The Promise of Blessing for the Earth (Genesis 11:27-12:20)

(1) Bible Study Questions

Note: Following the judgment on the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9), we trace the line of Shem, the son of Noah (Genesis 11:10-26). There are already hints that the line of Shem is the blessed line, as we keep looking for the serpent crusher (compare Genesis 9:25-27). Now the line of Shem is shown to be chosen by God to bear the one who will crush the serpent.

Discussion starter: Think of a time when someone promised to do something for you. What was the nature of the promise? Was it unconditional (ie, I will do it, no strings attached), or conditional (I will do X if you do Y)? Did they follow through on the promise?

Read Genesis 11:27-32.

1. At first sight, are there any indications in these verses that Terah’s family are particularly blessed (compare also Joshua 24:14)? Is this an unlikely family from which the serpent crusher would come?

Read Genesis 12:1-3.

2. What did God call Abraham to do?

3. What might have stopped Abraham from going to the place where God told him to go (verse 1, compare Hebrews 11:8-10, 13-16)?

4. What did God promise he would do for Abraham?

5. How does Abraham’s motivation and behaviour compare to what that of the builder’s of Babel (compare verse 2 with Genesis 11:4)

6. How does the promise God made to Abraham affect others, indeed, all of humanity? (see particularly verse 3 and compare Galatians 3:7-9)

Read Genesis 12:4-9.

7. What did Abraham do in response to God’s call?

8. How does Abraham’s faith relate to his obedience to God’s word?

Note: Throughout his life, Abraham only wandered through the land, living in tents and moving around it as a stranger. In fact, the only plot of land that Abraham actually owned was the one he purchased at an exorbitant price to bury his wife (Genesis 23).

Read Genesis 12:10-20.

9. Why did Abram tell Pharaoh that Sarai was his sister? What does this show about Abraham’s faith?

Read Acts 7:1-6 and re-read Hebrews 11:8-10,13-16.

10. If Abram personally did not own any of the land that God promised him, how has God kept his promise to him?

11. Do the promises made to Abram stand in conflict with what he experienced in his real life journey?

12. What things has God promised you that you have not fully received yet? (see Romans 8:18-5; 1 Peter 1:3-9)

13. How does having the promise now but the fact that we do not yet fully enjoying it teach us patient endurance?

Note: The story of Abraham and God’s dealings with him occupy Genesis 12-25. We see over these chapters Abraham living by faith, though not perfectly (as we see in verses 10-20. From this point God begins the creation of his very own people, Israel.

(2) Sermon Script

Introduction

Have you heard the phrase, “the best defence is offence”? Adam Gilchrist brought that into cricket. Opening batsmen don’t just stand there blocking and leaving anymore. They get on the front foot and drive, and they cut and pull nowdays. You tame the best bowling the opposition has to offer by hitting it over the boundary, or preferably, over it. You don’t contain the attack, but subjugate and humiliate it.

Military forces no longer build their ‘Maginot Lines’, or their ‘Hadrian’s Walls’. They go to the place where the enemy is and take them out. They seek to destroy their enemy.

Context

God has thus far only engaged in ‘containment’ operations. That’s all that God has really done since Genesis Chapter 3. It sounds funny to say that the global catastrophe of the flood was only a ‘containment’ operation, but the Bible accounts of what followed the flood—and indeed, the account of the flood itself—shows us that this is all that it was.

Humans have spread out over God’s world, just like God said, and whether they wanted to or not. God made sure of that. But everywhere they’ve gone, they've taken their sin with them. Sin has spread, like a cancer. Everywhere they go they infect it with their sin. So God has conducted various operations to contain and restrain sin.

First, he has brought death into his world. Sinful humans cannot reach out and take from the tree of life. This restrains their sin because they cannot go on sinning. They die.

Then, second, God marked the murderer, Cain. Further bloodshed would not be added to his murder.

Third, God sends the flood. It seems total, from the perspective of that generation. It is only when Noah, the man of rest, provides a rest-giving sacrifice, that God’s deep indignation at human sin is appeased. But the humanity that leaves the ark has the same problem as the humanity that died outside of it, and even the humanity that entered it—“for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen 8:21 ESV, cf. 6:5).

