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:
11. thou art a fair woman ] According to Gen 17:17 (P), Sarai was 10 years younger than Abram; and from Gen 12:4 (P) Abram was at least 75 when he entered Egypt, and Sarai, therefore, 65. This kind of difficulty has led to explanations of a somewhat undignified character. The true explanation is that the ages of the patriarchs which belong to the brief and statistical narrative of P have no place in the narrative of J, in which Sarai is beautiful and childless (Gen 11:30).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 11. Thou art a fair woman to look upon] Widely differing in her complexion from the swarthy Egyptians, and consequently more likely to be coveted by them. It appears that Abram supposed they would not scruple to take away the life of the husband in order to have the undisturbed possession of the wife. The age of Sarai at this time is not well agreed on by commentators, some making her ninety, while others make her only sixty-five. From Ge 17:17, we learn that Sarai was ten years younger than Abram, for she was but ninety when he was one hundred. And from Ge 12:4, we find that Abram was seventy-five when he was called to leave Haran and go to Canaan, at which time Sarai could be only sixty-five; and if the transactions recorded in the preceding verses took place in the course of that year, which I think possible, consequently Sarai was but sixty-five; and as in those times people lived much longer, and disease seems to have had but a very contracted influence, women and men would necessarily arrive more slowly at a state of perfection, and retain their vigour and complexion much longer, than in later times. We may add to these considerations that strangers and foreigners are more coveted by the licentious than those who are natives. This has been amply illustrated in the West Indies and in America, where the jetty, monkey-faced African women are preferred to the elegant and beautiful Europeans! To this subject a learned British traveller elegantly applied those words of Virgil, Ecl. ii., ver. 18: –
Alba ligustra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur.
White lilies lie neglected on the plain,
While dusky hyacinths for use remain.
DRYDEN.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Quest. How could she be so fair, when she was above sixty years old?
Answ. She was so both comparatively to the Egyptians, and simply in herself, and that might be from divers causes:
1. From the greater vigour of nature in that age of the world.
2. Because her beauty was not diminished by child-bearing.
3. From God’s singular providence, ordering it thus for Abram’s trial, and for the manifestation of his special providence watching over him and his.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11-13. Sarai’s complexion,coming from a mountainous country, would be fresh and fair comparedwith the faces of Egyptian women which were sallow. The counsel ofAbram to her was true in words, but it was a deception, intended togive an impression that she was no more than his sister. His conductwas culpable and inconsistent with his character as a servant of God:it showed a reliance on worldly policy more than a trust in thepromise; and he not only sinned himself, but tempted Sarai to sinalso.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt,…. Just entering into it, having travelled from the mountain between Bethel and Hai, two hundred and forty miles p; or when he “caused to come near” q, either his camp, as Aben Ezra supplies it, or his tent, or his family, as others:
that he said unto Sarai his wife, behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon; though sixty five years of age, being ten years younger than her husband, see Ge 17:17 who was now seventy five years old, Ge 12:4 yet might still be a fair woman, having a good complexion and comely features, and having never bore children, and especially she would be reckoned so among the Egyptians, whose women were of a blackish, sallow, swarthy complexion.
