And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite [was] then in the land.
6. the place of Shechem ] The word “place” is here probably used in the special sense of “sacred place” or “shrine,” as also possibly in Gen 22:4, Gen 28:11; Gen 28:16; Jos 5:15; Jer 7:12. It does not mean the “site” of what was afterwards known as Shechem.
Shechem (modern Nablus), one of the most ancient and important towns in the central hill country of Palestine, at the foot of Mt Gerizim, in a fair and fertile valley on the road leading northward from Bethel. For other passages in which Shechem plays an important part, cf. 34; Jdg 1:9; 1Ki 12:25. On the meaning of Shechem=a “shoulder” or “ridge,” see note on Gen 48:22.
unto the oak of Moreh ] Better, as marg., terebinth. The terebinth, or turpentine tree, is said at a distance to resemble the oak, but botanically it is of a different species; it does not grow in clumps. It is found in the S. and E. of Palestine in warm and sheltered spots; it often attains very considerable dimensions.
Moreh ] Cf. Deu 11:30; Jdg 7:1. In all probability Moreh is not a proper name, but the participle of the verb meaning to “teach” or “instruct,” whence comes also the substantive Torah, “law” or “instruction.” Probably we have here an example of one of the sacred trees under which, in primitive times, a priest, or seer, gave oracles and returned answers to devout questioners. If so, this terebinth may have been the famous tree mentioned elsewhere in connexion with Shechem: cf. Gen 35:4, Jos 24:26, and perhaps Jdg 9:37. “The terebinth of Moreh” will then mean “The terebinth of the oracle, or of the soothsayer.”
And the Canaanite was then in the land ] i.e. long before the conquest of Palestine. This clause reminds the reader, that the land promised to the seed of Abram was “then” in the possession of the Canaanites. It was not to be taken by merely encamping in it. Perhaps, also, the clause refers to the sacred tree. Abram recognized the sanctity of the spot in the old religious customs of the Canaanites; and here Jehovah manifested Himself. As the Canaanite was to yield to Israel, so the Canaanite religion was to make way for a higher Revelation. The reverence and awe of the unseen Deity were not to be banished, but to be purified and elevated for a higher worship.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gen 12:6
The Canaanite was then in the land
The Canaanite in the land
I.
THE CANAANITE IS IN THE LAND.
1. The present world, through which we are travelling, is in the hands of the enemies of God.
2. Yet this very earth is to be, one day, the possession of the saints.
3. Meanwhile, our position in it, as pilgrims, is one of privation and peril.
(1) We have spiritual foes, unseen, but ever watching against our souls.
(2) We find the Canaanite in ourselves, in our fleshly infirmities, natural appetites, and carnal propensities and cravings, not yet wholly subdued.
II. OUR DUTY OF ALLEGIANCE TO GOD IN THE LAND OF OUR SOJOURN.
1. Like Abraham, we must be inoffensive to the Canaanite in the land, biding our time.
2. We are not to refrain from common acts of courtesy and civility in intercourse with worldly men.
3. Yet we must so keep aloof from them, as to preserve the purity of our pilgrim separation.
4. We must openly worship in the midst of the enemys country.
5. In this spirit we are to pursue our pilgrimage. Conclusion:
1. This is not our rest.
2. Let us not covet worldly possessions.
3. Let our hearts be fixed on the final recompense of reward.
4. A word to the Canaanite. Are you content to stay in the land which you cannot long or finally possess? (T. G. Horton.)
State of the population of Canaan in Abrahams time
When Abraham was brought by the guidance of God into the land of Canaan, he found himself in the midst of population which could not be regarded as wholly alien. Nor do the inhabitants appear to have been of a character which would repel all intercourse. They had already abandoned, at least to a certain extent, their original pastoral and nomadic habits, and we find them gathered into cities, leaving the open country principally to the occupation of friendly strangers such as Abraham. Their civilization was, however, but little developed; for good and for evil they seem to have retained much of their primitive character. Where kings are mentioned, they approach more nearly to the patriarchal heads of tribes than to the barbarous despots of later days. We come across no traces of the fearful moral corruption that afterwards made the land spue out its inhabitants, except, indeed, in the wealthy and luxurious cities of the plain. There the degeneracy that was afterwards to bring the Divine judgments upon all the nations of Canaan had rapidly run its fatal course. But the rest of the land was still comparatively uncorrupted. Later on we find the numerous cities of the land, excluding such as were still held by the warlike and savage aborigines, loosely grouped into four main divisions. There are the Amorites, or Highlanders, a fierce people–apparently the furthest removed from the Canaanites proper–that dwelt in the mountains, from the Scorpion Range, south of the Dead Sea, to the hills of Judah. The Hittites are their neighbours, dwelling in the valleys, lovers of refinement at an early period, and living in well-ordered communities possessing national assemblies. The fertile lowlands by the course of the Jordan, and along the coast of the Mediterranean, are held by the Canaanites, who, as possessors of the choicest of the land and by far the best known by foreigners, often gave their name to the whole of the population of the country. These also were much more addicted to commerce than to war, in this resembling the fourth main division, the Hivites of the midland region, whose principal city seems to have been the flourishing, wealthy, but timorous Gibeon. (A. S.Wilkins.)
Abraham a witness for God
I. UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES DID ABRAHAM BEAR HIS WITNESS FOR GOD?
1. He did it as a stranger in a foreign land. It is emphatically said Of Abraham, that when he came unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh, the Canaanite was then in the land. When he first came among them, he came as a man who was utterly unknown. There was nothing whatever to introduce him, nothing whatever to give him authority and influence among them. He was a mere stranger, whose history, whose life, whose conduct was altogether strange.
2. But not only so: he was surrounded by wicked men. Abraham, then, bare his witness for God under the most unfavourable circumstances. He bare his witness where he was a stranger, where all that were around him were opposed to God, and enemies of that faith which he professed and that practice which he displayed. Let no man after this fancy that he will find an excuse in not witnessing for God by the difficulties of the circumstances in which he is placed.
II. OF WHAT DID HE BEAR WITNESS?
1. In the first place, he bare witness to the paramount importance of godliness. His chief thought was to testify that he was the servant of God; and the first thing he did after he pitched his tent was this–to erect an altar, and to call upon the name of the Lord. Oh! brethren, this was a testimony that godliness is profitable to all things, that it has the promise of the life that now is as well as of that which is to come. It was as much as to say, All my prosperity and all my success, all that I have gained and all that I have achieved, is absolutely nothing unless I am a servant of Almighty God.
2. Again: he was a witness to the love, the power, and the providence of God. He was a witness to these things in that he openly addressed himself to God.
3. Moreover, Abraham bare witness to His faithfulness. When was it that he erected his altar, and called upon the name of the Lord? Just when he had received His promise. God said unto Abraham, I will give thee this land; and Abraham builded an altar unto the Lord. He showed that he depended upon Gods promise.
4. But Abraham did more than merely witness to these general truths. Much indeed it was to witness to the importance of godliness; much to witness to a wondering and a hating world the love, the power, and the providence of God; much to bear witness to the faithfulness of His promise; but Abraham did more–he was a preacher of righteousness. He rejoiced to see the day of Christ, and he saw it, and was glad; and the great fundamental truths that lie at the very foundation of the scheme of mans redemption, were by his altar and by his prayer preached and proclaimed unto mankind. It is the duty, brethren, of every child of God to bear witness to the same truths; and exactly in proportion to any influence or authority we possess does the duty become more imperative, and the obligation upon us the more binding.
III. TO WHOM DID ABRAHAM BEAR WITNESS?
1. In the first place, he bare witness to the world around. He did not go amongst ungodly men, and hear the Master whom he served profaned, and think that he would keep his sentiments for another time; he bore his witness openly, boldly, undauntedly, in the face of day. And this is just the course that all of us, if we are sincere in our profession, are bound to pursue No man will give us credit for sincerity unless we do so.
