Genesis 12:11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman,

◄ Genesis 12:11 ►

New International Version
As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are.

New Living Translation
As he was approaching the border of Egypt, Abram said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, you are a very beautiful woman.

English Standard Version
When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance,

Berean Standard Bible
As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman,

King James Bible
And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:

New King James Version
And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance.

New American Standard Bible
It came about, when he was approaching Egypt, that he said to his wife Sarai, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman;

NASB 1995
It came about when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman;

NASB 1977
And it came about when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman;

Legacy Standard Bible
And it happened as he drew near to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Now behold, I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance;

Amplified Bible
And when he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “Listen: I know that you are a beautiful woman;

Christian Standard Bible
When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife, Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are.

American Standard Version
And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:

English Revised Version
And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
When he was about to enter Egypt, Abram said to his wife Sarai, "I know that you're a beautiful woman.

Good News Translation
When he was about to cross the border into Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "You are a beautiful woman.

International Standard Version
When he was about to enter Egypt, he told his wife Sarai, "Look, I'm aware that you're a beautiful woman.

Majority Standard Bible
As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman,

NET Bible
As he approached Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, "Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman.

New Heart English Bible
It happened, when he had come near to enter Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "Look, I know what a beautiful woman you are.

Webster's Bible Translation
And it came to pass, when he had come near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:

World English Bible
When he had come near to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at.

Literal Translations

Literal Standard Version
and it comes to pass as he has drawn near to enter Egypt, that he says to his wife Sarai, “Now behold, I have known that you [are] a woman of beautiful appearance;

Young's Literal Translation
and it cometh to pass as he hath drawn near to enter Egypt, that he saith unto Sarai his wife, 'Lo, I pray thee, I have known that thou art a woman of beautiful appearance;

Smith's Literal Translation
And it shall be when he came near to go to Egypt, he will say to Sarai his wife, Behold, now I knew that thou wert a fair woman to see.

Catholic Translations

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife: I know that thou art a beautiful woman:

Catholic Public Domain Version
And when he was close to entering Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai: “I know you to be a beautiful woman.

New American Bible
When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai: “I know that you are a beautiful woman.

New Revised Standard Version
When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know well that you are a woman beautiful in appearance;

Translations from Aramaic

Lamsa Bible
And it came to pass when he was about to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that you are a woman beautiful to look upon;

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And it was that when he approached to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “Behold, I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance:

OT Translations

JPS Tanakh 1917
And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife: 'Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And it came to pass when Abram drew nigh to enter into Egypt, Abram said to Sara his wife, I know that thou art a fair woman.

Additional Translations ...

Audio Bible

Context

Abram and Sarai in Egypt
10Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman, 12and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.…

Berean Standard Bible · Download

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 26:7
But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.”

Exodus 2:15-17
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. / Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came to draw water and fill the troughs to water their father’s flock. / And when some shepherds came along and drove them away, Moses rose up to help them and watered their flock.

1 Kings 14:21-24
Meanwhile, Rehoboam son of Solomon reigned in Judah. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen from all the tribes of Israel in which to put His Name. His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite. / And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and by the sins they committed they provoked Him to jealous anger more than all their fathers had done. / They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. ...

2 Chronicles 12:2-4
In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem / with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and countless troops who came with him out of Egypt—Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites. / He captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem.

Nehemiah 13:23-27
In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. / Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of the other peoples, but could not speak the language of Judah. / I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves! ...

Isaiah 30:1-3
“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin. / They set out to go down to Egypt without asking My advice, to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shade. / But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and the refuge of Egypt’s shade your disgrace.

Jeremiah 42:14-16
and if you say, ‘No, but we will go to the land of Egypt and live there, where we will not see war or hear the sound of the ram’s horn or hunger for bread,’ / then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah! This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and reside there, / then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow on your heels into Egypt, and you will die there.

Ezekiel 23:19-21
Yet she multiplied her promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth, when she had prostituted herself in the land of Egypt / and lusted after their lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of stallions. / So you revisited the indecency of your youth, when the Egyptians caressed your bosom and pressed your young breasts.

Hosea 7:11
So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria.

