John Calvin Commentary Genesis 12

Now the Lord had said unto Abram. So that an absurd division of these chapters does not trouble the readers, they should connect this sentence with the last two verses of the previous chapter. Moses had previously said that Terah and Abram had departed from their country to dwell in the land of Canaan.

He now explains that they had not been impelled by levity, as rash and fickle men are inclined to be; nor had been drawn to other regions by disgust with their own country, as morose persons frequently are; nor were fugitives on account of crime; nor were led away by any foolish hope, or by any allurements, as many are hurried here and there by their own desires. Instead, Abram had been divinely commanded to go forth and had not moved a foot except as he was guided by the word of God.

Those who explain the passage to mean that God spoke to Abram after the death of his father are easily refuted by the very words of Moses. For if Abram was already without a country and was sojourning as a stranger elsewhere, the command of God would have been superfluous: Depart from thy land, from thy country, and from thy father’s house. The authority of Stephen is also added, who certainly deserves to be considered a suitable interpreter of this passage. He plainly testifies that God appeared to Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran. He then recites this oracle which we are now explaining, and finally concludes that, for this reason, Abraham migrated from Chaldea.

Nor should we overlook what God afterwards repeats (Genesis 15:7): I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees; For from this we infer that the Divine Hand was not stretched out to him for the first time after he had dwelt in Charran, but while he still remained at home in Chaldea. Indeed, this command of God’s, about which doubts are foolishly entertained, ought to be considered by us sufficient to disprove the contrary error.

For God could not have spoken thus, except to a man who had been, until that time, settled in his nest, having his affairs undisturbed, and living quietly and tranquilly among his relatives, without any change in his mode of life. Otherwise, the answer would have been readily given: “I have left my country; I am far removed from my kindred.” In short, Moses records this oracle so that we may know that this long journey was undertaken by Abram, and his father Terah, at the command of God.

From this it also appears that Terah was not so far deluded by superstitions as to be destitute of the fear of God. It was difficult for the old man, already broken and in failing health, to tear himself away from his own country. Some true religion, therefore, although smothered, still remained in his mind.

Therefore, when he knew that the place from which his son was commanded to depart was accursed, he did not wish to perish there; instead, he joined himself as an associate with him whom the Lord was about to deliver. What a witness, I demand, will he prove to be on the last day, to condemn our indolence!

The excuse he might have alleged was easy and plausible: namely, that he would remain quietly at home because he had received no command. But he, though blind in the darkness of unbelief, yet opened his eyes to the beam of light that shot across his path, while we remain unmoved when the divine vocation directly shines upon us.

Moreover, this calling of Abram is a signal instance of the gratuitous mercy of God. Had Abram anticipated God by any merit of works? Had Abram come to Him, or won His favor? No, we must always recall to mind (what I have previously cited from the passage in Joshua) that he was plunged in the filth of idolatry; and now God freely stretches out His hand to bring back the wanderer.

He deigns to open His sacred mouth, so that He may show to one deceived by Satan’s wiles the way of salvation. And it is wonderful that a man, miserable and lost, should be given preference over so many holy worshippers of God; that the covenant of life should be placed in his possession; that the Church should be revived in him, and he himself constituted the father of all the faithful.

But this is done by design, so that the manifestation of the grace of God might become more conspicuous in his person. For he is an example of the vocation of us all; for in him we perceive that, by the mere mercy of God, those things which are not are raised from nothing, so that they may begin to be something.

Get thee out of thy country. This accumulation of words may seem superfluous. To this it may also be added that Moses, who is so concise in other places, here expresses a plain and simple matter in three different ways. But the reality is quite different. For since exile is in itself sorrowful, and the sweetness of their native soil binds nearly all people to itself, God strenuously persists in His command to leave the country, in order to thoroughly penetrate Abram's mind.

If He had said in a single phrase, “Leave your country,” this indeed would have considerably pained his mind; but Abram is still more deeply affected when he hears that he must renounce his kindred and his father’s house. Yet we should not suppose that God takes a cruel pleasure in the trouble of His servants; rather, He thus tests all their affections, so that He may not leave any lurking-places undiscovered in their hearts.

