Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Please say that you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that my soul may live because of you.”
- KJV Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
- BSB Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.”
- NASB Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well for me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.”
- NLT So please tell them you are my sister. Then they will spare my life and treat me well because of their interest in you.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Abram asked Sarai to call herself his sister to protect himself. This half-truth endangers Sarai and the promise.
Overview
Abram's request, though resting on a partial truth (Sarai was his half-sister, Gen 20:12), is a deception aimed at self-preservation. It places Sarai and thus the promised line in jeopardy. This failure of faith stands as a warning, yet it sets the stage for God's faithful intervention that follows, underscoring that the covenant rests on God's reliability, not Abram's.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Gen 26:7The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “My wife”, lest, he thought, “the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at.”
- Gen 20:2Abraham said about Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
- Gen 20:12–13Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
- Gen 20:5Didn’t he tell me, ‘She is my sister?’ She, even she herself, said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.”
- Ezek 18:4Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins, he shall die.
- Jer 17:5–8Yahweh says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from Yahweh.
- John 8:44You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and its father.
- Isa 57:11“Whom have you dreaded and feared, so that you lie, and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart? Haven’t I held my peace for a long time, and you don’t fear me?
- Ps 146:3–5Don’t put your trust in princes, each a son of man in whom there is no help.
- Gen 11:29Abram and Nahor married wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran who was also the father of Iscah.
- Rom 3:6–8May it never be! For then how will God judge the world?
- Gal 2:12–13For before some people came from James, he ate with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.
- Col 3:6for which things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.
- Matt 26:69–75Now Peter was sitting outside in the court, and a maid came to him, saying, “You were also with Jesus, the Galilean!”
- Rom 6:23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 12:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.