p Travels of the Holy Patriarchs, c. p. 56. q “quum admoveret, sub tentorium”, so some in Vatablus “familiam”, Munster.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
11. He said unto Sarai his wife. He now relates the counsel which Abram took for the preservation of his life when he was approaching Egypt. Andy since this place is like a rock, on which many strike; it is proper that we should soberly and reverently consider how far Abram was deserving of excuse, and how he was to be blamed. First, there seems to be something of falsehood, mixed with the dissimulations which he persuades his wife to practice. And although afterwards he makes the excuse, that he had not lied nor feigned anything that was untrue: in this certainly he was greatly culpable that it was not owing to his care that his wife was not prostituted. For when he dissembles the fact, that she was his wife, he deprives her chastity of its legitimate defense. And hence certain perverse cavilers take occasion to object, (349) that the holy patriarch was a pander to his own wife; and that, for the purpose of craftily taking care of himself, he spared neither her modesty nor his own honor. But it is easy to refute this virulent abuse; because, it may indeed be inferred, that Abram had far higher ends in view, seeing that in other things, he was endued with a magnanimity so great. Again, how did it happen, that he rather sought to go into Egypt than to Charran, or into his own country, unless that in his journeying, he had God before his eyes, and the divine promise firmly rooted in his mind? Since, therefore, he never allowed his senses to swerve from the word of God, we may even thence gather the reason, why he so greatly feared for his own life, as to attempt the preservation of it from one danger, by incurring a still greater. Undoubtedly he would have chosen to die a hundred times, rather than thus to ruin the character of his wife, and to be deprived of the society of her whom alone he loved. But while he reflected that the hope of salvation was centred in himself, that he was the fountain of the Church of Gods that unless he lived, the benediction promised to him, and to his seed, was vain; he did not estimate his own life according to the private affection of the flesh; but inasmuch as he did not wish the effect of the divine vocation to perish through his death, he was so affected with concern for the preservation of his own life, that he overlooked every thing besides. So far, then, he deserves praise, that, having in view a lawful end of living, he was prepared to purchase life at any price. But in devising this indirect method, by which he subjected his wife to the peril of adultery, he seems to be by no means excusable. If he was solicitous about his own life, which he might justly be, yet he ought to have cast his care upon God. The providence of God, I grant, does not indeed preclude the faithful from caring for themselves; but let them do it in such a way, that they may not overstep their prescribed bounds. Hence it follows, that Abram’s end was right, but he erred in the way itself; for so it often happens to us, that even while we are tending towards God, yet, by our thoughtlessness in catching at unlawful means, we swerve from his word. And this, especially, is wont to take place in affairs of difficulty; because, while no way of escape appears, we are easily led astray into various circuitous paths. Therefore, although they are rash judges, who entirely condemn this deed of Abram, yet the special fault is not to be denied, namely, that he, trembling at the approach of death, did not commit the issue of the danger to God, instead of sinfully betraying the modesty of his wife. Wherefore, by this example, we are admonished, that, in involved and doubtful matters, we must seek the spirit of counsel and of prudence from the Lord; and must also cultivate sobriety, that we may not attempt anything rashly without the authority of his word.
I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon (350) It is asked whence had Sarai this beauty, seeing she was an old woman? For though we grant that she previously had excelled in elegance of form, certainly years had detracted from her gracefulness; and we know how much the wrinkles of old age disfigure the best and most beautiful faces. In the first place, I answer, there is no doubt that there was then greater vivacity in the human race than there is now; we also know, that vigor sustains the personal appearance. Again, her sterility availed to preserve her beauty, and to keep her whole habit of body entire; for there is nothing which more debilitates females than frequent parturition. I do not however doubt, that the perfection of her form was the special gift of God; but why he would not suffer the beauty of the holy woman to be so soon worn down by age, we know not; unless it were, that the loveliness of that form was intended to be the cause of great and severe anxiety to her husband. Common experience also teaches us, that they who are not content with a regular and moderate degree of comeliness, find, to their great loss, at what a cost immoderate beauty is purchased.
(349) “ Atque hinc latrandi materiam protervi quidam canes arripiunt.”