Fourth, at Babel, God sends different languages. And this prevents humanity gathering together against God. God saw that it is better to divide humanity with languages than have them united in their anti-God agenda.

But we might call all these measures ‘reactive’ and ‘defensive’. God is only seeking to curb the excesses. God has irradicated only the worst, and only for a time. It’s like weeding the lawn: pretty soon, all those weeds will be back, and have brought friends.

But today’s Bible reading shows that Yahweh has a positive agenda. And with Abram, Yahweh goes on the front foot. Yahweh always planned to do good to his world, not merely limit sin (Gen 3:15). And we see the shape that this good will take. It involves him working through one man, Abram the Hebrew, and his seed. And it will result in blessing for the whole world.

Abram the Semite (Gen 11:26-31)

The three sons of Noah have been exceedingly fruitful. They have filled the earth with nations of people after the flood. But Noah’s blessings and cursings also give us a heads up.

Ham’s sexual indiscretion will work itself out through his son Canaan. His line is unpromising. Sodom and Gomorrah, who are descended from him, will turn sexual indiscretion into abomination (Gen 19).

Rather, Noah’s blessing tells us that Shem is the blessed line. Shem is said to have Yahweh as his God. Japheth is blessed through Shem. And Canaan will be servant to Shem. (Gen 9:25-29)

But not only does Genesis tell us about the family of nations that came from Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Gen 10:1-32), but it also follows one particular line through Shem down to Terah (Gen 11:10-26).

And then we find another ‘Toledot’. What did Terah produce? Chapter 10 verse 27, Terah produced Abram, one of three sons. It is through Abram that the seed of the woman will come.

Now, at first glance, Abram’s family does not look very promising. First of all, Haran, Abram’s brother dies before time (Gen 11:28). Second, we learn Sarai, Abram’s wife, was barren and had no child (Gen 11:29-30). And third, Terah made an effort to take his family to the land of Canaan, but stopped short (Gen 11:31). Abram under Terah only got as far as Haran.

We can add some other things to this that other parts of the Bible informs us. First, Acts 7:2-4 tells us that Abram received the call while still in Ur.

7:2 […] The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 7:3and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ 7:4Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. (Acts 7:2-4 ESV)[1]

That is, God actually chose Abram and told him while he was in Ur in Mesopotamia to go to Canaan (cf. Gen 15:7; Neh 9:7), but under Terah his father, Abram only made it to Haran, even though God told them to go all the way. Terah only got them part way there. Partial obedience is what we see under Terah.

Second, who was the family of Terah worshipping while in Ur? Joshua Chapter 24 verses 2 and 3 tell us this:

24:2 […] Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. 24:3Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. (Josh 24:2-3 ESV)

Idol worshipping, barren, short-lived, partially obedient. It is not a particularly promising start.

The Precepts and the Promise (Gen 12:1-3)

Nevertheless, Yahweh is intent on blessing his world. And God will do it his way. Genesis chapter 12 verses 1 to 3:

12:1Now the LORD said [cf. NIV “had[2] said”] to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 12:2And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing [literally, it’s a command, ‘be a blessing’]. 12:3I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed [or ‘they will bless themselves’].” (Acts 12:1-3 ESV)

The Precepts: Abram’s Great Commission

Abram is commanded to do two things. The first is to ‘go’. He must walk away from Haran. He must leave his father’s land and house. This involves trusting God, that God will look after him. And that’s exactly what Abraham did. It was ‘by faith’ that Abraham went. Even though he didn’t know where he was going. Hebrews 11:8:

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. (ESV)

The second thing he was told to do was to ‘be a blessing’. The Revised Version of 1885, probably the most literal of all English translations, has the rendering, ‘be thou a blessing’, that is, ‘you be a blessing’. ‘Be a blessing’ is the most accurate translation. [3]

God has decided to bring blessing to the earth once again. And he has chosen Abram to be the mediator of those blessings. He must go and bring those blessings to God’s world.

And as we look at the story of Abram, we will see how he goes at being the blessing that God has called him to be.

And in this Abram is similar to every Christian. Abram received a great commission. Go and be a blessing. And you and I, through the apostles, have received a commission. They have taught us to obey this commission, as given by our common Lord. What is our commission? Going into all the world, we are commanded to disciple all the nations, baptising them into the Trinity, and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus commanded the apostles. Abram was commissioned to go and be a blessing. And we are commissioned to go and make disciples.

