--- title: "Genesis 12 - Study King James Bible with clarkes commentary" description: "Read Genesis 12 with clarkes commentary commentary. 1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 A" image: "/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg" url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/genesis/12" --- [ Read](/kjv/genesis/12)[ Commentary](/study/genesis/12)[ Interlinear](/interlinear/genesis/12) Audio 1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. 4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram *was* seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. 6 ¶ And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite *was* then in the land.* 7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. 8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, *having* Beth-el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. 9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.* 10 ¶ And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine *was* grievous in the land. 11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou *art* a fair woman to look upon: 12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This *is* his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. 13 Say, I pray thee, thou *art* my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee. 14 ¶ And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she *was* very fair. 15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16 And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels. 17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife. 18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What *is* this *that* thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she *was* thy wife? 19 Why saidst thou, She *is* my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take *her*, and go thy way. 20 And Pharaoh commanded *his* men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had. [Genesis 11](/study/genesis/11) [Genesis 13](/study/genesis/13) ## Commentary To verse 1 Verse [Genesis 12:1](/kjv/genesis/12/1). ***Get thee out of thy country*** — There is great dissension between commentators concerning the *call* of Abram; some supposing he had *two* distinct calls, others that he had but *one*. At the conclusion of the preceding chapter, [Genesis 11:31](/kjv/genesis/11/31), we find Terah and all his family leaving Ur of the Chaldees, in order to go to Canaan. This was, no doubt, in consequence of some Divine admonition. While resting at Haran, on their road to Canaan, Terah died, [Genesis 11:32](/kjv/genesis/11/32); and then God repeats his call to Abram, and orders him to proceed to Canaan, [Genesis 12:1](/kjv/genesis/12/1). Dr. Hales, in his Chronology, contends for *two* calls: "The first," says he, "is omitted in the Old Testament, but is particularly recorded in the New, [Acts 7:2-4](/kjv/acts/7/2-4): *The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was* (at Ur of the Chaldees) *in Mesopotamia*, BEFORE HE DWELT IN CHARRAN; *and* *said unto him, Depart from thy land, and from thy kindred, and* *come into the land* (γην, *a land*) *which I will show thee*. Hence it is evident that God *had* called Abram *before* he came to Haran or Charran." The SECOND CALL is recorded only in this chapter: "The Lord said (not HAD said) unto Abram, Depart from *thy* *land*, and from *thy kindred*, and from *thy father's house*, unto THE LAND, הארץ HA-*arets*, (Septuagint, Την γην), which I will show thee." "The difference of the two calls," says Dr. Hales, "more carefully translated from the originals, is obvious: in the former the *land* is *indefinite*, which was designed only for a *temporary* residence; in the latter it is *definite*, intimating his abode. A third condition is also annexed to the latter, that Abram shall now separate himself from *his father's house*, or leave his brother Nahor's family behind at Charran. This call Abram obeyed, still *not knowing whither he was going*, but trusting implicitly to the Divine guidance." ***Thy kindred*** — Nahor and the different branches of the family of Terah, Abram and Lot excepted. That Nahor went with Terah and Abram as far as Padan-Aram, in Mesopotamia, and settled there, so that it was afterwards called *Nahor's city*, is sufficiently evident from the ensuing history, see [Genesis 25:20](/kjv/genesis/25/20); [Genesis 24:10](/kjv/genesis/24/10); [Genesis 24:15](/kjv/genesis/24/15); and that the same land was *Haran*, see [Genesis 28:2](/kjv/genesis/28/2); [Genesis 28:10](/kjv/genesis/28/10), and *there* were Abram's *kindred* and *country* here spoken of, [Genesis 24:4](/kjv/genesis/24/4). ***Thy father's house*** — Terah being now dead, it is very probable that the family were determined to go no farther, but to settle at Charran; and as Abram might have felt inclined to stop with them in this place, hence the ground and necessity of the *second call* recorded here, and which is introduced in a very remarkable manner; לך לך *lech lecha*, GO FOR THYSELF. If none of the family will accompany thee, yet go for thyself unto THAT LAND *which I* *will show thee*. God does not tell him *what* land it is, that he may still cause him to walk by faith and not by sight. This seems to be particularly alluded to by Isaiah, [Isaiah 41:2](/kjv/isaiah/41/2): Who raised up the righteous man (Abram) *from the east, and called him to his* *foot*; that is, to *follow implicitly* the Divine direction. The apostle assures us that in all this Abram had spiritual views; he looked for a better country, and considered the land of promise only as typical of the heavenly inheritance. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com","name":"Real Bible Believers","description":"RBB","publisher":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/search?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/genesis/12#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/_app/immutable/assets/missing.C7wGMEZ6.jpg","width":672,"height":448,"caption":"Real Bible Believers"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/genesis/12#webpage","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/genesis/12","name":"Genesis 12 - Study King James Bible with clarkes commentary","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/genesis/12#primaryimage"},"author":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509"},"description":"Read Genesis 12 with clarkes commentary commentary. 1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 A","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/genesis/12#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/genesis/12"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/genesis/12#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study","name":"Study Bible"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary","name":"clarkes commentary"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/genesis","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/genesis","name":"Genesis"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"item":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/genesis/12","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/study/clarkes-commentary/genesis/12","name":"12"}}]},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#/schema/person/e966585dde703268e7f6ae890ea98509","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","contentUrl":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/android-chrome-512x512.png","width":512,"height":512},"logo":{"@id":"https://realbiblebelievers.com/#personlogo"},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/RBiblebeliever","https://www.facebook.com/RBibleBelievers"]}]} ```