Abram

The term that is transliterated as “Abram” in English is translated in American Sign Language with the sign signifying sojourning with a staff, clearly differentiating it from Abraham. (Source: RuthAnna Spooner, Ron Lawer)


“Abram” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor

complete verse (Genesis 12:1)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 12:1:

  • Kankanaey: “There-was one day, God said to Abram, ‘Leave your (sing.) town/country and your (sing.) relatives so-that you (sing.) will go to the town/country that I will teach/point-out to you (sing.).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “The LORD said to Abram — ‘Leaving the land [where] you were born and the house of your father and your affinal kin, go to a land that I will show you.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Now, the LORD said to Abram, ‘Leave your nation, your relatives, and the family of your father, and go to the place that I will-show to you.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Then Yahweh said to Abram, ‘Leave this country where you are now living. Leave your father’s clan and his family. Go to a land that I will show you.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 12:1

The first three verses of this chapter are very important as the opening of the extended narrative that takes up the rest of the book of Genesis. They are not only the beginning of the story of the call of Abram, but they are the beginning of the story of the line chosen by God, as opposed to episodes in the story of the human race as a whole. “The story begins with one individual, and extends gradually to his family, then to a people, and later still to a nation” (Speiser).

The words Now the LORD said to Abram come immediately following the completion of Terah’s genealogy; but the break with the material before then is seen in the LORD’s command to Abram, which the opening words introduce. Most modern English translations depend on the heading to mark the transition and the opening of a new narrative. However, some languages may prefer to show this transition and to mark the opening of the story proper by saying, for example, “It happened like this,” or “Once….” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy begins “One day the Lord said….”

No figure is given for the length of time that has passed since the events recorded in 11.31. But apparently it was a period of many years, and the family of Terah was well-settled in Haran. From the order of the text, it appears that the events of chapter 12 took place after the death of Terah, which is recorded in 11.32. However, according to 11.26 Terah was seventy years old when Abram was born, and according to 12.4 Abram was seventy-five when he left Haran. This makes Terah 145 years old when Abram left, some sixty years before his death. It is important, therefore, not to try to indicate how much time has passed in making a transition from the previous events, but to treat the beginning of chapter 12 as the opening of a completely new story.

The LORD’s words begin with Go in verse 1 and end with “bless themselves” at the end of Gen 12.3. Some translations print all of these words in indented lines to identify the entire speech as poetic. Others indent only verse 3, while some use no indentation at all.

Go from your country … appears to be the beginning of a sudden and radical command addressed to a single individual. As Speiser says, “There was nothing in the preceding accounts to prepare us for Abraham’s mission.” Nevertheless 11.31 makes clear that Terah’s original destination was the land of Canaan, and Abram is now commanded to complete the journey that he began with his father many years earlier. Go from is better expressed in English as in Good News Translation “Leave.” The thought is to leave behind nearly all Abram’s roots, first in terms of the land, then his society, and finally his close relatives. From the ages given in the Hebrew text, Abram left Haran some sixty years before his father Terah died. See comments on Gen 12.4.

Your country refers to the region of Haran in Mesopotamia, where Abram had been brought by his father Terah. Your kindred translates a word meaning “relatives” and refers to all those related by both blood and marriage. Speiser takes the Hebrew structure of your country and your kindred to be a case of the type of expression that is called hendiadys, in which a single idea is expressed by two phrases joined by a conjunction, where the one phrase qualifies the other. So he translates “your native land” (similarly New Jerusalem Bible). Others like Good News Translation, New English Bible, Revised English Bible retain the separate nouns.

Your father’s house does not refer to the building where Abram’s father lives, but rather to those people who live in the family group of Abram’s father.

In translation the term kindred may have to be expressed as “the people you are related to,” “all the people of your large family,” or “the people of your clan.” In some languages such terms are expressed by the physical living arrangements; for example, “all the people living on your side of the village,” or “all those who have the same fence,” or “all those who eat from the same gardens.” These expressions may also cover the meaning of your father’s house. In that case we may translate, as Speiser suggests, “from the country where you were born and from all those who live with your father.” One translation for nomadic people says “from your land, and from your father’s camp.”

To the land …: Go from … to … follows the Hebrew construction, but Good News Translation says more clearly “Leave … and go to….” Many languages will likewise require a second verb such as “go,” “migrate,” “travel to.” Land, the same as earlier in the verse, is not named but refers to Canaan. Many translations will use a word like “country,” referring to a political or national territory.

That I will show you: New Testament comments on this verse appear in Acts 7.2-3; Heb 11.8. In some languages show cannot be used with anything as large as a country, and so it may be necessary to say “which I will take you to” or “where I will guide you.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .