Abram in Egypt
Genesis 12:10-20
Abram and his group move to Egypt to settle there for a while, because of a severe famine in Canaan. Now his wife Sarai was apparently a very beautiful woman ... so beautiful that the men of Egypt would kill her husband just to have her. So Abram, being the shrewd man that he is, suggests to his wife to pretend that she is his sister instead. That way, he won't be harmed by the Egyptians, and they'll treat him well.
When in Egypt, the Pharaoh hears of this beautiful woman called Sarai and takes a hold of her. He is so pleased with her that he rewards her "brother" Abram with plentiful livestock and servants. Not sure about Sarai, but Abram seemed to be having a field day there, despite being such a cuckold.
But the LORD would have nothing of this. So he inflicts the Pharaoh and his household with severe diseases. Then Pharaoh, realizing the truth, summons Abram and has a go at him for letting a king like him suffer. Then Pharaoh commands his men to send Abram away peacefully, with his wife Sarai and all their belongings.
This, to me, is the first really interesting account of Abram's life in Genesis. It actually resembles the story of Joseph combined with the story of the Exodus in many ways, which makes me think this story was used as a template for the more elaborate and later Joseph and Exodus stories. We see mention of a famine in Canaan, and the move to Egypt as a result. We also see Pharaoh's good treatment of the people of God. We then see divine inflictions thrown upon the Pharaoh and his people. We finally see the Pharaoh yield to the point of sending the enslaved away peacefully and with all the things they had acquired while in Egypt. All of this we see later in the "remake versions" of this story.
Now to briefly comment on the character of Abram in this story. This is obviously being said from a very modern perspective, but I personally think Abram was a bit of a douche for letting his wife possibly suffer like this for his own safety, and it's one of the few passages that show how lacking he was in empathy towards his wife. But at the same time, I can still somewhat understand why he felt this was the best way to go about doing things, since he suspected that the Egyptians would've killed him if they thought he was Sarai's husband.
Either way, we see the LORD teaches Pharaoh a lesson, showing him who's really God. And to the ancient Israelites, this would've been one illustration among many of how powerful and mighty God is compared to other men and gods, and thereby a reminder that only the LORD was worthy of worship.
Of course, what God did there was cruel and completely unwarranted. All he had to do was tell Pharaoh to give Sarai back to Abram without having to inflict diseases on him and his family, and the Pharaoh would've been intimidated enough to obey. That, or be a better guide to Abram and actually discourage him from putting his wife in this situation and reminding him that he's there to take care of them while in Egypt. But that's just me.
Genesis 12:10-20
Abram and his group move to Egypt to settle there for a while, because of a severe famine in Canaan. Now his wife Sarai was apparently a very beautiful woman ... so beautiful that the men of Egypt would kill her husband just to have her. So Abram, being the shrewd man that he is, suggests to his wife to pretend that she is his sister instead. That way, he won't be harmed by the Egyptians, and they'll treat him well.
When in Egypt, the Pharaoh hears of this beautiful woman called Sarai and takes a hold of her. He is so pleased with her that he rewards her "brother" Abram with plentiful livestock and servants. Not sure about Sarai, but Abram seemed to be having a field day there, despite being such a cuckold.
But the LORD would have nothing of this. So he inflicts the Pharaoh and his household with severe diseases. Then Pharaoh, realizing the truth, summons Abram and has a go at him for letting a king like him suffer. Then Pharaoh commands his men to send Abram away peacefully, with his wife Sarai and all their belongings.
This, to me, is the first really interesting account of Abram's life in Genesis. It actually resembles the story of Joseph combined with the story of the Exodus in many ways, which makes me think this story was used as a template for the more elaborate and later Joseph and Exodus stories. We see mention of a famine in Canaan, and the move to Egypt as a result. We also see Pharaoh's good treatment of the people of God. We then see divine inflictions thrown upon the Pharaoh and his people. We finally see the Pharaoh yield to the point of sending the enslaved away peacefully and with all the things they had acquired while in Egypt. All of this we see later in the "remake versions" of this story.
Now to briefly comment on the character of Abram in this story. This is obviously being said from a very modern perspective, but I personally think Abram was a bit of a douche for letting his wife possibly suffer like this for his own safety, and it's one of the few passages that show how lacking he was in empathy towards his wife. But at the same time, I can still somewhat understand why he felt this was the best way to go about doing things, since he suspected that the Egyptians would've killed him if they thought he was Sarai's husband.
Either way, we see the LORD teaches Pharaoh a lesson, showing him who's really God. And to the ancient Israelites, this would've been one illustration among many of how powerful and mighty God is compared to other men and gods, and thereby a reminder that only the LORD was worthy of worship.
Of course, what God did there was cruel and completely unwarranted. All he had to do was tell Pharaoh to give Sarai back to Abram without having to inflict diseases on him and his family, and the Pharaoh would've been intimidated enough to obey. That, or be a better guide to Abram and actually discourage him from putting his wife in this situation and reminding him that he's there to take care of them while in Egypt. But that's just me.
