Genesis 12:13
in Genesis 12Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister; that it may be well with me for thy sake, and that my soul may live because of thee.
KJV
Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
⋯
This verse in Genesis 12
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThere came a famine, and so he went to Egypt. He knew that in Egypt the dissipation of youth was widespread, characterized by lust, impudent desires and unrestrained passions. He understood that among such men the modesty of his wife would be defenseless and that her beauty would be a danger for him. So he told his wife to say that she was his sister. By this we are taught that it is not so much beauty that one should seek in a wife, for this often leads to the death of the husband.
This site's exposition
Please say you are my sister
Sarai was his half sister by the same father, so the words are true and the use of them is a lie. He states the gain plainly, good treatment and his own life spared for her sake. The cost of the plan falls on her.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
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.
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.
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. Now he did not deny that she was his wife but held his peace about it, committing to God the defense of his wife's chastity and providing as a man against human wiles. If he had not provided against the danger as much as he could, he would have been tempting God rather than trusting in him. We have said enough about this matter against the calumnies of Faustus the Manichaean. At last what Abraham had expected the Lord to do took place. For Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who had taken her to him as his wife, restored her to her husband when faced with severe plague. And far be it from us to believe that she was defiled by lying with another. It is much more credible that, by these great afflictions, Pharaoh was not permitted to do this.
The Medieval Church1 voice
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 …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Say thou art my sister - The grace Abram was most eminent for was faith, and yet he thus fell through unbelief and distrust of the divine Providence, even after God had appeared to him twice.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Abram heartily espoused God's cause, and here God promiseth to interest himself in his. In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed - This was the promise that crowned all the rest, for it points at the Messiah, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. So Abram departed - He was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
Say, I pray thee, that thou art my sister,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister - Abram did not wish his wife to tell a falsehood, but he wished her to suppress a part of the truth. From Gen 20:12, it is evident she was his step-sister, i.e., his sister by his father, but by a different mother. Some suppose Sarai was the daughter of Haran, and consequently the grand-daughter of Terah: this opinion seems to be founded on Gen 11:29, where Iscah is thought to be the same with Sarai, but the supposition has not a sufficiency of probability to support it.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The counsel of Abram to her was true in words, but it was a deception, intended to give an impression that she was no more than his sister. His conduct was culpable and inconsistent with his character as a servant of God: it showed a reliance on worldly policy more than a trust in the promise; and he not only sinned himself, but tempted Sarai to sin also.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
[THOU ART MY SISTER.] Achoti (my sister) is penultimately accented. Ordinarily the accent would be placed on the last syllable.
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
11 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִמְרִי־ | ʾimri- | say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| נָ֖א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| אֲחֹ֣תִי | ʾachoti | [are] sister my | H269 → | 114 times |
| אָ֑תְּ | ʾat | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| לְמַ֙עַן֙ | lemaan | so that | H4616 → | 272 times |
| יִֽיטַב־ | yitav- | it may go well | H3190 → | 117 times |
| לִ֣י | li | for <the> me | ||
| בַעֲבוּרֵ֔ךְ | vaavurekh | for sake of you | H5668 → | 49 times |
| וְחָיְתָ֥ה | vechayetah | and it will live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| נַפְשִׁ֖י | nafshi | life my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| בִּגְלָלֵֽךְ׃ | biglalekh | on account of you | H1558 → | 10 times |
אִמְרִי־say
ʾimri-H559 →5305 times
נָ֖אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
אֲחֹ֣תִי[are] sister my
ʾachotiH269 →114 times
אָ֑תְּyou
ʾatH859 →1094 times
לְמַ֙עַן֙so that
lemaanH4616 →272 times
יִֽיטַב־it may go well
yitav-H3190 →117 times
לִ֣יfor <the> me
li
בַעֲבוּרֵ֔ךְfor sake of you
vaavurekhH5668 →49 times
וְחָיְתָ֥הand it will live
vechayetahH2421 →282 times
נַפְשִׁ֖יlife my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
בִּגְלָלֵֽךְ׃on account of you
biglalekhH1558 →10 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Genesis 20:2Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.
it leads to
- Genesis 12:15
When Pharaoh’s officials saw Sarai, they commended her to him, and she was taken into the palace of Pharaoh.
- Genesis 26:7
But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men…
- Genesis 12:15
Through
Genesis 26:7But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men…
it leads to
- Proverbs 29:25
The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is set securely on high.
- Genesis 20:2
Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.
- Genesis 24:16
Now the girl was very beautiful, a virgin who had not had relations with any man. She went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up again.
- Genesis 20:12–13
Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father—though not the daughter of my mother—and she became my wife.
- Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her
- Proverbs 29:25
Through
Genesis 20:5Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.”
it leads to
- Psalms 7:8
The LORD judges the peoples; vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and integrity.
- Psalms 7:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
About Genesis
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, ON ABRAHAM 1.2.6; Augustine of Hippo, City of God 16.19; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Didymus the Blind, On Genesis; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 9:3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.