Bible Strands
Genesis 12:15
When Pharaoh’s officials saw Sarai, they commended her to him, and she was taken into the palace of Pharaoh.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Pharaoh’s officials observe Sarai and commend her to Pharaoh, leading to her removal into the palace following Abram’s arrival in Egypt.
The words — וַ/יְהַֽלְל֥וּ (va/y.ha.Lu) means "and they praised" or "commended," describing the officials' verbal action toward Sarai. אֹתָ֖/הּ ('o.Ta/h) functions as the accusative marker "her," specifying the direct object of that commendation.
The thread — The pattern of a foreign ruler taking a patriarch’s wife reoccurs in Genesis 20:2, where Abimelech brings Sarah to him after Abraham identifies her as his sister.
Why it lands — The text states the officials’ commendation and Sarai’s transfer to the palace before noting Pharaoh’s material rewards to Abram. The reader observes the direct causal chain from the officials’ report to Sarai’s removal and Abram’s acquisition of wealth.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
Cross-references
- Genesis 20:2 Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.
- Genesis 40:2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,
- Genesis 41:1 After two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing beside the Nile,
- Exodus 2:5 Soon the daughter of Pharaoh went down to bathe in the Nile, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. And when she saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maidservant to retrieve it.
- Exodus 2:15 When Pharaoh heard about this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian, where he sat down beside a well.
- 1 Kings 3:1 Later, Solomon formed an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his palace and the house of the LORD, as well as the wall around Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 18:21 Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
- Esther 2:2 Then the king’s attendants proposed, “Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king,
- Psalms 105:4 Seek out the LORD and His strength; seek His face always.
- Proverbs 6:29 So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.