Genesis 12:15

Gen 12:15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.

Ver. 15. The princes also of Pharaoh, &c.] Flattering courtiers please princes’ humours, and serve their delights, though to the procuring of their plagues, as here, and in young King Joash. "If a ruler hearken to lies," saith Solomon, "all his servants are wicked". {Pro 29:12} Aulici sunt instar speculi , saith one. And Mirifica est sympathia , said another, inter magnates and parasitos . Herodotus writeth that, when Cambyses demanded of his courtiers and counsellors whether it were not lawful for him to marry his own sister, whom he greatly desired, they answered, that they found no law to license such a match: but another law they found, that the King of Persia might do what he wanted to. {a}

And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.] Not for any worse purpose than to get her goodwill to become his wife.

{a} Aλλον μεντοι εξευρηκεναι νομον τω βασιλευοντι περσεων εξειναι πωιειν α αν βουλητα - Herod., lib. iii.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12:15 Pharaoh was a title, not a personal name (37:36; Exod 1:15).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

To be his wife.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house--Eastern kings have for ages claimed the privilege of taking to their harem an unmarried woman whom they like. The father or brother may deplore the removal as a calamity, but the royal right is never resisted nor questioned.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 15. The woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.] Pharaoh appears to have been the common appellative of the Cuthite shepherd kings of Egypt, who had conquered this land, as is conjectured, about seventy-two years before this time. The word is supposed to signify king in the ancient Egyptian language. If the meaning be sought in the Hebrew, the root פרע para signifies to be free or disengaged, a name which such freebooters as the Cuthite shepherds might naturally assume. All the kings of Egypt bore this name till the commencement of the Grecian monarchy, after which they were called Ptolemies.

When a woman was brought into the seragilo or harem of the eastern princes, she underwent for a considerable time certain purifications before she was brought into the king's presence. It was in this interim that God plagued Pharaoh and his house with plagues, so that Sarai was restored before she could have been taken to the bed of the Egyptian king.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. And commended her before Pharaoh Although Abram had sinned by fearing too much and too soon, yet the event teaches, that he had not feared without cause: for his wife was taken from him and brought to the king. At first Moses speaks generally of the Egyptians, afterwards he mentions the courtiers; by which course he intimates, that the rumor of Sara’s beauty was everywhere spread abroad; but that it was more eagerly received by the courtiers who indulge themselves in greater license. Whereas he adds, that they told the king; we hence infer, how ancient is that corruption which now prevails immeasurably in the courts of kings. For as all things there are full of blandishments and flatteries, so the nobles principally apply their minds to introduce, from time to time, what may be gratifying to royalty. Therefore we see, that whosoever among them desires to rise high in favor, is addicted not only to servile batteries, but also to pandering for their master’s lusts.

