Kejadian 12:10-19
Konteks12:10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt 1 to stay for a while 2 because the famine was severe. 3 12:11 As he approached 4 Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, 5 I know that you are a beautiful woman. 6 12:12 When the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will keep you alive. 7 12:13 So tell them 8 you are my sister 9 so that it may go well 10 for me because of you and my life will be spared 11 on account of you.”
12:14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 12:15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. So Abram’s wife 12 was taken 13 into the household of Pharaoh, 14 12:16 and he did treat Abram well 15 on account of her. Abram received 16 sheep and cattle, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
12:17 But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with severe diseases 17 because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 12:18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and said, “What is this 18 you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife? 12:19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her 19 to be my wife? 20 Here is your wife! 21 Take her and go!” 22
Kejadian 20:1-7
Konteks20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev 23 region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident 24 in Gerar, 20:2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.
20:3 But God appeared 25 to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead 26 because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.” 27
20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, 28 would you really slaughter an innocent nation? 29 20:5 Did Abraham 30 not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, 31 ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience 32 and with innocent hands!”
20:6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. 33 That is why I have kept you 34 from sinning against me and why 35 I did not allow you to touch her. 20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed 36 he is a prophet 37 and he will pray for you; thus you will live. 38 But if you don’t give her back, 39 know that you will surely die 40 along with all who belong to you.”
[12:10] 1 sn Abram went down to Egypt. The Abrahamic narrative foreshadows some of the events in the life of the nation of Israel. This sojourn in Egypt is typological of Israel’s bondage there. In both stories there is a famine that forces the family to Egypt, death is a danger to the males while the females are preserved alive, great plagues bring about their departure, there is a summons to stand before Pharaoh, and there is a return to the land of Canaan with great wealth.
[12:10] 2 tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur), traditionally rendered “to sojourn,” means “to stay for a while.” The “stranger” (traditionally “sojourner”) is one who is a temporary resident, a visitor, one who is passing through. Abram had no intention of settling down in Egypt or owning property. He was only there to wait out the famine.
[12:10] 3 tn Heb “heavy in the land.” The words “in the land,” which also occur at the beginning of the verse in the Hebrew text, have not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[12:11] 4 tn Heb “drew near to enter.”
[12:11] 5 tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) is deictic here; it draws attention to the following fact.
[12:11] 6 tn Heb “a woman beautiful of appearance are you.”
[12:12] 7 tn The Piel of the verb חָיָה (khayah, “to live”) means “to keep alive, to preserve alive,” and in some places “to make alive.” See D. Marcus, “The Verb ‘to Live’ in Ugaritic,” JSS 17 (1972): 76-82.
[12:13] 9 sn Tell them you are my sister. Abram’s motives may not be as selfish as they appear. He is aware of the danger to the family. His method of dealing with it is deception with a half truth, for Sarai really was his sister – but the Egyptians would not know that. Abram presumably thought that there would be negotiations for a marriage by anyone interested (as Laban does later for his sister Rebekah), giving him time to react. But the plan backfires because Pharaoh does not take the time to negotiate. There is a good deal of literature on the wife-sister issue. See (among others) E. A. Speiser, “The Wife-Sister Motif in the Patriarchal Narratives,” Oriental and Biblical Studies, 62-81; C. J. Mullo-Weir, “The Alleged Hurrian Wife-Sister Motif in Genesis,” GOT 22 (1967-1970): 14-25.
[12:13] 10 tn The Hebrew verb translated “go well” can encompass a whole range of favorable treatment, but the following clause indicates it means here that Abram’s life will be spared.
[12:13] 11 tn Heb “and my life will live.”
[12:15] 12 tn Heb “and the woman.” The word also means “wife”; the Hebrew article can express the possessive pronoun (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 19, §86). Here the proper name (Abram) has been used in the translation instead of a possessive pronoun (“his”) for clarity.
[12:15] 13 tn The Hebrew term וַתֻּקַּח (vattuqqakh, “was taken”) is a rare verbal form, an old Qal passive preterite from the verb “to take.” It is pointed as a Hophal would be by the Masoretes, but does not have a Hophal meaning.
[12:15] 14 tn The Hebrew text simply has “house of Pharaoh.” The word “house” refers to the household in general, more specifically to the royal harem.
[12:16] 15 sn He did treat Abram well. The construction of the parenthetical disjunctive clause, beginning with the conjunction on the prepositional phrase, draws attention to the irony of the story. Abram wanted Sarai to lie “so that it would go well” with him. Though he lost Sarai to Pharaoh, it did go well for him – he received a lavish bride price. See also G. W. Coats, “Despoiling the Egyptians,” VT 18 (1968): 450-57.
[12:16] 16 tn Heb “and there was to him.”
[12:17] 17 tn The cognate accusative adds emphasis to the verbal sentence: “he plagued with great plagues,” meaning the
[12:18] 18 tn The demonstrative pronoun translated “this” adds emphasis: “What in the world have you done to me?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).
[12:19] 19 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive here expresses consequence.
[12:19] 20 tn Heb “to me for a wife.”
[12:19] 21 tn Heb “Look, your wife!”
[12:19] 22 tn Heb “take and go.”
[20:1] 23 tn Or “the South [country]”; Heb “the land of the Negev.”
[20:1] sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.
[20:1] 24 tn Heb “and he sojourned.”
[20:3] 26 tn Heb “Look, you [are] dead.” The Hebrew construction uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with a second person pronominal particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with by the participle. It is a highly rhetorical expression.
[20:3] 27 tn Heb “and she is owned by an owner.” The disjunctive clause is causal or explanatory in this case.
[20:4] 28 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[20:4] 29 tn Apparently Abimelech assumes that God’s judgment will fall on his entire nation. Some, finding the reference to a nation problematic, prefer to emend the text and read, “Would you really kill someone who is innocent?” See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 149.
[20:5] 30 tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:5] 31 tn Heb “and she, even she.”
[20:5] 32 tn Heb “with the integrity of my heart.”
[20:6] 33 tn Heb “with the integrity of your heart.”
[20:6] 34 tn Heb “and I, even I, kept you.”
[20:7] 36 tn Or “for,” if the particle is understood as causal (as many English translations do) rather than asseverative.
[20:7] 37 sn For a discussion of the term prophet see N. Walker, “What is a Nabhi?” ZAW 73 (1961): 99-100.
[20:7] 38 tn After the preceding jussive (or imperfect), the imperative with vav conjunctive here indicates result.
[20:7] sn He will pray for you that you may live. Abraham was known as a man of God whose prayer would be effectual. Ironically and sadly, he was also known as a liar.
[20:7] 39 tn Heb “if there is not you returning.” The suffix on the particle becomes the subject of the negated clause.
[20:7] 40 tn The imperfect is preceded by the infinitive absolute to make the warning emphatic.