We see many people who are zealous for a short time, but afterwards become frozen. Why is this, except because they build without a foundation? Therefore, God determined to thoroughly rouse all Abram's senses, so that he might not undertake anything rashly or inconsiderately, lest, repenting soon afterwards, he should veer with the wind and return.

Unto a land that I will show thee. This is another test to prove Abram's faith. For why does God not immediately point out the land, except for the purpose of keeping His servant in suspense, so that He may better test the truth of his attachment to the word of God?

It is as if He would say, “I command you to go forth with closed eyes, and forbid you to inquire where I am about to lead you, until, having renounced your country, you shall have given yourself wholly to Me.” And this is the true test of our obedience: when we are not wise in our own eyes but commit ourselves entirely to the Lord.

Whenever, therefore, He requires anything of us, we must not be so anxious about success as to allow fear and anxiety to hinder our course. For it is better, with closed eyes, to follow God as our guide, than, by relying on our own prudence, to wander through those circuitous paths which it devises for us.

If anyone objects that this statement is at variance with the former sentence, in which Moses declared that Terah and Abram departed from their own country so that they might come into the land of Canaan, the solution is easy if we admit a prolepsis (that is, an anticipation of something still future) in the expression of Moses. This is similar to what occurs later in this very chapter with the use of the name Bethel, and as frequently occurs in the Scriptures.

They did not know where they were going. But because they had resolved to go wherever God might call them, Moses, speaking in his own person, mentions the land which, though previously unknown to them both, was afterwards revealed to Abram alone. It is therefore true that they departed with the intention of coming to the land of Canaan because, having received the promise concerning a land that was to be shown them, they allowed themselves to be governed by God until He should actually bestow what He had promised.

Nevertheless, it may be that God, having tested Abram's devotion, soon afterwards removed all doubt from his mind. For we do not know at what precise moment God would make known to him what it was His will to conceal only for a time. It is enough that Abram declared himself to be truly obedient to God when, having cast all his care on God’s providence and having unloaded, as it were, into His bosom whatever might have hindered him, he did not hesitate to leave his own country, uncertain where, finally, he might plant his foot. For by this method, the wisdom of the flesh was brought under control, and all his affections were subdued at the same time.

Yet it may be asked why God sent His servant into the land of Canaan rather than into the East, where he could have lived with some other of the holy fathers. Some (so that the change may not seem to have been for the worse) maintain that he was led there for the purpose of dwelling with his ancestor Shem, whom they imagine to have been Melchizedek.

But if this were the counsel of God, it is strange that Abram went in a different direction. Indeed, we do not read that he met with Melchizedek until he was returning from the battle in the plain of Sodom. But, in its proper place, we shall see how frivolous is the notion that Melchizedek was Shem.

As for the subject at hand, we infer from the result that eventually followed that God’s design was very different from what these men suppose. The nations of Canaan, on account of their deplorable wickedness, were devoted to destruction. God required His servant to sojourn among them for a time, so that, by faith, he might perceive himself to be the heir of that land, the actual possession of which was reserved for his posterity for a long time after his own death.

Therefore, he was commanded to cross over into that country for this sole reason: that it was to be evacuated by its inhabitants, to be given to his seed for a possession. And it was of great importance that Abram, Isaac, and Jacob should be strangers in that land, and should by faith embrace the dominion over it which had been divinely promised them, so that their posterity might, with greater courage, gird themselves to take possession of it.

And I will make of you a great nation. Until now, Moses has related what Abram had been commanded to do; now he adds the promise of God to the command, and that for a significant reason. For as we are slow to obey, the Lord would command in vain unless we are motivated by an added confidence in His grace and blessing.

Although I have alluded to this before, in the history of Noah, it will not be useless to emphasize it again, for the passage itself requires some comment; and the repetition of a doctrine of such great importance should not seem unnecessary. For it is certain that faith cannot stand unless it is founded on the promises of God.

But faith alone produces obedience. Therefore, so that our minds are inclined to follow God, it is not sufficient for Him simply to command what He pleases unless He also promises His blessing. We must note the promise that Abram, whose wife was still barren, should become a great nation.

