What happens when Abram follows the Lord’s call into Chanaan?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

Abram leaves Haran as commanded, receives the promise of land for his descendants, and builds altars to the Lord. A severe famine then takes him to Egypt, where his request to call Sarai his sister leads into the events involving Pharao and their departure.

Chapter breakdown

The Lord told Abram to leave his country, his relatives, and his father’s house for the land the Lord would show him. He promised to make Abram a great nation, bless him, make his name great, and have him be blessed. He would bless those who blessed Abram and curse those who cursed him. All the families of the earth would be blessed in Abram.

Abram left as the Lord commanded, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 when he left Haran. He took his wife Sarai, his brother’s son Lot, their gathered possessions, and the people they had acquired in Haran. They set out for Chanaan and arrived there. Abram passed through the country to Sichem, as far as the noble valley. The Chanaanite was then in the land.

The Lord appeared to Abram and promised to give this land to his descendants. Abram built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. He then moved to a mountain east of Bethel and pitched his tent with Bethel to the west and Hai to the east. There he built another altar and called on the Lord’s name. He continued towards the south.

A very severe famine came upon the land, so Abram went down to Egypt to stay there. As he approached Egypt, he told Sarai that she was beautiful. He said the Egyptians would recognise her as his wife, kill him, and keep her. This was Abram’s prediction of what would happen. He asked her to say that she was his sister so that he would be treated well for her sake and his life would be spared.

Challoner’s note explains the description “my sister.” He says it was not a lie because Sarai was Abram’s niece, the daughter of his brother Aran. He explains that Hebrew usage could therefore call her his sister, just as Lot is called Abram’s brother in Genesis 14:14. The note also directs the reader to Genesis 20:12. This explanation belongs to Challoner’s commentary.

When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was very beautiful. The princes praised her to Pharao, and she was taken into his house. Abram was treated well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

The Lord struck Pharao and his household with severe afflictions because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. Pharao summoned Abram and asked what he had done and why he had not said that Sarai was his wife. He asked why Abram had called her his sister, allowing him to take her as his wife. Pharao then told Abram to take his wife and leave. He gave orders to his men concerning Abram, and they led Abram away with his wife and everything he had.

The story inside

The Egypt episode distinguishes Abram’s prediction from the events the narrator records. The famine explains why he goes there. Before entering, he predicts that the Egyptians will kill him and keep Sarai if they know she is his wife. He asks her to use the description “sister,” seeking good treatment and survival. In the events that follow, the Egyptians see her beauty, the princes praise her, Sarai is taken into Pharao’s house, and Abram is treated well for her sake. The Lord’s severe affliction of Pharao and his household is explicitly connected to Sarai as Abram’s wife. Pharao’s questions return to that marriage: why was he not told? His order ends the episode with Abram, Sarai, and their possessions being led away. Challoner separately explains the kinship wording; that note should not be turned into invented details about Egyptian law or Sarai’s treatment in Pharao’s house.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The call has both a command and promises. Abram must leave his country, relatives, and father’s house, while the Lord promises a great nation, blessing, a great name, and blessing reaching all families of the earth. Abram’s departure “as the Lord had commanded” connects his action with that call. Keeping every promise shows the full scope of the opening.
2
The journey through Chanaan includes repeated worship. The Lord appears at Sichem and promises the land to Abram’s descendants; Abram builds an altar. Between Bethel and Hai, he builds another and calls on the Lord’s name. These concrete actions explain how the account joins travel with worship without adding sacrifices or claims that he already owned the land.
3
Careful attribution matters in the Egypt episode. Abram predicts that he will be killed; the narrator records Sarai being taken into Pharao’s house, Abram’s good treatment, the Lord’s afflictions, and Pharao’s order to leave. Challoner supplies the separate explanation of “sister.” Distinguishing these voices lets the reader follow what is feared, what happens, and what the commentary explains.

Test your recall

How does the famine lead to Abram’s request about Sarai, and what brings the Egypt episode to an end?

Show answer

The severe famine sends Abram and Sarai to Egypt. Near the border, Abram fears that the Egyptians will kill him to take his beautiful wife, so he asks her to call herself his sister. Sarai is taken into Pharao’s house, but God strikes Pharao and his household. Pharao confronts Abram, returns Sarai, and orders them to leave with their possessions. Challoner explains the sister wording as a Hebrew family usage; that explanation does not remove the conflict narrated here.

Quotes from Scripture

Exact Scripture quotations from the Douay–Rheims Bible, revised by Bishop Richard Challoner (1749–1752), the same edition used for these chapters. Source: Project Gutenberg no. 1581.

And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father’s house, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.

Genesis 12:1 · Douay–Rheims / Challonerpg1581.txt · lines 1340–1342

And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed.

Genesis 12:2 · Douay–Rheims / Challonerpg1581.txt · lines 1344–1345

I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and IN THEE shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

Genesis 12:3 · Douay–Rheims / Challonerpg1581.txt · lines 1347–1348

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 1335–1348
Genesis Chapter 12 The call of Abram, and the promise made to him. He sojourneth in Chanaan, and then by occasion of a famine, goeth down to Egypt. 12:1. And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father’s house, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. 12:2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed. 12:3. I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and IN THEE shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
Lines 1350–1360
12:4. So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot went with him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went forth from Haran. 12:5. And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all the substance which they had gathered, and the souls which they had gotten in Haran: and they went out to go into the land of Chanaan. And when they were come into it, 12:6. Abram passed through the country unto the place of Sichem, as far as the noble vale: now the Chanaanite was at that time in the land.
Lines 1362–1371
12:7. And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him: To thy seed will I give this land. And he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 12:8. And passing on from thence to a mountain, that was on the east side of Bethel, he there pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: he built there also an altar to the Lord, and called upon his name. 12:9. And Abram went forward, going and proceeding on to the south.
Lines 1373–1383
12:10. And there came a famine in the country: and Abram went down into Egypt, to sojourn there: for the famine was very grievous in the land. 12:11. And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife: I know that thou art a beautiful woman: 12:12. And that when the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say: She is his wife: and they will kill me, and keep thee. 12:13. Say, therefore, I pray thee, that thou art my sister: that I may be well used for thee, and that my soul may live for thy sake.
Lines 1385–1388
My sister.... This was no lie; because she was his niece, being daughter to his brother Aran, and therefore, in the style of the Hebrews, she might truly be called his sister, as Lot is called Abram’s brother, Gen. 14.14. See Gen. 20.12.
Lines 1390–1398
12:14. And when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman that she was very beautiful. 12:15. And the princes told Pharao, and praised her before him: and the woman was taken into the house of Pharao. 12:16. And they used Abram well for her sake. And he had sheep and oxen and he asses, and men servants, and maid servants, and she asses, and camels.
Lines 1400–1413
12:17. But the Lord scourged Pharao and his house with most grievous stripes for Sarai, Abram’s wife. 12:18. And Pharao called Abram, and said to him: What is this that thou hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? 12:19. For what cause didst thou say, she was thy sister, that I might take her to my wife? Now therefore there is thy wife, take her, and go thy way. 12:20. And Pharao gave his men orders concerning Abram: and they led him away and his wife, and all that he had.