2. Not only, however, did Abraham testify to the world around him, but he testified especially to the members of his own household. His own household partook most of the influence of that genial piety. Their ears it was that listened oftenest to the accents of his fervent prayers; their hearts gathered in the mild and holy effects of that blessed teaching, which taught them to took down the line of time for a sacrifice and atonement for their guilt. (H. Hughes, M. A.)
Shechem–Abrams first halting place in Canaan
The first place in Canaan where Abraham halted with his family and his household was at Shechem, near a celebrated oak tree. As we might have expected, the first recorded encampment of the patriarch is not without significance. Shechem is situated in the very centre of Palestine; it is in the Bible even called the navel of the land, and was the natural place of assembly for all the tribes of the country; the oak was, in the time of the Judges, still famous under the name of oak of sorcerers, and near it was a rich temple of the idol Baal-Berith; but the region in and around Shechem was even at that time still partly occupied by the heathens. Only by remembering these facts, our text will appear in its full and deep meaning. Abraham proceeded at once to the central town of the land intended as the future habitation of his descendants; a town obviously too important by its position to be left in the hands of the enemies; and there that promise of the land was for the first time made (verse 7). The place of the ancient tree, which so long witnessed superstitious and cruel rites, was hallowed by a Divine vision, and converted into a sacred spot; and at the side of the idolatrous temple rose an altar dedicated to the God of heaven and earth. Thus the facts related obtain a prospective and didactic force for which we have prepared the reader by some of the preceding remarks. Shechem, perhaps one of the oldest towns of Palestine, and in early times inhabited by the Hivites, is situated in a narrow but beautiful valley, between 1,200 to 1,600 feet wide, seven miles south of Samaria, not far from the confines of the ancient provinces of Ephraim and Manasseh, and in the range of the mountains of Ephraim, at the foot both of Mount Ebal and Gerizim, which enclose it north and south, which were themselves famous by early altars and sanctuaries, and were of the highest religious interest by the blessing and the curse proclaimed on them for the observance or the neglect of the Law. The town was not only important in the history of the patriarchs, but in the theocratical and political history of the Israelites; it was a city of refuge and a Levitical town; here Joshua delivered his last solemn address to all the tribes of Israel; it was, in the time of the Judges, the principal town of Abimelechs kingdom; here Rehoboam was proclaimed king, and promulgated to the delegates of the people his insulting policy; and when the ten tribes declared their independence of his despotic rule, it became the residence of the new empire. It was not unimportant in the time of the captivity, and became after its expiration the celebrated centre of the Samaritan worship, whose temple was only destroyed by John Hyrcanus (me. 129). In the first century of the Christian era it lay in ruins; but on its ancient site, or in its immediate vicinity, a new, though smaller town, Neapolis, was built, probably by Flavius Vespasianus; it was the birth place of Justin Martyr, and the seat of Christian bishops; although captured by the Moslems and the Crusaders, it suffered but little or temporarily; after several vicissitudes, which could not annihilate its prosperity, it fell finally into the hands of the Turks in A.D. 1242. (M. M. Kalisch, Ph. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 6. The plain of Moreh.] elon should be translated oak, not plain; the Septuagint translate , the lofty oak; and it is likely the place was remarkable for a grove of those trees, or for one of a stupendous height and bulk.
The Canaanite was then in the land.] This is thought to be an interpolation, because it is supposed that these words must have been written after the Canaanites were expelled from the land by the Israelites under Joshua; but this by no means follows. All that Moses states is simply that, at the time in which Abram passed through Sichem, the land was inhabited by the descendants of Canaan, which was a perfectly possible case, and involves neither a contradiction nor absurdity. There is no rule of criticism by which these words can be produced as an evidence of interpolation or incorrectness in the statement of the sacred historian. See this mentioned again, Ge 13:7.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Sichem; Heb. Sechem, a place afterwards so called in the mountains of Ephraim, Jos 21:21; Jdg 8:31, and here so called by anticipation.
The Canaanite is properly so called; that cursed, cruel, impious, and idolatrous nation: see Zec 14:21. This is added as an aggravation of Abrams faith and obedience, that he durst and did profess the true religion in the midst of such a people, which could not be without great danger both of his estate and life.
Was then in the land, as a settled inhabitant to continue there for a long time; whereas now in Mosess time he was forthwith to be expelled out of it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
6. the place of SichemorShechem, a pastoral valley then unoccupied (compare Ge33:18).
plain of Morehrather,the “terebinth tree” of Moreh, very common in Palestine,remarkable for its wide-spreading branches and its dark greenfoliage. It is probable that in Moreh there was a grove of thesetrees, whose inviting shade led Abram to choose it for an encampment.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Abram passed through the land,…. Entering the northern part of it, as appears by his going southward, Ge 12:9 he went on
unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh; the place afterwards called Shechem, from a prince of that name in the times of Jacob; and so it was called when Moses wrote, and therefore, by way of anticipation, calls it so here; it was about the middle of the land of Canaan, and the same with Sychar, a city of Samaria, in the times of Christ, Joh 4:5. Moreh was the name of a man, from whence the plain took its name, which was near Sichem; some render it the oak of Moreh e, perhaps the same with that in Ge 35:4 or a grove of oaks of that name; the Syriac and Arabic versions render it the oak of Mamre wrongly.
And the Canaanite [was] then in the land; in that part of the land where they were in Jacob’s time, see Ge 34:30 this land belonged to the posterity of Shem, but Canaan’s offspring seized upon it and held it, as they did in the times of Moses, but were then quickly to be removed from it; but now they were settled in it in Abram’s time, which was a trial of his faith, in the promise of it to his seed, as well as it was troublesome and dangerous to be in a country where such wicked and irreligious persons lived.
e “quercetum More”, Tigurine version, “quercum Moreh”, Pagninus, Montanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
On his arrival in Canaan, “ Abram passed through the land to the place of Sichem: ” i.e., the place where Sichem, the present Nablus, afterwards stood, between Ebal and Gerizim, in the heart of the land. “ To the terebinth (or, according to Deu 11:30, the terebinths) of Moreh:” (Gen 14:6) and are the terebinth, and the oak; though in many MSS and editions and are interchanged in Jos 19:33 and Jdg 4:11, either because the pointing in one of these passages is inaccurate, or because the word itself was uncertain, as the ever-green oaks and terebinths resemble one another in the colour of their foliage and their fissured bark of sombre grey. – The notice that “ the Canaanites were then in the land ” does not point to a post-Mosaic date, when the Canaanites were extinct. For it does not mean that the Canaanites were then still in the land, but refers to the promise which follows, that God would give this land to the seed of Abram (Gen 12:7), and merely states that the land into which Abram had come was not uninhabited and without a possessor; so that Abram could not regard it at once as his own and proceed to take possession of it, but could only wander in it in faith as in a foreign land (Heb 11:9).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Abram’s Devotion. | B. C. 1921. |
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.
One would have expected that Abram having had such an extraordinary call to Canaan some great event should have followed upon his arrival there, that he should have been introduced with all possible marks of honour and respect, and that the kings of Canaan should immediately have surrendered their crowns to him, and done him homage. But no; he comes not with observation, little notice is taken of him, for still God will have him to live by faith, and to look upon Canaan, even when he was in it, as a land of promise; therefore observe here,
I. How little comfort he had in the land he came to; for, 1. He had it not to himself: The Canaanite was then in the land. He found the country peopled and possessed by Canaanites, who were likely to be but bad neighbours and worse landlords; and, for aught that appears, he could not have ground to pitch his tent on but by their permission. Thus the accursed Canaanites seemed to be in better circumstances than blessed Abram. Note, The children of this world have commonly more of it than God’s children. 2. He had not a settlement in it. He passed through the land, v. 6. He removed to a mountain, v. 8. He journeyed, going on still, v. 9. Observe here, (1.) Sometimes it is the lot of good men to be unsettled, and obliged often to remove their habitation. Holy David had his wanderings, his flittings, Ps. lvi. 8. (2.) Our removes in this world are often into various conditions. Abram sojourned, first in a plain v. 6, then in a mountain, v. 8. God has set the one over-against the other. (3.) All good people must look upon themselves as strangers and sojourners in this world, and by faith sit loose to it as a strange country. So Abram did, Heb. xi. 8-14. (4.) While we are here in this present state, we must be journeying, and going on still from strength to strength, as having not yet attained.
II. How much comfort he had in the God he followed; when he could have little satisfaction in converse with the Canaanites whom he found there, he had abundance of pleasure in communion with that God who brought him thither, and did not leave him. Communion with God is kept up by the word and by prayer, and by these, according to the methods of that dispensation, Abram’s communion with God was kept up in the land of his pilgrimage.
1. God appeared to Abram, probably in a vision, and spoke to him good words and comfortable words: Unto thy seed will I give this land. Note, (1.) No place nor condition of life can shut us out from the comfort of God’s gracious visits. Abram is a sojourner, unsettled among Canaanites; and yet here also he meets with him that lives and sees him. Enemies may part us and our tents, us and our altars, but not us and our God. Nay, (2.) With respect to those that faithfully follow God in a way of duty, though he lead them from their friends, he will himself make up that loss by his gracious appearances to them. (3.) God’s promises are sure and satisfying to all those who conscientiously observe and obey his precepts; and those who, in compliance with God’s call, leave or lose any thing that is dear to them, shall be sure of something else abundantly better in lieu of it. Abram had left the land of his nativity: “Well,” says God, “I will give thee this land,” Matt. xix. 29. (4.) God reveals himself and his favours to his people by degrees; before he had promised to show him this land, now to give it to him: as grace is growing, so is comfort. (5.) It is comfortable to have land of God’s giving, not by providence only, but by promise. (6.) Mercies to the children are mercies to the parents. “I will give it, not to thee, but to thy seed;” it is a grant in reversion to his seed, which yet, it should seem, Abram understood also as a grant to himself of a better land in reversion, of which this was a type; for he looked for a heavenly country, Heb. xi. 16.
2. Abram attended on God in his instituted ordinances. He built an altar unto the Lord who appeared to him, and called on the name of the Lord,Gen 12:7; Gen 12:8. Now consider this, (1.) As done upon a special occasion. When God appeared to him, then and there he built an altar, with an eye to the God who appeared to him. Thus he returned God’s visit, and kept up his correspondence with heaven, as one that resolved it should not fail on his side; thus he acknowledged, with thankfulness, God’s kindness to him in making him that gracious visit and promise; and thus he testified his confidence in and dependence upon the word which God had spoken. Note, An active believer can heartily bless God for a promise the performance of which he does not yet see, and build an altar to the honour of God who appears to him, though he does not yet appear for him. (2.) As his constant practice, whithersoever he removed. As soon as Abram had got to Canaan, though he was but a stranger and sojourner there, yet he set up, and kept up, the worship of God in his family; and wherever he had a tent God had an altar, and that an altar sanctified by prayer. For he not only minded the ceremonial part of religion, the offering of sacrifice, but made conscience of the natural duty of seeking to his God, and calling on his name, that spiritual sacrifice with which God is well pleased. He preached concerning the name of the Lord, that is, he instructed his family and neighbours in the knowledge of the true God and his holy religion. The souls he had gotten in Haran, being discipled, must be further taught. Note, Those that would approve themselves the children of faithful Abram, and would inherit the blessing of Abram, must make conscience of keeping up the solemn worship of God, particularly in their families, according to the example of Abram. The way of family worship is a good old way, is no novel invention, but the ancient usage of all the saints. Abram was very rich and had a numerous family, was now unsettled and in the midst of enemies, and yet, wherever he pitched his tent, he built an altar. Wherever we go, let us not fail to take our religion along with us.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 6-9:
After leaving Damascus, Abram “passed through” (literally, travelled about as a pilgrim, Heb 11:9) the Land of Canaan to Sichem. The modern name of this site is Nablus. From there he traveled to a plain or level land filled with trees, called Moreh. Jehovah identified this “land” as that country He had promised to Abram’s descendants. At this site Abram built the first of a series of altars unto Jehovah. This was a way of taking possession of the Land on the basis of his faith.
Abram left his camp-site on Moreh’s plains and traveled to the mountain “east of Bethel.” In Abram’s time and later years, the city of this region was known as Luz. It lies between Ai and the Mediterranean Sea. There He built another altar to the Lord, and remained there for an undetermined time. From this site he journeyed still further south.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
6. And Abram passed through the land. Here Moses shows that Abram did not immediately, on his entering into the land, find a habitation in which he might rest. For the expression passed through, and the position of the place (Sichem) to which he passed, show that the length of his journey had been great. Sichem is not far from Mount Gerizim, which is towards the desert of the Southern region. Wherefore, it is just as Moses had said, that the faith of Abram was again tried, when God suffered him as a wanderer to traverse the whole land, before he gave him any fixed abode. How hard would it seems when God had promised to be his Protector, that not even a little corner is assigned him on which he may set his foot? But he is compelled to wander in a circuitous route, in order that he may the better exercise self denial. The word אלון ( Elon) is by some translated an oak forest, by some a valley; (343) others take it for the proper name of a place. I do not doubt that Moreh is the proper name of the place; but I explain Elon to mean a plain, or an oak, not that it was a single tree, but the singular is put for the plural number; (344) and this latter interpretation I most approve.
And the Canaanite was then in the land. This clause concerning the Canaanite is not added without reason; because it was no slight temptation to be cast among that perfidious and wicked nation, destitute of all humanity. What could the holy man then think, but that he was betrayed into the hands of these most abandoned men, by whom he might soon be murdered; or else that he would have to spend a disturbed and miserable life amid continual injuries and troubles? But it was profitable for him to be accustomed, by such discipline, to cherish a better hope. For if he had been kindly and courteously received in the land of Canaan, he would have hoped for nothing better than to spend his life there as a guest. But now God raises his thoughts higher in order that he may conclude, that at some future time, the inhabitants being destroyed, he shall be the lord and heir of the land. Besides, he is admonished, by the continual want of repose, to look up towards heaven. For since the inheritance of the land was specially promised to himself, and would only belong to his descendants, for his sake; it follows, that the land, in which he was so ill and inhumanly treated, was not set before him as his ultimate aim, but that heaven itself was proposed to him as his final resting-place.
(343) By others a plain. Vide Poli Synopsis in loco. See our English version, “Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh.” — Ed.
(344) That is, an oak is put for an oak grove, or forest. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) The place of Sichern.Heb., Shechem. This word signifies shoulder, and was the name of the ridge uniting Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, the summits of which are about two miles apart. As the name is thus taken from the natural conformation of the ground, it may be very ancient. The modern name of the place is Nablous, a contraction of Flavia Neapolis, a title given it in honour of Vespasian. Mr. Conder ( Tent Work in Palestine, 1:61) describes the valley as an oasis of remarkable beauty and luxuriance, but set, like Damascus, in a desert, and girt around by strong and barren mountains.
The plain of Moreh.Heb., the oak of Moreh, It was here that Jacob buried the strange gods brought by his household from Haran (Gen. 35:4), and here, too, Joshua set up the stone of testimony (Jos. 24:26; Jdg. 9:6); but as in Deu. 11:30 the oaks (wrongly translated in most places in our version plains) are described in the plural, it is probable that the word is to be taken as a collective for an oak grove. Such shady spots were favourite places for the tents of the wandering patriarchs. A famous terebinth, called after Abrams name, long existed at Mamre, and under it, in the time of Vespasian, the captive Jews were sold for slaves. It disappeared about A.D. 330, and no tree now marks the site of Abrams grove. The Hebrew word, however, for terebinth is elh, while that used here is ln. It was probably the quercus pseudococcifera (see Tristram, Nat. Hist. of Bible, p. 369). This tree often grows to a vast size.
Moreh.Literally, teacher (Isa. 9:15). Probably in this cool grove some religious personage had given instruction to the people. In Jdg. 7:1 we find a place called the teachers hill, and it is thus possible that among a people so religious as the race of Shem, men from time to time arose revered by the people as teachers of holiness. Such an one was Melchisedech.