This promise might have been very effective if God, by the actual state of things, had given reason for hope for its fulfillment. But now, seeing that the barrenness of his wife threatened him with being permanently without offspring, the bare promise itself would have been unconvincing if Abram had not completely depended upon the word of God. Therefore, though he perceived the barrenness of his wife, he yet grasped by hope that great nation which is promised by the word of God.

Isaiah greatly praises this act of favor, that God, by His blessing, increased His servant Abram—whom He found alone and solitary—to so great a nation (Isaiah 2:2). The noun גוי (goi), “my nation” (Genesis 12:4), though detestable to the Jews, is in this place, and in many others, taken as a term of honor. It is used here emphatically to show that Abram would not only have numerous descendants from his own line, but a special people, separated from others, who would be called by his own name.

I will bless you. This is partly added to explain the preceding sentence. For, so that Abram would not despair, God offers His own blessing, which was able to accomplish more miraculously than is usually accomplished by natural means. The blessing, however, pronounced here extends further than to offspring; and implies that he would have a prosperous and joyous outcome in all his affairs, as appears from the following context: And will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing.

For such happiness is promised him that will fill everyone everywhere with admiration, so that they will introduce the name of Abram as an example into their formulas for pronouncing blessings. Others use the term in the sense of augmentation: You shall be a blessing, that is, ‘All shall bless you.’ But the former sense is more fitting.

Some also explain it actively, as if it had been said, ‘My grace shall not reside in you, so that you alone may enjoy it, but it shall flow far to all nations. I therefore now so deposit it with you, that it may overflow into all the world.’ But God does not yet proceed to that communication, as I shall show shortly.

And I will bless those who bless you. Here the extraordinary kindness of God manifests itself, in that He personally makes a covenant with Abram, as people are accustomed to do with their companions and equals. For this is the accustomed form of covenants between kings and others, that they mutually promise to have the same enemies and the same friends.

This certainly is an inestimable pledge of special love, that God should so greatly condescend for our sake. For although He here addresses one man only, He elsewhere declares the same affection towards His faithful people. We may therefore infer this general doctrine, that God so embraced us with His favor, that He will bless our friends, and take vengeance on our enemies.

We are, moreover, warned by this passage, that however desirous the sons of God may be of peace, they will never be without enemies. Certainly, of all persons who ever conducted themselves so peaceably among people as to deserve the esteem of all, Abram might be considered among the chief; yet even he was not without enemies, because he had the devil for his adversary, who holds the wicked in his hand, whom he incessantly impels to harass the good.

There is, then, no reason why the ingratitude of the world should dishearten us, even though many hate us without cause and, when provoked by no injury, seek to do us harm; but let us be content with this single consolation, that God engages on our side in the war.

Besides, God exhorts His people to cultivate fidelity and humanity with all good people, and, further, to abstain from all injury. For this is no common inducement to excite us to assist the faithful, that if we discharge any duty towards them, God will repay it; nor should it alarm us less, that He denounces war against us, if we hurt anyone belonging to Him.

In you shall all families of the earth be blessed. Should anyone choose to understand this passage in a restricted sense, as if, by a proverbial mode of speech, those who bless their children or their friends are called after the name of Abram, let him enjoy his opinion; for the Hebrew phrase will bear the interpretation, that Abram is called a signal example of happiness.

But I extend the meaning further, because I suppose the same thing to be promised in this place, which God afterwards repeats more clearly (Genesis 22:18). And the authority of Paul brings me to this point, who says that the promise to the seed of Abraham, that is, to Christ, was given four hundred and thirty years before the law (Galatians 3:17). But the computation of years requires us to understand that the blessing was promised him in Christ when he was coming into the land of Canaan.

Therefore God (in my judgment) pronounces that all nations should be blessed in His servant Abram because Christ was included in his loins. In this manner, He not only intimates that Abram would be an example, but a cause of blessing, so that there should be an understood antithesis between Adam and Christ.

For since, from the time of the first man’s alienation from God, we are all born accursed, here a new remedy is offered to us. Nor is there anything contrary to this in the assertion that we must by no means seek a blessing in Abram himself, since the expression is used in reference to Christ.

Here the Jews petulantly object and heap together many testimonies of Scripture, from which it appears that to bless or curse in anyone is nothing else than to wish good or evil to another, using him as a pattern. But their cavil may be set aside without difficulty.

