Genesis 12: 1-9

Danielle Burns
Professor Melcher
Theology 251
15 September 2014 Exegeses of Genesis 12:1-9
Genesis 12:1-9 is an extremely important passage of the Bible. The Lord tells Abram that he is to leave Haran, where he had been living for 75 years. God makes a covenant with Abram, promising him land, offspring, and blessings. Abram listens to God and leaves Haran and continues to follow him. This part of Genesis gives us a lot of insight and a Biblical exegesis can help us to understand it even better. Throughout my own personal journey of faith, I have read many sections of the Bible and attended many Bible studies in an attempt to gain something from these Biblical texts. By studying the Bible, I have learned a lot about my religion. However,
Usually, by knowing Hebrew or Aramaic, you could read the text in its original language and make your own criticisms about how it was translated. However, I will still be using translation criticism in a modified way. I can compare different translations of the text. This method is perfect for this passage because there are some significant differences among the different translations of this chapter. For example, in Genesis 12:4, these significantly different translations could be interpreted in several ways. In the Tanakh translation, the one that we read in class, says, “Abraham went forth as the Lord had commanded him,” which I personally interpret as God sounding like a dictator and ordering Abram to do what he says (Genesis 12:4). This makes me think that Abram followed God out of fear. However, in the King James Version, the same verse says, “So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him,” which I interpret very differently than the other version (Genesis 12:4). In this version, it makes Abram seem to have more free will and also willingly follow God. Depending on which translation I read, I see a difference in why Abram is following the Lord. Another crucial difference I found among the different translations was in the first verse, which, in the Tanakh version, reads, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). However, in the New Revised Standard Version, when the Lord and saying where he is to go forth from, “your kindred” is included. “Kindred” can be defined as a group of related individuals (Merriam-Webster). In both versions, it says that Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son, Lot (Genesis 12:5). When interpreted, one could believe that Abram left a large amount of relatives in Haran. This means that there could have been even more crucial