Matthew 10:16
Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

Matthew 26:41
“Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Mark 14:38
Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Luke 21:34-36
But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare. / For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth. / So keep watch at all times, and pray that you may have the strength to escape all that is about to happen and to stand before the Son of Man.”

John 7:1
After this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jews there were trying to kill Him.

Treasury of Scripture

And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that you are a fair woman to look on:

a fair.

Genesis 12:14
And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.

Genesis 26:7
And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.

Genesis 29:17
Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.

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Genesis 12

1. God calls Abram, and blesses him with a promise of Christ.
4. He departs with Lot from Haran, and comes to Canaan.
6. He journeys through Canaan,
7. which is promised to him in a vision.
10. He is driven by famine into Egypt.
11. Fear makes him feign his wife to be his sister.
14. Pharaoh, having taken her from him, is compelled to restore her.
18. Pharaoh reproves Abram, whom he dismisses.

Berean Study Bible

As he was about to enter Egypt
This phrase marks a significant moment in Abram's journey, highlighting a transition from the land of Canaan to Egypt. The Hebrew root for "enter" (בּוֹא, bo) often signifies not just physical entry but also the beginning of a new phase or experience. Egypt, in biblical times, was a place of both refuge and temptation, often representing the world and its allurements. Abram's journey into Egypt foreshadows the Israelites' later sojourn and eventual exodus, symbolizing a place of testing and divine intervention.

he said to his wife Sarai
Abram's communication with Sarai is pivotal, reflecting the patriarchal structure of ancient Near Eastern societies where the husband often took the lead in decision-making. The Hebrew name "Sarai" (שָׂרַי) means "my princess," indicating her noble status and beauty. This interaction underscores the importance of marital unity and the protective role Abram assumes, albeit imperfectly, as he anticipates potential challenges in Egypt.

Look, I know
The phrase "Look, I know" conveys a sense of urgency and awareness. The Hebrew word for "know" (יָדַע, yada) implies deep understanding and recognition. Abram's acknowledgment of Sarai's beauty is not merely superficial but indicates an awareness of the potential consequences her beauty might bring in a foreign land. This moment of realization sets the stage for the unfolding narrative, where Abram's faith and trust in God will be tested.

