language · Gen 12:10–13 · ✓ Approved

Famine, sojourning and “my sister”

Says וַיֵּרֶד אַבְרָם מִצְרַיְמָה לָגוּר שָׁם (“and Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there”): gur is “1. sojourn, dwell for a (definite or indef.) time, dwell as a new-comer.” BSB has “to live there for a while.” כִּי־כָבֵד הָרָעָב is “for the famine was heavy.”

Says In 12:11 הִנֵּה־נָא יָדַעְתִּי כִּי אִשָּׁה יְפַת־מַרְאֶה אָתְּ is “see, please, I know that you are a woman beautiful to look at.” 12:12 ends וְהָרְגוּ אֹתִי וְאֹתָךְ יְחַיּוּ (“and they will kill me, and you they will keep alive”). In 12:13 אִמְרִי־נָא אֲחֹתִי אָתְּ is “say, please, you are my sister,” and וְחָיְתָה נַפְשִׁי “and my soul will live” (nefesh, “soul, living being, life, self, person”). The Greek has “Ἀδελφὴ αὐτοῦ εἰμί” (“I am his sister”).

Uncertain Augustine holds that Abram told no lie, since Sarai was near of blood; 20:12 has אֲחֹתִי בַת־אָבִי הִוא (“my sister, my father’s daughter”). Keil calls her his half-sister but says the plan “did not spring from faith.” Calvin finds “something of falsehood”; Driver: “true, but not the whole truth.” No lean is taken here.

Claims

Saysוַיֵּרֶד אַבְרָם מִצְרַיְמָה לָגוּר שָׁם (“and Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there”): gur is “1. sojourn, dwell for a (definite or indef.) time, dwell as a new-comer.” BSB has “to live there for a while.” כִּי־כָבֵד הָרָעָב is “for the famine was heavy.”
SaysIn 12:11 הִנֵּה־נָא יָדַעְתִּי כִּי אִשָּׁה יְפַת־מַרְאֶה אָתְּ is “see, please, I know that you are a woman beautiful to look at.” 12:12 ends וְהָרְגוּ אֹתִי וְאֹתָךְ יְחַיּוּ (“and they will kill me, and you they will keep alive”). In 12:13 אִמְרִי־נָא אֲחֹתִי אָתְּ is “say, please, you are my sister,” and וְחָיְתָה נַפְשִׁי “and my soul will live” (nefesh, “soul, living being, life, self, person”). The Greek has “Ἀδελφὴ αὐτοῦ εἰμί” (“I am his sister”).
UncertainAugustine holds that Abram told no lie, since Sarai was near of blood; 20:12 has אֲחֹתִי בַת־אָבִי הִוא (“my sister, my father’s daughter”). Keil calls her his half-sister but says the plan “did not spring from faith.” Calvin finds “something of falsehood”; Driver: “true, but not the whole truth.” No lean is taken here.

Citations

OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 12:10–13 (WLC/OSHB; morph HR/Vqc HVpi3mp HVqv2fs HC/Vqp3fs)
BSB public domain Gen 12:10 (BSB)
BDB CC BY 4.0 BDB 1906, p. 157 (leaf n180), archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, s.v. H1481 “sojourn”; checked against the printed page (scan)
BDB CC BY 4.0 BDB 1906, p. 659 (leaf n682), archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft, s.v. H5315 “soul, living being, life, self, person”; checked against the printed page (scan)
LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 12:13, text and apparatus. LXX: Swete, vol. 1 (1901), p. 19 (leaf n50). Checked against the printed page (scan).
Augustine, City of God (NPNF1 vol. 2) public domain Augustine, City of God, bk. 16 (trans. Dods, NPNF¹ 2), on Gen 12:13, p. 322 (leaf n345); checked against the printed page (scan); paraphrased
Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Keil, Pentateuch vol. 1 (Clark, Martin trans., 1868), on Gen 12:13, p. 197 (leaf n200); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain Calvin, Genesis 1 (King, CTS 1847), on Gen 12:13, p. 359 (leaf n368); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
Driver, Genesis (Westminster) public domain Driver, The Book of Genesis (Westminster, 4th ed.), on Gen 12:13, p. 149 (leaf n250); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted

Sources OSHB CC BY 4.0 BSB public domain BDB CC BY 4.0 LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Augustine, City of God (NPNF1 vol. 2) public domain Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain Driver, Genesis (Westminster) public domain

Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits

2026-11-12

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