Genesis 12:11

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 12:10-13

Here is, I. A famine in the land of Canaan, a grievous famine. That fruitful land was turned into barrenness, not only to punish the iniquity of the Canaanites who dwelt therein, but to exercise the faith of Abram who sojourned therein; and a very sore trial it was; it tried what he would think, 1. Of God that brought him thither, whether he would not be ready to say with his murmuring seed that he was brought forth to be killed with hunger, Exod. 16:3. Nothing short of a strong faith could... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 12:11

And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt ,.... Just entering into it, having travelled from the mountain between Bethel and Hai, two hundred and forty miles F16 Travels of the Holy Patriarchs, &c.; p. 56. ; or when he "caused to come near" F17 כאשר הקריב "quum admoveret, sub tentorium", so some in Vatablus; "familiam", Munster. , either his camp, as Aben Ezra supplies it, or his tent, or his family, as others: that he said unto Sarai his wife,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:11

Thou art a fair woman to look upon - Widely differing in her complexion from the swarthy Egyptians, and consequently more likely to be coveted by them. It appears that Abram supposed they would not scruple to take away the life of the husband in order to have the undisturbed possession of the wife. The age of Sarai at this time is not well agreed on by commentators, some making her ninety, while others make her only sixty-five. From Genesis 17:17 , we learn that Sarai was ten years younger... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 12:11

Verse 11 11.He said unto Sarai his wife. He now relates the counsel which Abram took for the preservation of his life when he was approaching Egypt. Andy since this place is like a rock, on which many strike; it is proper that we should soberly and reverently consider how far Abram was deserving of excuse, and how he was to be blamed. First, there seems to be something of falsehood, mixed with the dissimulations which he persuades his wife to practice. And although afterwards he makes the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 12:10-20

The Church and the world. The genesis of intercourse and controversy between the kingdom of God and the world power, as represented in the great southern kingdom of Egypt. I. THE PRESSURE OF EARTHLY NECESSITIES FORMS THE OCCASION OF THE SOJOURN IN EGYPT . We are not told that Abram was sent by Divine direction amongst the temptations of the South; still there is providential protection even where there is not entire Divine approval. The Lord suffers his people to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 12:11-13

And it came to pass (literally, it was ), when he was come near to enter into Egypt (that he had his misgivings, arising probably from his own eminence, which could scarcely fail to attract attention among strangers, but chiefly from the beauty of his wife, which was calculated to inflame the cupidity and, it might be, the violence of the warm-blooded Southrons, and) that he said unto Sarai his wife . The arrangement here referred to appears ( Genesis 20:13 ) to have been... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 12:10-20

- XXXVIII. Abram in Egypt15. 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 12:10This first visit of Abram to Mizraim, or Egypt,... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Genesis 12:10-20

Journey to Egypt and return (12:10-13:18)A long drought in Canaan must have caused Abram to wonder just how reliable this promised land was. In the end he journeyed to Egypt in search of better pastures (10).Fearing that the Egyptians would kill him in order to take his beautiful wife, he preserved himself by saying she was his sister. This was half true, because Sarai was a daughter of Terah by another wife (see 20:12); but Abram and Sarai did wrong in telling only half the truth in order to... read more

James Burton Coffman

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible - Genesis 12:11-13

"And it came to pass, that when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, Behold, now I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: and it will come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they will say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister; that it may be well with me for thy sake, and that my soul may live because of thee."This was no imaginary danger that Abram confronted; but the... read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Genesis 12:11

Genesis 12:11. He said unto Sarai his wife, &c.— "Sarai," says Mr. Locke, "was then sixty-five, as Abram was seventy-five, she being ten years younger than he."—"And though at this age," Mr. Le Clerc observes, "the beauty of women is seldom very tempting; yet as in these ages they were longer-lived, so was their beauty more durable." Her fair complexion too, it has been observed, might render her more amiable than the swarthy AEgyptians. read more

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