The Call of Abram 1 Now the LORD had said to Abram, Get you out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you:
Acts · AD 62 Then said the high priest, Are these things so? And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee.
Didymus the Blind · AD 398 It is not by chance that God orders Abraham to leave his land and his relatives but because he sees in him something that makes him worthy of being the object of divine concern, that is, his faith in God.
Bede · AD 735 And the Lord said to Abram, "Go out from your land, and from your kindred, and from your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing." For, speaking distinctly, the Lord mentions land, kindred, and father's house.
2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing:
Didymus the Blind · AD 398 As for the promise to make of him "a great nation," is it necessary to give a meaning other than the literal one? Because it is clear that it was realized in its historical sense. But, having become a people, it is truly great when it is adorned with virtues.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 The scope of the promise is extraordinary: "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and magnify your name." Not only will I place you at the head of a great nation and cause your name to be great, but as well, "I will bless you, and you will be blessed." I will favor you with so much blessing, he says, that it will last for all time.
3 And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you: and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.
4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Jerome · AD 420 (Chapter 12, Verse 4) Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. There arises an unsolvable question: for if Terah, the father of Abram, when he was still in the land of the Chaldeans, at seventy years old begot Abram, and afterwards died in Haran at the age of two hundred and five: how is it now mentioned that Abram, after the death of Terah, when depart…
Bede · AD 735 So Abram departed as the Lord had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. It is clear from this number of Abraham's years that he left Haran while his father was still alive, as was explained above.
5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
Bede · AD 735 Therefore, Sarai took his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all the substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had made in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. The phrase "the souls that they had made" is used to mean the children they had begotten.
6 And Abram passed through the land to the place of Sichem, to the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
Bede · AD 735 And when they had come to it, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
7 And the LORD appeared to Abram, and said, To your seed will I give this land: and there built he an altar to the LORD, who appeared to him.
Novatian · AD 258 Please note that the same Moses says in another passage that God appeared to Abraham. Yet the same Moses hears from God that no man can see God and live. If God cannot be seen, how did God appear? If he appeared, how is it that he cannot be seen?
8 And he removed from there to a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he built an altar to the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 Where there is Bethel, that is, the house of God, there is also the altar. Where there is the altar, there is also the calling on the name of God. It is not by chance that he made such great progress. He hoped in the help of God. The athlete of God exercised and strengthened himself in adversity. He went into the desert.
Bede · AD 735 And thence, crossing to the mountain that was east of Bethel, he pitched his tent there, having Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He also built an altar there to the Lord and called on His name. Indeed, after the valley, he ascended to the mountains, for through the humility of self-despair we must ascend to the loftiness of devout action dedicated to God.
9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
Jerome · AD 420 (Verse 9) And Abram, setting out, went into the desert; and famine came upon the land. And in the present and in many other places, for desert, it is written in Hebrew. Therefore, we should take note of this.
Bede · AD 735 And Abram journeyed, going and still progressing towards the south. The southern region, from where the sun is accustomed to shine more ardently upon the world, mystically demonstrates the fervor of love by which the hearts of the elect, lest they become sluggish in the appetite and desires for lowly things, are always inflamed by the Sun of righteousness shining from above, na…
Abram and Sarai in Egypt 10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
Didymus the Blind · AD 398 The meaning of the saying is clear; the wise men of God are above the earth, not being of it; therefore, there was famine in it; for those who have their minds set on earthly things, famine often happens if they are deserving, and later on when they are worthy of this, it is given to them again.
Bede · AD 735 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there. After receiving the promises of blessing, after entering the land of promise, after building an altar to the Lord there, after invoking His name, Abraham is tested by famine, and such a great famine that he left the land which he had received in promise as soon as he saw and visited it.
11 And it happened, when he had come near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, Look now, I know that you are a fair woman to look upon:
Ephrem the Syrian · AD 373 Abraham gave a human reason as human beings do. Nevertheless, because Sarah thought it was Abraham who was sterile, she was taken to the palace.
Didymus the Blind · AD 398 On the literal level Abraham made an intelligent compromise with the lustfulness of the Egyptians, being certain that God, who had made him leave his own country, would watch over his marriage.
Bede · AD 735 And when he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife: "I know that you are a beautiful woman, and that when the Egyptians see you, they will say that you are his wife, and they will kill me and keep you alive: therefore, please say that you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you," and so on until it was said, "The Lord, however, struck Pharaoh w…
12 Therefore it shall happen, when the Egyptians shall see you, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save you alive.
13 Say, I pray you, you are my sister: that it may be well with me for your sake; and my soul shall live because of you.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 Having built an altar there and called upon God, Abraham proceeded thence and dwelt in the desert and was compelled by pressure of famine to go on into Egypt. There he called his wife his sister, and he told no lie. For she was this also, because she was near of blood; just as Lot, on account of the same nearness, being his brother's son, is called his brother.
14 And it happened, that, when Abram had come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman that she was very fair.
15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
Jerome · AD 420 (Vs. 15 and 16) And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was brought into Pharaoh's house. And Abram benefitted because of her, and he had sheep, and cattle, and donkeys, and male and female servants, and mules and camels.
16 And he treated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he donkeys, and menservants, and maidservants, and she donkeys, and camels.
Didymus the Blind · AD 398 The intelligent strategy of the patriarch did not fail. They did not seek to do him harm. Moreover, a way out of it presented itself so that the marriage of the holy man would not be violated, because the Egyptians did not fling themselves on the woman relinquished by him.
17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 This passage is a great witness and demonstration of the necessity of maintaining chastity, exhorting everyone to show himself chaste, not to long for the bed of another and not to seduce the wife of another, counting on the hope of not being discovered and of going unpunished. It exhorts all not to let themselves be tempted by neglect … or by a prolonged absence.
18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that you have done to me? why did you not tell me that she was your wife?
John Chrysostom · AD 407 Note that the severity of the punishment depressed his thinking, to the extent of leading him to offer an excuse to the just man and show signs of every care for him.
19 Why said you, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore look your wife, take her, and go your way.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 What imagination could adequately conceive amazement at these events? What tongue could manage to express this amazement? A woman dazzling in her beauty is closeted with an Egyptian partner, who is king and tyrant, of such frenzy and incontinent disposition, and yet she leaves his presence untouched, with her peerless chastity intact.
20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 You would be right in applying to this just man those words that blessed David used of those who returned from the captivity in Babylon: "Though they sow in tears, they will reap in joy.