the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Genesis 12:15
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And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
The Egyptian officers saw her and told the king of Egypt how beautiful she was. They took her to the king's palace, and
When Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram's wife was taken into the household of Pharaoh,
The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
and the womman was takun vp in to the hous of Farao.
and princes of Pharaoh see her, and praise her unto Pharaoh, and the woman is taken [to] Pharaoh's house;
When Pharaoh's officials saw Sarai, they commended her to him, and she was taken into the palace of Pharaoh.
The king's officials told him about her, and she was taken to his house.
Pharaoh's princes saw her and commended her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
And Pharaoh's great men, having seen her, said words in praise of her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into Pharaoh's house.
The princes also of Pharao sawe her, and comended her before Pharao, and the woman was taken into Pharaos house.
And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
Even some of Pharaoh's officials noticed her and told Pharaoh how beautiful she was. So they took her to Pharaoh's house.
And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
The Princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaohs house.
The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
Pharaoh's rulers saw her and told Pharaoh of her beauty. So the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
When the officials of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
And the princes of Pharaoh beheld her, and praised her unto Pharaoh, - so the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh;
And the Princes of Pharaoh sawe her, and commended her vnto Pharaoh: so the woman was taken into Pharaohs house:
The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and praised her before Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaohs house.
Some of the court officials saw her and told the king how beautiful she was; so she was taken to his palace.
And the princes told Pharao, and praised her before him: and the woman was taken into the house of Pharao.
And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
that the princes of Pharao saw her, and praised her to Pharao and brought her into the house of Pharao.
And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, so the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s household.
The princes of Par`oh saw her, and praised her to Par`oh; and the woman was taken into Par`oh's house.
And the officials of Pharaoh saw her, and they praised her beauty to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh.
And Pharaoh's princes saw her, and they praised her before Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
& Pharaos prynces sawe her also, & praysed her before him. Then was she brought in to Pharaos house,
Pharaoh's officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house.
When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh, their king, and Sarai was taken into his palace.
Pharaoh's officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
And Pharaoh's officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
princes: Esther 2:2-16, Proverbs 29:12, Hosea 7:4, Hosea 7:5, Pharaoh was a common name of the Egyptian kings, and signified a "ruler," or "king," or "father of his country." Genesis 40:2, Genesis 41:1, Exodus 2:5, Exodus 2:15, 1 Kings 3:1, 2 Kings 18:21, Jeremiah 25:19, Jeremiah 46:17, Ezekiel 32:2
taken: Genesis 20:2, Esther 2:9, Psalms 105:4, Proverbs 6:29, Hebrews 13:4
Reciprocal: Genesis 20:7 - all Genesis 39:6 - a goodly person Deuteronomy 21:11 - desire
Cross-References
And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you [abundantly], And make your name great (exalted, distinguished); And you shall be a blessing [a source of great good to others];
So Abram departed [in faithful obedience] as the LORD had directed him; and Lot [his nephew] left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had acquired, and the people (servants) which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,
Therefore Pharaoh treated Abram well for her sake; he acquired sheep, oxen, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
Abraham said [again] of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah [into his harem].
Pharaoh (Sesostris II) was extremely angry with his two officials, the chief of the cupbearers and the chief of the bakers.
Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile.
Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, and [she, together with] her maidens walked along the river's bank; she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid [to get it], and she brought it to her.
When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he tried to kill Moses. Then Moses fled from Pharaoh's presence and took refuge in the land of Midian, where he sat down by a well.
