Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Abraham and Sarah have a son in their old age and the boy, who is circumcised on the eighth day, is named Isaac (yitzhaq) because people will laugh (yitzhaq) at the age of his parents. Upon Sarah’s request and Yahweh’s blessing, Abraham sends his slave Hagar and their mutual son Ishmael into the desert, where Yahweh takes care of the two. Abraham and Abimelech make a pact demonstrating Abraham’s ownership of Beer Sheba (“the well of seven”) with seven ewes.

II. Photo

Yahweh saves Hagar and Ishmael: “Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water, and let the boy drink.” (v. 19)

III. Select Verses

4: And when his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him.

6-7: Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham That Sarah would suckle children! Yet I have borne a son in his old age.”

10-13: She said to Abraham, “Cast out that slave-woman and her son, for the son of that slave shall not share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” The matter distressed Abraham greatly, for it concerned a son of his. But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed over the boy or your slave; whatever Sarah tells you, do as she says, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be continued for you.  As for the son of the slave-woman, I will make a nation of him, too, for he is your seed.”

14-19: Early next morning Abraham took some bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar. He placed them over her shoulder, together with the child, and sent her away. And she wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. When the water was gone from the skin, she left the child under one of the bushes, and went and sat down at a distance, a bowshot away; for she thought, “Let me not look on as the child dies.” And sitting thus afar, she burst into tears. God heard the cry of the boy, and an angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heeded the cry of the boy where he is. Come, lift up the boy and hold him by the hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went and filled the skin with water, and let the boy drink.

30-31: He replied, “You are to accept these seven ewes from me as proof that I dug this well.”  Hence that place was called Beer-sheba, for there the two of them swore an oath.

IV. Outline

1-8. The birth of Isaac

    1-2. Yahweh grants Sarah a son

    3. Abraham names the boy Isaac

    4. Circumcision on the 8th day

    5. Abraham’s age: 100

    6-7. Sarah’s etymology for Isaac (yitzhaq): people will laugh (yitzchaq) at the parents’ age

    8. Abraham held a feast on Isaac’s weaning day

9-21. The expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael

    9-10. Sarah tells Abraham to cast off Hagar the slave and her son Ishmael born to Abraham

    11-13. Yahweh agrees with the plan; Isaac will inherit Abraham and Ishmael will become a nation

    14. Abraham sends Hagar and Ishamel off with some bread and water

    15-16. Dying of thirst, Hagar distances herself from Ishmael and cries

    17-18. Yahweh hears Ishmael’s cries and informs Hagar that Ishmael will become a nation

    19. A well appears to Hagar and she drinks with Ishmael

    20-21. Ishmael becomes a bowman in the desert and marries an Egyptian

22-34. Abraham and Abimelech’s pact

    22-24. Abraham swears to be honest to Abimelech and his general Phicol

    25. Abraham reproaches Abimelech for the loss of a well

    26. Abimelech denies knowledge

    27-31. Abraham and Abimelech make a pact with seven ewes, hence the place was named Beer Sheba (“the well of seven”)

    32. Abimelech and Phicol return to Philistia

33. Abraham plants a tamarisk tree and calls in the name of Yahweh at Beer Sheba

34. Abraham dwells in Philistia for many days

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

Note: There is some confusion as to who is acting in verse 33, Abraham or Abimelech. As pointed out by the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, the Samaritan, Greek, Syriac, and Vulgate versions all include the name Abraham, which makes sense because Abraham was the one dwelling in Beer Sheba.

VI. Works Used

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Abimelech king of Gerar takes Sarah when Abraham tells him she is his sister. Yahweh appears to Abimelech and tells him not to touch Sarah, lest he and the members of his household die. Abimelech returns Sarah to Abraham along with land, silver, and cattle, and Yahweh allows the women of Gerar to give birth again.

II. Photo

The women of Gerar are no longer barren: “Abraham then prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his slave girls, so that they bore children.” (v. 17)

III. Select Verses

1-2: Abraham journeyed from there to the region of the Negeb and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was sojourning in Gerar, Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

6-7: And God said to him in the dream, “I knew that you did this with a blameless heart, and so I kept you from sinning against Me. That was why I did not let you touch her. Therefore, restore the man’s wife — since he is a prophet, he will intercede for you — to save your life. If you fail to restore her, know that you shall die, you and all that are yours.”

