Genesis 12:1-7

James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 12:4

THE FIRST COLUMBUS‘So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him.’ Genesis 12:4 At this time there was no special nation belonging to the Lord. The Lord was even then but beginning to set apart a people for Himself. To create that people, He had first of all to make a family, and to make that family to select one man. After the Flood and the tower of Babel there was only one kind of people all over the world, and those people were very far from God. Here and there might be one who had a... read more

James Nisbet

James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 12:4-5

‘I DO NOT ASK TO SEE THE DISTANT SCENE’‘So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; … and they went forth, to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.’ Genesis 12:4-Deuteronomy : I. This text may be paraphrased geographically, by saying that it contains a direction to the Law and the Gospel to move westwards, like the sun. The forefather of the Jews was ordered to quit his home for a land that looked westwards; as, long after, the Apostle of the Gentiles was... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:1-3

‘And Yahweh said to Abram, “Leave your country and your kinsfolk, and your father’s house, for the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, and you be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed”.’ This is the first appearance of Yahweh to Abram of which we learn, and it is spoken as matter of fact, without introduction.... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:4

‘So Abram went as Yahweh had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy five years old when he left Haran.’ Abram obeyed the voice of God. Lot, his nephew also went with him. It is very probable that through Abram’s witness Lot too had begun to worship Yahweh. It is possibly difficult to comprehend what a major step for Abram this move was. To the ancients membership of the tribe was a sacred duty and to leave it was to dismember the tribe. But Abram has the call of Yahweh and... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:5

‘And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls they had obtained in Haran, and they went out to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan they came.’ The repetitive phrases at the end are in typical Ancient Near Eastern style. They confirm that what they purposed to do, they did, unlike Terah earlier. It is clear that Abram has built up a family sub-tribe since arriving in Haran. He was a man of substance... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:6

‘And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.’ The arrival at Shechem (a very ancient city) is mentioned because it is here that Abram will have his first meeting with Yahweh in the land. “The oak of Moreh” may be intended to indicate an oak forest (compare Genesis 13:18 and Deuteronomy 11:30). Alternately it may refer to a particularly famous oak, possibly with religious connotations. Indeed the particular oak may have... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:7

‘And Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “To your seed I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to Yahweh who appeared to him.’ This is the first theophany (awesome experience of God) received by Abram in the land. It confirms that he has now arrived at the place to which God has sent him. This land is the land promised to him, the land that God would show him (Genesis 12:1). This is a postscript to the earlier covenant. This also confirms our above view about the mention of the... read more

Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:1-9

Genesis 12:1-1 Samuel : . The Call of Abraham, his Migration to Canaan, and Yahweh’ s Promise to Him.— From J, except Genesis 12:4 b, Genesis 12:5, which is clearly from P. Abraham is called to leave country, kindred, and home for an unnamed land. His faith is thus challenged at the outset ( Hebrews 11:8); at the call of God, without question or demur, he abandons the tangible certainties of the present for a vague destination, and the hazards of travel and settlement in a new land. But he... read more

Arthur Peake

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:1-20

Genesis 12:1 to Genesis 25:18 . The Story of Abraham.— In this section the three main sources, J. E, P are present. Gunkel has given strong reasons for holding that J is here made up of two main sources, one connecting Abraham with Hebron, the other with Beersheba and the Negeb. The former associates Abraham with Lot. (For details, see ICC.) On the interpretation to be placed on the figures of Abraham and the patriarchs, see the Introduction. The interest, which has hitherto been diffused... read more

Matthew Poole

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Genesis 12:1

The Lord had said, to wit, in Ur of the Chaldees, by comparing Genesis 11:31, with Acts 7:2-4; or, did say, again, i.e. renewed the command in Haran, whilst Abram might possibly linger there, as afterwards Lot did in Sodom, longer than he should. But the former interpretation is more probable, because Moses speaks here of that command of God which came to Abram before he was gone from his kindred and father's house, and therefore before he came to Haran. And this command was given to Abram... read more

James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 12:4

James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 12:4-5

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:1-3

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:4

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:5

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:6

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:7

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:1-9

Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:1-20

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible - Genesis 12:1

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