And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. Since she was carried off, and dwelt for some time in the palace, many suppose that she was corrupted by the king. For it is not credible, that a lustful man, when he had her in his power, should have spared her modesty. This, truly, Abram had richly deserved, who had neither relied upon the grace of God, nor had committed the chastity of his wife to His faithfulness and care; but the plague which immediately followed, sufficiently proves that the Lord was mindful of her; and hence we may conclude, that she remained uninjured. And although, in this place, Moses says nothing expressly on the subject, yet, from a comparison with a similar subsequent history, we conjecture, that the guardianship of God was not wanting to Abram at this time also. When he was in similar danger, (Genesis 20:1,) God did not suffer her to be violated by the king of Gerar; shall we then suppose that she was now exposed to Pharaoh’s lust? Would God have thought more about subjecting her, who had been once dishonored, to a second disgrace, than about preserving her, who had hitherto lived uprightly and chastely? Further, if God showed himself so propitious to Abram, as to rescue his wife whom he exposed a second time to infamy; how is it possible that He should have failed to obviate the previous danger? Perhaps, also, greater integrity still flourished in that age; so that the lusts of kings were not so unrestrained as they afterwards became. Moreover, when Moses adds, that Abram was kindly treated for Sarai’s sake; we hence conclude, that she was honorably entertained by Pharaoh, and was not dealt with as a harlot. When, therefore, Moses says, that she was brought into the king’s palace; I do not understand this to have been for any other purpose, than that the kings by a solemn rite, might take her as his wife.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(15) The princes . . . commended her before Pharaoh.—In the days of Abram Canaan was the highway to Egypt, and so large an immigration of men of the Semitic stock found their way thither that they overspread the whole Delta, and finally, under the name of the Hyksôs, made themselves masters of the throne of the Pharaohs, and retained their supremacy for several centuries. To keep out these hordes, Amenemhai had built a chain of fortresses, with a connecting wall; and though probably, as M. Chabas concludes (Rev. Arch., XVe Année, Livr. ii. 7), the Hyksôs had already in Abram’s time attained to empire, nevertheless, on arriving at this wall, so powerful a sheik, with so large a following, would be interrogated by the Egyptian scribes, and a report sent to the Pharaoh. The word sar. translated here prince, is common to the Babylonian, Egyptian, and Hebrew languages; but while in Babylonia it was the title of the sovereign, in Egypt it was applied to subordinate officers, such as those in command at these fortresses. By one of these Abram would, no doubt, be conducted into Pharaoh’s presence; and on one of the sepulchres at Benihassan we find an exactly parallel occurrence in the presentation of a nomad prince, evidently of Semitic origin, who, with his family and dependents, is seeking the Pharaoh’s protection, and is received by him with honour. As women did not at that time go veiled in Egypt, this custom not having been introduced there till the Persian conquest, the officers at the frontier would have full opportunity of seeing Sarai. and would, no doubt, mention the extraordinary lightness of her complexion.

The most probable derivation of the word Pharaoh is that which identifies it with a symbol constantly used in inscriptions to indicate the king, and which may be read per-ao or phar-ao. It signifies, literally, the double house, or palace. This would be a title of respect. veiling the person of the monarch under the name of his dwelling, in much the same manner as we include the sovereign and his attendants under the name of the Court. For the arguments in favour of this derivation, see Canon Cook’s Excursus on the Egyptian words in the Pentateuch, at the end of Vol. I. of the Speaker’s Commentary. He also gives there the reasons for his opinion, in opposition to that of M. Chabas, that the Pharaoh in whose days Abram visited Egypt was an early king of the twelfth dynasty, some time anterior to the usurpation of the Hyksôs.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15. the princes of Pharaoh] i.e. the chief officers at the court of the king of Egypt. Pharaoh is not a proper name, but the title of the Egyptian king. It is the Hebrew way of transliterating the Egyptian royal title Per’o, “the Great House,” which was transferred from the dwelling to the dynasty of the sovereign. It is often compared with “the Sublime Porte.” As the king’s title, it is no more distinctive than “King,” or “Tsar,” or “Sultan.” There is nothing in this passage to shew which Egyptian king is intended, or at what place he held his court. If Abram was a contemporary of Hammurabi (see note on 14), the Pharaoh of this chapter may have belonged to the 12th or 13th dynasty of Egypt.

All kings of Egypt mentioned in the O.T. (except Shishak, 1Ki_14:25, and So, 2Ki_17:4) are designated Pharaoh.

into Pharaoh’s house] i.e. into the harem, or women’s quarter of the king’s palace. The verse illustrates the manner in which the courtiers of an Eastern monarch sought to win royal favour by recommending to his notice beautiful women who might be added to his harem. Cf. the story of the Book of Esther.

The story is much abbreviated: but it is implied that Sarai consented to sacrifice her honour for her husband’s life. We must remember that in the ethics of the O.T. woman is regarded in a less honourable light than man. The idea of a man sacrificing himself to save a woman’s honour belongs almost entirely to the Christian age.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh,.... The king of Egypt; so it seems by this, that Abram and Sarai were at the place where the court was kept, which the Arabic writers (t) say was Mesr (or Memphis), the capital of the kingdom. And these princes were the king's courtiers, who taking notice of Sarai, and admiring her beauty, praised her for it to the king, and recommended her to be taken into the number of his wives or concubines, they understanding that she was a single woman and the sister of Abram: and this they did to gratify their king, and gain his favour:

