And Abram journeyed ,.... He did not stay long in the mountain between Bethel and Hai, but moved from thence, and kept on journeying in the land of Canaan: going on still toward the south ; the southern part of the land of Canaan, which lay nearest Egypt, into which he is said to go next, the occasion of which follows. read more
Get thee out of thy country - There is great dissension between commentators concerning the call of Abram; some supposing he had two distinct calls, others that he had but one. At the conclusion of the preceding chapter, Genesis 11:31 , we find Terah and all his family leaving Ur of the Chaldees, in order to go to Canaan. This was, no doubt, in consequence of some Divine admonition. While resting at Haran, on their road to Canaan, Terah died, Genesis 11:32 ; and then God repeats his call... read more
I will make of thee a great nation - i.e., The Jewish people; and make thy name great, alluding to the change of his name from Abram, a high father, to Abraham, the father of a multitude. read more
In thee - In thy posterity, in the Messiah, who shall spring from thee, shall all families of the earth be blessed; for as he shall take on him human nature from the posterity of Abraham, he shall taste death for every man, his Gospel shall be preached throughout the world, and innumerable blessings be derived on all mankind through his death and intercession. read more
And Abram was seventy and five years old - As Abram was now seventy-five years old, and his father Terah had just died, at the age of two hundred and five, consequently Terah must have been one hundred and thirty when Abram was born; and the seventieth year of his age mentioned Genesis 11:26 , was the period at which Haran, not Abram, was born. See on Genesis 11 (note). read more
The souls that they had gotten in Haran - This may apply either to the persons who were employed in the service of Abram, or to the persons he had been the instrument of converting to the knowledge of the true God; and in this latter sense the Chaldee paraphrasts understood the passage, translating it, The souls of those whom they proselyted in Haran. They went forth to go into the land of Canaan - A good land, possessed by a bad people, who for their iniquities were to be expelled, see ... read more
The plain of Moreh - אלון elon should be translated oak, not plain; the Septuagint translate την δρυν την ὑψηλην , 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... read more
The Lord appeared - In what way this appearance was made we know not; it was probably by the great angel of the covenant, Jesus the Christ. The appearance, whatsoever it was, perfectly satisfied Abram, and proved itself to be supernatural and Divine. It is worthy of remark that Abram is the first man to whom God is said to have shown himself or appeared: In Ur of the Chaldees, Acts 7:2 ; and 2. At the oak of Moreh, as in this verse. As מורה Moreh signifies a teacher, probably this... read more
Beth-el - The place which was afterwards called Beth-el by Jacob, for its first name was Luz. See Genesis 28:19 . אל בית beith El literally signifies the house of God. And pitched his tent - and - builded an altar unto the Lord - Where Abram has a tent, there God must have an Altar, as he well knows there is no safety but under the Divine protection. How few who build houses ever think on the propriety and necessity of building an altar to their Maker! The house in which the... read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 12:8
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel ,.... As it was afterwards called by Jacob, which before and at this time had the name of Luz, Genesis 28:19 now to the east of this place was a mountain, whither Abram removed his tent from Sichem, which was about twenty miles from it, as Sir Walter Raleigh F6 History of the World, par. 1. b. 2. sect. 3. p. 132. observes, some say twenty eight F7 Bunting's Travels, p. 56. : and pitched his tent ; that is,... read more