The Canaanite was then in the land.This is no sign of post-Mosaic authorship, nor a later interpolation, as if the meaning were that the Canaanite was there at that time, but is so no longer. What really is meant is that Abram on his arrival found the country no longer in the hands of the old Semitic stock, but occupied by the Canaanites, who seem to have gained the ascendancy, not so much by conquest as by gradual and peaceful means. We gather from the Egyptian records that this had taken place not very long before Abrams time. In the early inscriptions we read only of the Sati and Aamu, both apparently Semitic races, the latter name being derived from the Heb. am, people. Subsequently we find frequent mention of the Amaor and the Khetathat is, the Amorites and Hittites, evidently in Abrams time the two most powerful races of Canaan. (See Tomkins Studies, 82 ff.) For their previous wanderings, see on Gen. 10:15-19.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Passed through the land Descending, probably, by way of Damascus as we find afterwards that the steward of his house is a native of that city thence southward and along the valley of the Jabbok by the route afterwards followed by Jacob, and across the Jordan unto the place of Sichem, or Shechem, the region in which afterwards, and in the writer’s time, the town of Shechem was situated. (Neapolis and Nablus in subsequent time.) Yet the name, meaning shoulder, was probably given the locality from its being the water shed between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, and from the place passed to the man Shechem, son of Hamor. The particular spot of Abram’s halt was the oak or oak grove (not plain) of Moreh, the name of its owner or planter. The town of Shechem, which we find here in the time of Jacob, lay in a beautiful sequestered valley between Mount Ebal on the north and Gerizim on the south. These mountains are in the narrowest place only sixty rods apart, and rise in bold bluffs to the height of about one thousand feet. Groves of evergreen oak and terebinth, as well as luxuriant orchards of orange and citron, vocal with birds and running waters, are a delightful feature of the valley of Nablus to-day. In this lovely valley, beneath and between these bold crags, which more than four centuries afterwards echoed with the solemn blessings and cursings of his descendants as they covenanted with God at their entrance into the land of promise here, near the spot where, more than nineteen centuries afterwards, Jesus sat on the well of Jacob and made “this mountain” a stepping-stone to the spiritual kingdom in which men shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth it was fit that here the father of the chosen people should first pitch his tent and build his altar. But the oak grove under which he encamped belonged to Moreh the Canaanite. The land whose very earth and air were to be saturated with his name was the possession of idolatrous strangers, the Canaanite was ( even) then in the land, as he was when this narrative was written. This remark seems to have been added to show why it was impossible at that time for Abram to take possession. This handful of pilgrims, when they arrived in the vale of Shechem, found a widely-spread nation already in possession of the land of promise.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.’ The arrival at Shechem (a very ancient city) is mentioned because it is here that Abram will have his first meeting with Yahweh in the land.
“The oak of Moreh” may be intended to indicate an oak forest (compare Gen 13:18 and Deu 11:30). Alternately it may refer to a particularly famous oak, possibly with religious connotations. Indeed the particular oak may have been called that precisely because it was there that God met Abram, and there that he built the first altar to Yahweh (Gen 12:7 compare Gen 35:4; Jos 24:6).
Shechem was under the control of the Hivites (Gen 33:18 to Gen 34:2). This is drawn to our attention by the phrase that ‘the Canaanite was then in the land’. Hivites were seen as ‘Canaanites’, and had associations with Lebanon (Gen 10:17; Jdg 3:3; 2Sa 24:7). Thus ‘the Canaanite was then in the land’ is probably not a phrase written long after, looking back, but is one pointing out that by this time Shechem was Canaanite. It had previously not been so. The presence of people called Canaanites in the area is mentioned for the first time around this time in external documents. Thus the writer has an intimate knowledge of the recent history of Canaan.
Some take the other view in which case we have a typical explanatory note of the kind often introduced into records as an updating comment, without changing the narrative. But the former explanation is more likely. Whichever way it is it cannot be used to date the whole record.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
EXPOSITION
Gen 12:6
And Abram passed throughliterally, passed over, or traveled about as a pilgrim (cf. Heb 11:9) inthe land unto (or as far as) the place of Sichem. A prolepsis for the place where the city Shechem (either built by or named after the Hivite prince, Gen 34:2) was afterwards situated, viz; between Ebal and Gerizim, in the middle of the land; “the most beautiful, perhaps the only very beautiful, spot in Central Palestine” (Stanley’s ‘Sinai and Palestine,’ 5:234). The modern name of Sichem is Nablus, a corruption of Neapolis. Unto the plain. , from or , to be strong, a strong, hardy tree: the terebinth, as opposed to the oak, , from (Celsius Michaelis, Rosenmller, Keil); the oak, as distinguished from , the turpentine tree, or terebinth (Gesenius, Kalisch, Murphy). But it seems demonstrable that these and the other cognate terms, , are frequently used as synonymous for any large, strong tree (cf. Gen 35:5; Jdg 9:9; 24:26; Jos 19:33 with Jdg 4:11), though commonly , oak, is opposed to , terebinth, as in Isa 6:13; Hos 4:13. The translation of by plain (Targums, A.V.) is inaccurate, though “the truth is it was both a plain and set with oaks” (Willet). Of Moreh. like Mature (Gen 13:18), the name of the owner of the oak-grove (Murphy, Kalisch, Alford); probably a priestly character (Moreh signifying a teacher, Jdg 7:1; 2Ki 17:28; Isa 9:15) who instituted the Divine cultus in the locality (Luther); though it has also been regarded as the name of the place (Calvin), which maybe here given to it by anticipation (Wordsworth), being derived from raah, to see, and equivalent to the place of vision (Samaritan), because God there appeared to the patriarch (Fagius), and showed him the land of Canaan (Masius, Lyra). Knobel renders “the oak of the teacher,” comparing it with “the oak of the witches” (Jdg 9:37). The LXX. translate by , lofty, and the Vulgate by illustrem. And the Canaanite was then in the land. A sign of post-Mosaic authorship (Tuch, Bleek, Colenso); an interpolation Eben Ezra; rather
(1) a proclamation of the miserable exile in which the patriarch lived (Luther); or
(2) a reminder to Abram of his heavenly country, seeing he was a stranger in his earthly one (Calvin); or, better,
(3) an intimation of the fact that already the Canaanites were in possession of the land which bore their name (Kalisch), or perhaps simply
(4) a declaration that the land was not a stretch of unoccupied territory, but a populated region (Hengstenberg), thus making the fulfillment of the ensuing promise all the more difficult, and all the greater a trial to the faith of the patriarch (Keil, Murphy, Wordsworth, Alford); or
(5), but not so good, an explanation of the previous selection of the oak of Moreh as his habitation (Lange, Havernick, vide Introduction, 18).
Gen 12:7
And the Lord appeared. The first mention of a theophany, though Act 7:2 alleges that such a Divine manifestation had previously occurred in Ur of the Chaldees. Though not a direct vision of Jehovah (Joh 1:18), that there was some kind of outward appearance may be inferred from the subsequent Divine manifestations to the patriarch (Gen 18:2, Gen 18:17, Gen 18:33; Gen 22:11-18), to Hagar (Gen 16:7-14; Gen 21:17, Gen 21:18), and to Jacob (Gen 31:11-13; Gen 32:24-30). On the relation of the angel of Jehovah to Jehovah vide Gen 16:1-16 :17. Unto Abram. “Jam paene fatigato Abraha isto duro exsilio et perpetuis migrationibus” (Luther). And said, Unto thy seedto himself God gave “none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on” (Act 7:5); the land was promised to his seed “when as yet he had no child”will I give this land. Now occupied by the Canaanites. Undoubtedly a great promise, that the Canaanites should be dispossessed, and their country given to the offspring of a childless old man already over seventy-five years. The apparent improbability of its ever being accomplished rendered it a strong trial to the patriarch’s faith. And there builded he an altar. “Constituit certum locum, in quo conveniat ecclesia, auditura verbum Dei, factura preess, laudatura Deum, sacrificatura Deo“ (Luther). “Altare forma est Divini cultus; invocatio autem substantia et veritas” (Calvin). “The rearing of an altar in the land was, in fact, a form of taking possession of it on the ground of a right secured to the exercise of his faith” (Bush). “It is often said of Abraham and the patriarchs that they built altars to the Lord; it is never said they built houses for themselves” (Wordsworth). Unto the Lord who had appeared to him.
