בְּרֵאשִׁית‎

BeReshit

Genesis

CHAPTER 12

With Commentaries

And I will make you into a numerous nation, bless you, and magnify your name so that you will be a blessing.

Listen to this chapter in Hebrew

And YHVH said to Avram, “Go from your land, and from your people, and the house of your father, to the land that I will show you.

1 וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל־אַבְרָם לֶךְ־לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶל־הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ׃

א

HaShem spoke to Avram in what way? The Torah does not say, but HaShem told Avram to separate himself from everything and everyone he has known. Avram was to go into the unknown, to a land he did not know, but trusting God, he went. I take from this verse that Avram's decision to go, as HaShem commanded, will be a separation from his land, his relatives, and his father’s house, the same as a divorce. Avram will no longer be from his father's house or the nation he came from and will, and has, become a new people, a new nation of his own. Like the nations that came from Noakh, through Yafet, Shem, and Kham, Avram will now have a nation that will come from himself; Israel is that Nation, not by expansion or conquest, but by a gift from God. Nowadays, you say the Israelites are the sons of Jacob, the sons of Yitzchak, who in turn are the sons of Avraham, and it does not go any farther than Avraham.
What do we know of Avram so far? Avram is a descendant of Shem, who followed his father out of Ur of the Chaldeans. Following his father, Avram was heading to Khenaan, but Avram’s father decided to stop and live in Kharan, not reaching their destination. After his little brother Haran died, he and his brother Nakhor took wives for themselves. Nakhor married Milka, his dead brother’s daughter, and Avram took Sarai, a woman known for not being able to have children (see previous chapter). HaShem, our God, saw something in Avram, but so far, the Scriptures do not say. As the story continues, we will see the type of man Avram was and why HaShem, our God, called him “My friend.”

Isaiah 41:8-9

But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Avraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off.”

Sidetracking a little bit, HaShem, our God, calls Avraham “my friend.” In Daniel 10:11, in Daniel’s vision, an angel of God called Daniel “man greatly loved” by God. Preverbs 15:9 says, “The way of the wicked is an abomination to Him, but He loves him who pursues righteousness.” And finally, Malachi 1:2-3 says, “Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated.” All of these passages are emotions that HaShem has for people. Not everyone is the same in the eyes of God. We have been taught that God loves everyone, but this is not so. You have to earn His love. As men and women, we are capable of love and hate and all the other motions because we are created in His image, and because we are created in his image, we love and hate just like God does. We get it from Him. Why do I tell you this? Because it is important for you to understand that God needs your love and attention. It can not be a one-sided love. How sad would it be if you loved your partner with all your heart and your partner ignored you in a way that made it very obvious that they did not love you? But how do I make Him know that I love Him? Just like in a man and woman’s relationship, you start by getting to know God. Find out what He likes and dislikes and do that. How do you find that out, you ask? By reading all the books in the Tanakh, the Hebrew bible. The Bible was not written, so you read a passage here and another there. Every single word tells you of HaShem, our God. All you need to know about Him in the Hebrew Bible is written. What He loves and hates, and doing what He loves, guarantees your eternal life.
Getting back on track, in this verse I just quoted from Isaiah, it is written, “whom I took from the ends of the earth.” What does God mean when He said, “from the ends of the earth?” This is in the part of the story where we are now, and it is not like Avram was at the North Pole. Avram was in the midst of civilization. And that is the point, right there. HaShem is saying “from the ends of the earth” that Avram was in a corrupt place of idolatry and with people who had forgotten the Name of their Creator. Even though Avram was in the midst of all and everyone, he was alone in his belief in only HaShem. Avram was a person who behaved like God wants us to behave. Avram was alone in the midst of a sea of people but might as well have been far away from everyone else. Avram was at the end of the earth spiritually.

Rashi (approximately 1040 - approximately 1105) commentary: לך לך/GET THEE OUT (literally, go for thyself) — for your own benefit, for your own good: there I will make of you a great nation whilst here you will not merit the privilege of having children. Furthermore, I shall make known your character throughout the world.

Rashi (approximately 1040 - approximately 1105) commentary: By not specifying Abraham’s destination, saying only to the land that I will show you, God kept him in suspense and thereby made the destination more beloved in his eyes, and also enabled him to be rewarded for every step he took.

I believe Hashem meant something other than keeping Avram in suspense. As we will see in the coming verses, Avram will wander to different parts of Khenaan, kind of like drawing boundary lines of Khenaan to where the boundaries of Israel will be. HaShem will guide Avram to these places. I believe this is what HaShem meant by “the land that I will show you.” The land from north to south and east to west, all the land that will be Israel.

Ramban (1194 - 1270) commentary: The Torah expresses Abraham’s test in ascending degrees of difficulty. It is hard for someone to leave his homeland and his parents.

And I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, and I will magnify your name, and you will be a blessing.

2 וְאֶעֶשְׂךָ לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל וַאֲבָרֶכְךָ וַאֲגַדְּלָה שְׁמֶךָ וֶהְיֵה בְּרָכָה׃

ב

And blessed will be those who bless you, and he that curses you shall be cursed, and blessed in you will be all the families on the land/earth/surface of the earth.”

3 וַאֲבָרֲכָה מְבָרְכֶיךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ אָאֹר וְנִבְרְכוּ בְךָ כֹּל מִשְׁפְּחֹת הָאֲדָמָה׃

ג

Verses 1 to 3 are all together, and HaShem blesses Avram. Avram was blessed by HaShem, our God, and Creator, and not by his father like we usually see in Scripture. This is the whole blessing put together:

“Go from your land, and from your people, and the house of your father, to the land that I will show you. And I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, and I will magnify your name, and you will be a blessing. And blessed will be those who bless you, and he that curses you shall be cursed, and blessed in you will be all the families on the land/earth/surface of the earth.”

Explanation of the blessing

Go from your land, and from your people, and the house of your father, to the land that I will show you.

This first part is a condition for the blessing. For Avram to be blessed, he must cut ties with everything and everyone he knows. No one can share in Avram's blessing; only he will be blessed, and it must be in the land that HaShem will outline for him. Avram has to make a conscious decision to leave on his own.

And I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, and I will magnify your name, and you will be a blessing.

Verse two is the blessing that HaShem promises Avram if he agrees to do as HaShem says and leave on his own, not by force. By HaShem's power, Avram will be turned into a great nation. HaShem Himself will bless him, HaShem will make the name of Avram widely known throughout the whole earth, and he, Avram, will be a blessing himself. Avram does not have to bless anyone; just by being himself, Avram is a blessing. How is this possible, you say? This is where the next part of the blessing comes in;

And blessed will be those who bless you, and he that curses you shall be cursed, and blessed in you will be all the families on the land/earth/surface of the earth.

