Genesis 12:10

The Promised Blessing Jeopardized

12:10 There was a famine in the land, so Abram went down to Egypt ¹  to stay for a while ²  because the famine was severe. ³ 

Genesis 26:1

Isaac and Abimelech

26:1 There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred ⁴  in the days of Abraham. ⁵  Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.

Genesis 41:57

41:57 People from every country ⁶  came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain because the famine was severe throughout the earth.

Acts 7:11

7:11 Then a famine occurred throughout ⁷  Egypt and Canaan, causing ⁸  great suffering, and our ⁹  ancestors ¹⁰  could not find food.

Acts 11:28

11:28 One of them, named Agabus, got up ¹¹  and predicted ¹²  by the Spirit that a severe ¹³  famine ¹⁴  was about to come over the whole inhabited world. ¹⁵  (This ¹⁶  took place during the reign of Claudius.) ¹⁷ 

[12:10]  ¹ sn Abram went down to Egypt. The Abrahamic narrative foreshadows some of the events in the life of the nation of Israel. This sojourn in Egypt is typological of Israel’s bondage there. In both stories there is a famine that forces the family to Egypt, death is a danger to the males while the females are preserved alive, great plagues bring about their departure, there is a summons to stand before Pharaoh, and there is a return to the land of Canaan with great wealth.

[12:10]  ² tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur), traditionally rendered “to sojourn,” means “to stay for a while.” The “stranger” (traditionally “sojourner”) is one who is a temporary resident, a visitor, one who is passing through. Abram had no intention of settling down in Egypt or owning property. He was only there to wait out the famine.

[12:10]  ³ tn Heb “heavy in the land.” The words “in the land,” which also occur at the beginning of the verse in the Hebrew text, have not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[26:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “in addition to the first famine which was.”

[26:1]  ⁵ sn This account is parallel to two similar stories about Abraham (see Gen 12:10-20; 20:1-18). Many scholars do not believe there were three similar incidents, only one that got borrowed and duplicated. Many regard the account about Isaac as the original, which then was attached to the more important person, Abraham, with supernatural elements being added. For a critique of such an approach, see R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, 47-62. It is more likely that the story illustrates the proverb “like father, like son” (see T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 53). In typical human fashion the son follows his father’s example of lying to avoid problems. The appearance of similar events reported in a similar way underscores the fact that the blessing has now passed to Isaac, even if he fails as his father did.

[41:57]  ⁶ tn Heb “all the earth,” which refers here (by metonymy) to the people of the earth. Note that the following verb is plural in form, indicating that the inhabitants of the earth are in view.

[7:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “came upon all Egypt.”

[7:11]  ⁸ tn Grk “and,” but logically causal.

[7:11]  ⁹ sn Our. Stephen spoke of “our” ancestors (Grk “fathers”) in an inclusive sense throughout the speech until his rebuke in v. 51, where the nation does what “your” ancestors did, at which point an exclusive pronoun is used. This serves to emphasize the rebuke.

[7:11]  ¹⁰ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[11:28]  ¹¹ tn Grk “getting up, predicted.” The participle ἀναστάς (anasta") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[11:28]  ¹² tn Or “made clear”; Grk “indicated beforehand” (BDAG 920 s.v. σημαίνω 2).

[11:28]  ¹³ tn Grk “great.”

[11:28]  ¹⁴ sn This famine is one of the firmly fixed dates in Acts. It took place from a.d. 45-48. The events described in chap. 11 of Acts occurred during the early part of that period.

[11:28]  ¹⁵ tn Or “whole Roman Empire.” While the word οἰκουμένη (oikoumenh) does occasionally refer specifically to the Roman Empire, BDAG 699 s.v. οἰκουνένη 2 does not list this passage (only Acts 24:5 and 17:6).

[11:28]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “world, which.” The relative pronoun (“which”) was replaced by the demonstrative pronoun “this” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.

[11:28]  ¹⁷ sn This is best taken as a parenthetical note by the author. Claudius was the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus, known as Claudius, who ruled from a.d. 41-54.