Abraham traveled from there toward the land of the South, and lived between Kadesh and Shur. He lived as a foreigner in Gerar.
Parallel translations
- KJV And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned 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 26:6Isaac lived in Gerar.
- Gen 26:1There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar.
- 2 Chr 14:13–14Asa and the people who were with him pursued them to Gerar: and so many of the Ethiopians fell that they could not recover themselves; for they were destroyed before Yahweh and before his army; and they carried away very much booty.
- Ps 29:8Yahweh’s voice shakes the wilderness. Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
- Gen 18:1Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.
- Gen 24:62Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he lived in the land of the South.
- Gen 10:19The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon — as you go toward Gerar — to Gaza — as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim — to Lasha.
- Deut 1:19We traveled from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea.
- Num 20:16When we cried to Yahweh, he heard our voice, sent an angel, and brought us out of Egypt. Behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the edge of your border.
- Gen 26:20The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” He called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.
- Gen 26:26Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his army.
- Deut 32:51because you trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you didn’t uphold my holiness among the children of Israel.
- Num 13:26They went and came to Moses, to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, to the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word to them and to all the congregation. They showed them the fruit of the land.
- Gen 13:1Abram went up out of Egypt — he, his wife, all that he had, and Lot with him — into the South.
- Gen 16:1Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
- Gen 16:7Yahweh’s angel found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain on the way to Shur.
- 1 Sam 15:7Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt.
- Gen 14:7They returned, and came to En Mishpat (also called Kadesh), and struck all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that lived in Hazazon Tamar.
- Gen 16:14Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi. 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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