The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV, page 24
11:6 nothing…withheld. They were so united that they would do all they desired to do.
11:7 let Us. See note on 1:26 (cf. 3:22).
11:8 scattered them abroad. God addressed their prideful rebellion at the first act. They had chosen to settle; He forced them to scatter. This account tells how it was that the families of the earth “were separated, everyone according to his language” (10:5) and “were divided on the earth after the flood” (10:32).
11:9 its name is called Babel. This is linked to a Heb. word meaning “to confuse.” From this account, Israel first understood not only how so many nations, peoples, and languages came about, but also the rebellious origins of their archetypal enemy, Babylon (cf. 10:5, 20, 31). scattered them. Because they would not fill the earth as God had commanded them, God confused their language so that they had to separate and collect in regions where their own language was spoken.
11:10–26 Shem…Abram. The genealogy of Shem (v. 10). Israel, upon hearing this section read, learned how the generation who survived the Flood related to their own father, Abram (v. 26), later known as Abraham (cf. 17:5). The shortening of lifespans was in effect.
11:14 Eber. Progenitor of the Hebrews (i.e., Eber’s descendants).
11:26 seventy years. The age that Terah began to father children. Abram was born later when Terah was 130 (ca. 2165 B.C.). Cf. 11:32 with 12:4.
11:27—25:11 The genealogy of Terah (v. 27).
11:27 Abram. The name means “exalted father.” Cf. 17:5.
11:28 Ur of the Chaldeans. A prosperous, populous city in Mesopotamia.
11:31 from Ur…to Haran. Cf. Acts 7:2–4; Heb. 11:8–10. Abram traveled along the Euphrates to Haran, a crossroads trading town in northern Mesopotamia or Syria, the best route from which to come down into Canaan and avoid crossing the great desert with all his people and animals (see 12:4).
Genesis 12
12:1–3 the LORD…to Abram. This passage is the promise whose fulfillment extends all through Scripture (either in fact or in expectation) to Rev. 20. The actual Abrahamic Covenant is introduced in 12:1–3, actually made in 15:18–21, reaffirmed in 17:1–21, then renewed also with Isaac (26:2–5) and Jacob (28:10–17). It is an everlasting covenant (17:7, 8; 1 Chr. 16:17; Ps. 105:7–12; Is. 24:5) which contains 4 elements: 1) seed (17:2–7; cf. Gal. 3:8, 16 where it referred to Christ); 2) land (15:18–21; 17:8); 3) a nation (12:2; 17:4); plus 4) divine blessing and protection (12:3). This covenant is unconditional in the sense of its ultimate fulfillment of a kingdom and salvation for Israel (see notes on Rom. 11:1–27), but conditional in terms of immediate fulfillment (cf. 17:4). Its national importance to Israel is magnified by its repeated references and point of appeal throughout the OT (cf. 2 Kin. 13:23; 1 Chr. 16:15–22; Neh. 9:7, 8). Its importance spiritually to all believers is expounded by Paul (see notes on Gal. 3, 4). Stephen quoted 12:1 in Acts 7:3.
Gen. 12:1
Abraham’s Journeys
12:1 To a land. Abram was still in Haran (11:31) when the call was repeated (Acts 7:2) to go to Canaan.
12:2 name great. Abram’s magnificent reputation and legacy was fulfilled materially (13:2; 24:35), spiritually (21:22), and socially (23:6).
12:3 I will curse him who curses you. Those who “curse” Abram and his descendants are those who treat him lightly, despise him, or treat him with contempt. God’s curse for such lack of respect and disdain was to involve the most harsh of divine judgments. The opposite was to be true for those who bless him and his people. in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Paul identified these words as “the gospel to Abraham beforehand” (Gal. 3:8).
12:4 Haran. See note on 11:31. They must have been there for some time because they accumulated a group of people (probably servants).
12:5 they came to…Canaan. Ca. 2090 B.C.
12:6 Shechem. A Canaanite town located in the valley between Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim (cf. Deut. 27:4, 12) W of the Jordan about 15 mi. and N of Jerusalem about 30 mi. Moreh was most likely a resident of the area for whom the tree was named. Canaanites were then in the land. Moses was writing approximately 700 years after Abram entered the land (ca. 1405 B.C.). The Canaanites, of whom he wrote, were soon to be the opponents of Israel as they entered Canaan.
