But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
- KJV And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.
- BSB The LORD, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.
- NASB But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
- NLT But the Lord sent terrible plagues upon Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.
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
Yahweh struck Pharaoh's house with great plagues because of Sarai. God intervenes to protect the promised wife.
Overview
God himself acts to shield Sarai and preserve the covenant line, afflicting Pharaoh's house. This divine intervention rescues the situation that Abram's fear created, showing God's faithfulness despite human failure. The plagues foreshadow the later plagues God will send to deliver Abram's descendants from Egypt (Exodus).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 1 Chr 16:21He allowed no man to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,
- Gen 20:18For Yahweh had closed up tight all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
- Ps 105:14–15He allowed no one to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,
- 1 Chr 21:22Then David said to Ornan, “Give me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar to Yahweh on it. You shall sell it to me for the full price, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people.”
- 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.
- Job 34:19Who doesn’t respect the persons of princes, nor respects the rich more than the poor; for they all are the work of his hands.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 12:17 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.