This is how Avram himself will be a blessing to others. All the people who bless Avram will be blessed, but if any single person tries to curse Avram, they themselves will be cursed. When the world was doing its own thing, idolizing images, fighting with God, and being a people of lawlessness, Avram was chosen among all these people of the earth because he was the opposite. Even though, up to this point, Scripture does not tell us much of Avram’s character, the fact that God chose him tells us that he was different from everyone else. Also, up to this point in which Avram is introduced, the Scriptures are concerned with telling us how bad the world was, and the character of Avram lies there. Scripture does not need to tell us how good, righteous, or if he was a person of God, but that God chose him among all the multitude of people tells us all we need to know about Avram and why he deserves this blessing. If Avram did not deserve this blessing, HaShem would not have given it to him, or are we to question the Most Highest, Bless be His Name?

I have one more thing to add: this is about the last section of the blessing given to Avram: " And blessed in you will be all the families on the land/earth/surface of the earth.” And I might be overthinking it too much, but I will share it anyway. In later chapters, like;

BeReshit/Genesis 26:2-4

I will establish the oath that I swore to Avraham, your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because Avraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

This is the blessing that HaShem gave to Yitzkhak, Avram’s son. God also blessed Yaakov, Yitzkhak’s son, who was Avram's grandchild.

BeReshit/Genesis 35:9-12

God appeared to Yaakov again when he came from Paddan-Aram and blessed him. And God said to him, “Your name is Yaakov; no longer shall your name be called Yaakov, but Yisrael shall be your name.” So he called his name Yisrael. And God said to him, “I am El-Shadai (God the sufficient or God, He Who is enough): be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body. The land that I gave to Avraham and Yitzkhak I will give to you, and I will give the land to your offspring after you.”

Then, as Yaakov was going to meet his brother and feared that his brother would him and all his people, Yaakov prayed to HaShem and said,

BeReshit/Genesis 32:12-13

Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

Yaakov prayed to HaShem for salvation over his oncoming brother, and HaShem saved him. What Yaakov said in his prayer is true, or HaShem would not have saved him.
Now, as some of us know, the Jewish people have been exiled multiple times from Israel throughout history because they sinned against HaShem. HaShem warned them that this would happen in the event that they did, and they did sin, and they were indeed exiled. They were scattered throughout the world's nations and still are. You can find Jewish people in every corner of the world today. And finally, this is what I am trying to say: in all those years that the Jewish people have been in the midst of all the other nations, exiled from their inherited land, how many Jews do you think married non-Jew people? And how many people out there do not even know that they have Jewish blood in them? As numerous as the sand on the sea indeed, and as numerous as the stars in the sky as well. If you also remember HaShem’s blessing to Avram,

“And blessed in you will be all the families on the land/earth/surface of the earth.”

I personally had a DNA test done on myself, and I, who was born in a country farthest away from the land of Israel and had no ties whatsoever with Jewish people, have a small percentage of Jewish DNA (I will keep that percentage to myself). In a small percentage, I have an ancestry connection with Avram in one way or another. I wonder how many people in the world can say the same. Probably by today, we all share Jewish DNA in all of us, except for those who cursed Avram and his descendants. It is said that there is a phenomenon with the Jewish people in which they are either hated or loved, and it is hard to find an in-between.

I have said that when HaShem in scripture refers to mankind in Scripture, He says the word or name Adam. In this way, God refers to us all because we all came from that first man, Adam. We trace ourselves back to him. In the same way, some people’s DNA traces you back to Avram. I have heard many rabbis say that there are many Jews out there, and they don’t even know they are Jews because they have lost their identity. They also say that if you hunger to know God and to read Scripture, you find yourself in pursuit of finding the truth through Scripture and not by what men say Scripture says. Then, chances are that you are a Jew, and you were always a Jew.

And Avram went as YHVH had spoken to him, and Lot went with him, And Avram’s age was 75 years when he came out of Kharan.

4 וַיֵּלֶךְ אַבְרָם כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֵלָיו יְהֹוָה וַיֵּלֶךְ אִתּוֹ לוֹט וְאַבְרָם בֶּן־חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים וְשִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה בְּצֵאתוֹ מֵחָרָן׃

ד

Avram was 75 when he decided to obey HaShem and departed, separating himself from everything and everyone he had known. Avram was born in 1948, and 75 years later, in the year 2023, after Creation or Adam’s Creation, he left Kharan for Khenaan. He did not know where he was heading because HaShem did not tell him the destination.
This verse says, “Lot went with him,” which sounds like Lot's decision. This makes me wonder if Lot went with Avram because his mother and “stepmother” went with Avram, so Lot decided to go too (I say stepmother because of my theory of who, I think, Sarai might have been; read the last chapter). Let us not think of Lot as a child because he was Avram’s nephew. According to my calculations of how old Yiska, Lot’s youngest sister, was, Lot was about 24 years younger than Avram. Making Lot 51 or 52 years old at that time. Jumping ahead one more time, King David descended from both Avram and Lot. King David’s father is a descendant of Avram, and King David’s mother is a descendant of Lot.

And Avram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, the son of his brother, and all of their combined possessions, together with the living souls they acquired in Kharan, they all set out to the land of Kenaan. And they went into the land of Kenaan.

5 וַיִּקַּח אַבְרָם אֶת־שָׂרַי אִשְׁתּוֹ וְאֶת־לוֹט בֶּן־אָחִיו וְאֶת־כָּל־רְכוּשָׁם אֲשֶׁר רָכָשׁוּ וְאֶת־הַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר־עָשׂוּ בְחָרָן וַיֵּצְאוּ לָלֶכֶת אַרְצָה כְּנַעַן וַיָּבֹאוּ אַרְצָה כְּנָעַן׃

ה

Zohar (written in 1558, this is a group of books that includes commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five books of Moses) and scriptural interpretations, as well as material on mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology.): “Took,” Avraham took Sarah through persuasion because a man is forbidden to take his wife to a foreign land without her consent.

I do not know what to think of this commentary in the Zohar; yes, the word, took, could mean by force, persuasion, or just that Avram took them, meaning Sarai and Lot and not just Sarai, along with him. Persuasion is just one option but not the only option of the meaning of the word, took. And if Sarai was Yiska, who had the foresight, why did she not see the future in this case? This reinforces my theory that Sarai was not Yiska but Avrams dead brother’s widow (read the last chapter). If she were Yiska, she would not need persuasion; she would have seen the future.
I believe this verse tells us who went with Avram and that they even took the possessions they had of theirs when they left Kharan. The verse also lets us know that, even though HaShem told Avram to go to the land that He would show Avram, he did not go alone; he had people who followed him and believed in him. The word, took, just lets us know that he did not go alone and had family and friends who cared for Avram and believed in him so much that they would rather go into the unknown than stay behind and let Avram go by himself. Also, just imagine the amount of work it took to make this move because it was not just Avram but his wife, nephew, and all the people they had with them: servants, people who believed in Avram, and all their possessions. It was a big decision for Avram and the people with him, and much faith had to be involved in making this move.

