Genesis 12:8 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 12:8
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
to remove (intransitive or transitive) figuratively · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
mountain
הָהָ֗רָהha.Ha.rah
H2022
a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute + directional suffix
east
מִקֶּ֛דֶםmi.Ke.dem
H6924
the front · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Beth-el
לְבֵֽיתle.veit-
H1008
Beth-El · preposition + proper noun, a place name
pitched
וַיֵּ֣טvai.Yet
H5186
to stretch or spread out · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
tent
אָהְָל֑וֹ'o.ho.Lo
H168
a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Beth-el
אֵ֖ל'el
H1008
Beth-El · proper noun, a place name
west
מִיָּם֙mi.Yam
H3220
a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Hai
וְהָעַ֣יve.ha.'Ai
H5857
Ai · conjunction + definite article + proper noun, a place name
east
מִקֶּ֔דֶםmi.Ke.dem
H6924
the front · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
builded
וַיִּֽבֶןvai.yi.ven-
H1129
to build (literally and figuratively) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
altar
מִזְבֵּ֙חַ֙miz.Be.ach
H4196
an altar · noun, common masculine singular absolute
LORD
לַֽיהוָ֔הla.Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · preposition + proper noun, a title
called
וַיִּקְרָ֖אvai.yik.Ra'
H7121
to call out to (i.e. properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
name
בְּשֵׁ֥םbe.Shem
H8034
an appellation · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
LORD
יְהוָֽהYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 4:26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
Nehemiah 11:31 The children also of Benjamin from Geba dwelt at Michmash, and Aija, and Beth-el, and in their villages,
Genesis 21:33 And Abraham planted a grove in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.
Genesis 13:4 Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
Genesis 28:19 And he called the name of that place Beth-el: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
1 Corinthians 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place c…
Genesis 35:3 And let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me…
Genesis 35:15-16 And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Beth-el.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 12:6-9
One would have expected that Abram having had such an extraordinary call to Canaan some great event should have followed upon his arrival there, that he would have been introduced with all possible marks of honour and respect, and that the kings of Canaan should immediately have surrendered their crowns to him, and done him homage. But no; he comes not with observation, little notice is taken of him, for still God will have him to live by faith, and to look upon Canaan, even when he was in it, as a land of promise; therefore observe here,
I. How little comfort he had in the land he came to; for, 1. He had it not to himself: The Canaanite was then in the land. He found the country peopled and…
Unto thy seed will I give this land--God was dealing with Abram not in his private and personal capacity merely, but with a view to high and important interests in future ages. That land his posterity was for centuries to inhabit as a peculiar people; the seeds of divine knowledge were to be sown there for the benefit of all mankind; and considered in its geographical situation, it was chosen in divine wisdom as the fittest of all lands to serve as the cradle of a divine revelation designed for the whole world.
and there builded he an altar unto the Lord--By this solemn act of devotion Abram made an open profession of his religion, established the worship of the true God, and declared his…
Beth-el - The place which was afterwards called Beth-el by Jacob, for its first name was Luz. See Gen 28:19. בית אל beith El literally signifies the house of God.
And pitched his tent - and - builded an altar unto the Lord - Where Abram has a tent, there God must have an Altar, as he well knows there is no safety but under the Divine protection. How few who build houses ever think on the propriety and necessity of building an altar to their Maker! The house in which the worship of God is not established cannot be considered as under the Divine protection.
And called upon the name of the Lord - Dr. Shuckford strongly contends that קרא בשם kara beshem does not signify to call On the name, but…
The Church Fathers
Where there is Bethel, that is, the house of God, there is also the altar. Where there is the altar, there is also the calling on the name of God. It is not by chance that he made such great progress. He hoped in the help of God. The athlete of God exercised and strengthened himself in adversity. He went into the desert.