11-12: “I thought,” said Abraham, “surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. And besides, she is in truth my sister, my father’s daughter though not my mother’s; and she became my wife.

14-16: Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored his wife Sarah to him. And Abimelech said, “Here, my land is before you; settle wherever you please.” And to Sarah he said, “I herewith give your brother a thousand pieces of silver; this will serve you as vindication before all who are with you, and you are cleared before everyone.”

17-18: Abraham then prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his slave girls, so that they bore children;  for the LORD had closed fast every womb of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah, the wife of Abraham.

IV. Outline

1. Abraham’s group travels to Gerar

2. Abraham introduces Sarah as his sister, and king Abimelech takes her

3-7. God warns Abimelech to release Sarah, lest he and his people die

8. Abimelech informs his servants, who are terrified

9-10. Abimelech confronts Abraham about his lie

11-13. Abraham reveals his distrust of Abimelech and his own paternal kinship to Sarah

14-16. Abimelech gives Abraham Sarah, cattle, silver, and land

17. Abraham prays and Abimelech’s women are able to give birth

18. Note: Yahweh had closed the wombs of Abimelech’s women on account of Sarah

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

Note: a number of commentators suggest that v. 18, which provides the context for v. 17, is either a gloss or that it originally had another place in the narrative.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

The townspeople of Sodom attempt to rape the two travelers, who are staying with Lot. Yahweh destroys Sodom and Gomorrah but saves Lot and his daughters, though Lot’s wife is turned to salt. Lot’s daughters cohabit with their father and give birth to the nations of Moab and Ammon .

II. Photo

Lot’s wife is no more: “Lot’s wife looked back, and she thereupon turned into a pillar of salt.” (v. 26)

III. Select Verses

4-11: They had not yet lain down, when the townspeople, the men of Sodom, young and old — all the people to the last man — gathered about the house. And they shouted to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may be intimate with them.” So Lot went out to them to the entrance, shut the door behind him, and said, “I beg you, my friends, do not commit such a wrong. Look, I have two daughters who have not known a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you please; but do not do anything to these men, since they have come under the shelter of my roof.” But they said, “Stand back! The fellow,” they said, “came here as an alien, and already he acts the ruler! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” And they pressed hard against the person of Lot, and moved forward to break the door. But the men stretched out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. And the people who were at the entrance of the house, young and old, they struck with blinding light, so that they were helpless to find the entrance.

15-16: As dawn broke, the angels urged Lot on, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two remaining daughters, lest you be swept away because of the iniquity of the city.” Still he delayed. So the men seized his hand, and the hands of his wife and his two daughters — in the LORD’s mercy on him — and brought him out and left him outside the city.

23-26: As the sun rose upon the earth and Lot entered Zoar, the LORD rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulfurous fire from the LORD out of heaven. He annihilated those cities and the entire Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground. Lot’s wife looked back, and she thereupon turned into a pillar of salt.

29: Thus it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain and annihilated the cities where Lot dwelt, God was mindful of Abraham and removed Lot from the midst of the upheaval.

36-38: Thus the two daughters of Lot came to be with child by their father. The older one bore a son and named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. And the younger also bore a son, and she called him Ben-ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.

IV. Outline

1-29. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

    1-3. Lot convinces the two visitors to lodge by him 

    4-5. The townspeople demand the men for sex

    6-8. Lot offers his daughters instead

    9. The townspeople attempt to break in

    10-11. The visitors shield Lot and blind the townspeople at the door

    12-13. The visitors tell Lot to gather his family before they destroy the city

    14. Lot’s sons-in-law do not believe the warning

    15-17. The visitors drag Lot and his family out of Sodom as a kindness

    18-22. The visitors allow Lot to flee to Zoar, understood to mean “insignificance”

    23-25. Yahweh destroys the people and vegetation of Sodom and Gomorrah with sulfurous fire

    26. Lot’s wife looked back and turned to a pillar of salt

    27-28. Abraham views the destruction

    29. Lot was saved on account of Abraham

30-38. The creation of Moab and Ammon

    30. Lot and his daughters flee to a cave in the highlands

    31-36. The daughters, who think the world is destroyed, give Lot wine and cohabitate with him 

    37. The older daughter bears Moab, meaning “from the father”

    38. The youger daughter bears Ammon, meaning “the son of my people”

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Yahweh visits Abraham in the guise of three travelers and promises a child for Sarah, who is menopausal. Yahweh tells Abraham about the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah and Abraham convinces Yahweh to spare Sodom if it contains ten righteous men.

