God's commitment to justice led him to condemn the evil city of Sodom. Yet, in an astonishing display of boldness, Abraham challenged God's standards of justice. He appealed for Sodom on the basis...
Earlier in Genesis 18, the Lord revealed to Sarah that she would bear a son even in her old age. But she knew that women of her age never had children, so she...
In the previous verses, God had promised to Abraham that his wife, now called Sarah, would bear a son. So what does...
God had promised to Abram abundant descendants through his own son (Gen. 15:4-5), even though his wife, Sarai, had not been able...
Earlier in Genesis 13, Abram's herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen quarreled because there wasn't enough land to support their flocks.
The Bible’s story of Joseph resonates with everyday life. When we were young we didn’t get everything we thought we deserved. We studied hard, but didn’t get the jobs we wanted. We married...
This commentary on Genesis 12-50 explores work through the stories of Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Joseph, and more.
Genesis chapters 12 through 50 tell about the life and work of Abraham, Sarah, and their descendants. God called Abraham, Sarah, and...
When Abraham left his home in Haran and set out for the land of Canaan, his family was probably already quite large...
The initial results of Abraham’s journeys were not promising. There was fierce competition for the land (Gen. 12:6), and Abraham spent a...
When Abraham and his family came to the region around Bethel, friction erupted between Abraham’s herders and those of his nephew, Lot...
The story of Abraham and Sarah’s generous hospitality to three visitors who came to them by the oaks of Mamre is told...
When Abraham and Sarah entered the country of King Abimelech, Abimelech inadvertently violated the rules of hospitality, and as restitution awarded Abraham...
When Sarah died, Abraham engaged in an exemplary negotiation to buy a burial plot for her. He conducted the negotiations openly and...
Isaac was the son of a great father and the father of a great son, but he himself left a mixed record. In contrast to the sustained prominence that Genesis gives to Abraham...
The names Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob appear often as a group, because they all received covenantal promises from God and shared the same faith. But Jacob was far different from his grandfather, Abraham...
Although it was God’s plan for Jacob to succeed Isaac (Gen. 25:23), Rebekah and Jacob’s use of...
In escaping from Esau, Jacob ended up at the family farm of Laban, his mother’s brother. Jacob worked for Laban for twenty-one...
After increasing tension with his father-in-law and a business separation in which both men acted less than admirably, Jacob left Laban. Having...
