Genèse 12

¹ Then the LORD said to Abram, “Leave your country, your kindred, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you.

² I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

³ I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”

Note · Genèse 12.1–3

Une vocation qui regarde au-delà de soi

Abram reçoit des promesses de descendance, de nom et de bénédiction. Leur horizon inclut les familles de la terre. L’appel particulier ne fonde pas un droit de mépriser les autres : il introduit une responsabilité dans une histoire dont le but dépasse la seule sécurité du bénéficiaire.

⁴ So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

⁵ And Abram took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions and people they had acquired in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,

⁶ Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the Oak of Moreh at Shechem. And at that time the Canaanites were in the land.

⁷ Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

⁸ From there Abram moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. There he built an altar to the LORD, and he called on the name of the LORD.

⁹ And Abram journeyed on toward the Negev.

Note · Genèse 12.4–9

Habiter sans tout posséder

Le déplacement et les autels rythment l’entrée en Canaan. La promesse du pays concerne une descendance à venir alors qu’Abram vit encore en voyageur. Le passage maintient cette distance entre parole reçue et possession ; il ne décrit pas une installation déjà achevée.

¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.

¹¹ As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman,

¹² and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.

¹³ 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.”

¹⁴ So when Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.

¹⁵ When Pharaoh’s officials saw Sarai, they commended her to him, and she was taken into the palace of Pharaoh.

¹⁶ He treated Abram well on her account, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.

Note · Genèse 12.10–16

La peur d’Abram met Saraï en danger

La famine ne disparaît pas parce qu’Abram a obéi à l’appel. En Égypte, sa stratégie de survie place Saraï dans la maison de Pharaon. Le narrateur décrit cette conduite sans l’ériger en modèle conjugal ni inviter une personne vulnérable à subir le risque au bénéfice d’un proche.

¹⁷ The LORD, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.

¹⁸ So Pharaoh summoned Abram and asked, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?

¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

²⁰ Then Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning Abram, and they sent him away with his wife and all his possessions.

Note · Genèse 12.17–20

Le reproche vient de l’extérieur

Pharaon confronte Abram au mensonge qui a mis sa maison en difficulté. L’homme appelé doit recevoir un reproche d’un souverain étranger. Le choix de Dieu ne rend donc pas toute parole du croyant plus juste que celle des autres et n’abolit pas la possibilité d’être corrigé par eux.