and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house; or palace, as the Jerusalem Targum; his royal palace, as the Targum of Jonathan; very probably into that part of his palace where his women were kept, or to some apartment where she might be purified and prepared for him; and this requiring time, was the means of preserving her from the danger she was exposed unto, see Est 2:8. The kingdom of Egypt, according to the Jewish and Arabic writers (u), was set up in the times of Reu, about three hundred years before Abram was here; its first king was Mizraim, a son of Ham, the same with the Menes of Herodotus; by whom also mention is made of a king of Egypt, whose name was Pheron (w), which seems to bear some likeness to the name of this king, who by Artapanus (x) is called Pharethone, and whom, he says, Abram taught astrology. It is generally thought that Pharaoh was a common name to the kings of Egypt, and continued to be so to the times of Ezekiel, as Ptolemy was some time after, and as Caesar with the Romans: whether this king was the first of the name is not certain, but probable; according to some (y), he was one of the Hycsi, or shepherd kings. Mr. Bedford (z) calls him Janias, their fifth king, and this was about A. M. 2084, and before Christ 1920. A Jewish chronologer (a) asserts, he was the first Pharaoh, who was in the times of Abram, and that his name was Totis, or Tutis, as the Arabic writers (b), one of which (c) says, that in the times of Serug lived Apiphanus king of Egypt (the same with Apophis; who according to Bishop Usher (d) was this Pharaoh); after him was Pharaoh, the son of Sancs, from whom they (the kings of Egypt) were called Pharaohs. The name of Pharaoh is derived by some (e) from which signifies both to be free, and to revenge; and so kings were called, because free from laws themselves, and were revengers of them that do evil: but it rather seems to come from the Arabic word (f), which signifies to be above others, and rule over them; and so may be thought to be not the proper name of a man, but an appellative, or the name of an office; or in other words, a king, see Gen 41:44 and so it may be always rendered, where it is used, as here, the king's courtiers saw her, and commended her to the king, and she was taken into the king's house; though to this may be objected, that Pharaoh is sometimes called Pharaoh king of Egypt, and then there would be a tautology; wherefore it may be better perhaps to take it in the former sense.

(t) In the Universal History, vol. 2. p. 115. (u) Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 76. 1. Elmacinus, p. 29. apud Hottinger. Smegma, p. 274. (w) Euterpe sive, l. 2. c. 111. (x) Apud Euseb. ut supra. (Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 16. p. 417.) (y) Vid. Rollin's Ancient History, vol. 1. p. 68. (z) Scripture Chronology, p. 314. (a) Juchasin, fol. 135. 1. (b) In the Universal History, vol. 2. p. 115. (c) Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. p. 19. (d) Annal Vet. Test. p. 7. (e) Malvenda, Ainsworth, &c. (f) "in summo fuit, summumque cepit vel tenuit", Golius, col. 1787. Castel. col. 3077.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Pharao: The usual title of the kings of Egypt, in Ezechiel’s time, Ezechiel xxxii. 2. Couriers are often too ready to flatter the passions of the prince: these are punished along with Pharao (ver. 17); whence we may conclude, that they concurred with him, to take Sarai against her will.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The princes also of Pharaoh, i.e. the officers and courtiers; whose great design was to gain their prince's favour by gratifying his lusts.

Pharaoh was a name common to all the kings of Egypt now, and for many ages after.

The woman was taken into Pharaoh's house, i.e. taken and brought, one word for two. So the word take is used Gen 15:9-10; Exo 18:2; 27:20, &c. Not to his bed, but the house of his women, where they were purified and prepared for the king's presence and society, as Est 2:8-9, that in due time she might be his concubine or wife. Thus even the ceremonies of courts serve the providence of God, and give opportunity for working her deliverance.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

15. Commended her before Pharaoh — The result is as Abram anticipated. He sins to help Providence, and Providence abandons him. This was also the sin of Jacob in stealing Esau’s blessing, and is no uncommon sin in God’s Church to-day.

Pharaoh — This is the same as the PI-Ra and PHRAH of the hieroglyphics, meaning “The Sun,” and applied as a title to the Egyptian kings. P-RE is written as a hieroglyphic symbol over the titles of the Egyptian kings. In the monuments the sun is treated as the visible representation of the generative principle of nature, and sun worship may have been a primitive idolatry brought into Egypt from the East. The colossal Theban statues, representing kings as brothers of the gods, show how they assumed divine dignities, and furnish a comment on the name Pharaoh.

