May
the mumbling commence!
There’s
reason for Abram being known as the wandering Aramean. This time, it was a severe drought that
caused it. Read from Peterson’s The Message:
Then a famine
came to the land. Abram went down
to Egypt to live; it was a hard famine. As he drew near to Egypt, he said to his
wife, Sarai, “Look. We both know
that you’re a beautiful woman. When the
Egyptians see you they’re going to say, ‘Aha! That’s his wife!’
and kill me. But they’ll let you live. Do me a favor: tell
them you’re my sister. Because of you,
they’ll welcome me and let me live.”
When
Abram arrived in
Egypt, the Egyptians took one look and saw
that his wife was
stunningly beautiful.
Pharaoh’s
princes raved over her to Pharaoh.
She was taken to live with Pharaoh.
Because
of her, Abram got along very well: he
accumulated sheep and cattle, male and
female donkeys, men and women servants, and camels.
But God
hit Pharaoh hard because
of Abram’s wife Sarai; everybody in the palace
got seriously sick.
Pharaoh
called for Abram, “What’s
this that you’ve done to me? Why didn’t
you tell me that she’s your wife? Why
did you say, ‘She’s my sister’ so that I’d take her as my wife? Here’s your wife back – take her and get out!”
Pharaoh
ordered his men to
get Abram out of the country. They sent
him and his wife and everything he owned on their way. (Genesis
12:10-20)
Now
read the same passage from the NIV translation:
Now there was a famine in the land, and
Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because
the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt,
he said to his wife Sarai, "I know
what a beautiful woman you are. When the
Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is
his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my
sister, so that I will be treated well for your
sake and my life will be spared because of
you."
When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh's
officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and
she was taken into his palace. He treated
Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired
sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and
camels.
But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on
Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned
Abram. "What have you done to me?"
he said. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that
I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!" Then Pharaoh gave orders
about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his
way, with his wife and everything he had. (Genesis
12:10-20)
The
differences between Peterson’s work and the NIV are only surface in my
opinion. The story is essentially the
same.
I
find it interesting that God is not mentioned until the Lord inflicts diseases
on Pharaoh and his family. I wonder if
Abram’s wandering to Egypt is of God or of Abram. I’m thinking, just like the lie that Abram
coerced Sarai to say, the flight to Egypt was not God’s leading.
It’s
always embarrassing when God’s people need to be reprimanded by those currently
outside God’s people. But that was the
way with Abram in this passage. Abram
wandered in more ways than one!
Enough
mumbling for now…
Peace
Out
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