The Promises: Nation, Offspring, Blessing

But Abram was also sent off with precious promises. Yahweh made promises to him that he will fulfil.

The first set of promises relate to Abram ‘going’. Abram is to go to the land that God will show him. And Abraham is shown the land because his descendants, his seed, will inherit the land. He will only ever be an alien and a stranger in it. But his seed will inherit it.

(1) Make You A Great Nation (v. 2)

God says, “I will make of you a great nation.” Abram and Sarai will not remain childless. Despite the fact that they are 75 and 65 respectively when they set out from Haran, they will have the joy of parenthood. To have many, they must have at least one, and then that one must become many. And this is what God promises Abram.

We who’ve read the story know it won’t happen straight away. Yahweh will make them wait another 25 years. When each of them hears the promise re-iterated, both will laugh (Gen 17:17; 18:11-13). It is impossible, they think. Their bodies are dead. And they will only see the promises at a distance.

But God is the God who makes the impossible possible. God will bring life to the dead and call the things not being as being (Rom 4:17). Abram will have descendants. They are called ‘seed’, singular. They will come from his body and Sarai’s body. Yahweh re-iterates this promise in many different ways.

• Genesis 12:7: To your offspring [literally, ‘seed’] I will give this land. (NIV)

• Genesis 13:15-16: All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring [lit, seed] forever. 16 I will make your offspring [lit, seed] like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. (NIV)

• Genesis 15:4-5: a son coming from your own body will be your heir … Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. … So shall your offspring [lit, seed] be. (NIV)

• Genesis 15:18: To your descendants [lit, seed] I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates… (NIV)

• Genesis 17:8: The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants [lit, seed] after you (NIV)

• Genesis 18:18: Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation (NIV)

• Genesis 22:17: I will surely bless you and make your descendants [lit, seed] as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. (NIV)

I’d like us to note three things.

First, there is an intertwining of the promise of land with the promise of people. The great nation will need somewhere to live. And that land will be Canaan.

Second, the word ‘seed’ in all these examples is singular. Now, undoubtedly it is a collective singular. But it is also singular. And Paul speaks about this. Galatians 3:16:

The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “and to your seed,” that is, Christ. (NASB)

The seed is first ‘one’, singular. That is, the first reference of the seed is to the serpent crusher. After all, we’ve been looking for the seed of the woman, ever since Genesis 3:15. The ‘seed of Abraham’ is also the ‘seed of the woman’ we’ve been looking for. But it is a collective singular. The many are located ‘in Christ’. So Paul says in Galatians 3:29: “If you (plural) belong to Christ, then you are the seed of Abraham, heirs according to promise.” Together, as a collective, we are the seed, because we are in Christ.

Third, notice that the seed becomes great, like the dust of the earth, the sand of the seashore, and the stars of the sky. It is one seed, but there are many making it up. It is one body, but many members constituting it. It is one building, but also many living stones built into a spiritual house.

(2) Make Your Name Great (v. 2)

God promises Abram that he, God, will make his, Abram’s, name great. Abram will have a great name. And I guess this is true. After all, here we all are, talking about Abram, writing Bible studies and books about Abram, buying and reading and studying about Abram, 4000 years after he lived. That will almost certainly not happen to you, me, or probably anyone else who is alive at the moment. Abram’s famous!

Humans have already wanted to make a name for themselves. They built a tower at Babel for that purpose. But it is important to note here that God is not opposed to making a human’s name great. It is just that the making great of that human name must be done God’s way, and with the name of his choosing.

Abram’s name will be so great that God will change it to make it even bigger. In Chapter 17, God adds a multitude into it. Abram’s name before God changes it means something like ‘exalted Father’. But Yahweh turns it into ‘exalted father of a multitude’ (Gen 17:5). Abraham will be the father of a multitude of nations.

Father Abraham had many sons. Many sons had father Abraham. I am one of them and so are you." We are part of the multitude that looks to Abram as our father in faith. And so we consider his name great.

(3) I Will Bless You (v. 2)

The second set of promises relate to Abram’s commission to be a ‘blessing’ (v. 2). God promises that Abram will be blessed. He promises those blessing Abram will be blessed. He promises those cursing Abram will be cursed. And he promises that the whole world will be blessed through Abram.