(350) “ An aggravation of Abraham’s alarm arose from the complexion of his wife, — ‘Thou art a fair woman.’ Though the Egyptian ladies were not so dark as the Nubians and Ethiopians, they were of a browner tinge than the Syrians and Arabians: we also find on the monuments that ladies of high rank are usually represented in lighter tints than their attendants…. There is ample evidence, that a fair complexion was deemed a high recommendation in the age of the Pharaohs. This circumstance, so fully confirmed by the monuments, is recorded in no history but the book of Genesis; and it is a remarkable confirmation of the veracity of the Pentateuch.” — Gliddon’s Ancient Egypt, quoted in Hengstenberg’s Egypt and the Books of Moses, p.200. It may here be proper to remark, that much learned labor has been expended by the Anti-supernaturalist Divines on the Continent, in the fruitless attempt to prove that the Pentateuch could not be the work of Moses, nor of the age in which he lived; and, consequently, not an inspired production. This has led to a deeper investigation of Egyptian antiquities, the result of which has been to confirm, in every possible way, the authenticity of the Mosaic records. Monuments as ancient as the times of Moses, and bas-reliefs exhibiting different characters, and persons engaged in different occupations, all show, that no writer of comparatively modern times could have composed these books. We have here an additional proof to many which had been given before, that a slight acquaintance with facts may lead to scepticism; but that deep investigation of them invariably confirms the testimony of Scripture. — See note at p. 316. — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(11-13) Thou art a fair woman.For the word yephath, rendered fair, see on Gen. 9:27. Though its general meaning is beautiful, yet there can be no doubt that the light colour of Sarais complexion was that which would chiefly commend her to the Egyptians; for she was now past sixty, and though vigorous enough to bear a son at ninety, yet that was by the special favour of God. As she lived to the age of 127 (Gen. 23:1), she was now about middle age, and evidently had retained much of her early beauty; and this, added to the difference of tint, would make her still attractive to the swarthy descendants of Ham, especially as they were not a handsome race, but had flat foreheads, high cheek-bones, large mouths, and thick lips. Twenty years later we find Abram still haunted by fears of the effects of her personal appearance (Gen. 20:2), even when living among a better-featured race. From Gen. 20:13 it appears that on leaving Haran Abram and Sarai had agreed upon adopting this expedient, which seems to us so strangely contrary to the faith which the patriarch was at that very time displaying. He abandons his birthplace at the Divine command, and starts upon endless wanderings; and yet, to protect his own life, he makes an arrangement which involves the possible sacrifice of the chastity of his wife; and twice, but for Gods interference, this painful result would actually have happened. Perhaps Abram may have depended upon Sarais cleverness to help herself out of the difficulty; but such a mixture of faith and weakness, of trust in God in abandoning so much and trust in worldly policy for preservation in a foreseen danger, cannot but make us feel how much of infirmity there was even in a character otherwise so noble.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Thou art a fair woman Sarai was sixty-five years of age when Abram left Haran, being ten years younger than he, but, considering the longevity of the patriarchs, we may assume that at that period of life she would retain much of her youthful beauty, appearing much as a woman of thirty in our time . To the more dusky Egyptians an Asiatic woman would appear especially beautiful . The Egyptians were not Negroes, as is shown by the monuments; they were tawny in color, with straight hair, and features more Asiatic than African, (Rawl. Herod., 2: 104;) but there was still a strong contrast between them and the true Asiatics, whose women might, therefore, appear to them very fair. Abram’s fear was by no means groundless, for the Egyptian monarchs were unscrupulous in exercising their despotic power for the gratification of their desires. But we here meet with a manifestation of unbelief and of a lack of sensitiveness in regard to the marriage tie on the part of the father of the faithful, which, to a Christian, is startling. But we must, as Kurtz observes, “Consider what Abram could gain by pretending that Sarai was merely his sister. If she had been introduced as his wife, any one who wished to possess her could only attain this by violence, which would have greatly endangered Abram’s life. But if she passed for his sister, it seemed probable that overtures would be made, and thus time, in this case the one thing requisite, be gained. Besides, he probably hoped that Jehovah, who had destined his wife to be the mother of the promised seed, would vindicate the honour of his promise.” But while the narrative furnishes a faithful picture of Abram’s struggle into true faith through the heathen corruptions which surrounded him, it teaches us also lessons of the divine discipline, and at the same time furnishes valuable incidental evidence of the impartial truthfulness of a history that so frankly sets down most humiliating truths concerning the father of the chosen people. Overawed by the splendours of the Egyptian civilization and by the absolute power of the Pharaohs, his faith in God’s power wavers, and he resorts to a prevarication for the preservation of his life, which it seems he had preconcerted with Sarai at the commencement of his wanderings. Gen 20:13. Sarai was, it seems by Gen 20:12, his half sister, daughter of his father by another mother, and he tells a half truth by calling her simply his sister, thus weakly exposing her to save himself . Of course, the sin was not so great as it would be under the Gospel or even the Mosaic law, but the course of Providence by which its weakness and wickedness was revealed to Abram is detailed for our instruction, while God’s forgiving tenderness is also set forth in his remarkable interposition to rescue Sarai from her peril . Abram reproved and punished, yet spared and forgiven, as one who yet walked in the twilight of revelation is thus trained for fuller manifestations of the divine will, and thus in his weakness as well as his strength in his sin as well as virtue becomes an encouragement and warning to his children, the heirs of faith . In judging of the magnitude of this sin we are to remember that Abram was everywhere encompassed by idolatry, and where there is idolatry there is always sensuality and falsehood. Such a lapse is not to be wondered at in one who breathed such a tainted air, although privileged to receive direct revelations from God. In fact, how truthful to human nature is this incident! how unlike the artificial virtue of legendary saints and heroes!
