And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.
Parallel translations
- WEB Abraham traveled from there toward the land of the South, and lived between Kadesh and Shur. He lived as a foreigner in Gerar.
- BSB Now Abraham journeyed from there to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar,
- NKJV And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.
- NASB Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev, and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he lived for a time in Gerar.
- NLT Abraham moved south to the Negev and lived for a while between Kadesh and Shur, and then he moved on to Gerar. While living there as a foreigner,
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
Abraham journeys to Gerar and sojourns there as a foreigner. He continues his pilgrim life in the land of promise without yet possessing it.
Overview
Abraham moves south into Philistine territory, again living as a resident alien rather than an owner of the land. This setting prepares for a repeat of the danger Abraham faced earlier in Egypt. His ongoing sojourning underscores that the patriarchs lived by faith in promises not yet fulfilled, awaiting a heavenly homeland, as Hebrews later teaches.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Gen 26:6And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
- Gen 26:1And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.
- 2 Chr 14:13–14And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them unto Gerar: and the Ethiopians were overthrown, that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before the LORD, and before his host; and they carried away very much spoil.
- Ps 29:8The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
- Gen 18:1And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
- Gen 24:62And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country.
- Gen 10:19And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.
- Deut 1:19And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea.
- Num 20:16And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border:
- Gen 26:20And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
- Gen 26:26Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
- Deut 32:51Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of MeribahKadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
- Num 13:26And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land.
- Gen 13:1And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.
- Gen 16:1Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
- Gen 16:7And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
- 1 Sam 15:7And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.
- Gen 14:7And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar.
- Gen 16:14Wherefore the well was called Beerlahairoi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
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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 20:1 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
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