Yahweh promises to bless Abram. He will be blessed by receiving a son, though it’s a long wait. But we also see this in that Abram is a wealthy man. He grows rich because of and sometimes in spite of the way he treats others.

So in our reading, Abram deceives Pharaoh about Sarai’s true identity (Gen 12:10ff). And he accumulates lots of property as a result (Gen 12:16, cf. 13:2). But though Abram benefits from his terrible behaviour, it is hard to see how he is actually fulfilling his commission to be a blessing to the nations. And he doesn’t learn his lesson, but does the same thing to Abimelech in chapter 20. And as a result he gets a thousand pieces of silver (Gen 20:16). Abram deceives his neighbour, yet still gets richer. It is a blessing indeed. Abram sins, and gets blessed. And sadly the sins of the father are visited on the son in the similar behaviour of Isaac in chapter 26.

However, Abram is also blessed in the midst of his righteous acts. In chapter 13, Lot and Abram could have a quarrel. But Abram graciously gives Lot the first choice of the best land (Gen 13:9). But it is Abram who ends up rich. It is Lot who ends up fleeing Sodom with nothing and living in a cave.

(4) I Will Bless Those Who Bless You (v. 3)

We also see Yahweh blessing those who bless Abram. Lot is blessed for as long as he stays near Abram. When he separates, he doesn’t do so well.

We see how Melchizedek in chapter 14 blesses Abram (Gen 14:18-19). He comes out with bread and wine to refresh Abram and his men. And he leaves with a tithe of the plunder. We see how the Canaanite nobles who are allied with Abram are blessed. Even the king of the wicked city, Sodom, is blessed through Abram. He receives all his people and property back, even though he lost the battle himself. And so we see kings like Melchizedek seeking to enter into treaties with him (Gen 21:22ff).

(5) I Will Curse Those Who Curse You (v. 3)

We observe that Yahweh is also a shield around Abram. Even when he endangers the promise, by putting his wife in the harem of foreign kings, God is still protecting him. Yahweh will allow nothing to threaten his promises. When he goes to battle against 5 kings, he slaughters them and wins the victory. A feat that four kings could not do.

(6) All Nations On Earth Will Be Blessed Through You (v. 3)

But the greatest promise of all that Yahweh makes is the last one: "All nations on earth will be blessed through you." Yahweh is concerned for the whole earth. And he will bring blessing to all the nations that have spread out after the flood and that he has scattered from Babel. The promise is re-iterated in a few places:

• Genesis 17:3: You will be the father of many nations. (NIV)

• Genesis 18:18: and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. (NIV)

• Genesis 22:18: and through your offspring [lit, seed] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me (NIV)

Abram will be the means of blessing. Throughout chapters 12 to 25, we see glimpses of how Abram is a blessing to the nations. In Chapter 14, Abram is a warrior who saves Lot and rescues the city of Sodom. In Chapter 20, Abram is a prophet who prays for the Abimelech’s harem and restores their fertility.

But we notice that towards the end of Abraham’s story, the emphasis falls on the blessing that Abraham’s seed will bring.

Genesis 22:18: and through your offspring [lit, seed] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me (NIV)

Through his obedient offering of his Son as a sacrifice, all nations on earth will be blessed. But now the accent falls on Abram’s seed. The seed of Abram will be the blessing to the nations. And this is picked up in Galatians chapter 3.

The scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you”. (Galatians 3:8 NIV)

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree”. He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (Galatians 3:13-14 NIV)

All the nations of the world are blessed through Abram’s seed. That is Jesus Christ. And the blessing is justification by faith. We receive the forgiveness of sins through the removal of the curse of the law. We receive the blessing of the Spirit who comes to all who put their faith in Christ. That is Jesus Christ lived the life we should have lived, died the death we deserved to die, and rose again defeating our enemy death. By faith in him, all the promises made to Abraham come to us. For whatever promise God has made, they are all yes in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 1:20).

Let’s pray.