Taken into Pharaoh’s house — An Egyptian harem. Herodotus mentions that the Egyptians had but one wife; but Diodorus says that this restriction was confined to the priests, while other men took as many wives as they pleased. Polygamy seems to have been allowed, while monogamy was deemed more reputable. Wilkinson states that the monuments show evidence that the kings had many foreign wives or concubines, captives taken in war.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The princes of Pharaoh finding her very beautiful, extolled her beauty to the king, and she was taken to Pharaoh's house. As Sarah was then 65 years old (cf. Gen 17:17 and Gen 12:4), her beauty at such an age has been made a difficulty by some. But as she lived to the age of 127 (Gen 23:1), she was then middle-aged; and as her vigour and bloom had not been tried by bearing children, she might easily appear very beautiful in the eyes of the Egyptians, whose wives, according to both ancient and modern testimony, were generally ugly, and faded early. Pharaoh (the Egyptian ouro, king, with the article Pi) is the Hebrew name for all the Egyptian kings in the Old Testament; their proper names being only occasionally mentioned, as, for example, Necho in Kg2 23:29, or Hophra in Jer 44:30. For Sarai's sake Pharaoh treated Abram well, presenting him with cattle and slaves, possessions which constitute the wealth of nomads. These presents Abram could not refuse, though by accepting them he increased his sin. God then interfered (Gen 12:17), and smote Pharaoh and his house with great plagues. What the nature of these plagues was, cannot be determined; they were certainly of such a kind, however, that whilst Sarah was preserved by them from dishonour, Pharaoh saw at once that they were sent as punishment by the Deity on account of his relation to Sarai; he may also have learned, on inquiry from Sarai herself, that she was Abram's wife. He gave her back to him, therefore, with a reproof for his untruthfulness, and told him to depart, appointing men to conduct him out of the land together with his wife and all his possessions. שׁלּה, to dismiss, to give an escort (Gen 18:16; Gen 31:27), does not necessarily denote an involuntary dismissal here. For as Pharaoh had discovered in the plague the wrath of the God of Abraham, he did not venture to treat him harshly, but rather sought to mitigate the anger of his God, by the safe-conduct which he granted him on his departure. But Abram was not justified by this result, as was very apparent from the fact, that he was mute under Pharaoh's reproofs, and did not venture to utter a single word in vindication of his conduct, as he did in the similar circumstances described in Gen 10:11-12. The saving mercy of God had so humbled him, that he silently acknowledged his guilt in concealing his relation to Sarah from the Egyptian king.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

ויהללו אותה אל פרעה AND THEY PRAISED HER TO PHARAOH — They praised her among themselves saying, “This woman is worthy of the king (i. e. they praised her as being suitable אל פרעה for Pharaoh).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

AND THE PRINCES OF PHARAOH SAW HER. The purport. Why does it say here again, And the princes of Pharaoh saw her? thereof is that when the Egyptians saw her they said, “This one is worthy of the great princes,” and so they brought her before them. But they were also afraid of touching her for due to her great beauty, they knew that the king would desire her exceedingly. “And they praised her among themselves saying, ‘This one is worthy of the king.’” Thus the language of Rashi.This is in accordance with the opinion of Onkelos who says, “And they praised her for Pharaoh.” Pharaoh. Or it may be that they praised her to the king himself, and he sent for her and took her.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ויראו...ותקח, our sages, in comparing the abduction of Esther, and that of Sarai, point out that whereas with Esther the word used is ותלקח, here the word used by the Torah is ותקח, a pual (strong passive) mode, as opposed to a nifal-passive mode. (compare Torah Shleymah item 157 on this) In Sarai’s case, the formulation reflects the fact that she was a married woman, so that her abduction was a violation of her and her husband’s rights, whereas in Esther’s case it was “merely” a violation of her rights. According to our author Esther had been agreeable to participating in the contest. [The passive form would only reflect that none of the girls were active, but were selected by the king’s servants who had to decide if they had a chance to appeal to the king. Ed.]

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.