Bible Outlines: Genesis 12-15

Genesis 12‑15  •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 10
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Genesis 12:55And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. (Genesis 12:5). —Canaan (so called from Canaan, the son of Ham) lies between the Mediterranean Sea on the west, the wilderness of Paran, Idumea, and Egypt on the south, the mountains of Arabia on the east, and the mountains of Lebanon and Phenicia on the north. Its length, from Dan to Beersheba, is about zoo miles; and its breadth, from the Mediterranean Sea to its Eastern borders, about 90.
Genesis 12:1515The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. (Genesis 12:15). — “Pharaoh” was a common name of the Egyptian kings, and signified a “ ruler “ or “ king,” or father of his country.
Genesis 13:1010And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. (Genesis 13:10). —Instead of Zoar, which was situated at the extremity of the plain of Jordan, the Syriac reads “Zoan,” which was situated in the south of Egypt, in a well-watered country.
Genesis 14 pits. Places where asphaltus or bitumen sprung out of the ground. This substance, which is properly denoted by the word “slime,” abounds in those parts. Chapter 11:3.
Genesis 14:1717And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale. (Genesis 14:17). —Valley of Shaveh or Valley of Jehoshaphat. This valley, running from north to south, between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives, is a little more than a mile long. Its greatest breadth is supposed to be from 150 to 200 yards, but in other places it is only a deep, narrow ravine. The bottom is ordinarily dry, excepting after heavy rains. The valley is rocky on both sides, and now abounds in sepulchers of various shapes and sizes, with only a few scattered olives to relieve the eye. For nearly three thousand years it has been used as a place of burial by Jews, Mahometans, and Christians. In addition to the tombs of kings and patriarchs, there are tens of thousands of stones, the only memorials of the mighty dead. Thither persons repair from all parts of the world, to seek from the Turks a last resting place for their bodies, even though it be at great cost, believing that Christ will there appear in judgment. The valley is divided into three parts; of which the northern is called the valley of Kedron, the middle, the valley of Jehoshaphat, and the southern, the valley of Siloam, from the fountain of that name on the one side, and the village on the other.
Genesis 15:1313And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; (Genesis 15:13). —This passage has been conceived to contradict Exodus 12:4040Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. (Exodus 12:40); but the passages are perfectly consistent with the computation being made from two different epochs. In Genesis, the time is calculated from the promise made to Abraham of a son, or from the birth of Isaac, but in Exodus it is computed from his departure from his native country, in obedience to the Divine command. The probability is that there is a defect in the Hebrew text in the passage at the head of this article; for the Samaritan Pentateuch in all its copies, as well as the Alexandrine copy of the lxx. reads, “Now the sojourning of the children of Israel and of their fathers in the land of Canaan and in the land of Egypt was four hundred and thirty years.” And the same statement is made by Paul in Galatians 3:1717And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. (Galatians 3:17); who reckons from the promise made to Abraham, and the giving of the law which soon followed the departure from Egypt. That these three witnesses depose to the truth, the chronology itself proves; for it is evident that the period from Abraham’s entry into Canaan to the exodus is exactly that number. Thus, from Abraham’s entrance to the promised land to the birth of Isaac, was 25 years: Isaac was sixty years old at the birth of Jacob, and Jacob was 130 at the time of his going into Egypt; which three sums make 215 years. And then Jacob and his children having remained in Egypt 215 years more, the entire sum of 430 years is regularly completed.