Footnotes

[1] A further problem is that ‘after 70 years’ Terah becomes the father of ‘Abram, Nahor and Haran’, but he dies at age 205, and Abram leaves at Terah’s death when Abram is 75. The solution is possibly that Abram is listed first not because he is the oldest son but because of his prominence in the narrative, not because he is oldest. Conceivably, Abram was born when Terah was 130 years old. See D G Peterson, Acts: Pillar, 272

[2] Gen 15:7; Acts 7:2-4; Neh 9:7 explains the NIV’s pluperfect. A literal translation of the MT reads: ‘“Go [impv] concerning yourself (s) from your (s) land (eretz) and from your (s) begetting and from the house of your (s) father unto the land [eretz] which I will show you (s)12:2And I will make you (s) for a great nation [goy],

And I will bless you (s), And I will make great your (s) name, And be [impv] a blessing 12:3And I will bless [the] ones blessing you (s),And [the] ones cursing you (s) I will curse, And they will bless themselves in you all the clans of the world [adamah]’. In favour of Abram receiving this in Ur is that he is told to leave ‘the land of his begetting’. That seems to imply his birth land.

[3] See P R Williamson, Sealed with an Oath: Covenant in God’s unfolding purpose, pp 78ff.

(3) Exegetical Notes

A question arises concerning the so-called 'Ancestral Mother in Danger' story here. Does Genesis 12:19 refer to Pharaoh having sex and consummating an adulteress marriage with Sarai, Abram’s wife?

We must first observe that the phrase in chapter 12 verse 19 that generally speaking the phrase does refer to taking a wife, and all that this entails.

However, there is a case to be made that suggests that in fact Sarah did not have sex with Pharaoh.

In 12:15, Sarai is said to be taken to the house of Pharaoh. This is not at the first instance a statement about the marriage, but about her location and the family into which she has been incorporated. Obviously this is with a view to ultimate consummation, but the question is, has the consummation occurred yet. Consider Esther, who entered the ‘house of the women’ of the king, but was not presented to the king for 12 months (Esther 12:2).

Then in 12:17, a literal translation of the occasion of the affliction upon the household of Pharaoh is that it occurs ‘upon the word of Sarai’. That is, it was Sarai who was calling the plagues upon him. It is certainly possible that Sarai was in the house of Pharaoh but had not been slept with by Pharaoh because she had called upon God to protect her, and God had sent the terrible afflictions on Pharaoh.

In 12:19 Pharaoh says in the Qal Perfect, ‘and I took her to myself for a wife/woman’. This generally would refer to a marriage. However, my argument requires that this be a statement in prospect and a prolepsis, that Pharaoh fully intended to realise but that was not realised because of the special person involved and indeed the extraordinary events preventing the consummation. It is rightly described as a case of 'special pleading', but there is a special reason for the special pleading—that Sarah could call plagues on Pharaoh, and that Sarah is the mother of the promised seed. This is a special situation that potentially qualifies the statement in verse 19, which would otherwise be a statement of a consummated marriage.

An ancient testimony to the view that Sarai was saved from Pharaoh’s sexual advances because "the king was unable to consort with her", is found in what is now known as Pseudo-Eupolemus, a pagan historian of the Jewish history, through Alexander Polyhistor, a fragment of which is found in Eusebius of Caesarea, Praeparatio Evangelica (Preparation for the Gospel). Tr. E.H. Gifford (1903) -- Book 9 online at http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/eusebius_pe_09_book9.htm accessed on 30 March 2018.

In Book 9 Chapter 17 Eusebius records this, the pertinent passage being:

But when there came a famine Abraham removed into Egypt with all his household, and dwelt there, and the king of Egypt took his wife in marriage, Abraham having said that she was his sister. He also related fully that the king was unable to consort with her, and that it came to pass that his people and his household were perishing. And when he had called for the soothsayers, they said that the woman was not a widow; and thus the king of Egypt learned that she was Abraham's wife, and gave her back to her husband.

The evidence of the parallel case in chapter 20 can be taken either way. One might reason from the silence of chapter 12 that Pharaoh actually slept with Sarai. One might reason from the parallel of the afflictions that both kings suffered that Pharaoh could not sleep with her.

(4) English Translation

11:27And these [are] the generations [toledot] of Terah. Terah begot Abram, Nahor and Haran And Haran begot Lot.