Rashi (approximately 1040—approximately 1105) commentary: The souls they made. This refers to those whom they had converted to faith in HaShem, for Avram converted the men and women who went with him. This is according to the simple meaning. However, it refers to the servants they had acquired in Kharan.

And Avram went up to the land of Shekhem, up to Elon More, and the Kenaanites were then in the land.

6 וַיַּעֲבֹר אַבְרָם בָּאָרֶץ עַד מְקוֹם שְׁכֶם עַד אֵלוֹן מוֹרֶה וְהַכְּנַעֲנִי אָז בָּאָרֶץ׃

ו

Rashi (approximately 1040—approximately 1105) commentary: אלון מורה THE PLAIN OF MORE — This is Shekhem (Sotah 32a). He showed him Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, where Israel took upon themselves the oath to observe the Torah (cf. Deuteronomy 11:29 and Deuteronomy 11:30).
והכנעני אז בארץ AND THE CANAANITE WAS THEN IN THE LAND — They (the Canaanites) were gradually conquering the land of Israel from the descendants of Shem, for it had fallen to the share of Shem when Noah apportioned the earth amongst his sons, for it is said (Genesis 14:18) “And Melchizedek) king of Salem (Jerusalem).” For this reason the Lord said to Abram (Genesis 12:7) “to thy seed will I give this land” — “I will in some future time return it to thy children who are descendants of Shem”.

Chizkuni (French rabbi and Bible commentator of the 13th century) commentary: והכנעני אז בארץ/the kenaanites were then in the land, the word: אז, “then,” (in the past) indicates that the Torah did not speak about the political situation at the time when the Jewish people were in possession, but about the political situation at the time when Avraham first wandered through that land.

Daat Zkenim (First published in 1516) commentary: והכנעני אז בארץ/and the Kenaanites were in the land at that time. Rashi interprets these words as meaning that at that period, the Kenaanites were in the process of capturing that land from the descendants of Shem, whose king had ruled there in Jerusalem, then known as Shalem. It had been allocated to him by his father, Noakh. The difficulty with Rashi’s interpretation is that Rashi, when commenting on Hebron in Numbers 13,22, states that Hebron had been founded seven years earlier than Tzoan of Egypt. We know Kham had given that city (Khevron) to his oldest son [Kush and Mitzrayim having been twins? Compare table in Chronicles of Mossad Harav Kook Ed.]. It follows that the Kenaanites must have been in that land already long before Avraham came to it. This is also the conclusion in the Talmud, tractate Sotah folio 34.

Obviously, there is a difference of opinion on whether the Kenaanites were already settled in the land of Kenaan or if they were in the process of conquering it. But if you think about it, what does it mean by “the Kenaanites were then in the land?” If you tell someone you could not have lived in that house at that time because, “then,” I was living there. This means that you occupied that house and were living in it. But whether the Kenaanites were in the process of taking it over or already established there, I do not think it matters. What matters is that they were in the land already. Besides, as we continue reading, Avram, then Avraham, will interact with the people of the land of Kenaan, and the Scripture never says that they were at war or made it seem like they were, as Avram will be going up and down Kenaan. In contrast, in Exodus, it is written that HaShem thought to himself not to take the Isrealites through the land of the Philistines as there was war at that time, and HaShem feared that the Isrealites might lose heart as they had never seen war.

Shemot/Exodus 13:17-18

When Pharaoh let the people go, ELOHIM/God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For ELOHIM/God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” But ELOHIM/God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.

I personally do not think that HaShem would send Avram with men, women, and children, not to mention livestock, into a war zone. In Exodus 13:17-18, the Israelites were equipped for war, and God still led them around to protect them. Avram was not equipped for war and was smaller in numbers compared to the Israelites, who were a nation in motion at that time. I think that the Khenaanites were already established there. That is why the name of that land was, and still is to this day, sometimes called Kenaan or Canaan, which is now known as Israel.

Avram’s journey from Kharan, to Elon More in Shekhem.

Click on the image to enlarge.

This path was even more complex than the last one, so I had to try and guess which route Avram might have taken. On this one, I had to go from river to river and follow its curves. When there were no rivers, I looked for flat land and tried to go between mountains and not over them, as I think someone in that situation might do. This trip from Kharan to Elon More in Shekhem was 950,197 miles. Wow, I can only imagine. We do not think of these things when we just read that Avram went from Kharan to Elon More. Some of us won’t ever drive that far. We would take a plane.

Ibn Ezra (approximately 1089 - 1092 to approximately 1164 - 1167) commentary: [SHEKHEM.] Shekhem was the name Moses used because it was the name the city was known by in the time of Moses. Shekhem was not yet born in Abraham’s day. *According to Ibn Ezra, Shekhem was named after Shekhem, son of Khamor. Cf. Gen. 34:2.
TEREBINTH. Elon (terebinth) has the same meaning as ela (terebinth). They are trees. Others say that Elon means a field, as in unto El Paran (Gen. 14:6).

And YHVH looked towards Avram and said, “To your seed, I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to YHVH, who looked towards him.

7 וַיֵּרָא יְהֹוָה אֶל־אַבְרָם וַיֹּאמֶר לְזַרְעֲךָ אֶתֵּן אֶת־הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת וַיִּבֶן שָׁם מִזְבֵּחַ לַיהֹוָה הַנִּרְאֶה אֵלָיו׃

ז

I know that in your Bible, it most likely says “appeared” and not “looked towards,” but I assure you, that is what it literally says in this verse. The word וַיֵּרָא/VaYera and the word הַנִּרְאֶה/HaNir’E means;

וַיֵּרָא/VaYera = And looked (verb niphal consecutive imperfective third singular masculine)
and
הַנִּרְאֶה/HaNir’E = that looked (verb niphal participle singular masculine absolute)

Meaning

: see/show

1) to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to see

1a2) to see, perceive

1a3) to see, have vision

1a4) to look at, see, regard, look after, see after, learn about, observe, watch, look upon, look out, find out

1a5) to see, observe, consider, look at, give attention to, discern, distinguish

1a6) to look at, gaze at

1a7) to provide, choose

1d2) to cause to look intently at, behold, cause to gaze at

1e) (Hophal)

1e1) to be caused to see, be shown

1e2) to be exhibited to

1f) (Hithpael) to look at each other, face

This part of the verse means that when it says that HaShem looked at Avram, it means that HaShem talked to him in a vision. I do not only say this because of the meaning of these words, but also because HaShem, God Himself said it;

Numbers 12:6-8

And He said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I YHVH make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him, I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of YHVH. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

Moses, our teacher, is the only man who lived who spoke face to face with HaShem, our God, and was not in a trance, vision, or dream, but not so was with Avram. HaShem looked toward Avram, which means that Avram heard HaShem speak with him in a vision. HaShem’s Holy presence was not there in front of Avram.