Gen 12:8
And he removedliterally, caused (i.e. his tent) to be broken up (cf. Gen 26:22from thenceno cause for which being assigned, the hostility of his neighbors (Luther, Calvin) and the commencement of the famine (Alford, Keil) have been conjectured as the probable reasonsunto a (literally, the) mountain east of Bethel. Here proleptically named “house of God,” being called in the time of Abram Luz (Gen 28:19). Its present name is Beitin. And pitched his tent (of. Gen 9:21), having Bethel on the westliterally, sea-ward, the Mediterranean being the western boundary of Palestine (cf. Gen 28:14; Exo 10:19; Exo 26:22; Eze 48:1, Eze 48:2)and HaiAi (; , Neh 11:31; , Isa 10:28); with the article, because signifying “the heap of ruins,” near which it was no doubt built; the scene of the first Israelitish defeat under Joshua (Gen 7:2): its ruins still exist under the name of Medinet Gaion the east (about five miles from Bethel): and there he builded an altar unto the Lord (vide supra), and called upon the name of the Lord (vide Gen 4:26).
Gen 12:9
And Abram journeyed (literally, broke up, e. g; his encampment, going on stillliterally, going on and breaking up (cf. Gen 8:3); “going and returning”towards the south. Negleb, the dry region, from nagabh, to be dried, the southern district of Palestine (Gen 13:3; Gen 20:1; Gen 24:62). The LXX. render, , .
Of this section Gen 12:5, Gen 12:6, Gen 12:8 are commonly assigned to the Elohist; and 7, 8b, and 9 to the Jehovist.
HOMILETICS
Gen 12:6-10
The promised land.
I. WANDERINGS. Entering Canaan from the north, the Chaldsean emigrant directs his progress steadily towards the south, removing from station to station till he reaches the furthest limit of the land. This wandering life to the patriarch must have been
(1) unexpected. Leaving Ur at the Divine command, and journeying many hundreds of miles, he must have eagerly anticipated rest in Canaan; but instead he finds that he must journey still. So is life to God’s people always full of disappointments. Yet was it also
(2) inevitable. The land was in possession of the Canaanites, and, even though it had been free and untenanted, it was famine-stricken, both of which circumstances necessitated frequent removal. And for causes not dissimilar must the saints ever wander, the world for the most part belonging to their enemies, and the produce of earth being insufficient to meet their souls’ needs. Then to the patriarch himself it was meant to be
(3) prophetic. The promised land being designed not so much for a possession in itself as for an emblem of the better country towards which his spirit with its new-found faith was travelling, it was not intended that life in Canaan for the father of the faithful should be one of absolute repose, but rather one Of wandering and unrest; and of that he had a foretaste, or earnest, immediately he stepped across the borders of the land. And still further was it purposed to be
(4) emblematic. In the fortunes of Abram it was contemplated that God’s believing people in every age should behold, in main characteristic at least, an outline or shadow of their own. As to him the land of Canaan was not the better country, but only its anticipation, so to them is it not so much a type of heaven as of the visible Church, and the patriarchal wanderings an emblem not of the beatific life of the redeemed in glory, but of the experiences of the saints on earth.
II. TRIALS. Along with ceaseless peregrinations, more or less exacting in their nature, trials of another and severer sort entered into the texture of the patriarch’s experience in the promised land. The peculiar circumstances in which he found himself were such as to make a vehement assault upon his faith.
1. His childless condition seemed to render all but impossible belief in the mighty nation of which Jehovah talked. And so are saints sometimes tempted to indulge a suspicion of the Divine goodness and veracity, because of the absence of certain creature comforts which they see God bestowing upon others.
2. The occupation of the land appeared to negative the idea of its ever becoming his; and not infrequently because a saint cannot discern how a promise is to be fulfilled, he begins to challenge the Divine resources, and ends by impeaching the Divine faithfulness.
3. The prevalence of famine was calculated to excite doubts in his mind as to whether after all the land was worth either having or desiring; and in this life the saints are not unacquainted with temptations, arising from the pressure of outward circumstances, such as extreme poverty or long-continued affliction, to admit the apprehension that after all the blessings of religion and the glories of the future life may not be worth the sacrifices made to secure them.
III. CONSOLATIONS. If a field of wanderings and a scene of trials, the promised land was likewise a place of consolation. Abram enjoyed
1. The comfort of the Divine presence. Though unseen, the companionship of Jehovah was understood by the patriarch to be a grand reality on which he might depend; and so says Christ to his believing people, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”
2. The joy of Divine manifestations. As Jehovah appeared to Abram, probably in the form of a man, so already has God appeared to his Church in the person of the man Christ Jesus; and so does Christ promise still to appear spiritually to his people, and to disclose to them the treasures of his grace and love (Joh 14:21).
3. The consolation of Divine worship. Wherever Abram wandered he built an altar and called upon the name of the Lord who had appeared unto him; and without any altar may the saint at any moment enter into closest communion with the Lord Jesus Christ, who in the fullness of the times was manifested to take away our sins, and who is ever ready, through the medium of his Holy Spirit, to interpose for his people’s aid.
Learn
1. That a saint’s wanderings are of God’s appointing.
2. That a saint’s trials are of God’s permitting.
3. That a saint’s consolations are of God’s sending.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD
Gen 12:6-9
Revelations.
We here enter upon the more special history of Divine appearances. Hitherto the word is described simply as a word”The Lord said;” now we connect with the word distinct appearances. The plain of Moreh will be ever memorable as the first scene of such revelations. The altar which Abram erected was to the Lord who appeared unto him, i.e. in commemoration of the vision. Thus the long line of theophanies commences. The great lesson of this record is the worship of man proceeding from the gracious revelation of God. True religion is not a spontaneous product of man’s nature, but rather a response to God’s grace. He appears; the believer to whom the vision is vouchsafed raises an altar not “to the unknown God,” but to the God who has appeared to him. Another point in the record is the connection of the promise with the revelation. The Lord appeared, and when he appeared he gave his word of promise: “Unto thy seed will I give this land.” Are we not reminded thus early in the history of religion that for its maintenance there is required not only a revelation to the mind and heart by the Spirit, but also a seat of its institutions and community? Religion without a people of God dwelling in the land of privilege, and bound together by the sacred bonds of a Divine fellowship, is no true religion at all. Abram builds altars at the various stages of his pilgrimage, still going south. Although we are not told of a distinct vouchsafement of God in connection with every altar, we may well suppose, especially as the “mountain” is specified, that the altars marked out not mere resting-places, but the scenes of special communion with Jehovah.R.
HOMILIES BY F. HASTINGS
Gen 12:7
Abraham worshipping.
“And there he builded an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.” Abraham is at length Divinely informed that he is in the land hereafter to be his. He was at the spot where the great temple, to be set up by his descendants, would stand. Here he builds an altar. It was doubtless a very plain altar of rough stones, but large enough for the sacrifices to be offered. It would have little attraction in the eyes of many, but it would be approved of by God.
I. IT WAS REARED ENTIRELY IN THE HONOR OF GOD. There was no self-glorifying in it. It was erected as a spontaneous act of gratitude. The men of Babel by the tower-building sought to get themselves a name; Abraham by his altar-building seeks to honor God’s name. His act was a protest against the prevalent and surrounding idolatry. This was the first altar reared in Canaan to the great I AM.
II. IT WAS AN EXPRESSION OF ABRAHAM‘S DESIRE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE DIVINE GUIDANCE IN HIS PAST LIFE. He found it a joy to be under the leadership of God. “Wherever Abraham had his tent God had his altar.” In how many families is the altar in need of repair! In many it has not even been set up.
