The Meaning of Genesis 12:10 Explained

Genesis 12:10

KJV: And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.

YLT: And there is a famine in the land, and Abram goeth down towards Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine is grievous in the land;

Darby: And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was grievous in the land.

ASV: And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was sore in the land.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And there was a famine  in the land:  and Abram  went down  into Egypt  to sojourn  there; for the famine  [was] grievous  in the land. 

What does Genesis 12:10 Mean?

Study Notes

famine
A famine was often a disciplinary testing of God's people in the land. (Cf) Genesis 26:1 ; Genesis 42:5 ; Ruth 1:1 ; 2 Samuel 24:13 ; Psalms 105:16 .
The resort to Egypt (the world) is typical of the tendency to substitute for lost spiritual power the fleshly resources of the world, instead of seeking, through confession and amendment, the restoration of God's presence and favour.

Context Summary

Genesis 12:10-20 - Abram And Sarai In Egypt
It is a comfort that the Holy Spirit permits us to trace the successive stages through which the father of those who believe made his way to the maturity of faith. We all stumble as we step out on the difficult path. But God is patient with His dull scholars and protects them. See Psalms 105:15. It was certain that no weapon formed against him could prosper, nor God's promise fail, yet Abram meanly sacrificed Sarai with his pitiful proposition for his own safety. This doubting outbreak would never have occurred, unless the patriarch had gone down to Egypt, which in Scripture stands for creature-confidence. See Isaiah 30:1. The God of glory, who had sent him forth, was responsible for his maintenance in Canaan, even though famine prevailed. He ought to have stayed quietly in the position to which God had called him, leaving the Almighty to provide. Live with God in the heights; and do not go down into Egypt. [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 12:10 mean?

Now there was a famine in the land and went down Abram to Egypt to dwell there for [was] severe the famine in the land
וַיְהִ֥י רָעָ֖ב בָּאָ֑רֶץ וַיֵּ֨רֶד אַבְרָ֤ם מִצְרַ֙יְמָה֙ לָג֣וּר שָׁ֔ם כִּֽי־ כָבֵ֥ד הָרָעָ֖ב בָּאָֽרֶץ

וַיְהִ֥י  Now  there  was 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
רָעָ֖ב  a  famine 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: רָעָב  
Sense: famine, hunger.
בָּאָ֑רֶץ  in  the  land 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.
וַיֵּ֨רֶד  and  went  down 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יָרַד  
Sense: to go down, descend, decline, march down, sink down.
אַבְרָ֤ם  Abram 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אַבְרָם  
Sense: original name of Abraham.
מִצְרַ֙יְמָה֙  to  Egypt 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular, third person feminine singular
Root: מִצְרַיִם  
Sense: a country at the northeastern section of Africa, adjacent to Palestine, and through which the Nile flows adj Egyptians = “double straits”.
לָג֣וּר  to  dwell 
Parse: Preposition-l, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct
Root: גּוּר 
Sense: to sojourn, abide, dwell in, dwell with, remain, inhabit, be a stranger, be continuing, surely.
כָבֵ֥ד  [was]  severe 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: כָּבֵד  
Sense: heavy, great.
הָרָעָ֖ב  the  famine 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: רָעָב  
Sense: famine, hunger.
בָּאָֽרֶץ  in  the  land 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.