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From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel, pitching his tent with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there to the Lord and invoked the Lord by name. Then Abram journeyed on by stages to the Negeb.[a]

Abram and Sarai in Egypt.[b] 10 There was famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, since the famine in the land was severe.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 12:9 The Negeb: the semidesert land south of Judah.
  2. 12:10–13:1 Abraham and Sarah’s sojourn in Egypt and encounter with Pharaoh foreshadow their descendants’ experience, suggesting a divine design in which they must learn to trust. The story of Sarah, the ancestor in danger, is told again in chap. 20, and also in 26:1–11 with Rebekah instead of Sarah. Repetition of similar events is not unusual in literature that has been orally shaped.

From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel(A) and pitched his tent,(B) with Bethel on the west and Ai(C) on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.(D)

Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.(E)

Abram in Egypt(F)

10 Now there was a famine in the land,(G) and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.(H)

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