11:28And Haran died upon the face of Terah his father in the land of his begetting in Ur of [the Chaldeans.

11:29And Abraham and Nahor took to them[selves] wives, a name to the wife of Abram ‘Sarai’ and a name to the wife of Nahor ‘Milcah’, daughter of Haran father of Milcah and father of Yiscah.

11:30And Sarai was barren. There was not to her offspring.

11:31And Terah took Abram his son and Lot [the] son of Haran [the] son of his son and Sarai his daughter-in-law wife of Abram his son and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to walk the land of Canaan And they came unto Haran And they dwelt there.

11:32And the days of Terah were five years and a hundred year[s] And Terah died in Haran.

12:1And YHWH said to Abram “Go [impv] concerning yourself (s) from your (s) land (eretz) and from your (s) begotting and from the house of your (s) father unto the land [eretz] which I will show you (s).

12:2And I will make you (s) for a great nation [goy], And I will bless you (s), And I will make great your (s) name, And be [impv] a blessing.

12:3And I will bless [the] ones blessing you (s), And [the] ones cursing you (s) I will curse And they will bless themselves in you all the clans of the world [adamah].

12:4And Abram went/walked Just as YHWH spoke unto him And Lot went/walked with him, And Abram son of five years and seventy year[s] When he went out from Haran.

12:5And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot son of his brother and all their acquisition which they acquired and the soul/life which the made in Haran And they went out to walk/go [to the] land of Canaan And they came in to the land of Canaan.

12:6And Abram crossed over into the land as far as the place of Shechem as far as the terebinth of Moreh And the Canaanites at that time [were] in the land.

12:7And YHWH appeared unto Abram, And he said, ‘To your (s) seed (s) I will give this land (eretz)’ And he built there an altar to YHWH, the one who appeared unto him.

12:8And he moved from there, the mountain from the east, to the house of God [Beth-el] And he stretched out a tent [at] the house of God [Beth-el] from the sea and the Ai from the east. And he built there an altar to YHWH. And he called [on] the name of YHWH.

12:9And Abram pulled up to walk and to pull up [to] the Negeb.

12:10And a famine came about in the land (eretz), And Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, For heavy was the famine the earth (eretz).

12:11And it came about just as he brought near to come in to Egypt, And he said unto Sarai his wife ‘Look, please, I know a woman beautiful of appearance [are] you (s).

12:12 And it will come about that the Egyptians will see you (s) And they will say ‘this is his woman’ And they will kill me And you (s) they will preserve alive.

12:13 Say [impv], please, ‘my sister you (s) [are], So that it will be well/good for me on account of you [doing] [this] And my soul will live because of you.

12:14And it came about when Abram came in to Egypt And the Egyptians saw the woman That very beautiful is she

12:15And the sarais [chiefs] of Pharaoh saw her And they praised her to Pharaoh And the woman was taken to the house of Pharaoh.

12:16and to Abram he was good on account of her And it came about to him flock and herd and male asses and male slaves and maid servants and female donkeys and camels.

12:17And YHWH struck/plagued Pharaoh great strokes/plagues Upon word/account/matter of Sarai wife of Abram.

12:18And Pharaoh called to Abram And he said, “What is this you have done to me? For what reason did you not declare to me, that your wife is she?"

12:19 "For what reason did you say, ‘my sister [is] she’. And I took her to me for a wife And now, look, your wife, take [impv] and go [impv]".

12:20 And Pharaoh commanded upon him men And he sent him away and his wife and all which belonged to him.

13:14-18: Re-iteration of the promise.

13:14[fronted renominalisation with X-qatal] And YHWH said unto Abram after he divided from Lot [being] with him: Lift [impv], please, your (s) eyes And see [impv] from the place which you [s] [are] there to the north and the south [negeb] and to the east and to the sea [west]

13:15 Because all the earth [eretz: fs] which you [are] seeing, to you (s) I will give it {fs} and to your (s) seed until forever.

13:16 And I will set your (s) seed like dust of the earth [eretz], which, if you are able each to count the dust of the earth, also your seed (s) will be counted.

13:17 Arise [impv] Walk to and fro in the earth (eretz: fs) for it’s length and it’s breadth, For to you [s] I will give it [fs]

13:18And Abram pitched his tent And he came in And he dwelt at the Terebinth of Mamre which is in Hebron And he built there an altar to YHWH.

