Kejadian 12:10

The Promised Blessing Jeopardized

12:10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt ¹  to stay for a while ²  because the famine was severe. ³ 

Kejadian 20:1

Abraham and Abimelech

20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev ⁴  region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident ⁵  in Gerar,

Kejadian 23:4

23:4 “I am a temporary settler ⁶  among you. Grant ⁷  me ownership ⁸  of a burial site among you so that I may ⁹  bury my dead.” ¹⁰ 

Kejadian 28:4

28:4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham ¹¹  so that you may possess the land ¹²  God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.” ¹³ 

Kejadian 47:9

47:9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “All ¹⁴  the years of my travels ¹⁵  are 130. All ¹⁶  the years of my life have been few and painful; ¹⁷  the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors.” ¹⁸ 

[12:10]  ¹ sn Abram went down to Egypt. The Abrahamic narrative foreshadows some of the events in the life of the nation of Israel. This sojourn in Egypt is typological of Israel’s bondage there. In both stories there is a famine that forces the family to Egypt, death is a danger to the males while the females are preserved alive, great plagues bring about their departure, there is a summons to stand before Pharaoh, and there is a return to the land of Canaan with great wealth.

[12:10]  ² tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur), traditionally rendered “to sojourn,” means “to stay for a while.” The “stranger” (traditionally “sojourner”) is one who is a temporary resident, a visitor, one who is passing through. Abram had no intention of settling down in Egypt or owning property. He was only there to wait out the famine.

[12:10]  ³ tn Heb “heavy in the land.” The words “in the land,” which also occur at the beginning of the verse in the Hebrew text, have not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[20:1]  ⁴ tn Or “the South [country]”; Heb “the land of the Negev.”

[20:1]  sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.

[20:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he sojourned.”

[23:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “a resident alien and a settler.”

[23:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “give,” which is used here as an idiom for “sell” (see v. 9). The idiom reflects the polite bartering that was done in the culture at the time.

[23:4]  ⁸ tn Or “possession.”

[23:4]  ⁹ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction expresses purpose.

[23:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “bury my dead out of my sight.” The last phrase “out of my sight” has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[28:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and may he give to you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you.” The name “Abraham” is an objective genitive here; this refers to the blessing that God gave to Abraham.

[28:4]  ¹² tn The words “the land” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[28:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “the land of your sojournings,” that is, the land where Jacob had been living as a resident alien, as his future descendants would after him.

[47:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the days of.”

[47:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “sojournings.” Jacob uses a term that depicts him as one who has lived an unsettled life, temporarily residing in many different places.

[47:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the days of.”

[47:9]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew word רַע (ra’) can sometimes mean “evil,” but that would give the wrong connotation here, where it refers to pain, difficulty, and sorrow. Jacob is thinking back through all the troubles he had to endure to get to this point.

[47:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and they have not reached the days of the years of my fathers in the days of their sojournings.”