Genesis 12 · Verse 15

Genesis 12:15

The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
Genesis 12:15, King James Version

Genesis 12:15 in other translations

BSBWhen Pharaoh’s officials saw Sarai, they commended her to him, and she was taken into the palace of Pharaoh.
WEBThe princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
ASVAnd the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
YLTand princes of Pharaoh see her, and praise her unto Pharaoh, and the woman is taken to Pharaoh's house;
DARBYAnd the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
BBEAnd Pharaoh's great men, having seen her, said words in praise of her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into Pharaoh's house.
WebsterThe princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.

What does Genesis 12:15 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
15. the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house--Eastern kings have for ages claimed the privilege of taking to their harem an unmarried woman whom they like. The father or brother may deplore the removal as a calamity, but the royal right is never resisted nor questioned.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 15 The woman was taken into Pharaoh's house - Pharaoh appears to have been the common appellative of the Cuthite shepherd kings of Egypt, who had conquered this land, as is conjectured, about seventy-two years before this time. The word is supposed to signify king in the ancient Egyptian language. If the meaning be sought in the Hebrew, the root פרע para signifies to be free or disengaged, a name which such freebooters as the Cuthite shepherds might naturally assume. All the kings of Egypt bore this name till the commencement of the Grecian monarchy, after which they were called Ptolemies. When a woman was brought into the seragilo or harem of the eastern princes, she underwent for a considerable time certain purifications before she was brought into the king's presence. It was in this interim that God plagued Pharaoh and his house with plagues, so that Sarai was restored before she could have been taken to the bed of the Egyptian king.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 12:10-20

There is no state on earth free from trials, nor any character free from blemishes. There was famine in Canaan, the glory of all lands, and unbelief, with the evils it ever brings, in Abram the father of the faithful. Perfect happiness and perfect purity dwell only in heaven. Abram, when he must for a time quit Canaan, goes to Egypt, that he might not seem to look back, and meaning to tarry there no longer than…

Read the full comment on Genesis 12:10-20 →

Genesis 12:15 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיִּרְא֤וּvai.yir.'Uand they sawH7200
אֹתָהּ֙'o.Tah<obj.> herH853
שָׂרֵ֣יsa.Rei[the] officials ofH8269
פַרְעֹ֔הfar.'OhPharaohH6547
וַיְהַֽלְל֥וּvay.ha.Luand they praisedH1984
אֹתָ֖הּ'o.Tah<obj.> herH853
אֶל\־'el-toH413
פַּרְעֹ֑הpar.'OhPharaohH6547
וַתֻּקַּ֥חva.tu.Kachand she was takenH3947
הָאִשָּׁ֖הha.'i.Shahthe womanH802
בֵּ֥יתbeit[the] house ofH1004
פַּרְעֹֽה\׃par.'OhPharaohH6547

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 12:15

  • Genesis 20:2

    And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

  • Genesis 41:1

    And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.

  • 1 Kings 3:1

    And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.

  • Hosea 7:4-5

    They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened. In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.

  • Genesis 40:2

    And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.

  • Psalms 105:4

    Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek his face evermore.

  • Exodus 2:5

    And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.

  • Proverbs 29:12

    If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.

  • 2 Kings 18:21

    Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.

  • Proverbs 6:29

    So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.

  • Esther 2:2-16

    Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king: And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king’s chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given them: And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so. Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite; …

  • Hebrews 13:4

    Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
princes.
Es 2:2-16; Pr 29:12; Ho 7:4,5Pharaoh was a common name of the Egyptian kings, and signified a "ruler," or "king," or "father of his country."
40:2; 41:1; Ex 2:5,15; 1Ki 3:1; 2Ki 18:21; Jer 25:19; 46:17; Eze 32:2
taken.
20:2; Es 2:9; Ps 105:4; Pr 6:29; Heb 13:4

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 12:14

    And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.

  • Genesis 12:15

    The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.

  • Genesis 12:16

    And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.

Read all of Genesis 12

Genesis 12:15 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Viéronla también los príncipes de Faraón, y se la alabaron; y fué llevada la mujer á casa de Faraón:
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et les princes du Pharaon la virent, et la louèrent devant le Pharaon; et la femme fut emmenée dans la maison du Pharaon.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und die Fürsten des Pharao sahen sie und priesen sie dem Pharao; und das Weib wurde in das Haus des Pharao geholt.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Et nuntiaverunt principes Pharaoni, et laudaverunt eam apud illum: et sublata est mulier in domum Pharaonis.