The Meaning of Genesis 12:1 Explained

Genesis 12:1

KJV: Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

YLT: And Jehovah saith unto Abram, 'Go for thyself, from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from the house of thy father, unto the land which I shew thee.

Darby: And Jehovah had said to Abram, Go out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, to the land that I will shew thee.

ASV: Now Jehovah said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Now the LORD  had said  unto Abram,  Get thee out  of thy country,  and from thy kindred,  and from thy father's  house,  unto a land  that I will shew  thee: 

What does Genesis 12:1 Mean?

Study Notes

Now the Lord
The Fourth Dispensation: Promise. For Abraham, and his descendants it is evident that the Abrahamic Covenant made a great change. They became distinctively the heirs of promise. That covenant is wholly gracious and unconditional. The descendants of Abraham had but to abide in their own land to inherit every blessing. In Egypt they lost their blessings, but not their covenant. The Dispensation of Promise ended when Israel rashly accepted the law Exodus 19:8 . Grace had prepared a deliverer (Moses), provided a sacrifice for the guilty, and by divine power brought them out of bondage Exodus 19:4 but at Sinai they exchanged grace for law. The Dispensation of Promise extends from Genesis 12:1 to Exodus 19:8 , and was exclusively Israelitish. The dispensation must be distinguished from the covenant. The former is a mode of testing; the latter is everlasting because unconditional. The law did not abrogate the Abrahamic Covenant Galatians 3:15-18 but was an intermediate disciplinary dealing "till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made"; Galatians 3:19-29 ; Galatians 4:1-7 . Only the dispensation, as a testing of Israel, ended at the giving of the law.
See, for the other six dispensations: .
INNOCENCE ( Genesis 1:28 ) CONSCIENCE ( Genesis 17:1-8 ) HUMAN GOVERNMENT ( Genesis 8:21 ) LAW ( Exodus 19:8 ) GRACE ( John 1:17 ) KINGDOM ( Ephesians 1:10 )
covenant
The Abrahamic Covenant as formed Genesis 12:1-4 and confirmed; Genesis 13:14-17 ; Genesis 15:1-7 ; Genesis 3:23 is in seven distinct parts:
(1) "I will make of thee a great nation." Fulfilled in a threefold way:
(a) In a natural posterity--"as the dust of the earth Genesis 13:16 ; John 8:37 , viz. the Hebrew people.
(b) In a spiritual posterity--"look now toward heaven. .. so shall thy seed be" John 8:39 ; Romans 4:16 ; Romans 4:17 ; Romans 9:7 ; Romans 9:8 ; Galatians 3:6 ; Galatians 3:7 ; Galatians 3:29 viz. all men of faith, whether Jew or Gentile.
(c) fulfilled also through Ishmael Genesis 17:18-20
(2) "I will bless thee." Fulfilled in two ways:
(a) temporally Genesis 13:14 ; Genesis 13:15 ; Genesis 13:17 ; Genesis 15:18 ; Genesis 24:34 ; Genesis 24:35 (b) spiritually; Genesis 15:6 ; John 8:56
(3) "And make thy name great." Abraham's is one of the universal names.
(4) "And thou shalt be a blessing" Galatians 3:13 ; Galatians 3:14
(5) "I will bless them that bless thee." In fulfilment closely related to the next clause.
(6) "And curse him that curseth thee." Wonderfully fulfilled in the history of the dispersion. It has invariably fared ill with the people who have persecuted the Jew--well with those who have protected him. The future will still more remarkably prove this principle Deuteronomy 30:7 ; Isaiah 14:1 ,; Joel 3:1-8 ; Micah 5:7-9 ; Haggai 2:22 ; Zechariah 14:1-3 ; Matthew 25:40 ; Matthew 25:45 .
(7) "In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed." This is the great evangelic promise fulfilled in Abraham's Seed, Christ Galatians 3:16 ; John 8:56-58 .
It brings into greater definiteness the promise of the Adamic Covenant concerning the Seed of the woman Genesis 3:15
NOTE.--The gift of the land is modified by prophecies of three dispossessions and restorations Genesis 15:13 ; Genesis 15:14 ; Genesis 15:16 ; Jeremiah 25:11 ; Jeremiah 25:12 ; Deuteronomy 28:62-65 ; Deuteronomy 30:1-3 . Two dispossessions and restorations have been accomplished. Israel is now in the third dispersion, from which she will be restored at the return of the Lord as King under the Davidic Covenant; Deuteronomy 30:3 ; Jeremiah 23:5-8 ; Ezekiel 37:21-25 ; Luke 1:30-33 ; Acts 15:14-17
See, for the other seven covenants:
EDENIC (See Scofield " Genesis 1:28 ") ADAMIC See Scofield " Genesis 3:15 " NOAHIC See Scofield " Genesis 9:1 " MOSAIC See Scofield " Exodus 19:25 " PALESTINIAN See Scofield " Deuteronomy 30:3 " DAVIDIC See Scofield " 2 Samuel 7:16 " NEW See Scofield " Hebrews 8:8 "
the Lord said in heart
The Third Dispensation: Human Government. Under Conscience, as in Innocency, man utterly failed, and the judgment of the Flood marks the end of the second dispensation and the beginning of the third. The declaration of the Noahic Covenant subjects humanity to a new test. Its distinctive feature is the institution, for the first time, of human government--the government of man by man. The highest function of government is the judicial taking of life. All other governmental powers are implied in that. It follows that the third dispensation is distinctively that of human government. Man is responsible to govern the world for God. That responsibility rested upon the whole race, Jew and Gentile, until the failure of Israel under the Palestinian Covenant ( Deuteronomy 28:1 to Deuteronomy 30:10 ) brought the judgment of the Captivities, when "the times of the Gentiles" (See); Luke 21:24 ; Revelation 16:14 began, and the government of the world passed exclusively into Gentile hands; Daniel 2:36-45 ; Luke 21:24 ; Acts 15:14-17 . That both Israel and the Gentiles have governed for self, not God, is sadly apparent. The judgment of the confusion of tongues ended the racial testing; that of the captivities the Jewish; while the Gentile testing will end in the smiting of the Image (Daniel 2.) and the judgment of the nations Matthew 25:31-46 .
See, for the other six dispensations:
INNOCENCE (See Scofield " Genesis 1:28 ")
CONSCIENCE (See Scofield " Genesis 3:23 ")
PROMISE (See Scofield " Genesis 12:1 ")
LAW (See Scofield " Exodus 19:8 ")
GRACE (See Scofield " John 1:17 ")
KINGDOM (See Scofield " Ephesians 1:10 ")

