After his father died, God told Abram to leave for the land he would reveal, promising to bless him and make him into a great nation. Abram left Harran with his nephew Lot and his wife Sarai and went to Canaan, and built an altar.
Lying to Pharaoh about Sarai
There was a famine, so Abram went to Egypt. He was afraid the Egyptians would see his beautiful wife Sarai and kill him so that they would take her, so he told her to lie and say she was his sister. Here is the story:
Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.
But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.
Pharaoh takes Abram’s wife thinking she is his sister, Abram becomes rich as a result, Pharaoh is cursed, and finally Abram is sent away with his wife and his riches.
The story seems pretty far-fetched. It’s hard to imagine an older woman being so strikingly beautiful that she catches Pharaoh’s attention. Even if she was beautiful, how would she find her way to Pharaoh? And how hard would it have been to rub a little dirt on her face, mess up her hair, and keep her head down to avoid being noticed?
And what is the moral of this story? Abram lied to Pharaoh, gave his wife to Pharaoh basically to be raped, and he became wealthy. Pharaoh thought he was taking an unmarried woman, and blessed her family with wealth, and his household was cursed with illness.
Abram was rewarded, Pharaoh was punished, and there is no mention of what Abram did having been wrong.
Weird story…
You can read all of chapter 12 here
So when the Pharaoh learned about Abraham’s swindle, he kicked out Abraham and his followers from Egypt. This action by the Pharaoh is most likely the first act of recorded anti semitism.