“To your seed, I will give this land.” Meaning that even though HaShem gave it to Avram, Avram will not take possession of it until he becomes a nation, and that nation is Israel.

Rashi (approximately 1040—approximately 1105) commentary: ויבן שם מזבח/AND HE BUILDED THERE AN ALTAR — in thanksgiving for the good tidings that he would have children, and for the good tidings that they would possess the land of Israel.

Ibn Ezra (approximately 1089 - 1092 to approximately 1164 - 1167) commentary: AND THE LORD APPEARED. In a prophetic vision. Va-yera (appeared) is a nifal. It is vocalized with a tzere to make up for the dagesh which should have been placed in the resh as compensation for the missing nun of the nifal conjugation.
WHO APPEARED UNTO HIM. Nireh is a participle belonging to the above-mentioned conjugation (nifal). Na’aseh (prepared) in Now that which was prepared (na’aseh) for one day (Neh. 5:18) is similar.

Ramban (1194 - 1270) commentary: The sense of the expression, And there he built an altar unto the Eternal, who appeared unto him, is that he gave praise to the Glorious Name and offered unto Him a sacrifice of thanksgiving for His having appeared to him. Until now, G-d had not appeared to him neither in a mar’eh/vision/phenomenon nor in a makhzeh. Rather, the command, Get thee out of thy country, was said to him in a nocturnal dream or through Ruach/Spirit. It is possible that the expression, Who appeared unto him, alludes to the mystery of the sacrifice. The one enlightened [in the mysteries of the Torah] will understand.

From there, he proceeded to the hill country east of Beit-El (Beit-El means House of God) and pitched her tent there, Beit-El to the west and AI to the east; he built there an alter to YHVH and proclaimed in YHVH's name.

8 וַיַּעְתֵּק מִשָּׁם הָהָרָה מִקֶּדֶם לְבֵית־אֵל וַיֵּט אָהֳלֹה בֵּית־אֵל מִיָּם וְהָעַי מִקֶּדֶם וַיִּבֶן־שָׁם מִזְבֵּחַ לַיהֹוָה וַיִּקְרָא בְּשֵׁם יְהֹוָה׃

ח

Click on the image to enlarge.
This trip was approximately 49,496 miles, as we do not know where exactly Avram set his tents.

Rashi (approximately 1040—approximately 1105) commentary: אהלה HIS TENT — This word is written with a ה suffixed instead of the usual ו so that it may read אָהֳלָהּ “her tent” to say that first, he pitched a tent for his wife and afterward one for himself (Genesis Rabbah 39:15).
ויבן שם מזבח AND HE BUILDED THERE AN ALTAR — He perceived by the gift of prophecy that his descendants would once stumble (fall into sin) there through Akhan’s transgression (see, Joshua 7): therefore he prayed there for them (Genesis Rabbah 39:15).

I do not know if I agree with Rashi. I mean, it is something we wish our forefathers to be able to do, to see the future one way or another, but when I read scripture, what I see is that most all of the people in it made bad choices and good choices, they get rewarded or punished. This is why the Torah and, to an extent, the Tanakh, all of the Hebrew Bible, are true because we can relate. God does not hide anything; in Scripture, you will find very good deeds but also very shameful and evil deeds as well. Why? Because this is not fantasy; this is Scripture, and the good examples must be written, as well as the bad ones. Nobody is perfect, and all the people in the past, chosen by HaShem or not, can not see into the future unless HaShem lets them know. If they could, you would think that everything would go without any problems as they could avoid all of them. But this is reality; you are presented with choices and decide what to do. This is how HaShem knows whether you are a good person or not. We will see that every person in the Hebrew Bible will make bad choices in their lives, letting us know that even we, as we stumble through life, can be saved because every man and woman in history has also made bad choices. The key is true repentance of your sins. If you do not repent, then that is a problem.
As we read, we will see that every single person in the Torah is like you and me: people who struggle through life, making choices as they present themselves and not being able to see into the future. Some will make good choices, and even the righteous will occasionally make bad ones. This is life. That is why HaShem told us to read the Bible daily, if possible. We need to know what decisions to make when they come, even when we feel that the choices we want to make are the right ones, but Scripture says they are not; you go with scripture.
So why did Avram make an altar and proclaim it in the name of HaShem? Exactly because of that, Avram was proclaiming the land he came into in HaShem’s name. The land is God’s; only He can decide what to do with it. To give it or take it.

Ramban (1194 - 1270) commentary: AND HE CALLED UPON THE NAME OF THE ETERNAL. Onkelos explained it as meaning that he prayed there, just as in the verse, I called upon Thy name, O Eternal, out of the lowest dungeon. *Lamentations 3:55.
The correct interpretation is that Abraham loudly proclaimed the name of the Eternal there before the altar, informing people of Him and of His Divine essence.

And Avram set out to go, and he set out to Negba.

9 וַיִּסַּע אַבְרָם הָלוֹךְ וְנָסוֹעַ הַנֶּגְבָּה׃

ט

VaYisa | Avram | HaLokh | VeNasoa | HaNegba

נֶּגְבָּה/Negba = “southward”

Rashi (approximately 1040—approximately 1105) commentary: הלוך ונסוע GOING ON MORE AND MORE TOWARDS THE NEGEB — by stages: he stayed here a month or more, then traveled on and pitched his tent in another place. Yet all his journeys were towards the Negeb to proceed to the South of the land of Israel, which is the direction where Jerusalem is.

Ibn Ezra (approximately 1089 - 1092 to approximately 1164 - 1167) commentary: TOWARD THE SOUTH. Negba means south, and it means the same as Aramaic. The Negev in Aramaic means dry, as we see from Onkelos, who renders the waters dried up (Gen. 8:13) as negative may. The south is called Negev (dry) because it is hot there, and the heat parches the land. This is the way for that thou hast set me in the Southlands (aretz ha-negev) give me therefore springs of water (Josh. 15:19) should be understood.

Sforno (approximately 1470/1475 - 1549) commentary: when he journeyed, as is the custom of shepherds, he did not move to the east or to the west alternately but kept moving in a southerly direction. He did this so as not to deviate from moving between one of the towns he had been between when he first stopped between Bet El and Ai. Members of those cities had begun to trail him, planning to join him.

I see what Sforno is saying, but I do not think Avram went straight south. Israel's southern part is all desert, and just like Avram’s father, he did not cross the desert to get to Khenaan, as that would have been a shorter route but unsafe. Instead, they went around the desert to Kharan. I do not think Avram and his people would go to the desert with men, women, children, and livestock in the same manner. I see it more probable that he went southwest, following the greener part of the land, as the sea was nearby and gave some plants life from which the animals could eat. Not much, but some.