Now Solomon became a son-in-law to Pharaoh king of Egypt [and formed an alliance] by taking Pharaoh's daughter [in marriage]. He brought her to the City of David [where she remained temporarily] until he had finished building his own house (palace) and the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh,.... The king of Egypt; so it seems by this, that Abram and Sarai were at the place where the court was kept, which the Arabic writers t say was Mesr (or Memphis), the capital of the kingdom. And these princes were the king's courtiers, who taking notice of Sarai, and admiring her beauty, praised her for it to the king, and recommended her to be taken into the number of his wives or concubines, they understanding that she was a single woman and the sister of Abram: and this they did to gratify their king, and gain his favour:
and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house; or palace, as the Jerusalem Targum; his royal palace, as the Targum of Jonathan; very probably into that part of his palace where his women were kept, or to some apartment where she might be purified and prepared for him; and this requiring time, was the means of preserving her from the danger she was exposed unto, see Esther 2:8. The kingdom of Egypt, according to the Jewish and Arabic writers u, was set up in the times of Reu, about three hundred years before Abram was here; its first king was Mizraim, a son of Ham, the same with the Menes of Herodotus; by whom also mention is made of a king of Egypt, whose name was Pheron w, which seems to bear some likeness to the name of this king, who by Artapanus x is called Pharethone, and whom, he says, Abram taught astrology. It is generally thought that Pharaoh was a common name to the kings of Egypt, and continued to be so to the times of Ezekiel, as Ptolemy was some time after, and as Caesar with the Romans: whether this king was the first of the name is not certain, but probable; according to some y, he was one of the Hycsi, or shepherd kings. Mr. Bedford z calls him Janias, their fifth king, and this was about A. M. 2084, and before Christ 1920. A Jewish chronologer a asserts, he was the first Pharaoh, who was in the times of Abram, and that his name was Totis, or Tutis, as the Arabic writers b, one of which c says, that in the times of Serug lived Apiphanus king of Egypt (the same with Apophis; who according to Bishop Usher d was this Pharaoh); after him was Pharaoh, the son of Sancs, from whom they (the kings of Egypt) were called Pharaohs. The name of Pharaoh is derived by some e from
פרע, which signifies both to be free, and to revenge; and so kings were called, because free from laws themselves, and were revengers of them that do evil: but it rather seems to come from the Arabic word f, which signifies to be above others, and rule over them; and so may be thought to be not the proper name of a man, but an appellative, or the name of an office; or in other words, a king, see Genesis 41:44 and so it may be always rendered, where it is used, as here, the king's courtiers saw her, and commended her to the king, and she was taken into the king's house; though to this may be objected, that Pharaoh is sometimes called Pharaoh king of Egypt, and then there would be a tautology; wherefore it may be better perhaps to take it in the former sense.
t In the Universal History, vol. 2. p. 115. u Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 76. 1. Elmacinus, p. 29. apud Hottinger. Smegma, p. 274. w Euterpe sive, l. 2. c. 111. x Apud Euseb. ut supra. (Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 16. p. 417.) y Vid. Rollin's Ancient History, vol. 1. p. 68. z Scripture Chronology, p. 314. a Juchasin, fol. 135. 1. b In the Universal History, vol. 2. p. 115. c Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. p. 19. d Annal Vet. Test. p. 7. e Malvenda, Ainsworth, &c. f "in summo fuit, summumque cepit vel tenuit", Golius, col. 1787. Castel. col. 3077.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- XXXVIII. Abram in Egypt
15. ×¤×¨×¢× parâoh, Parâoh, âouro.â Coptic for âking,â with the masculine article pi. or p. P-ouro, âthe king.â If we separate the article p. from the Hebrew form, we have ×¨×¢× reâoh for king, which may be compared with ×¨×¢× roâeh, âpastor, leader,â 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 Godâs 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 wifeâs 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 readerâs intelligence to mark their moral quality. And Godâs 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 Saraiâs 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 Abramâs 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. âAnd the Lord plagued Pharaoh.â 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. âAnd his house.â 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. âOn account of Sarai.â 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.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 12:15. The woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. — Pharaoh appears to have been the common appellative of the Cuthite shepherd kings of Egypt, who had conquered this land, as is conjectured, about seventy-two years before this time. The word is supposed to signify king in the ancient Egyptian language. If the meaning be sought in the Hebrew, the root פרע para signifies to be free or disengaged, a name which such freebooters as the Cuthite shepherds might naturally assume. All the kings of Egypt bore this name till the commencement of the Grecian monarchy, after which they were called Ptolemies.
When a woman was brought into the seragilo or harem of the eastern princes, she underwent for a considerable time certain purifications before she was brought into the king's presence. It was in this interim that God plagued Pharaoh and his house with plagues, so that Sarai was restored before she could have been taken to the bed of the Egyptian king.
