Question by just curious (A.A.A.A.): abram goes to egypt…?
why would god punish pharoah for abram’s dishonesty?
from what i can make of this passage, abram doesn’t want anyone to know sarai is his wife, because he thinks he’ll be killed. so he tells her to lie. in doing so, he more or less pimps her out to pharoah for which he is rewarded with a good amount of livestock. when god finds out about this, he is angered and puts a sickness on pharoah and his people, but does nothing to abram. what gives?
genesis 12:10-20
10 At that time there wasn’t enough food in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while.
11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he spoke to his wife Sarai. He said, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 The people of Egypt will see you. They will say, ‘This is his wife.’ And they will kill me. But they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister. Then I’ll be treated well because of you. My life will be spared because of you.”
14 Abram arrived in Egypt. The people of Egypt saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. 15 When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they bragged to Pharaoh about her. Sarai was taken into his palace.
16 Pharaoh treated Abram well because of her. So Abram gained more sheep and cattle. He also got more male and female donkeys. And he gained more male and female servants and some camels.
17 But the Lord sent terrible sicknesses on Pharaoh and everyone in his palace. He did it because of Abram’s wife Sarai.
18 So Pharaoh sent for Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister’? That’s why I took her to be my wife. Now then, here’s your wife. Take her and go!”
20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men. They sent him on his way. He left with his wife and everything he had.
i know. i just don’t want anyone saying i’m not making an effort to read the bible. if i have to go through it story by story i will.
Best answer:
Answer by Jon M dn ǝpıs sıɥʇ
Because that was their view of God in that specific time and that specific place: indiscrimately punitive.
Was it right? No. God didn’t send a sickness to Pharaoh because of Sarai. But it’s a good example of how the Bible isn’t a history or science book.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Dude, these thing are allegory, they are examples why the Hebrews should follow Hebrew law. There is no valid reason to try and make sense of them.
LOL-I agree completely. Gee, I wonder why they never preach that story on Sunday morning?
Sari was his half-sister, and for being in her 70s and 80s, was a knock out. Kings don’t drag old ugly women in to the palace. And this happened to Abram twice.
God used the sickness to notify Pharaoh some thing was wrong. (Sort of a foretaste of what would come some 500 years later!) No one died, but the warning was heeded.
Abraham/ Abram is one of the patriarchs of the Bible. It is from his line that the Hebrew nation came about. In this mindset he is considered blessed and loved by God. He is also considered a prophet. Perhaps Abraham/ Abram was guided by God to tell Pharaoh that Sarai/Sarah was his sister. Abram had a reason to fear for his life as it was probably not uncommon for men to take a man’s wife and slay him. And Pharaoh being the ruler of Egypt would have certainly had enough power to do so. At any rate, because of the love God had for Abram, God punished Pharaoh because of his love and devotion to Abram.