And there was a famine in the land, and Avram went down to Egypt to sojourn there because the famine was severe in the land.

10 וַיְהִי רָעָב בָּאָרֶץ וַיֵּרֶד אַבְרָם מִצְרַיְמָה לָגוּר שָׁם כִּי־כָבֵד הָרָעָב בָּאָרֶץ׃

י

Again, Avram showed concern for the people and the animals, so he decided to go in the direction of Egypt. Which was in the direction that he was heading south and to the west, following the greenery, as little as it was. Egypt, as we know, has the River Nile, which is always green around the river.

Rashi (approximately 1040—approximately 1105) commentary: רעב בארץ A FAMINE IN THE LAND — in that land only to test him whether he would take exception to God’s commands in that He had bidden him to go to the land of Khenaan and now forced him to leave it (Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer 26).

Again, I disagree with Rashi because Hashem told Avram, “Go to the land that I will show you,” and did not say to go to Khenaan specifically or to stay within its boundaries. This is why Avram does not stay in only one place in particular and keeps moving southward. As we have seen, Avram came in through the north and stayed right in the middle of Khenaan, then made his way south. Now, Avram is going farther south; As we will see, he ends up going too far.
We will also see that even though HaShem has communicated with Avram, He does not always stay in contact with him. He stays silent like he does with us. At this time in the Scriptures, Avram is in his mid-to-late 80s, and HaShem has only spoken to him twice. It is not like Avram gets information from HaShem every time he makes a decision. Avram is making decisions on his own. The route Avram took to get to Elon More, his choice, to go south and camp between Beit-El and AI, his choice, to go even deeper into the south, his decision. Even the decision to go to Egypt was Avram’s. Avram had no problems all this time, but as soon as he left Khenaan, he would have problems, as we will see. HaShem is telling Avram or showing Avram the land, not by telling him to go here and go there but by showing him where the boundaries are where HaShem protects him. As we will read in the next verses, Avram suddenly runs into trouble as he goes down/south to Egypt.
Has there been a time in your life when you had to make changes because things were not going the way they were? For example, you may have had to move houses, leave a town, or even a class because of troubles. This may be HaShem telling you that it is time to move or that the way you are going is wrong, and you have to adjust. The Torah is all examples; it does not tell us what to do word for word, especially in Genesis. If someone in Scripture does evil and gets punished, it is telling you what will happen to you if you do the same, and the same goes if you do and behave like, for example, Avram; you will be treated the same by HaShem. One thing about Avram, though, he was not a good person by choice, he did not make a mental effort to be a good person. To him, it came naturally. When Avram encountered a situation, his first reaction was how I can help or how I can make this situation better. Avram was always thinking of others before himself. But there is merit in being selfish and acting against this selfishness and forcing yourself to act unselfish. Like any bad habit, it is hard at first, but it gets easier with time, until one day, you have changed.

And it was as Mitzraim/Egypt came into view that he said to his wife, Sarai, “See/Now, please, I know that you are a beautiful woman in appearance,

11 וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר הִקְרִיב לָבוֹא מִצְרָיְמָה וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל־שָׂרַי אִשְׁתּוֹ הִנֵּה־נָא יָדַעְתִּי כִּי אִשָּׁה יְפַת־מַרְאֶה אָתְּ׃

יא

and it will be, when the Mitzraim/Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife,’ and they will kill me and keep you.

12 וְהָיָה כִּי־יִרְאוּ אֹתָךְ הַמִּצְרִים וְאָמְרוּ אִשְׁתּוֹ זֹאת וְהָרְגוּ אֹתִי וְאֹתָךְ יְחַיּוּ׃

יב

Please, say you are my sister, so that it may go well with me, for your sake, and that I continue to live, for your sake [or because of you].”

13 אִמְרִי־נָא אֲחֹתִי אָתְּ לְמַעַן יִיטַב־לִי בַעֲבוּרֵךְ וְחָיְתָה נַפְשִׁי בִּגְלָלֵךְ׃

יג

Verses 11-13 together

And it was as Mitzraim/Egypt came into view that he said to his wife, Sarai, “See/Now, please, for I know you are a beautiful woman in appearance. and it will be, when the Mitzraim/Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife,’ and they will kill me and keep you. Please, say you are my sister so that it may go well with me, for your sake, and that I continue to live for your sake [or because of you].”

A lot is going on here. For one, Avram keeps going southward. Yes, he is being forced to do so because of the famine, but the thing is that Avram is following HaShem’s instructions. Avram came to Kharan with his father on the only route they could safely take to get to Khenaan. Then, HaShem told Avram to go to a land that He would show him but told him no destination. So Avram went west because he would have been returning from where they came from if he had gone east. So, going westbound, he reached the mountains and had to turn southward until he reached Elon More, where he set camp, and HaShem looked towards him and talked to him. From there, he kept going south because the sea was on the west, and the desert was on the east. Then, he set camp between Beit-El and AI. After that, he lifted camp and went southward and westward, staying away from the desert and on the greener side of the land. He kept going south all this time, not knowing when to stop.
Avram seemed to be expecting trouble because of what he said. Avram has never been to Egypt, so the only way he would know that the people of Egypt were evil is by word of mouth. The people of Khenaan probably told him, but he has to continue his journey, which HaShem set him on, and he is not backing down. His journey, which was set to him by HaShem, and the famine forced him into a land without the fear of HaShem, meaning they were evil.
Does Avram sound afraid? Yes, but is he thinking of only himself? No, Avram is thinking of Sarai’s mental state after his death. Avram is considering Sarai’s feelings because he knows her and is trying to prevent her from suffering. If Avram dies because of her beauty, then Sarai will not only suffer her husband’s death, but her conscience will eat at her because she was the cause. Avram is looking at all the possibilities and the outcomes of the situation, and so he is preparing a plan for the event that he sees coming, not by divine intervention but by logic.
This is one of the reasons why I say that the people of Scripture, in this case, Avram, are like you and me and went through most of their lives as normal. They had troubles and worries and had to make choices by themselves, without divine intervention, almost every step of the way. Here, Avram has to go to Egypt for the reasons mentioned above, but he keeps on going because that is what HaShem ordered him to do 15 or 20 years from this point, and that was when he was about 75 years old. Avram has only heard HaShem twice. I know the people who are still on the fence, wondering deep inside themselves if God really exists; at least Avram heard God twice; that is more than all of us. But this is why this is written so that we would know and understand the way that HaShem is showing us. HaShem tells us by all that is written what happened, how it happened, and what direction everything is heading.

