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The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house.
Genesis 12:15 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
  • KJV The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
  • BSB When Pharaoh’s officials saw Sarai, they commended her to him, and she was taken into the palace of Pharaoh.
  • NASB Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
  • NLT When the palace officials saw her, they sang her praises to Pharaoh, their king, and Sarai was taken into his palace.

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

Pharaoh's officials praised Sarai, and she was taken into his house. The promised wife is now in grave peril.

Overview

Sarai is brought into Pharaoh's household, threatening both the marriage and the promised seed. Abram's deception has left his wife defenseless and the covenant in jeopardy. At this point of human failure, God himself will act to preserve his purposes, showing that the promise stands on divine faithfulness.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 16

  • Gen 20:2Abraham said about Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
  • Ps 105:4Seek Yahweh and his strength. Seek his face forever more.
  • 2 Kgs 18:21Now, behold, you trust in the staff of this bruised reed, even in Egypt. If a man leans on it, it will go into his hand, and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust on him.
  • Heb 13:4Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
  • Prov 6:29So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.
  • Exod 2:15Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and lived in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.
  • Prov 29:12If a ruler listens to lies, all of his officials are wicked.
  • Gen 41:1At the end of two full years, Pharaoh dreamed: and behold, he stood by the river.
  • 1 Kgs 3:1Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into David’s city, until he had finished building his own house, Yahweh’s house, and the wall around Jerusalem.
  • Jer 46:17They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has let the appointed time pass by.’
  • Exod 2:5Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the river. Her maidens walked along by the riverside. She saw the basket among the reeds, and sent her servant to get it.
  • Gen 40:2Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cup bearer and the chief baker.
  • Hos 7:4–5They are all adulterers. They are burning like an oven that the baker stops stirring, from the kneading of the dough, until it is leavened.
  • Esth 2:2–16Then the king’s servants who served him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king.
  • Ezek 32:2Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, You were likened to a young lion of the nations: yet you are as a monster in the seas; and you broke out with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers.
  • Jer 25:19Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (9)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 12:15YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 12:15 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.