III. IT EXPRESSED ABRAHAM‘S DEPENDENCE ON THE MERCY REVEALED THROUGH A PROPITIATORY SACRIFICE. He evidently believed in an atonement, lie offered an heifer, goat, ram, turtle-dove, and pigeon. After the rude manner of that day he offered sacrifices for his own sins and for those of his household. He found that God was brought nearer through the sacrifice, even as we discover that fact through the Christ of Calvary.
IV. IT EXPRESSED ALSO ABRAHAM’S READINESS TO CONSECRATE HIMSELF ENTIRELY TO GOD. An altar that failed to express this would have been a mockery. God is not flattered by an outward show of reverence. He must have inner and absolute consecration if we are to know the heights of spiritual power.
V. IT EXPRESSED THE PATRIARCH’S FAITH IN THE FULFILMENT OF THE DIVINE PROMISES. Abraham was already in the land of promise, and could leave the future to his God. He was, by rearing that altar, taking possession of the land for himself, and of the world for God, even as Columbus, with befitting pomp, planted in the newly-discovered continent a cross, and named the land San Salvador, thus consecrating it to the holy Savior.H.
HOMILIES BY J.F. MONTGOMERY
Gen 12:8
Abraham’s altar.
“And there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord.” There is a solemn word (Mat 10:32, Mat 10:33). The distinction is not between Christians and heathen; it is within the visible Church. To confess Christ is more than professing Christianity. It must be in the life, not merely in religious services. No doubt these have their use; without them spiritual life would wither and die, like a light under a vessel. They are as food; but “the life is more than meat.” The world acquiesces in such services as respectable and proper. But it is a poor Christianity that raises no opposition. A Christian life may constrain respect, but it must differ from worldly
(1) as to its objectfirst the kingdom of God;
(2) as to its meansGod’s promises and help trusted to as real. Mark Abraham’s example: dwelt among Canaanites on sufferance; they idolaters. Prudence would suggest keeping his religion secret. Many try to keep their faith secret; afraid to confess it, but unwilling to give it up. In vain; faith ashamed of brings no comfort or strength. Abram did not hide his faith. Wherever he sojourned he built an altar; confessed whom he trusted. We are told
1. He built an altar, i.e. made open confession of his faith.
2. “Called on the name,” &c; i.e. spoke to God as a living person, a real helper.
I. WHAT IS IT TO CONFESS GOD?
1. In the heart; firmly to believe what he has revealed. His promises were given to be trusted. The fool puts away belief (Psa 14:1). It may be from dislike of truth (cf. Rom 1:28); it may be despondingly (cf. Gen 42:36), afraid to take God at his word. The voice of true wisdom, Psa 62:1, Psa 62:2.
2. In the life; acting upon “ye are not your own.” We cannot go far without being tried: in business, in companionship, in bearing what we do not like, in resisting self-will and self-seeking, in standing firm against the world’s scorn or well-meant persuasions. Passing events constantly put the question whom we serve (cf. Dan 3:15; Act 5:28, Act 5:29). And not merely in matters that seem great. Little things show whom we have first in our hearts.
II. CLOSELY CONNECTED WITH THIS IS CALLING ON THE NAME OF THE LORD. We must look below the surface. Among professing Christians some prayer is a matter of course; but is it used as a real means to obtain? It is one thing to believe the doctrine of God’s providence, and of the use of prayer, and another to pray as a practical power and to feel our Father’s care. Yet St. Paul connects prayer and peace (Php 4:6, Php 4:7). When Hannah had prayed she was no more sad (1Sa 1:18). The Bible has many encouragements to pray, but not one warning against asking too much.
III. EFFECT OF THIS OR THE CHARACTER. Abraham’s character as eminently faithful was built up by exercising faith. He walked with God not by any constraining power, nor by reason of special manifestations; then he would be no example for us. Each acknowledgment of God increased his communion. Each altar marked a step in his own life, and a work in the world. He who is faithful in little gains more power (cf. Mat 13:12).M.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Gen 12:6. Unto the place of Sichem That is, to the place where Sichem, or Sychem, afterwards was: a frequent mode of expression in the writings of Moses. From this place Abram passed unto the plain of Moreh; which Mr. Mede, says Mr. Locke, following the LXX, will have to be the oak of Moreh, understanding by oak, a grove of oaks. But why the LXX only should be mentioned, I know not, when the Hebrew is also the same, alon, an oak, and so rendered by most versions. See Gen 35:4. Jos 24:25-26. in which this oak is referred to. Moreh was situated near the two mounts Gerizim and Ebal.
And the Canaanite was then in the land The sacred historian, with great propriety, here informs us, that the land promised to Abram, or that part of it through which he passed, was then possessed by the Canaanite, i.e.. the people in general so denominated, ch. Gen 13:7. Exo 3:8; Exo 3:22. for thus he magnifies more abundantly the patriarch’s faith, which depended solely upon God’s promise for the possession of a country inhabited by so strong and numerous a people.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 12:6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite [was] then in the land.
Ver. 6,7. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the Lord appeared to Abram. ] The sight of those wicked Canaanites might discourage him, and unsettle his faith. But then the sight of God relieved him (he is the first man that God is said to appear to); and the promise, “Unto thy seed will I give this land,” could not but put spirits into him, and make his good old heart to dance a lively dance levaltoes in his bosom. When the poor soul even sinks sometimes at the sight of these Canaanites (corruptions), and despairs almost of a conquest, God lets in a beam of his own light, and comforts it with some cordial promise, which is as Boaz was to Naomi, “A restorer of his life, and a nourisher of his old age”. Rth 4:15
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Genesis
AN EXAMPLE OF FAITH
THE MAN OF FAITH
Gen 12:6 – Gen 12:7
Great epoch and man. Steps of Abram’s training. First he was simply called to go-no promise of inheritance-obeyed-came to Canaan-found a thickly peopled land with advanced social order, and received no divine vision till he was face to face with the Canaanite.
1. God’s bit-by-bit leading of us.
So with us-our ignorance of future is meant to have the effect of keeping us near God and training us to live a day at a time.
God’s finger on the page points to a word at a time. Each day’s route is given morning by morning in the order for the day.
2. Obedience often brings us into very difficult places.
3. The presence of enemies brings the presence of God.
As the darkness thickens, the pillar of fire brightens. But not only does God appear more clearly, but our spirits are more eager and therefore able to see Him. We are mercifully left to feel the enemies before we see Him present in His strength.
4. The victory for us lies in the vision of God and of His loving purpose.
That vision is our true strength. And it will make us feel as pilgrims, which is in itself more than half the battle.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Sichem. The place of Abram’s first altar and Christ’s first mission (Joh 4). Also of Jacob’s altar (Gen 33:18).
Canaanits . . . then in the land. It is evident that from Terah’s and Abraham’s call, Satan knew the line by which “the seed of the woman (Gen 3:15) was coming into the world. In Genesis 6 he aimed at the whole human race. Now he aims at Abraham and his land. Here is the second explanation of the words “after that” in Gen 6:4. He pre-occupies the territory ready to dispute the advance. The Canaanite “was then” = “being already” there (Compare Gen 13:7). The progeny of the later attempt to corrupt the race had to be destroyed by the sword of Israel, as those “in the days of Noah” had been by the Flood. See App-23 and App-25.
was = being.
then = already.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
passed: Heb 11:9
Sichem: Gen 33:18, Gen 34:2, Gen 35:4, Jos 20:7, Jos 24:32, Jdg 9:1, 1Ki 12:1, Shechem, Joh 4:5, Sychar, Act 7:16, Sychem
plain: The word rendered “plain” should be rendered “oak,” or according to Celsius, the “turpentine-tree.”
