Genesis 12:1-6

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 12:2-3

Abram had only a promise from God. We see his faith in his willingness to obey God strictly in the confidence that what God had promised He would perform (Hebrews 11:8). This divine promise was the seed from which the Abrahamic Covenant grew (ch. 15). The promise here included few details; it was only a general promise of descendants (Genesis 12:2) and influence (Genesis 12:2-3). The Hebrew text says, "be a blessing" (Genesis 12:2), not "you shall be a blessing." This was a command rather than... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 12:4

Since Lot voluntarily chose to accompany Abram, he probably believed the promises as well (cf. Ruth). Abram’s call had been to separate from his pagan relatives, so he was not disobedient by allowing Lot to accompany him. [Note: See ibid., p. 207.] Probably Abram viewed Lot as his heir (cf. Genesis 11:27-32; Genesis 12:4-5; Genesis 13:1-2)."Since Mesopotamian law-codes allowed for the adoption of an heir in the case of childlessness, this becomes an attractive hypothesis with respect to Lot."... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 12:4-9

Abram’s response 12:4-9 read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 12:5-6

Abram’s first settlement was in Shechem.". . . towns on the main caravan route southwest-ward from the Euphrates which figure significantly in the Abram stories, are Shechem, Bethel, Hebron, and Gerar." [Note: Albright, p. 47.] Shechem became sacred to the Israelites because here God revealed Himself to Abram for the first time in the Promised Land. This was God’s second major revelation to Abram. At Shechem Jacob later bought land, set up his home, and buried his idols in rededication to... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:1-20

The Call of Abraham. The Removal to Canaan. The Visit to Egypt1. Had said] RV ’said,’ when he was in Haran. In what manner the call came to Abraham, whether through some outward incident which he recognised as the prompting of Providence, or through the suggestions of the Divine Spirit in his inmost soul, we do not know. Anyhow he regarded it as divine and authoritative, and it was too definite tobe misunderstood. Get thee out of.. and from.. and from] The repetition emphasises the complete... read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:1-34

The History of AbrahamAt this point the specific purpose of the writer of the Pentateuch begins to appear more clearly. Speaking generally, that purpose is to trace the development of the kingdom of God in the line of Israelitish history. To this subject the preceding chapters of Genesis have formed an introduction, dealing with universal history, and indicating the place of Israel among the other nations of the world. The narrative now passes from universal history to the beginnings of the... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 12:1

XII.(1) Now the Lord had said unto Abram.—Heb., And Jehovah said unto Abram. There is no new beginning; but having briefly sketched the family from which Abram sprang, and indicated that he had inherited from them the right of primogeniture, the narrative next proceeds to the primary purpose of the Tôldóth Terah, which is to show how in Abram Jehovah prepared for the fulfilment, through Israel, of the prote-vangelium contained in the promise made to Eve at the fall (Genesis 3:15). The rendering... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 12:2-3

(2, 3) Thou shalt be a blessing.—More correctly, Be thou a blessing. The promises made to Abram are partly personal and partly universal, embracing the whole world. In return for all that he abandons he is to become the founder of a powerful nation, who will honour his name, and teach the inheritors of their spiritual privileges to share in their veneration for him. But in the command to “be” or “become a blessing,” we reach a higher level, and it is the glory of Abram’s faith that it was not... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 12:4

(4) Abram . . . departed out of Haran.—The command given him in Ur may have been repeated in Haran; but more probably Abram had remained there only on account of Terah. At his death (see note on Genesis 11:26) he resumed his migration northward. read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 12:5

(5) Their substance that they had gathered.—Not cattle only, but wealth of every kind. As we have no data about the migration of Terah, except that it was after the death of Haran, and that Haran left children, we cannot tell how long the family rested at their first halting place, but it was probably a period of several years; and as Abram was “very rich in silver and in gold,” he had apparently engaged there in trade, and thus possibly knew the course which the caravans took.The souls that... read more

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 12:2-3

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 12:4

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 12:4-9

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Genesis 12:5-6

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:1-20

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:1-34

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 12:1

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 12:2-3

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 12:4

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Genesis 12:5

Verse of the Day

Daily Devotional

Group of Brands