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Genesis 12:1

in Genesis 12

Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Now Jehovah said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee:

KJV

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

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This verse in Genesis 12

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

This call included two promises: the first, showing the land of his future posterity; and the second, that in his posterity all the earth was to be blessed (Ge 12:2). Abraham obeyed, and it is frequently mentioned in the New Testament as a striking instance of his faith (Heb 11:8).

This site's exposition

Leave your country, your kindred

on Genesis 12:1-3

The command separates Abram from three things in rising order of cost, his country, then his kindred, then his father's household. The promises answer each loss, a great nation, a great name, and blessing for all the families of the earth. Galatians 3:8 takes that last clause as the gospel announced to Abraham in advance. The land stays unnamed until he goes.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Get out for thyself (so some read it), that is, for thy own good. Note, Those who leave their sins, and turn to God, will themselves be unspeakable gainers by the change, Prov. ix. This command which God gave to Abram is much the same with the gospel call by which all the spiritual seed of faithful Abram are brought into covenant with God.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

AND THE ETERNAL SAID UNTO ABRAHAM ‘LECH LECHA’ (GET THEE OUT). This means, “For your own benefit and for your own good. And there I will make of you a great nation whilst here you will not merit the privilege of having children.” Thus the language of Rashi.
Ramban: Spain, 1194–1270 · Ramban on Genesis 12:1:1, via Sefaria, Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

14 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • יְהוָה֙Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אַבְרָ֔םAbram

    ʾavramH87 →61 times

  • לֶךְ־go

    lekh-H1980 →1546 times

  • לְךָ֛for <the> yourself

    lekha

  • מֵאַרְצְךָ֥from land your

    meartzekhaH776 →2504 times

  • וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖and from kindred your

    umimoladtekhaH4138 →22 times

  • וּמִבֵּ֣יתand from [the] household of

    umibeitH1004 →2046 times

  • אָבִ֑יךָfather your

    ʾavikhaH1 →1212 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הָאָ֖רֶץthe land

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • אַרְאֶֽךָּ׃I will show you

    ʾarekaH7200 →1300 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Hebrews 11:8By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.61 worksNehemiah 9:7You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.33 worksActs 7:2–6And Stephen declared: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,33 worksIsaiah 51:2Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.25 worksJoshua 24:2–3And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods.19 worksPsalms 45:10Listen, O daughter! Consider and incline your ear: Forget your people and your father’s house,19 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Luke 14:26–33“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.15 worksGenesis 11:31–32And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there.15 worksGenesis 15:7The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”14 worksEzekiel 33:24“Son of man, those living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been given to us as a possession.’13 works2 Corinthians 6:17“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”12 worksActs 7:3and told him, ‘Leave your country and your kindred and go to the land I will show you.’7 worksGenesis 26:2The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Settle in the land where I tell you.7 worksIsaiah 41:9I brought you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said, ‘You are My servant.’ I have chosen and not rejected you.6 worksGenesis 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.5 worksGenesis 20:13So when God had me journey from my father’s house, I said to Sarah, ‘This is how you can show your loyalty to me: Wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”4 worksRevelation 18:4Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues.3 worksExodus 3:6Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.3 works

Where this verse connects

1 approved connection.

  • Named here

    person/abraham

    Call of Abram: leave country, kindred, father's house

    Source: MannaFest topical index

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Hebrews 11:8

    By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going.

    it leads to

    • Acts 7:2–4

      And Stephen declared: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Genesis 12:1–4

      Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.

    • Matthew 7:24–25

      Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

    • Genesis 15:7–8

      The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

    • Genesis 22:18

      And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

  • Through

    Isaiah 51:2

    Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who gave you birth. When I called him, he was but one; then I blessed him and multiplied him.

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 33:24

      “Son of man, those living in the ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land. But we are many; surely the land has been…

    • Galatians 3:9–14

      So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

    • Romans 4:1–5

      What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, has discovered?

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

Abraham Goes to the Land of Canaan — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Abraham Goes to the Land of Canaan — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 12 →

This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Genesis 12 →