14:18-23: Melchizedek

14:18 And the King of righteousness, King of Salem [peace] brought out bread and wine And he [was] priest of God most high.

14:19And he blessed him and he said, ‘blessed [be] Abram to God most high, getting heaven and earth [who gets or buys heaven and earth? Isn’t it Abram, even though most of the EVV say God]

14:20 And blessing [be] God most high who delivered your [s] adversaries into your hand And he gave to him a tenth part from all.

14:22 And Abram said unto the King of Sodom I have raised my hand unto YHWH God most high, getting heaven and earth.

14:23 If from a thread and unto a thong of a sandal And if I will take from all which belongs to you [s] And you will not say I made rich Abram Except only which the lads ate And the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eschol and Mamre They will take their portion.

15:1-6: Abram's Faith Righteousness

15:1 After these words, the word of YHWH came to Abram in a vision, saying Do not fear Abram I am a shield to you Your wages (Hebrew shaker, Gk misthos; cf Romans 4:5) will be made very many.

15:2And Abram said, ‘My Lord YHWH, what will you give to me, and I am walking to and fro stripped, and the son of acquisition of my house, he is Damascus Eliezer.

15:3And Abraham said, look, to me you have not given a seed, And behold, the son of my house is possessing/inheriting it.

15:4And behold, a word of YHWH [came] unto him, saying: ‘this [one] will not inherit/possess you (s) For someone who [is] going out from your innards, he will possess/inherit you (s)

15:5And he caused him to go outside and he said, Look, please[impv] at the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them. And he said to him Thus will be your [s] seed [s]

15:6And he believed in YHWH and he credited/reckoned it to him righteousness.

17:1ff Covenant of Circumcision

17:1And when Abram was a son ninety years and nine years, YHWH appeared unto Abram and said unto him, I am El Shadai [God almighty] Walk to and from before me and be/become complete/whole/blameless/a person of integrity/without blemish

(tamim: used of Noah Gen 6:9 and unblemished animals: eg Ex 12:5, 29:1. It is what Israel was called to be (Deut 18:13) and it is what YHWH is (Deut 32:4). Israel’s true worship of YHWH required getting rid of idols (Josh 24:14) and it is what David claimed he had (2 Sa 22:24)

17:2I, look, my covenant with you, and you will become for a father for an abundance of nations (goyim)

17:3And your name will not be called Abram, And your name will be Abraham, for a father of an abundance of nations I will make you (s)

17:6And I will make you fruitful very very much, And I will give/grant/set you [for] nations, and kings will go out from you

17:7And I will raise my covenant between me and between you (s) and between your (s) seed (s) after you for generations for a covenant of eternity to come to you (s) for God and for your seed (s) after you (s)

17:8I will give to you and to your seed after you the earth (eretz) of your sojourning, All the earth (eretz) of Canaan for a possession of eternity, And I will be for them for God.

17:9And God said unto Abraham, And you, my covenant you will keep, you and your seed (s) after you for their generations.

17:10 And this is my covenant that you (pl) between me and between you (pl) and between your seed (s) after you (s), all your males [are] to be circumcised for you (pl)

17:11And your (pl) flesh of your (mp) foreskin will be circumcised And it will be for a sign of the covenant between me and between you (pl)

17:12And sons of eight days will be circumcised for you, every male for your (mp) generations born of house and purchased of silver, from every son of a foreigner which is not of your (s) seed.

17:13He will surely be circumcised, born of your (s) house, purchased of silver, And my covenant will be in your (mp) flesh for a covenant forever/long duration.

17:15And God said unto Abraham You will not call Sarai your wife her name Sarai for Sarah (princess) [is] her name

17:16And I will bless her and also I will give from her for you a son, And I will bless her, And she will become for a nation And kings of people from her will be.

18:18-19: The Three Visitors

18:18And Abraham will surely become for a great nation and numerous, and all the nations (goyim) of the earth (eretz) will bless themselves in him,

18:19For I know him [EVVs, chosen], in order that he [lit, who] command his sons and his house after him And they will keep the way of YHWH to do righteousness and justice in order that YHWH might bring in upon Abraham all that he spoke upon him.

‘’“”—