Genesis 12:4-6

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Genesis 12:4 sn So Abram left. This is the report of Abram’s obedience to God’s command (see v. 1).
2. Genesis 12:4 tn Heb “just as the Lord said to him.”
3. Genesis 12:4 tn The disjunctive clause (note the pattern conjunction + subject + implied “to be” verb) is parenthetical, telling the age of Abram when he left Haran.
4. Genesis 12:4 tn Heb “was the son of five years and seventy year[s].”sn Terah was 70 years old when he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran (Gen 11:26). Terah was 205 when he died in Haran (11:32). Abram left Haran at the age of 75 after his father died. Abram was born when Terah was 130. Abram was not the firstborn—he is placed first in the list of three because of his importance. A similar situation is true of the list in Gen 10:1 (Shem, Ham, Japheth), as Ham was the youngest son (9:24).
5. Genesis 12:5 tn Heb “the son of his brother.”
6. Genesis 12:5 tn For the semantic nuance “acquire [property]” for the verb עָשָׂה (ʿasah), see BDB 795 s.v. עָשָׂה.
7. Genesis 12:5 tn Heb “went out to go.”
8. Genesis 12:6 tn Or “terebinth.”
9. Genesis 12:6 sn The Hebrew word Moreh (מוֹרֶה, moreh) means “teacher.” It may well be that the place of this great oak tree was a Canaanite shrine where instruction took place.
10. Genesis 12:6 tn Heb “as far as the place of Shechem, as far as the oak of Moreh.”
11. Genesis 12:6 tn The disjunctive clause gives important information parenthetical in nature—the promised land was occupied by Canaanites.