12:7 I will give this land. Cf. 13:15; 15:18; 17:7, 8; Gal. 3:16. God was dealing with Abram, not in a private promise, but with a view toward high and sacred interests long into the future, i.e., the land which his posterity was to inhabit as a peculiar people. The seeds of divine truth were to be sown there for the benefit of all mankind. It was chosen as the most appropriate land for the coming of divine revelation and salvation for the world. altar to the LORD. By this act, Abram made an open confession of his religion, established worship of the true God, and declared his faith in God’s promise. This was the first true place of worship ever erected in the Promised Land. Isaac would later build an altar also to commemorate the Lord’s appearance to him (26:24, 25), and Jacob also built one in Shechem (33:18–20).
12:8 Bethel…Ai. Bethel, 7 mi. N of Jerusalem, was named later by Abraham (28:19). Ai was 2 mi. E of Bethel, where Joshua later fought (Josh. 7, 8).
12:9 toward the South. Abram moved toward the Negev into a less desirable area for raising crops but better for his vocation as a herdsman, perhaps engaging also in merchant activity.
12:10 a famine in the land. Famine was not an unusual phenomenon in Canaan; two other major food shortages also occurred during the patriarchal period (26:1; 41:56). The severity and timing of this one forced Abram, soon after his arrival and travel in the Promised Land (vv. 5–9), to emigrate to Egypt, where food was usually in abundant supply. Still holding to God’s promise, he did not return to Ur, though matters were extremely difficult (cf. Heb. 11:15).
12:11 woman…beautiful. At 65, she was still young and exceptionally attractive, being only half the age she was to be when she died (127). The patriarchs lived long; Abram was 175 when he died.
12:12, 13 Abram’s fear of Sarai’s being taken to Pharaoh’s harem and his being killed led him to disguise his true relationship to her (cf. 20:13). Abram sought on his own initiative to take care of his future, thinking to assist God in fulfilling His promises.
12:13 sister. This was a lying half-truth, since Sarai was Abram’s half-sister (20:12).
12:15 taken to Pharaoh’s house. Egyptian officials did take notice of Sarai and informed their monarch of her beauty. The result was not unexpected; she ended up in Pharaoh’s harem!
12:17 the LORD plagued Pharaoh…with great plagues. The separation of Abram and Sarai was critical enough to evoke the Lord’s personal and dramatic intervention. Abram engineered the ruse to protect himself (v. 13, “that I may live”) apparently without too much thought being given to Sarai; but God’s reaction focused upon the protection of Sarai (“because of Sarai”).
12:18, 19 What is this you have done to me?…take her and go. Somehow, and it remains unexplained, the plagues uncovered the deceit of Abram for Pharaoh. The monarch of Egypt humiliated Abram with his questions, showing more character than Abram gave him credit for and sending Abram out of his country.
12:20 sent him away. Abram’s lie brought him and his extended family to an ignominious exit from Egypt—one which the servants must have talked about among themselves, with some loss to Abram’s integrity and reputation in their eyes. See note on 13:9.
Genesis 13
13:1–4 Significantly, after the disastrous situation in Egypt, Abram journeyed back to where he had erected an altar and there he again worshiped (see 12:8).
13:5 flocks and herds. Wealth in the ancient world was measured, not by land owned, but by the size of one’s herds and the possession of silver, gold, and jewels (cf. v. 2; Job 1:1–3).
13:6, 7 Not unexpectedly, conflict occurred because of crowded conditions and limited grazing space. Both uncle and nephew had accrued much on the slow trip from Ur via Haran and Egypt to the Bethel/Ai region.
13:7 Perizzites. A Canaanite tribe. Cf. 34:30; Deut. 7:1; Judg. 1:4; 3:5, 6; 1 Kin. 9:20, 21; Ezra 9:1.
13:8 we are brethren. Abram’s whole reaction in resolving the strife between the two households and their personnel portrayed a different Abram than seen in Egypt; one whose attitude was not self-centered. Waving his right to seniority, he gave the choice to his nephew, Lot.
13:9 Is not the whole land before you? Abram gladly called on Lot to select for himself (vv. 10, 11) what he desired for his household and flocks. After Lot’s choice had been exercised, then Abram would accept what was left for him. Perhaps this did much to restore, in the eyes of the servants, Abram’s integrity and reputation (see note on 12:20).