I acknowledge that what they say is often, but not always, true. For when it is said that the tribe of Levi is to bless in the name of God (Deuteronomy 10:8; Isaiah 65:16) and in similar passages, it is sufficiently evident that God is declared to be the fountain of all good, so that Israel may not seek any portion of good elsewhere.

Since, therefore, the language is ambiguous, let them grant the necessity of choosing one sense or the other, as is most suitable to the subject and the occasion. Now Paul assumes it as an axiom which is received among all the pious, and which ought to be taken for granted, that the whole human race is subject to a curse, and therefore that the holy people are blessed only through the grace of the Mediator.

From this he concludes that the covenant of salvation which God made with Abram is neither stable nor firm except in Christ. Therefore, I interpret the present passage as follows: God promises to His servant Abram that blessing which will afterwards flow down to all people. But because this subject will be more amply explained elsewhere, I now only briefly touch upon it.

So Abram departed. Those who suppose that God was now speaking to Abram in Charran use these words in support of their error. But the objection is easily refuted; for after Moses has mentioned the cause of their departure, namely, that Abram had been compelled by God's command to leave his native land, he now returns to the main narrative.

We do not know why Abram remained in Charran for a time, except that God intervened to prevent him from immediately seeing the land, which, although still unknown, he had nonetheless preferred to his own country. He is now said to have departed from Charran so that he might complete the journey he had begun. The next verse also confirms this, stating that he took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew with him.

Just as under the leadership and guidance of his father Terah, they had departed from Chaldea, so now that Abram has become the head of the family, he continues and completes what his father had begun. It is still possible that the Lord again urged him to proceed, after his father's death, and that He confirmed His former call with a second oracle.

However, it is certain that here the obedience of faith is commended, not merely as a single act, but as a constant and continuous way of life. For I do not doubt that Moses intended to say that Abram remained in Charran, not because he regretted his decision, as if he were inclined to deviate from the direct path of his calling, but because he kept God's command always fixed in his mind.

Therefore, I would rather connect the clause, As the Lord had spoken to him, to the first oracle, meaning that Moses would be saying, ‘He stood firmly in his purpose, and his desire to obey God was not broken by his father's death.’ Moreover, we have here, in essence, a rule prescribed for us for the regulation of our whole life: to attempt nothing except by divine authority.

For, however people may dispute concerning virtues and duties, no work is worthy of praise, or deserves to be counted among virtues, unless it is pleasing to God. And He Himself testifies that He regards obedience more highly than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22). Therefore, our life will be rightly ordered when we depend on the Word of God and undertake nothing except at His command.

And it should be observed that the issue here is not about one particular work, but about the general principle of living piously and uprightly. For the subject under consideration is Abram's calling, which is a common pattern for the life of all the faithful.

Indeed, we are not all commanded indiscriminately to leave our country; this aspect, I grant, is specific to Abram. But generally, it is God’s will that all should be in submission to His Word and should seek the law for the regulation of their lives from His mouth, so that they are not carried away by their own will or by human opinions. Therefore, by Abram's example, complete self-renunciation is prescribed, so that we may live and die to God alone.

The souls that they had gotten in Haran. Souls signify male and female servants. This is the first mention of servitude, from which it appears that not long after the deluge, the wickedness of man caused liberty, which by nature was common to all, to perish for a great part of mankind.

How servitude originated is not easy to determine, unless, according to the commonly prevailing opinion, it arose from wars, because the conquerors compelled those whom they took in battle to serve them, and from this the name “slave” is derived. But whether those who were first slaves had been subjugated by the laws of war or had been reduced to this state by want, it is indeed certain that the order of nature was violently infringed, because men were created for the purpose of cultivating mutual society with one another.

And although it is advantageous that some should preside over others, yet an equality, as among brothers, should have been retained. However, although slavery is contrary to that right government which is most desirable, and in its beginning was not without fault, it does not, on this account, follow that its use—which was afterwards accepted by custom and excused by necessity—is unlawful.

Abram, therefore, might possess both servants bought with money and slaves born in his house. For that common saying, “What has not prevailed from the beginning cannot be made valid by the passage of time,” admits (as is well known) of some exceptions; and we will have a relevant example in Genesis 48:1.