One other thing of note: Avram is in his 80s, so Sarai is in her mid-70s, and she is still a beautiful woman who is enticing enough to be kidnapped and even go as far as to kill to obtain her. But even in this matter, there is more to be said, but that is something I will stay quiet about until we get to the part where this is really relevant to say.

Rashi (approximately 1040—approximately 1105) commentary: הנה נא ידעתי BEHOLD NOW I KNOW — The Midrashic explanation is: Until now he had not perceived her beauty owing to the extreme modesty of both of them; now, however, through this event, he became cognisant of it (Midrash Tanchuma, Lech Lecha 5).

How can you grow to the edge of 80 with someone and not know that they are beautiful? To me, it is more like, up to this point, her beauty has not been a problem. I mean, no offense to anyone who really studies the Scriptures, but even about your mother, you can say that when someone asks that she is a very beautiful woman, you should be proud of her. True beauty is something that is plain to see from anyone's perspective.

Ibn Ezra (approximately 1089 - 1092 to approximately 1164 - 1167) commentary: WHEN HE WAS COME NEAR. When he caused his camp to come near. *I.E. takes hikriv (he came near) to be a transitive verb, its meaning being: when he caused to come near, i.e., when he caused his camp to come near. On the other hand, hikriv (when he came near) may be intransitive. *In this case hikriv is to be rendered, when he came near. These two interpretations are possible because there are verbs which can be transitive and intransitive.

This explains my translation, as I am sure the Bible you own is not translated as I have written it, but yet again, most of my translations are not as what is written in your Bibles, for the most part. When I translate a verse, it takes me a good amount of time; it varies from 10 minutes to even over an hour, and sometimes I have to step away because it is too hard to make it make sense and still keep as much of Scripture the same and still make it make sense. Scripture is very important to me, and I want to keep as much of it intact as possible. I am trying to stay true to the message of the original Scripture as it was intended to be written and understood. I do all of this for my sake and for the sake of anyone who is reading my journey of knowing HaShem, our God, and Creator. Some words or sentences can have a double translation or meaning, and only one may apply, or both may apply depending on the subject and the intended meaning.

And Avram came into Mitzrima/Egypt, and the Mitzraim/Egyptians gazed at/distinguished the woman for she was very beautiful.

14 וַיְהִי כְּבוֹא אַבְרָם מִצְרָיְמָה וַיִּרְאוּ הַמִּצְרִים אֶת־הָאִשָּׁה כִּי־יָפָה הִוא מְאֹד׃

יד

Let us not forget that Avram and Sarai were not traveling alone. They were in a group of many people. The number, however, is unknown, but one thing is for sure: there were other women with them as well. As we continue reading, we will see that more and more people are attaching themselves to Avram, and his numbers are getting bigger and bigger, which we will read later on. This verse is saying that Sarai stood out among all the other women. Her mid-70 years and the other women's ages did not matter to them because Sarai stood out in beauty. To the Mitzraim/Egyptians, she was more beautiful than all the other women. Why does Scripture want us to know this, and why am I pointing this out so strongly? There is a reason, but that will come into play later as we read on.

Sforno (approximately 1470/1475 - 1549) commentary: ויראו המצרים/the Mitzraim/Egyptians gazed at/distinguished. When looking at Sarai, all of them entertained the very thoughts Avraham had anticipated.

This means that as soon as they entered Egypt, the attention to Sarai was very noticeable, and Avram’s concern was confirmed.

And Pharaoh’s officials/rulers saw her and boasted/praised her to Pharaoh and they took the woman to Pharaoh’s house.

15 וַיִּרְאוּ אֹתָהּ שָׂרֵי פַרְעֹה וַיְהַלְלוּ אֹתָהּ אֶל־פַּרְעֹה וַתֻּקַּח הָאִשָּׁה בֵּית פַּרְעֹה׃

טו

The ancient Egyptians regarded beauty as a sign of holiness. Everything they used had a spiritual aspect to it, including cosmetics. Both men and women wore makeup. Traders traded makeup often, especially in the upper classes.

Rashi (approximately 1040—approximately 1105) commentary: ויהללו אותה אל פרעה/AND THEY PRAISED HER TO PHARAOH — They praised her among themselves, saying, “This woman is worthy of the king (i. e. they praised her as being suitable אל פרעה for Pharaoh).

Steinsaltz (1937 - 2020) commentary: Pharaoh’s officers saw her and praised her to the Pharaoh, King of Egypt, informing him that there was an exceptionally beautiful woman among the visitors who had arrived from distant lands. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house to be one of his wives. It seems that Sarai was not able to object, as she and Avram claimed to be siblings.

It is needless to say, how beautiful Sarai was in the eyes of the people, but imagine the scene in which Avram entered Egypt. Avram is with everyone accompanying him, and Sarai stands out among them all. Most likely, a crowd started growing around them because of her, and what makes me say that? Would not that be an exaggeration? See, especially important officials do not mix in with commoners. They tend to stay with their crowd in the better-off part of town. So, the commotion had to be pretty big for the important officials who had access to Pharaoh to hear about what was going on within any of the entrances to the city. If we are talking about the city where Pharaoh lived, it had to be a pretty sizable commotion that they had to know what was happening. And for them to go to Pharaoh with this news says a lot about Sarai’s beauty.
I know what you might be thinking: Why is so much importance placed in Scripture on the beauty of Sarai? Why do we need to know this? Well, that it happened for one, this is not just stories; it really happened, and secondly, her beauty is not being stressed for no reason. There is a reason behind it, but we must wait a little longer for that explanation. The importance of her beauty will be explained in a later chapter. Besides, would you have noticed the magnitude of Sarai’s beauty without all of these commentaries? I know that when I first read through this part of the Scripture, it went over my head, and I did not pay much attention to what this could all mean besides that Sarai was beautiful. But believe me, there is more going on. Right now, I will only say that this is comparable to the miracle of Noakh’s ark and how all the animals fit in it, and Noakh’s ark and the beauty of Sarai is not about them but is all about HaShem.

And for Avram it went good because of her, and to him was gifted flocks and cattle, and donkeys, male servants and female servants, she-donkeys and camels.