Verse Meaning

This section begins with a waw disjunctive in the Hebrew text translated "Now" in the NASB. It introduces an independent circumstantial clause (cf. Genesis 1:2). Probably the revelation in view happened in Ur. The NIV captures this with the translation "The Lord had said to Abram." So the beginning of chapter12flashes back to something that happened in Ur even though chapter11ends with Abram in Haran. Stephen"s statement in Acts 7:2 supports this interpretation. Stephen quoted the Septuagint translation of this verse in Acts 7:3.
God called Abram to leave his homeland and to proceed to a different country. That Abram"s family chose to accompany him does not imply an act of disobedience on Abram"s part. God did not forbid others from accompanying Abram. The focus of God"s command was that Abram should uproot himself and follow His leading.
"One detail we do need to note here is the conditional element in the covenant program with Abram. It was not until after the death of his father ( Genesis 11:32) that Abram began to realize anything of the promise God had given to him, for only after his father"s death did God take him into the land ( Genesis 12:4) and there reaffirm the original promise to him ( Genesis 12:7).
"It is important, therefore, to observe the relationship of obedience to this covenant program. Whether or not God would institute a covenant program with Abram depended on Abram"s act of obedience in leaving the land. Once this act was accomplished, however, and Abram did obey God, God instituted an irrevocable, unconditional program." [1]
". . . in what sense is the Abrahamic covenant [2] unconditional? The point here, which has often been misunderstood, is that while the fulfillment of any particular generation of Israel depended on obedience to God, the ultimate possession of the land is promised unconditionally to Israel even though she does not deserve it. Scripture prophesies that a godly remnant of Israel will be the ultimate possessors of the land at the second coming ( Ezekiel 20:33-38)." [3]

Context Summary

Genesis 12:1-9 - God's Call And Promise To Abram
God's commands are always associated with promises. Count the shalls and wills here. He does not give His reasons, but He is lavish of His promises. The keynote of Abram's life was Separation. Step by step, until country, kindred, Lot, worldly alliances and fleshly expedients were one by one cast aside and he stood alone with God! Though he knew not whither he went, the father of the faithful obeyed, and crossed the wide and perilous deserts. It was this absolute and unquestioning obedience that endeared him to God. Let us ever obey and step out, though it seems as though there were nought but seething mist. We shall find it solidify under the tread of faith. Read Romans 4:16; Hebrews 11:8. Notice the combination of the Tent and Altar. The tent-life is natural to the man whose portion is God; and where he pitches his tent he will rear his altar. [source]

Chapter Summary: Genesis 12

1  God calls Abram, and blesses him with a promise of Christ
4  He departs with Lot from Haran, and comes to Canaan
6  He journeys through Canaan,
7  which is promised to him in a vision
10  He is driven by famine into Egypt
11  Fear makes him feign his wife to be his sister
14  Pharaoh, having taken her from him, is compelled to restore her
18  Pharaoh reproves Abram, whom he dismisses

What do the individual words in Genesis 12:1 mean?

And had said Yahweh to Abram Get out - of your country and from your family and from the house of your father a land that I will show you
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־ אַבְרָ֔ם לֶךְ־ לְךָ֛ מֵאַרְצְךָ֥ וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖ וּמִבֵּ֣ית אָבִ֑יךָ הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַרְאֶֽךָּ

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר  And  had  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
יְהוָה֙  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אַבְרָ֔ם  Abram 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אַבְרָם  
Sense: original name of Abraham.
לֶךְ־  Get  out 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: הָלַךְ  
Sense: to go, walk, come.
לְךָ֛  - 
Parse: Preposition, second person masculine singular
מֵאַרְצְךָ֥  of  your  country 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
וּמִמּֽוֹלַדְתְּךָ֖  and  from  your  family 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: מֹולֶדֶת  
Sense: kindred, birth, offspring, relatives.
וּמִבֵּ֣ית  and  from  the  house 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.
אָבִ֑יךָ  of  your  father 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.
הָאָ֖רֶץ  a  land 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
אֲשֶׁ֥ר  that 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
אַרְאֶֽךָּ  I  will  show  you 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Imperfect, first person common singular, second person masculine singular
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.