Genesis 12:10
8 From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.
9 And Abram journeyed on toward the Negev.
Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.
11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman,
12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.
- KJV
- 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.
- WEB
- There was a famine in the land. Abram went down into Egypt to live as a foreigner there, for the famine was severe in the land.
- ASV
- And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was sore in the land.
- DARBY
- And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land.
- BLB
- And there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine [was] severe in the land.
- ÅB
- Så ble det hungersnød i landet; og Abram dro ned til Egypt for å oppholde seg der, for hungersnøden var stor i landet.
- OTB
- Det ble hungersnød i landet, så Abram dro ned til Egypt for å bo der en tid, for hungersnøden var hard.
- B1930
- Så blev det hungersnød i landet; og Abram drog ned til Egypten for å opholde sig der, for hungersnøden var stor i landet.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Genesis 43:1
Now the famine was still severe in the land.
Read in contextGenesis 26:1–3
Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.
Read in context2 Samuel 21:1
During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”
Read in contextGenesis 47:13
There was no food, however, in all that region, because the famine was so severe; the lands of Egypt and Canaan had been exhausted by the famine.
Read in contextJeremiah 14:1
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the drought:
Read in contextRuth 1:1
In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man from Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife and two sons, went to reside in the land of Moab.
Read in contextJohn 16:33
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”
Read in context2 Kings 7:1–8
Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says: ‘About this time tomorrow at the gate of Samaria, a seah of fine flour will sell for a shekel, and two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel.’”
Read in context