II. Photo

Abraham feeds his visitors: “He took curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared and set these before them; and he waited on them under the tree as they ate.” (v. 8)

III. Select Verses

1-2a. The LORD appeared to him by the terebinths of Mamre; he was sitting at the entrance of the tent as the day grew hot. Looking up, he saw three men standing near him.

9-15. They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he replied, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will return to you next year, and your wife Sarah shall have a son!” Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years; Sarah had stopped having the periods of women. And Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “Now that I am withered, am I to have enjoyment — with my husband so old?” Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I in truth bear a child, old as I am?’ Is anything too wondrous for the LORD? I will return to you at the time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was frightened. But He replied, “You did laugh.”

23-26. Abraham came forward and said, “Will You sweep away the innocent along with the guilty? What if there should be fifty innocent within the city; will You then wipe out the place and not forgive it for the sake of the innocent fifty who are in it? Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” And the LORD answered, “If I find within the city of Sodom fifty innocent ones, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.”

IV. Outline

1-15. Yahweh visits Abraham in the guise of three men

    1. Introduction: A hot day at the terebinths of Mamre

    2-5. Abraham invites three men over to eat

    6-8a. Abraham, Sarah, and a servant prepare the meal

    8b. The men eat

    9-10. The men promise a child to Sarah by the next year

    11. Note: Sarah was old and menopausal

    12. Sarah laughs (Hebrew “tizḥak,” similar to Isaac/”yitzḥak”)

    13-14. Yahweh criticizes Sarah and promises Abraham a child

    15. Sarah denies her laughter but Abraham does not believe her

16-33. Abraham pleads on behalf of Sodom

    16. The men are prepared to travel to Sodom

    17-21. Yahweh decides to tell Abraham about Sodom’s and Gomorrah’s sins

    22. The men head out for Sodom

    23-26. Abraham convinces Yahweh to spare Sodom on account of 50 righteous men

    27-28. Abraham convinces Yahweh to spare Sodom on account of 45 righteous men

    29. Abraham convinces Yahweh to spare Sodom on account of 40 righteous men

    30. Abraham convinces Yahweh to spare Sodom on account of 30 righteous men

    31. Abraham convinces Yahweh to spare Sodom on account of 20 righteous men

    32. Abraham convinces Yahweh to spare Sodom on account of 10 righteous men

    33. Yahweh and Abraham depart from one another

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Yahweh promises Abram great offspring through Ishmael and Isaac, who is yet to be born. Isaac’s children, who will be the only members of the covenant, must be circumsized on the eighth day. Yahweh changes Abram’s name to Abraham, Sarai’s name to Sarah, and Abraham circumsizes the male members of his household.

II. Photo

Abraham’s loyalty to Yahweh is evident: “Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin.” (v. 24)

III. Select Verses

3-8: Abram threw himself on his face; and God spoke to him further, “As for Me, this is My covenant with you: You shall be the father of a multitude of nations. And you shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fertile, and make nations of you; and kings shall come forth from you. I will maintain My covenant between Me and you, and your offspring to come, as an everlasting covenant throughout the ages, to be God to you and to your offspring to come. I assign the land you sojourn in to you and your offspring to come, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting holding. I will be their God.”

11-14: You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and that shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. And throughout the generations, every male among you shall be circumcised at the age of eight days. As for the homeborn slave and the one bought from an outsider who is not of your offspring,  they must be circumcised, homeborn, and purchased alike. Thus shall My covenant be marked in your flesh as an everlasting pact.  And if any male who is uncircumcised fails to circumcise the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his kin; he has broken My covenant.

15-19: And God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you shall not call her Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she shall give rise to nations; rulers of peoples shall issue from her.” Abraham threw himself on his face and laughed, as he said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old, or can Sarah bear a child at ninety?”  And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live by Your favor!”  God said, “Nevertheless, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall name him Isaac; and I will maintain My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring to come.