16 וּלְאַבְרָם הֵיטִיב בַּעֲבוּרָהּ וַיְהִי־לוֹ צֹאן־וּבָקָר וַחֲמֹרִים וַעֲבָדִים וּשְׁפָחֹת וַאֲתֹנֹת וּגְמַלִּים׃

טז

I wonder what is going on in Avram’s and Sarai’s minds, not to mention the people with them. The emotions could be negative or positive. Avram’s negative feelings could be, “I did this, I decided to come here, I made this plan, where is God? He told me that a nation would come from me. Is Sarai, not the woman through which this nation would come from? Is there another woman in my future that can have my kids? And that is why she was taken away?” Or his emotions could be positive, and he could think, “God told me to come here. By His command, I find myself here, and I believe in Him; I know that everything He told me will come to pass; I know that He will save us no matter the situation.” Sarai’s negative emotions could be, “This is all my husband’s fault; he told me to follow him, that God had spoken to him, I followed him to this land, and now I find myself in this situation.” and her positive thinking could be, “I trust my husband and His God, he said that everything we do is because of His command and that we will have not just a Kid, but a nation. HaShem will save us from this trouble.” Finally the people with Avram could be thinking negatively as well, they could be thinking, “I thought that Avram’s God was the only God among all the gods of the world and that He is all powerful, where is He now? Why is this happening to them?” Or they could be thinking positively and saying, “We trust in Avram and his God; we must be patient and wait; Avram’s God will come and save them both.” However, Avram’s people are many, and I am sure the emotions were mixed. Because of this, some left Avram, and some stayed to wait for Avram and Sarai and for Avram’s God to save them.
Is there any indication in the Scriptures of all of these emotions? No, but they are men and women, and being that they are, the body and soul feel fear, remorse, and all the other emotions in between. However, we must understand that when HaShem promises something, it will come to pass; there are no exemptions. Neither are there exemptions to His Laws. Once he sets Laws/commandments, they will stay and never change. For example, HaShem blessed the seventh day, Saturday, as a blessed and holy day, and it will stay that way forever; it will never change to another day for any reason.

Sarai has been taken away, and Avram is forced to accept these gifts. If he does not, they will probably be killed.

And YHVH touched/struck Pharaoh and his house with great/severe plagues on/upon the utterance/words of Abram's wife, Sarai.

17 וַיְנַגַּע יְהֹוָה אֶת־פַּרְעֹה נְגָעִים גְּדֹלִים וְאֶת־בֵּיתוֹ עַל־דְּבַר שָׂרַי אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָם׃

יז

It would seem that Sarai held off for as long as she could in her situation. Still, it came to a point—and I think we all know what point that was—when Sarai audibly pleaded for help to HaShem in the presence of Pharaoh, who heard the plea, and HaShem came to her aid as soon as Sarai's words escaped her mouth.
Why do I say that Sarai asked for help from HaShem, our God? To answer this, I will tell you what I have heard from countless rabbis: when you pray or talk to God, you have to make sure you are directing your prayer to Him. Before you even start your prayer, you must calm yourself down and focus to ensure that you are directing your prayer to Him and only Him. A perfect example is this: imagine you are having a conversation with your partner out in a restaurant, and you both are talking, but your partner is not even paying attention to you because your partner is looking toward another man or woman. How would you feel? The same is of HaShem, when you pray or talk to Him your attention has to be on Him and only Him. This is why I believe that Sarai felt great anguish and panic at that moment and did not think but audibly asked HaShem for help. HaShem immediately responded with great power and saved her by giving Pharaoh and his house instant severe plagues. Sarai successfully asked HaShem for help, knowing only He could come to her aid. This is also why Pharaoh reacts, as seen in the following verses. Pharaoh saw and heard Sarai’s panic and uttered words of plea to her God. A God that Pharaoh did not know or know of HaShem’s power. Now, Egypt has a great many gods, but Pharaoh has never seen a God that really does anything, ever, because his gods were and are not real.

Rashi (approximately 1040—approximately 1105) commentary: 'וינגע ה' וגו/AND THE LORD PLAGUED PHARAOH etc. — He was smitten with the disease of Raathon for which marital relations are harmful.
Rashi (approximately 1040—approximately 1105) commentary: ואת ביתו AND HIS HOUSE — Take it as the Targum has it: “and the people of his house”. A Midrashic explanation is: the word את/Et is used here to imply that included in the curse were also its walls, pillars and its utensils.
Rashi (approximately 1040—approximately 1105) commentary: על דבר שרי/BECAUSE OF SARAI (literally, by the word of Sarai).

Ramban (1194 - 1270) commentary: BECAUSE OF SARAI AVRAM’s WIFE. This means that because of the wrong done to Sarah, as well as to Avraham, and the merit of both of them, these great plagues came upon Pharaoh and his house.

Alshich (1508 - 1593) commentary: Sarai, Avram’s wife. She cried out that she was Avram’s wife but Pharaoh refused to listen.

Alshich says that because Scripture says explicitly, “Sarai, Avram’s wife,” she cried out that she was Avram’s wife. It is possible, but I think that Scripture says this because it wants us to know that this is Sarai, Avram’s wife. Why, though, if we already know it is her from the Scripture? Like most things in Scripture, God says a lot with minimal wording, and figuring things out takes a lot of thinking on our part. So what is going on? So far, in Avram’s story, it has only been him that HaShem has talked to. Everyone else, including Sarai, is going by Avram’s word. Unlike the many religions of the world, which have only one person who initiates said religion, It is not so with HaShem. Scripture tells us with these few words that this happened to Avram’s wife, Sarai, without Avram's presence. HaShem, God, listened and responded to Sarai’s voice and prayer. Not only that, but Pharaoh heard and witnessed all of this, and there are more witnesses if you count the people who heard this and witnessed Pharaoh’s afflictions. Suppose Sarai harbored doubts about what Avram said, not anymore. Now, there are two people that HaShem is faithful to, not just one.
Similarly, when HaShem gave the Torah to Moses in the desert, HaShem talked, and all the people of Israel heard God speak. In that case, thousands were witnesses, not just one person. If one person says that he/she heard God, it is not as powerful as saying thousands of people heard God. With one person, if that person is careful not to give his secret that what he said is a lie, he can get away with it, but with thousands of people, it can not work unless it is true. With thousands of people, getting everyone to agree and maintain the lie is impossible. Especially with what the Jewish people went through in Scripture and history. Why keep on living a lie if things are not going well? On the contrary, the Jewish people from the start have gone through so much hardship, and still, they hold their love for HaShem because it is true.
One more thing: In the story, HaShem is working through Sarai rather than Avram because they are married, and Sarai is just as important as Avram. One is not more important than the other; they are both important to HaShem, and He loves them both.

Chizkuni (French rabbi and Bible commentator of the 13th century) commentary: וינגע ה' את פרעה, “Hashem afflicted Pharaoh with a painful plague;” the reason why the Torah offers no further details about the nature of this plague, as opposed to when Avimelech was struck with impotence and the women in his country were afflicted in their birth canals, is because shortly after the episode with Avimelech the Torah reported that Sarah conceived and became pregnant (Genesis 21,1). Had the Torah not spelled out that Avimelech had become totally impotent, people might have attributed Sarah’s pregnancy to her having stayed in Avimelech’s Palace. The episode with Pharaoh had occurred perhaps as long as 20 years earlier, so that no one could have fabricated such a story. To the question why Pharaoh was punished, seeing that Avram had deceived him by saying that she was his sister, as we know from the Torah quoting him, Sarai had described herself as Avram’s wife even if he had not said so. This is the meaning of the words: על דבר שרי אשת ברם “on account of what Sarai, Avram’s wife had said.” Pharaoh had ignored her. Gentiles do not have to be warned not to violate the commandments they have accepted to observe, as we pointed out in connection with Genesis 20,5. (The second Avimelech and Rivkah)

Or HaChaim (1696 - 1743) commentary: וינגע ה׳ את פרעה. G'd brought plagues on Pharaoh. The word וינגע is related to נגע, touched. When Pharaoh was about to touch Sarah, G'd revealed to him that she was married to Abraham.