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And it happened that when he was on the verge of entering Egypt he said to Sarai his wife, “Look now, I know that you are a very beautiful woman. And when the Egyptians see you they will say ‘this is his wife’, and they will kill me and save you alive. I beg you, say you are my sister so that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you’.” ’
Sarai’s beauty must have been exceptionally outstanding for Abram to have this fear, for he would have had his retainers with him. But he has clearly heard rumours about the way Egyptians sometimes treated ‘foreigners’ and her beauty fills him with apprehension.
The Egyptians undoubtedly despised foreigners and saw themselves as ‘men’, and foreigners as mere ‘humans’, until they learned to speak Egyptian. Abram had nothing to judge the Egyptians by except hearsay for he knew nothing about Egypt except for what he had been told, but he knew that they were a powerful nation and famine would have left him and his retainers somewhat weak and frail. They were after all coming to beg for help.
Furthermore we learn later that this habit of describing Sarai as his sister was a policy he had settled on long before when he first ‘left his father’s house’ (Gen 20:13). The statement was true in terms of those days. She was in fact his half-sister (Gen 20:12). In fairness to Abram it must be recognised that while this was undoubtedly because he was concerned for his own life he also has in mind Sarai’s safety. He no doubt thought that if men killed him for his wife, his wife would become their plaything. But if they saw the opportunity of wooing Sarai respectably they may well treat Abram well with a view to a respectable marriage, giving them the opportunity to move on in safety.
The plan may have worked well elsewhere but here it misfired. What he could not have foreseen (because he was not familiar with great kings and their ways) was the policy of Pharaoh to have men constantly on the lookout for beautiful women for his harem.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 12:11. He said unto Sarai his wife, &c. “Sarai,” says Mr. Locke, “was then sixty-five, as Abram was seventy-five, she being ten years younger than he.””And though at this age,” Mr. Le Clerc observes, “the beauty of women is seldom very tempting; yet as in these ages they were longer-lived, so was their beauty more durable.” Her fair complexion too, it has been observed, might render her more amiable than the swarthy AEgyptians.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 12:11 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:
Ver. 11. Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman. ] And yet she was now sixty-five years of age; wherein she was a figure of “Jerusalem the mother of us all.” Gal 4:26 Son 1:15 ; Son 4:1 Sarai’s chief beauty was that of “the hidden man of the heart,” as saith St Peter. 1Pe 3:4 ; 1Pe 3:6 But outward beauty is very lovely and attractive. Plato calls it the principality of nature; Aristotle, a greater commendation than all epistles. And being asked whether beauty were amiable, he answered, That’s a blind man’s question. a The poet could say, Gratior est pulchro veniens in corpore virtus –
That virtue hath a better grace
That shineth from a beauteous face.
Howbeit, Seneca saith, he was out in that saying; for that virtue needs no ornament more than she hath of her own, but beautifies herself sufficiently, and consecrates the body, wherein she dwells. b But by the leave of so great a philosopher, I am of the poet’s mind; and although I grant that favour without grace is but a gold ring in a swine’s snout, as Solomon hath it, or ornamentum in luto , as another (so it was in Alcibiades for a man, and in Aurelia Orestilla for a woman), yet surely, where they meet, they make a happy conjunction, and draw all hearts to them, as in Germanicus (for a man), in whom beauty and virtue strove for precedency; and Artaxerxes Longimanus, the son of Esther, who is said to have been of all men the most beautiful and most bountiful. c So in Esther (for a woman), who “obtained favour in the sight of all that looked upon her”. Est 2:15 And Aspasia Milesia, the wife of Cyrus, who deserved to be styled , fair and wise, as Aelian relateth d As on the other side in Vatinius, deformity of body strove with dishonesty of mind, adeo ut animus eius dignissimo domicilio inclusus videretur , saith Paterculus.
a T .
b Ipsa magnum sui decus est, et corpus suum consecrat. – Sen., epist. 67.
c Salvian. Cuias praeter formam nihil nunquam, bonus laudavit. – Salust. K , . – Dio. Artaxerxes, omnium hominum pulcherrimus, ait Emil. Prob.
d Aelian Var. Hist. , lib. xii. cap. 1.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
a fair: Gen 12:14, Gen 26:7, Gen 29:17, Gen 39:6, Gen 39:7, 2Sa 11:2, Pro 21:30, Son 1:14
Reciprocal: Gen 20:2 – said Gen 20:13 – God 1Sa 21:12 – sore Pro 29:25 – fear Gal 2:13 – the other Gal 6:1 – overtaken