Moreh: Deu 11:30, Jdg 7:1
Canaanite: Gen 10:15, Gen 10:18, Gen 10:19, Gen 13:7, Gen 15:18-21
Reciprocal: Gen 13:3 – from Num 34:2 – is the land Jos 5:1 – Canaanites Jos 24:1 – Shechem 2Ch 10:1 – Shechem Psa 60:6 – Shechem Joh 4:20 – fathers
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 12:6. The Canaanite was then in the land He found the country possessed by Canaanites, who were likely to be but bad neighbours; and for aught appears, he could not have ground to pitch his tent on but by their permission.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
12:6 And Abram {e} passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the {f} Canaanite [was] then in the land.
(e) He wandered to and fro in the land before he could find a settling place: thus God exercises the faith of his children.
(f) Which was a cruel and rebellious nation, by whom God kept his in continual exercise.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
ABRAM IN EGYPT
Gen 12:6-20
ABRAM still journeying southward, and not as yet knowing where his shifting camp was finally to be pitched, came at last to what may be called the heart of Palestine, the rich district of Shechem. Here stood the oak of Moreh, a well; known landmark and favourite meeting-place. In after years every meadow in this plain was owned and occupied, every vineyard on the slopes of Ebal fenced off, every square yard specified in some title-deed. But as yet the country seems not to have been densely populated. There was room for a caravan like Abrahams to move freely through the country; liberty for a far-stretching encampment such as his to occupy the lovely vale that lies between Ebal and Gerizim. As he rested here and enjoyed the abundant pasture, or as he viewed the land from one of the neighbouring hills, the Lord appeared to him and made him aware that this was the land designed for him. Here accordingly, under the spreading oak round whose boughs had often clung the smoke of idolatrous sacrifice, Abram erects an altar to the living God in devout acceptance of the gift, taking possession as it were of the land jointly for God and for himself. Little harm will come of worldly possessions so taken and so held.
As Abram traversed the land, wondering what were the limits of his inheritance, it may have seemed far too large for his household. Soon he experiences a difficulty of quite the opposite kind; he is unable to find in it sustenance for his followers. Any notion that Gods friendship would raise him above the touch of such troubles as were incident to the times, places, and circumstances in which his life was to be spent, is quickly dispelled. The children of God are not exempt from any of the common calamities; they are only expected and aided to be calmer and wiser in their endurance and use of them. That we suffer the same hardships as all other men is no proof that we are not eternally associated with God, and ought never to persuade us our faith has been in vain.
Abram, as he looked at the bare, brown, cracked pastures and at the dry watercourses filled only with stones, thought of the ever-fresh plains of Mesopotamia, the lovely gardens of Damascus, the rich pasturage of the northern borders of Canaan; but he knew enough of his own heart to make him very careful lest these remembrances should make him turn back. No doubt he had come to the promised land expecting it to be the real Utopia, the Paradise which had haunted his thoughts as he lay among the hills of Ur watching his flocks under the brilliant midnight sky. No doubt he expected that here all would be easy and bright, peaceful and luxurious. His first experience is of famine. He has to look on his herd melting away, his favourite cattle losing their appearance, his servants murmuring and obliged to scatter. In his dreams he must have night after night seen the old country, the green breadth of the land that Euphrates watered, the heavy-headed corn bending before the warm airs of his native land; but morning by morning he wakes to the same anxieties, to the sad reality of parched and burnt-up pastures, shepherds hanging about with gloomy looks, his own heart distressed and failing. He was also a stranger here who could not look for the help an old resident might have counted on. It was probably years since God had made any sign to him. Was the promised land worth having, after all? Might he not be better off among his old friends in Charran? Should he not brave their ridicule and return? He will not so much as make it possible to return. He will not even for temporary relief go north towards his old country, but will go to Egypt, where he cannot stay, and from which he must return to Canaan.
Here, then, is a man who plainly believes that Gods promise cannot fail; that God will magnify His promise, and that it above all else is worth waiting for. He believes that the man who seeks without flinching, and through all disappointment and bareness, to do Gods will, shall one day have an abundantly satisfying reward, and that meanwhile association with God in carrying forward His abiding purposes with men is more for a man to live upon than the cattle upon a thousand hills. And thus famine rendered to Abram no small service if it quickened within him the consciousness that the call of God was not to ease and prosperity, to landowning and cattle-breeding, but to be Gods agent on earth for the fulfilment of remote but magnificent purposes. His life might seem to be down among the commonplace vicissitudes, pasture might fail, and his well-stocked camp melt away, but out of his mind there could not fade the future God had revealed to him. If it had been his ambition to give his name to a tribe and be known as a wide-ruling chief, that ambition is now eclipsed by his desire to be a step towards the fulfilment of that real end for which the whole world is.’ The belief that God has called him to do His work has lifted him above concern about personal matters; life has taken a new meaning in his eyes by its connection with the Eternal.
The extraordinary country to which Abram betook himself, and which was destined to exercise so profound an influence on his descendants, had even at this early date attained a high degree of civilisation. The origin of this civilisation is shrouded in obscurity, as the source of the great river to which the country owes its prosperity for many centuries kept the secret of its birth. As yet scholars are unable to tell us with certainty what Pharaoh was on the throne when Abram went down into Egypt. The monuments have preserved the effigies of two distinct types of rulers; the one simple, kindly, sensible, stately, handsome, fearless, as of men long accustomed to the throne. These are the faces of the native Egyptian rulers. The other type of face is heavy and massive, proud and strong but full of care, with neither the handsome features nor the look of kindliness and culture which belong to the other. These are the faces of the famous Shepherd kings who held Egypt in subjection, probably at the very time when Abram was in the land.
For our purposes it matters little whether Abrams visit occurred while the country was under native or under foreign rule, for long before the Shepherd kings entered Egypt it enjoyed a complete and stable civilisation. Whatever dynasty Abram found on the throne, he certainly found among the people a more refined social life than he had seen in his native city, a much purer religion, and a much more highly developed moral code, He must have kept himself entirely aloof from Egyptian society if he failed to discover that they believed in a judgment after death, and that this judgment proceeded upon a severe moral code. Before admission into the Egyptian heaven the deceased must swear that “he has not stolen nor slain any one intentionally; that he has not allowed his devotions to be seen; that he has not been guilty of hypocrisy or lying; that he has not calumniated any one nor fallen into drunkenness or adultery; that he has not turned away his ear from the words of truth; that he has been no idle talker; that he has not slighted the king or his father.” To a man in Abrams state of mind the Egyptian creed and customs must have conveyed many valuable suggestions.
But virtuous as in many respects the Egyptians were, Abrams fears as he approached their country were by no means groundless. The event proved that whatever Sarahs age and appearance at this time were, his fears were something more than the fruit of a husbands partiality. Possibly he may have heard the ugly story which has recently been deciphered from an old papyrus, and which tells how one of the Pharaohs, acting on the advice of his princes, sent armed men to fetch a beautiful woman and make away with her husband. But knowing the risk he ran, why did he go? He contemplated the possibility of Sarahs being taken from him; but, if this should happen, what became of the promised seed? We cannot suppose that, driven by famine from the promised land, he had lost all hope regarding the fulfilment of the other part of the promise. Probably his idea was that some of the great men might take a fancy to Sarah, and that he would so temporise with them and ask for her such large gifts as would hold them off for a while until he could provide for his people and get clear out of the land. It had not occurred to him that she might be taken to the palace. Whatever his idea of the probable course of events was, his proposal to guide them by disguising his true relationship to Sarah was unjustifiable. And his feelings during these weeks in Egypt must have been far from enviable as he learned that of all virtues the Egyptians set greatest store by truth, and that lying was the vice they held in greatest abhorrence.
Here then was the whole promise and purpose of God in a most precarious position; the land abandoned, the mother of the promised seed in a harem through whose guards no force on earth could penetrate. Abram could do nothing but go helplessly about, thinking what a fool he had been, and wishing himself well back among the parched hills of Bethel. Suddenly there is a panic in the royal household; and Pharaoh is made aware that he was on the brink of what he himself considered a great sin. Besides effecting its immediate purpose, this visitation might have taught Pharaoh that a man cannot safely sin within limits prescribed by himself. He had not intended such evil as he found himself just saved from committing. But had he lived with perfect purity, this liability to fall into transgression, shocking to himself, could not have existed. Many sins of most painful consequence we commit, not of deliberate purpose, but because our previous life has been careless and lacking in moral tone. We are mistaken if we suppose that we can sin within a certain safe circle and never go beyond it.