And Pharaoh called for Avram to say, “Tell me, why have you done this to me? Why is the reason you did not tell me she is your wife?

18 וַיִּקְרָא פַרְעֹה לְאַבְרָם וַיֹּאמֶר מַה־זֹּאת עָשִׂיתָ לִּי לָמָּה לֹא־הִגַּדְתָּ לִּי כִּי אִשְׁתְּךָ הִוא׃

יח

Why did you say, ‘She is my sister?’ And to take her as my wife? And now see, your wife, take her.”

19 לָמָה אָמַרְתָּ אֲחֹתִי הִוא וָאֶקַּח אֹתָהּ לִי לְאִשָּׁה וְעַתָּה הִנֵּה אִשְׁתְּךָ קַח וָלֵךְ׃

יט

And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, “Send them away, he, and his wife and all that is his.”

20 וַיְצַו עָלָיו פַּרְעֹה אֲנָשִׁים וַיְשַׁלְּחוּ אֹתוֹ וְאֶת־אִשְׁתּוֹ וְאֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ׃

כ

Verses 18 to 20 together

And Pharaoh called for Avram to say, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me she is your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister?’ And to take her as my wife? And now see, your wife, take her.” And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him, “Send them away, he, and his wife and all that is his.”

Pride is a strong emotion. Even after suffering the wrath of HaShem, Pharaoh still acted angrily, but he was also afraid. So much so that he did not harm anything that Avram owned; Pharaoh let him go without even taking back the gifts he had gifted Avram. The reason why Pharaoh was both angry and afraid and why he acted angry at Avram was that Pharaoh was not afraid of Avram, but he was most definitely afraid of the God he did not know, HaShem. We do not know what manner of afflictions Pharaoh and his house sustained, but one thing is sure: he was afraid. We can tell his anger by the questions asked of Avram, and we know that no matter his pride and anger, he still let them go without harming any of them and even let them go with the gifts given to Avram for Sarai. This proves he is scared and weary of HaShem, Avram, and Sarah. Some commentators say they were escorted, which is possible, but Scripture does not mention this. We do know that Avram decided to head back in the direction he came from, and it sounds like the move was immediate, so chances are that they got thrown out of Egypt. Also, this is how Avram noticed that he went too far in his journey, which HaShem gave to him; this is how he found out where the land promised to his descendants lay. At least southward.

The Stone Edition Torah (this is the Torah I own, written by Rabbi Nosson Scherman (1935—alive at the time of writing this)) commentary: Pharaoh summoned Avram. Although Pharaoh suspected that his affliction was because of Sarah, he could not be certain she was Abraham’s wife. He made the accusation to draw the truth from Abraham. When Abraham did not respond, Pharaoh realized his suspicion was correct, so he ordered Abraham to take his wife and leave (Ramban). By asking, “Why did you not tell me?” Pharaoh implied that even if he distrusted the morality of the Egyptian masses, he surely could have confided in Pharaoh! [This would explain why Pharaoh did not ask Sarah whether Abraham was her husband; he meant to reproach Abraham for not confiding in him. It may also be that Pharaoh was too proud to ask a “mere woman” if she was the cause of his suffering.] Abraham could hardly have replied that Pharaoh was obviously as lecherous as his subjects, nor did the angry tone of Pharaoh’s diatribe suggest that he was seriously interested in an answer.
And they were escorted. Pharaoh hastened to rid himself of the course of his Divine affliction, but he sent them away in honor, not wishing to incur God’s further wrath by mistreating Abraham and Sarah. He guaranteed that no evil would befall them.

Rabbeinu Bahya (1255 - 1340) commentary: הנה אשתך קח ולך, “Here is your wife, take her and go!” Avram did not bother to respond to the Pharaoh. We must conclude that how Pharaoh restored his wife to him by saying only the minimum words required, “take and go,” indicated to Avram that he was not interested in listening to explanations.

Tur HaAroch (a commentary on the Torah, written by R’ Jacob ben Asher (c. 1269 - c. 1343)) commentary: ואקח אותה לי לאשה, “so that I took her to be my wife.” He meant that Sarai was intended to be his queen instead of merely being a concubine. He used this phraseology in order to induce Avraham to reveal whether she was indeed his wife or not.
Tur HaAroch (a commentary on the Torah, written by R’ Jacob ben Asher (c. 1269 - c. 1343)) commentary: הנה אשתך קח ולך, “here is your wife, take her and leave” They did not part on cordial terms. The Egyptians knew no sexual restraints and Pharaoh was afraid if Avraham stayed there he might be exposed to further dangers on account of his wife.

Rashi (approximately 1040—approximately 1105) commentary: ויצו עליו AND PHARAOH GAVE COMMAND CONCERNING HIM— עליו means for his sake — to escort him and to protect him.
Rashi (approximately 1040—approximately 1105) commentary: וישלחו AND THEY ACCOMPANIED HIM — as the Targum has it: they escorted him.

Ibn Ezra (approximately 1089 - 1092 to approximately 1164 - 1167) commentary: [AND PHARAOH GAVE MEN CHARGE CONCERNING HIM.] It appears to me that this clause indicates that Pharaoh issued a command to his people concerning Abraham. He warned and charged that it be announced that no one harm Abraham and his wife.

Siftei Chakhamim (written by Shabbethai ben Joseph Bass (1641–1718)) commentary: Concerning him. Rashi is answering the question: If [ויצו עליו means] Pharaoh commanded Avraham some-thing, why does the verse not say what it was? Thus Rashi says it means, “Concerning him, to escort and protect him.” But a question remains: How did Rashi know that this is what Pharaoh had commanded? Perhaps he commanded that they let Avraham depart in peace, unhindered, not that he be protected. To answer this, Rashi explains that וישלחו means as the Targum says: “They escorted him.” And this implies, “To protect him.” [Note: The text of Rashi’s commentary on 13:1-2 was apparently in a different order than it appears today.] But a question still remains: How did the Targum know this? To answer this, Rashi explains that כבד מאוד (v. 2) means, “He was laden with baggage.” Since the Torah relates Avraham’s honor at length, his departure from Egypt must also have been in an honorable fashion. And that is why Rashi explained כבד מאוד before ויעל אברם, contrary to the order of the verses.