23-27: Then Abraham took his son Ishmael, and all his homeborn slaves and all those he had bought, every male in Abraham’s household, and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins on that very day, as God had spoken to him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, and his son Ishmael was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. Thus Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on that very day; and all his household, his homeborn slaves and those that had been bought from outsiders, were circumcised with him.

IV. Outline

1-22. Yahweh’s covenant with Abraham

    1-2. Yahweh introduces his covenant to Abram, who is 99 years old

    3. Abram prostrates himself

    4-16. The covenant

        4. Abram will be father of many nations

        5. Abram shall be called Abraham

        6. Fertility

        7. An eternal covenant

        8. Canaan belongs to Abram

        9-10a. Future generations must observe the covenant

        10b-14. All boys must be circumsized on the eighth day

        15-16. Sarai is to be called Sarah and will be fertile

    17. Abraham laughs (“yitzhak”) at the idea of having a child with Sarah

    18. Abraham prays for Ishmael

    19. Yahweh will make Sarah fertile; Abraham is to name his son Isaac (“yitzhak”)

    20. Ishmael will father twelve chiefs

    21. The covenant is for Isaac

    22. Yahweh departs from Abraham

23-27. Circumcision

    23. Introduction: Abraham circumcizes his household

    24. Abraham was 99 at his circumcision

    25. Ishmael was 13 at his circumcision    

    26-27. Summary: Abraham, Ishmael, and the males were circumcised

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Abram impregnates Hagar, the slave of his barren wife Sarai. Sarai beats Hagar, who flees, and an angel informs Hagar that her son Ishmael will multiply greatly. Hagar returns to Abram and gives birth to Ishmael.

II. Photo

Hagar runs away: “Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her.” (v.6)

III. Select Verses

1-6: Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar, and Sarai said to Abram, “You see that the LORD has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave-girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my slave-girl to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!” But Abram said to Sarai, “Your slave-girl is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she ran away from her.

7-12: The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, slave-girl of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.” The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her.” The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will so greatly multiply your offspring that they cannot be counted for multitude.” And the angel of the LORD said to her, “Now you have conceived and shall bear a son; you shall call him Ishmael, for the LORD has given heed to your affliction. He shall be a wild ass of a man, with his hand against everyone, and everyone’s hand against him; and he shall live at odds with all his kin.”

IV. Outline

1-6. Abram impregnates Hagar

    1a. Sarai was barren

    1b-2. Sarai tells Abram to have children with Hagar, Sarai's slave

    3-4a. Abram impregnates Hagar 

    4b-5. Sarai hates Hagar and blames Abram

    6. Sarai beats Hagar, who flees

7-14. Hagar and the angel

    7. An angel finds Hagar at a well

    8-9. Hagar is to return to Sarai

    10. Hagar's offspring will multiply greatly

    11. The child shall be named Ishmael (god has listened)

    12. Ishmael will be a stubborn, wild, nomad

    13-14. Hagar names the angel and the site of the vision 

15-16. Hagar gives birth to Ishmael when Abram was 86 years old

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Abram is promised offspring as well as the land. As a sign of the covenant, Yahweh sends fire between the animal parts laid out by Abram.

II. Photo

Yahweh shows Abram the night sky: “He brought him outside and said, ‘Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.'” (v. 5)

III. Select Verses

3-5: And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” But the word of the LORD came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

13-14, 16:  Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for yourself, you shall go to your ancestors in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation; for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

17: When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.

18: On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,

IV. Outline

1-6. Promise of offspring

    1a. Yahweh reveals himself to Abram in a vision

    1b. Yahweh is Abram's shield

    2-3. Abram's complaint: the lack of an heir

    4-5. Yahweh promises Abram offspring as numerous as the stars

    6. Abraham believes Yahweh

7-21. Yahweh's sign that Abram will inherit the land

    7. Yahweh promises the land

    8. Abram asks for a sign

    9. Yahweh asks for a cow, a goat, a ram, a tutledove, and a pigeon

    10. Abram cuts the animals in half, save for the birds

    11. Abram drives away the birds of prey

    12. Abram falls asleep

    13-14. Abram's children will be foreign slaves for 400 years before leaving with wealth

    15. Abram will die peacefully in old age

    16. His descendants will return after four generations

    17. Flames passed between the animal parts at night

    18-21. Summary statement: Abram will inherit the land from Egypt to the Euphrates

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

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