine intimation, it is easy to understand why he resorts to a device of his own to escape the peril of assassination. In an arbitrary government, where the will of the sovereign is law, and the passions are uncontrolled, public or private resolve is sudden, and execution summary. The East still retains its character in this respect. In these circumstances, Abram proposes to Sarai to conceal their marriage, and state that she was his sister; which was perfectly true, as she was the daughter of his father, though not of his mother. At a distance of three or four thousand years, with all the development of mind which a completed Bible and an advanced philosophy can bestow, it is easy to pronounce, with dispassionate coolness, the course of conduct here proposed to be immoral and imprudent. It is not incumbent on us, indeed, to defend it; but neither does it become us to be harsh or excessive in our censure. In the state of manners and customs which then prevailed in Egypt, Abram and Sarai were not certainly bound to disclose all their private concerns to every impertinent inquirer. The seeming simplicity and experience which Abram betrays in seeking to secure his personal safety by an expedient which exposed to risk his wife’s chastity and his own honor, are not to be pressed too far. The very uncertainty concerning the relation of the strangers to each other tended to abate that momentary caprice in the treatment of individuals which is the result of a despotic government. And the prime fault and folly of Abram consisted in not waiting for the divine direction in leaving the land of promise, and in not committing himself wholly to the divine protection when he did take that step.
It may seem strange that the Scripture contains no express disapprobation of the conduct of Abram. But its manner is to affirm the great principles of moral truth, on suitable occasions, with great clearness and decision; and in ordinary circumstances simply to record the actions of its characters with faithfulness, leaving it to the reader’s intelligence to mark their moral quality. And God’s mode of teaching the individual is to implant a moral principle in the heart, which, after many struggles with temptation, will eventually root out all lingering aberrations.
Sarai was sixty-five years of age Genesis 17:17 at the time when Abram describes her as a woman fair to look upon. But we are to remember that beauty does not vanish with middle age; that Sarai’s age corresponds with twenty-five or thirty years in modern times, as she was at this time not half the age to which men were then accustomed to live; that she had no family or other hardship to bring on premature decay; and that the women of Egypt were far from being distinguished for regularity of feature or freshness of complexion.
Genesis 12:14-16
The inadequacy of Abram’s expedient appears in the issue, which is different from what he expected. Sarai is admired for her beauty, and, being professedly single, is selected as a wife for Pharaoh; while Abram, as her brother, is munificently entertained and rewarded. His property seems to be enumerated according to the time of acquirement, or the quantity, and not the quality of each kind. Sheep and oxen and he-asses he probably brought with him from Kenaan; men-servants and maid-servants were no doubt augmented in Egypt. For she-asses the Septuagint has mules. These, and the camels, may have been received in Egypt. The camel is the carrier of the desert. Abram had now become involved in perplexities, from which he had neither the wisdom nor the power to extricate himself. With what bitterness of spirit he must have kept silence, received these accessions to his wealth which he dared not to refuse, and allowed Sarai to be removed from his temporary abode! His cunning device had saved his own person for the time; but his beautiful and beloved wife is torn from his bosom.
Genesis 12:17
The Lord, who had chosen him, unworthy though he was, yet not more unworthy than others, to be the agent of His gracious purpose, now interposes to effect his deliverance. “And the Lord plagued Pharaoh.” The mode of the divine interference is suited to have the desired effect on the parties concerned. As Pharaoh is punished, we conclude he was guilty in the eye of heaven in this matter. He committed a breach of hospitality by invading the private abode of the stranger. He further infringed the law of equity between man and man in the most tender point, by abstracting, if not with violence, at least with a show of arbitrary power which could not be resisted, a female, whether sister or wife, from the home of her natural guardian without the consent of either. A deed of ruthless self-will, also, is often rendered more heinous by a blamable inattention to the character or position of him who is wronged. So it was with Pharaoh. Abram was a man of blameless life and inoffensive manners. He was, moreover, the chosen and special servant of the Most High God. Pharaoh, however, does not condescend to inquire who the stranger is whom he is about to wrong; and is thus unwittingly involved in an aggravated crime. But the hand of the Almighty brings even tyrants to their senses. “And his house.” The princes of Pharaoh were accomplices in his crime Genesis 12:15, and his domestics were concurring with him in carrying it into effect. But even apart from any positive consent or connivance in a particular act, men, otherwise culpable, are brought into trouble in this world by the faults of those with whom they are associated. “On account of Sarai.” Pharoah was made aware of the cause of the plagues or strokes with which he was now visited.
Genesis 12:18-20
Pharaoh upbraids Abram for his deception, and doubtless not without reason. He then commands his men to dismiss him and his, unharmed, from the country. These men were probably an escort for his safe conduct out of Egypt. Abram was thus reproved through the mouth of Pharaoh, and will be less hasty in abandoning the land of promise, and betaking himself to carnal resources.