13:10 before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. When Moses was writing (700 years after Abram came to Canaan) the devastation of that region had long before occurred by divinely initiated catastrophe (19:23–29), totally obliterating any evidence of its agricultural richness. like the garden of the LORD…like… Egypt. This two-fold appraisal of the Jordan Valley, with its meadows on either side of the river to which Lot was so strongly attracted, highlighted its lush and fertile nature. Moses, reading this to the Jews about to enter Canaan and likening it to the Garden of Eden, referred hearer and reader to God’s revelatory description of it (Gen. 2:8–15). Likening it to an obviously well known and well irrigated region of Egypt referred them to a place the Jews had likely known well in their sojourn in Egypt. Zoar. Cf. 4:2. A town located at the S end of the Dead Sea, whose name means “small place” (see 19:22).
13:11, 12 An excellent yet selfish choice, from a worldly point of view, but disastrous spiritually because it drew him into the wickedness of Sodom (v. 13).
13:13 the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked. Lot’s decisions put him in dangerous proximity to those cities whose names would become a byword for perversion and unbridled wickedness. Their evil is the theme of chap. 19.
13:14–17 With Lot gone, the Lord reaffirmed His covenant promise with Abram (Gen. 12:1–3). Strikingly and unmistakably, the Lord deeded the Land (v. 14—look in all directions, and v. 17—walk in all directions) in perpetuity to Abram and his descendants, whom He declared would be definitely innumerable (v. 16—as the dust).
13:18 the terebinth trees of Mamre. A distinctively large grove of trees owned by Mamre the Amorite (14:13) located ca. 19 mi. SW of Jerusalem at Hebron whose elevation exceeds 3,000 feet. built an altar. Cf. 12:7, 8; 13:4. He was devoted to the worship of God.
Genesis 14
14:1–12 Raiding, conquering, and making other kings and city-states subservient vassals were all part of the world of the Fertile Crescent in Abraham’s day. These locations mentioned range from Shinar in the east (the region of Babylon in Mesopotamia) to the region S of the Salt Sea (Dead Sea) to the Jordan Valley, to the land of Moab, SW of the Dead Sea to Mt. Seir (later Edom). Amalekites (see note on Ex. 17:8) did not yet exist in Abram’s time (cf. 36:12), but they did when Moses wrote. Amorites scattered throughout Palestine became Canaanites. Vassal states, when they thought they could throw off the yoke of their suzerain with impunity, rebelled by not paying the assessed tribute and waited for any military response. This time rebellion evoked a major military excursion by the offended suzerain Chedorlaomer and his allies (vv. 5–7); in the ensuing confrontation with Sodom and Gomorrah and their allies (vv. 8–10), the vassals miscalculated and they lost. Lot, by then a resident of Sodom, was taken captive.
14:10 Valley of Siddim. Perhaps this was the large peninsula that comes out into the Dead Sea from the eastern shore. In Abram’s time, it may have come all the way across to the western shore (near Masada), so the bottom third of the current Dead Sea formed this dry valley. asphalt pits. Tar pits which provided sealants for all sorts of uses.
14:13 one who had escaped. One of the survivors who had fled from the invaders to the mountains (v. 10) went further and located Lot’s uncle (the people knew who was related to whom). One as wealthy as Abram would not be hard to find, and was obviously thought to be one who could do something about the crisis which had affected his own close relatives. the Hebrew. For the first time in the biblical record, this ethnic appellation, “descended from Eber” (cf. 11:15–17), is accorded to Abram. Foreigners used it of Israelites and Israelites used it of themselves in the presence of foreigners (cf. 34:14; 40:15; 43:32). trees of Mamre. See note on 13:18.
14:14 trained servants. Abram’s private militia, members of his extended family (“born in his house”) totaling 318, were highly skilled bodyguards and the protective force for his possessions. These, together with the trained men of his allies (vv. 13, 24), were mustered and set off in pursuit of the military kidnappers, lest their captives be taken away to the E, to Shinar (the early name for Mesopotamia) or further E, to Elam.
14:15, 16 divided…attacked…pursued…brought back. A battle-wise Abram, no stranger to military strategy, pursued the enemy for over 150 mi. (N of Damascus) and defeated the marauding consortium, being totally successful in his objective.
14:17 the Valley of Shaveh. See note on 2 Sam. 18:18. The liberated king of Sodom went to meet Abram near Jerusalem.