And thence, crossing to the mountain that was east of Bethel, he pitched his tent there, having Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He also built an altar there to the Lord and called on His name. Indeed, after the valley, he ascended to the mountains, for through the humility of self-despair we must ascend to the loftiness of devout action dedicated to God. And there too, as in the valley, he built an altar to the Lord and called on His name, because both to be humbled in the sight of the Lord and to perform sublime works of virtue are gifts of divine favor; for both we must offer praises of thanks to Him. And because there should always be progress in virtues towards higher things, it is aptly added:
WHY DID ABRAHAM HIDE THAT SARAH WAS HIS SISTER FROM THE EGYPTIANS? — And it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see you, that they say, It is his wife. It happened that as soon as Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful . How can we understand the fact that Abram, when he came to Egypt, wanted to hide that Sarah was his wife, according to all that is written on this subject? Is it appropriate for such a holy man or should we think of a certain lack of faith, as some have addressed? I already dealt with this subject in the work Against Faustus. And the elder Jerome (Quest. Hebr. in Gen. 20:22) expounded more broadly than I; why it is not necessary, that even if Sarah spent some days in the house of the king of Egypt, it must be admitted that she committed a carnal sin with him. Indeed, it was customary for kings to have intercourse with wives from time to time in their palaces. But no one approached the king if they had not washed and perfumed their body with great care. Well, while these preparations were taking place Pharaoh was punished by God, (Cf. Gen. 12:17-20) so he returned her restored to her husband. The wife whom Abraham had entrusted to God by concealing that she was his wife, but without lying, said that she was his sister so that he could, as much as a man could do, entrust to God what he could not avoid, so that, if she herself only entrusted to God the things she could avoid, she did not give the impression that she did not believe in God, but rather tempted God. [
Dictionary and topics
Abraham — Father of a multitude, son of Terah, named (Gen. 11:27) before his older brothers Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises. Till the age of seventy, Abram sojourned among his kindred…
Ai — Ruins. (1.) One of the royal cities of the Canaanites (Josh. 10:1; Gen. 12:8; 13:3). It was the scene of Joshua’s defeat, and afterwards of his victory. It was the second Canaanite city taken by…
Bethel — House of God. (1.) A place in Central Palestine, about 10 miles north of Jerusalem, at the head of the pass of Michmash and Ai. It was originally the royal Canaanite city of Luz (Gen. 28:19). The…
Moreh — An archer, teacher; fruitful. (1.) A Canaanite probably who inhabited the district south of Shechem, between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, and gave his name to the “plain” there (Gen. 12:6). Here at this…
Abraham · Lives in Bethel — Lives in Bethel
Altar · Built by Abraham — Built by Abraham
Altars · Mentioned in scripture: Of Abraham — Mentioned in scripture: Of Abraham
Beth-El · .Abraham estblishes an altar at — .Abraham estblishes an altar at
Courage · .Abraham, in leaving his fatherland — .Abraham, in leaving his fatherland
Hai · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
High Places · A term used to — A term used to
Patriarchal Government · Exercised in: Acting as priests — Exercised in: Acting as priests
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel,.... As it was afterwards called by Jacob, which before and at this time had the name of Luz, Genesis 28:19 now to the east of this place was a mountain, whither Abram removed his tent from Sichem, which was about twenty miles from it, as Sir Walter Raleigh (f) observes, some say twenty eight (g):
and pitched his tent; that is, upon the mountain, as before upon the plain, fitly representing the state of the people of God, as sojourners in this world, living like Abram in tents and tabernacles, having no abiding place:
having Bethel on the west, or "on the sea" (h), the Mediterranean sea, which Aben Ezra calls the Spanish sea,…
And he removed from thence. When we hear that Abram moved from the place where he had built an altar to God, we ought not to doubt that he was, by some necessity, compelled to do so. He there found the inhabitants unpropitious; and therefore transfers his tabernacle elsewhere. But if Abram bore his continual wanderings patiently, our fastidiousness is utterly inexcusable, when we murmur against God, if he does not grant us a quiet nest. Certainly, when Christ has opened heaven to us, and daily invites us thither to dwell with himself; we should not take it amiss, if he chooses that we should be strangers in the world. The sum of the passage is this, that Abram was without a settled residence…
He did this also in the mountains, to which he probably removed to secure the necessary pasture for his flocks, after he had pitched his tent there. "Bethel westwards and Ai eastwards," i.e., in a spot with Ai to the east and Bethel to the west. The name Bethel occurs here proleptically: at the time referred to, it was still called Luz (Gen 28:19); its present name if Beitin (Robinson's Palestine). At a distance of about five miles to the east was Ai, ruins of which are still to be seen, bearing the name of Medinet Gai (Ritter's Erdkunde). On the words "called upon the name of the Lord," see Gen 4:26. From this point Abram proceeded slowly to the Negeb, i.e., to the southern district of Cana…
Abram had to keep moving camp because the Canaanites had the fertile land.
12:8 he worshiped the Lord (literally he made proclamation of the Lord by name): Proclaiming the name (identity and character) of the Lord is central to worship and witness (cp. 4:26; see Exod 34:5-7). Abram had to distinguish his sacrificial worship from that of the pagan Canaanites.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Prayer · Is described as: Calling upon the name of the Lord — Is described as: Calling upon the name of the Lord
Prayer, Social And Family · Exemplified: Abram — Exemplified: Abram
Priests · During patriarchal age heads of families acted as — During patriarchal age heads of families acted as
Religion · .Abraham — .Abraham
Tent · By Abraham — By Abraham
Worship · Of Abraham — Of Abraham
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