By this intervention on Gods part Abram was saved from the consequences of his own scheme, but he was not saved from the indignant rebuke of the Egyptian monarch. This rebuke indeed did not prevent him from a repetition of the same conduct in another country, conduct which was met with similar indignation: “What have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom this great sin?” Thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. What sawest thou that thou hast done this thing? This rebuke did not seem to sink deeply into the conscience of Abrams descendants, for the Jewish history is full of instances in which leading men do not shrink from manoeuvre, deceit, and lying. Yet it is impossible to suppose that Abrams conception of God was not vastly enlarged by this incident, and this especially in two particulars.
(1) Abram must have received a new impression regarding Gods truth. It would seem that as yet he had no very clear idea of Gods holiness. He had the idea of God which Mohammedans entertain, and past which they seem unable to get. He conceived of God as the Supreme Ruler; he had a firm belief in the unity of God and probably a hatred of idolatry and a profound contempt for idolaters. He believed that this Supreme God could always and easily accomplish His will, and that the voice that inwardly guided him was the voice of God. His own character had not yet been deepened and dignified by prolonged intercourse with God and by close observation of His actual ways; and so as yet he knows little of what constitutes the true glory of God.
For learning that truth is an essential attribute of God he could not have gone to a better school than Egypt. His own reliance on Gods promise might have been expected to produce in him a high esteem for truth and a clear recognition of its essential place in the Divine character. Apparently it had only partially had this effect. The heathen, therefore, must teach him. Had not Abram seen the look of indignation and injury on the face of Pharaoh, he might have left the land feeling that his scheme had succeeded admirably. But as he went at the head of his vastly increased household, the envy of many who saw his long train of camels and cattle, he would have given up all could he have blotted from his minds eye the reproachful face of Pharaoh and nipped out this entire episode from his life. He was humbled both by his falseness and his foolishness. He had told a lie, and told it when truth would have served him better. For the very precaution he took in passing off Sarai as his sister was precisely what encouraged Pharaoh to take her, and produced the whole misadventure. It was the heathen monarch who taught the father of the faithful his first lesson in Gods holiness.
What he so painfully learned we must all learn, that God does not need lying for the attainment of His ends, and that double-dealing is always short-sighted and the proper precursor of shame. Frequently men are tempted like Abram to seek a God-protected and God-prospered life by conduct that is not thoroughly straightforward. Some of us who statedly ask God to bless our endeavours, and who have no doubt that God approves the ends we seek to accomplish, do yet adopt such means of attaining our ends as not even men with any high sense of honour would countenance. To save ourselves from trouble, inconvenience, or danger, we are tempted to evasions and shifts which are not free from guilt. The more one sees of life, the higher value does he set on truth. Let lying be called by whatever flattering title men please-let it pass for diplomacy, smartness, self-defence, policy, or civility-it remains the device of the coward, the absolute bar to free and healthy intercourse, a vice which diffuses itself through the whole character and makes growth impossible. Trade and commerce are always hampered and retarded, and often overwhelmed in disaster, by the determined and deliberate doubleness of those who engage in them; charity is minimised and withheld from its proper objects by the suspiciousness engendered in us by the almost universal falseness of men; and the habit of making things seem to others what they are not, reacts upon the man himself and makes it difficult for him to feel the abiding effective reality of anything he has to do with or even of his own soul. If then we are to know the living and true God we must ourselves be true, transparent, and living in the light as He is the Light. If we are to reach His ends we must adopt His means and abjure all crafty contrivances of our own. If we are to be His heirs and partners in the work of the world, we must first be His children, and show that we have attained our majority by manifesting an indubitable resemblance to His own clear truth.
(2) But whether Abram fully learned this lesson or not, there can be little doubt that at this time he did receive fresh and abiding impressions of Gods faithfulness and sufficiency. In Abrams first response to Gods call he exhibited a remarkable independence and strength of character. His abandonment of home and kindred, on account of a religious faith which he alone possessed, was the act of a man who relied much more on himself than on others, and who had the courage of his convictions. This qualification for playing a great part in human affairs he undoubtedly had. But he had also the defects of his qualities. A weaker man would have shrunk from going into Egypt and would have preferred to see his flocks dwindle rather than take so venturesome a step. No such hesitations could trammel Abrams movements. He felt himself equal to all occasions. That part of his character which was reproduced in his grandson Jacob, a readiness to rise to every emergency that called for management and diplomacy, an aptitude for dealing with men and using them for his purposes-this came to the front now! To all the timorous suggestions of his household he had one reply: Leave it all to me: I will bring you through. So he entered Egypt confident that, single-handed, he could cope with their Pharaohs, priests, magicians, guards, judges, warriors; and find his way through the finely-meshed net that held and examined every person and action in the land.
He left Egypt in a much more healthy state of mind, practically convinced of his own inability to work his way to the happiness God had promised him, and equally convinced of Gods faithfulness and power to bring him through all the embarrassments and disasters into which his own folly and sin might bring him. His own confidence and management had placed Gods promise in a position of extreme hazard; and without the intervention of God Abram saw that he could neither recover the mother of the promised seed nor return to the land of promise. Abram is put to shame even in the eyes of his household slaves; and with what burning shame must he have stood before Sarai and Pharaoh. and received back his wife from him whose wickedness he had feared, but who so far from meaning sin, as Abram suspected, was indignant that Abram should have made it even possible. He returned to Canaan humbled and very little disposed to feel confident in his own powers of managing in emergencies; but quite assured that God might at all times be relied on. He was convinced that God was not depending upon him, but he upon God. He saw that God did not trust to his cleverness and craft, no, nor even to his willingness to do and endure Gods will, but that He was trusting in Himself, and that by His faithfulness to His own promise, by His watchfulness and providence, He would bring Abram through all the entanglements caused by his own poor ideas of the best way to work out Gods ends and attain to His blessing. He saw, in a word, that the future of the world lay not with Abram but with God.
This certainly was a great and needful step in the knowledge of God. Thus early and thus unmistakably was man taught in how profound and comprehensive a sense God is his Saviour. Commonly it takes a man a long time to learn that it is God who is saving him, but one day he learns it. He learns that it is not his own faith but Gods faithfulness that saves him. He perceives that he needs God throughout, from first to last; not only to make him offers, but to enable him to accept them; not only to incline him to accept them today, but to maintain within him at all times this same inclination. He learns that God not only makes him a promise and leaves him to find his own way to what is promised: but that He is with him always, disentangling him day by day from the results of his own folly and securing for him not only possible but actual blessedness.
Few discoveries are so welcome and gladdening to the soul. Few give us the same sense of Gods nearness and sovereignty; few make us feel so deeply the dignity and importance of our own salvation and career. This is Gods affair; a matter in which are involved not merely our personal interests, but Gods responsibility and purposes. God calls us to be His, and He does not send us a-warring on our own charges, but throughout furnishes us with everything we need. When we go down to Egypt, when we quite diverge from the path that leads to the promised land and worldly straits tempt us to turn our back upon Gods altar and seek relief by our own arrangements and devices, when we forget for a while how God has identified our interests with His own and tacitly abjure the vows we have silently registered before Him, even then He follows us and watches over us and lays His hand upon us and bids us back. And this only is our hope. Not in any determination of our own to cleave to Him and to live in faith on His promise can we trust. If we have this determination, let us cherish it, for this is Gods present means of leading us onwards. But should this determination fail, the shame with which you recognise your want of steadfastness may prove a stronger bond to hold you to Him than the bold confidence with which to-day you view the future. The waywardness, the foolishness, the obstinate depravity that cause you to despair, God will conquer. With untiring patience, with all-foreseeing love, He stands by you and will bring you through. His gifts and calling are without repentance.