14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem. The lack of biographical and genealogical particulars for this ruler, whose name meant “righteous king” and who was a king-priest over ancient Jerusalem, allowed for later revelation to use him as a type of Christ (cf. Ps. 110:4; Heb. 7:17, 21). His superior status in Abram’s day is witnessed 1) by the king of Sodom, the first to meet Abram returning in victory, deferring to Melchizedek before continuing with his request (vv. 17, 21) and 2) by Abram, without demur, both accepting a blessing from and also giving a tithe to this priest-king (vv. 19, 20). Cf. Heb. 7:1, 2. priest of God Most High. The use of El Elyon (Sovereign Lord) for God’s name indicated that Melchizedek, who used this title two times (vv. 18, 19), worshiped, served, and represented no Canaanite deity, but the same one whom Abram also called Yahweh El Elyon (v. 22). That this was so is confirmed by the added description, “Possessor of heaven and earth,” being used by both Abram and Melchizedek (vv. 19, 22).
14:20 Who has delivered your enemies into your hand. Credit for victory over a superior military coalition correctly went to the Sovereign Lord (El Elyon) and not to Abram’s prowess (see note at vv. 15, 16). To Melchizedek, and to Abram too, this amounted to true worship of the true God. a tithe. This is the first mention in Scripture of giving 10 percent (cf. 28:22). This 10-percent offering was purely voluntary, and may only have been a tenth of the best, not a tenth of the total (see note on Heb. 7:4). This tenth is not like the required tenths given to Israel in the Mosaic law (see notes on Num. 18:21–24; Deut. 14:22; 26:12).
14:21–24 If Abram acceded to the king of Sodom’s request, he would have allowed that wicked king to attribute Abram’s wealth to the king’s generosity, thus distorting the clear testimony of the Lord’s blessings on his life. To accept such payment would belie his trust in God! Such a personal commitment would not be foisted upon his allies, who could make their own decisions. As for his own servants, their meals taken from the spoils was sufficient compensation. Undoubtedly, the servants remembered their master’s reaction and testimony; it overcame much of the negative aspects in the memory of the earlier exit from Egypt (see 12:20).
Genesis 15
15:1 I am your shield. God served Abram as his divine protector (cf. Pss. 7:10; 84:9).
15:2 I go childless. In response to God’s encouragement and admonition (v. 1), Abram showed what nagged at him. How could God’s promise of many descendants (13:16) and of being a great nation (12:2) come about when he had no children? Eliezer of Damascus. To Abram, God’s promise had stalled; so adoption of a servant as the male heir—a well known contemporary Mesopotamian custom—was the best officially recognizable arrangement to make it come to pass, humanly speaking.
15:3–5 The question, “What will You give me?” (v. 2) became an accusation, “You have not given me!” (v. 3). The Lord’s rejection of Abram’s solution (v. 4) preceded God’s reiterated promise of innumerable descendants (v. 5).
15:5 Cf. Rom. 4:18.
15:6 believed…accounted…for righteousness. The Apostle Paul quoted these words as an illustration of faith over and against works (Rom. 4:3, 9, 22; Gal. 3:6; James 2:23). Abram was justified by faith! See notes on Rom. 4 and Gal. 3 for a fuller discussion of justification by faith.
15:7 to give you this land to inherit it. That a specifically identifiable land (see vv. 18–21) was intimately linked with Abram’s having many descendants in God’s purpose and in the Abrahamic Covenant was clearly revealed and, in a formal ceremony (vv. 9–21), would be placed irrevocably beyond dispute.
15:8 how shall I know that I will inherit it? A question not of veiled accusation at the delayed fulfillment but of genuine request for information and assurance. In response, God affirmed His covenant with Abram in a remarkable ceremony (vv. 9–21).
15:9, 10 cut them in two. The sign of ancient covenants often involved the cutting in half of animals, so that the pledging parties could walk between them, affirming that the same should happen to them if they broke the covenant (see Jer. 34:18, 19).
15:12 sleep. God put him to sleep, because the covenant did not involve any promise on his part. He would not walk through the pieces as a pledge (see v. 17).
15:13, 14 The words of God in the covenant ceremony assured Abram that his descendants would definitely be in the land, although a painful detour into Egypt would delay fulfillment until long after his demise. Cf. Acts. 7:6, 7.
15:13 four hundred years. This represents an approximated number which is precisely 430 years (cf. Ex. 12:40).
15:16 the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. A delay in judgment occasioned the delay in covenant fulfillment. Judgment on Egypt (v. 14) would mark the departure of Abram’s descendants for their Land, and judgment on the Canaanites (broadly defined ethnically as Amorites) would mark their entrance to that Land.