that you are a beautiful woman
Sarai's beauty is central to the narrative, serving as both a blessing and a source of potential danger. The Hebrew word for "beautiful" (יָפֶה, yafeh) is often used in Scripture to describe physical attractiveness, but it also carries connotations of goodness and favor. In the ancient world, beauty could be both a gift and a vulnerability, especially in foreign courts where women could be taken into royal harems. This acknowledgment by Abram highlights the complexities of human relationships and the need for divine guidance in navigating them.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11-13) Thou art a fair woman.--For the word yephath, rendered "fair," see on Genesis 9:27. Though its general meaning is beautiful, yet there can be no doubt that the light colour of Sarai's complexion was that which would chiefly commend her to the Egyptians; for she was now past sixty, and though vigorous enough to bear a son at ninety, yet that was by the special favour of God. As she lived to the age of 127 (Genesis 23:1), she was now about middle age, and evidently had retained much of her early beauty; and this, added to the difference of tint, would make her still attractive to the swarthy descendants of Ham, especially as they were not a handsome race, but had flat foreheads, high cheek-bones, large mouths, and thick lips. Twenty years later we find Abram still haunted by fears of the effects of her personal appearance (Genesis 20:2), even when living among a better-featured race. From Genesis 20:13 it appears that on leaving Haran Abram and Sarai had agreed upon adopting this expedient, which seems to us so strangely contrary to the faith which the patriarch was at that very time displaying. He abandons his birthplace at the Divine command, and starts upon endless wanderings; and yet, to protect his own life, he makes an arrangement which involves the possible sacrifice of the chastity of his wife; and twice, but for God's interference, this painful result would actually have happened. Perhaps Abram may have depended upon Sarai's cleverness to help herself out of the difficulty; but such a mixture of faith and weakness, of trust in God in abandoning so much and trust in worldly policy for preservation in a foreseen danger, cannot but make us feel how much of infirmity there was even in a character otherwise so noble.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 11-13. - And it came to pass (literally, it was), when he was come near to enter into Egypt (that he had his misgivings, arising probably from his own eminence, which could scarcely fail to attract attention among strangers, but chiefly from the beauty of his wife, which was calculated to inflame the cupidity and, it might be, the violence of the warm-blooded Southrons, and) that he said unto Sarai his wife. The arrangement here referred to appears (Genesis 20:13) to have been preconcerted on first setting out from Ur or Haran, so that Abram's address to his wife on approaching Egypt may be viewed as simply a reminder of their previous compact. Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon. Literally, fair of aspect (cf. 1 Samuel 17:42). Though now upwards of sixty-five years of age, she was still in middle life (Genesis 23:1), and her constitution had not been impaired by bearing children. Besides, the clear complexion of Sarah would render her specially attractive in the eyes of the Egyptians, whose women, though not so dark as the Nubians and Ethiopians, were yet of a browner tinge than the Syrians and Arabians. Monumental evidence confirms the assertion of Scripture that a fair complexion was deemed a high recommendation in the age of the Pharaohs (ride Hengstenberg's 'Egypt and the Books of Moses,' p. 200). Therefore (literally, and) it shall come to pass, when (literally, that) the Egyptians - notorious for their licentiousness (vide P. Smith's ' History of the World,' vol. 1. Genesis 6. p. 71) - shall see thee, that (literally, and) they shall say, this is his wife: and they will kill me - in order to possess thee, counting murder a less crime than adultery (Lyra). An unreasonable anxiety, considering that he had hitherto enjoyed the Divine protection, however natural it might seem in view of the voluptuous character of the people. But (literally, and) they will save thee alive - for either compulsory marriage or dishonorable use. Say, I pray thee, - translated in ver. 11 as "now;" "verbum obsecrantis vel adhortantis" (Masius) - thou art my sister. A half-truth (Genesis 20:12), but a whole falsehood. The usual apologies, that he did not fabricate, but "cautiously conceal the truth" (Lyra), that perhaps he acted in obedience to a Divine impulse (Mede), that he dissembled in order to protect his wife's chastity (Rosenmüller), are not satisfactory. On the other hand, Abram must not be judged by the light of New Testament revelation. It is not necessary for a Christian in every situation Of life to tell all the truth, especially when its part suppression involves no deception, and is indispensable for self-preservation; and Abram may have deemed it legitimate as a means of securing both his own life and Sarah's honor, though how he was to shield his wife in the peculiar circumstances it is difficult to see. Rosenmüller suggests that he knew the preliminary ceremonies to marriage required a considerable time, and counted upon being able to leave Egypt before any injury was done to Sarah. The only objection to this is that the historian represents him as being less solicitous about the preservation of his wife's chastity than about the conservation of his own life. That it may be well (not with thee, though doubtless this is implied, but) with me for thy sake (the import of which is declared in the words which follow); and my soul shall live because of thee. "No defense can be offered for a man who, merely through dread of danger to himself, tells a lie, risks his wife's chastity, puts temptation in the way of his neighbors, and betrays the charge to which the Divine favor had summoned him "(Dykes).

Parallel Commentaries ...

Hebrew

As
כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר (ka·’ă·šer)
Preposition-k | Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

he was about
הִקְרִ֖יב (hiq·rîḇ)
Verb - Hifil - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7126: To come near, approach

to enter
לָב֣וֹא (lā·ḇō·w)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

Egypt,
מִצְרָ֑יְמָה (miṣ·rā·yə·māh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 4714: Egypt -- a son of Ham, also his descendants and their country in Northwest Africa

he said
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

to
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

his wife
אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ (’iš·tōw)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

Sarai,
שָׂרַ֣י (śā·ray)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 8297: Sarai -- a wife of Abram

“Look,
הִנֵּה־ (hin·nêh-)
Interjection
Strong's 2009: Lo! behold!

I know
יָדַ֔עְתִּי (yā·ḏa‘·tî)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular
Strong's 3045: To know

that
כִּ֛י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

you
אָֽתְּ׃ (’āt)
Pronoun - second person feminine singular
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

[are] a beautiful
יְפַת־ (yə·p̄aṯ-)
Adjective - feminine singular construct
Strong's 3303: Fair, beautiful

woman,
אִשָּׁ֥ה (’iš·šāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

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OT Law: Genesis 12:11 It happened when he had come near (Gen. Ge Gn)