Genesis Chapter 12 verse 16 Holy Bible

ASV Genesis 12:16

And he dealt well with Abram for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and she-asses, and camels.
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BBE Genesis 12:16

And because of her, he was good to Abram, and he had sheep and oxen and asses, and men-servants and women-servants, and camels.
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DARBY Genesis 12:16

And he treated Abram well on her account; and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and bondmen, and bondwomen, and she-asses, and camels.
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KJV 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.
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WBT Genesis 12:16

And he treated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and she-asses, and camels.
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WEB Genesis 12:16

He dealt well with Abram for her sake. He had sheep, and oxen, and male donkeys, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and female donkeys, and camels.
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YLT Genesis 12:16

and to Abram he hath done good because of her, and he hath sheep and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and handmaids, and she-asses, and camels.
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 16. - And he entreated Abram well - literally, did good to Abram; εϋ ἐχρήσαντο (LXX., Hieronymus, Poole) supposes that the court of Pharaoh or the Egyptian people generally conferred favors on the patriarch, which is not at all so probable as that Pharaoh did - for her sake. Marriage negotiations in Oriental countries are usually accompanied by presents to the relatives of the de as a sort of payment. "The marriage price is distinctly mentioned in Scripture (Exodus 22:15, 16; Ruth 4:10; 1 Samuel 18:23, 25; Hosea 3:2); was commonly demanded by the nations of antiquity, as by the Babylonians (Herod., 1:196), Assyrians (AElian V. H., 4. 1; Strabo, 16:745), the ancient Greeks ('Odyss.,' 8:318 ff.), and the Germans (Tacit., 'German.,' 18. ); and still obtains in the East to the present day" (vide Kitto's 'Cyclopedia,' art. Marriage, by Dr. Ginsburg). And he had - literally, there was (given) to him - sheep, and oxen. Flocks of small cattle and herds of larger quadrupeds, together constituted the chief wealth of nomads (cf. Genesis 13:5; Job 1:3). And he asses. Chamor, so named from the reddish color which in southern countries belongs not only to the wild, but also to the common or domestic, ass (Gesenius). The mention of asses among Pharaoh's presents has been regarded as an "inaccuracy" and a "blunder," at once a sign of the late origin of Genesis and a proof its author's ignorance of Egypt (Bohlen, Introd., Genesis 6.); but (1) asses were among the most common of Egyptian animals, a single individual, according to Wilkinson (vol. 3. p. 34), possessing sometimes as many as 700 or 800; and (2) it is certain that asses appear on the early monuments (cf. ' Records of the Past,' vol. 2. p. 26). And men-servants, and maid-servants, and she asses. Athon; from athan, to walk with short steps; so named from its slowness (Genesis 32:16), though "the ass in Egypt is of a very superior kind, tall, handsome, docile, swift" (Kitto's 'Cyclopedia,' art. Egypt). And camels. Gamal (from gamal, to repay, because the camel is an animal that remembers past injuries (Bochart), or from a cogmate Arabic root hamala, meaning he or it carried, with reference to its being a beast of burden (Gesenius); both of which derivations Stuart Poole declares farfetched, and proposes to connect the term with the Sanskrit kramela, from kram, to walk or step, which would then signify the walking animal (vide Kitto, art. Camel). Cf. with the Hebrew the Sanskrit as above, the Arab jemel or gemel, the Egyptian sjamoul, Greek κάμηλος, Latin camelus) is the well-known strong animal belonging to Palestine (Ezra 2:67), Arabia (Judges 7:12), Egypt (Exodus 9:3), Syria (2 Kings 8:9), which serves the inhabitants of the desert for travelling (Genesis 24:10; Genesis 31:17) as well as for carrying burdens (Isaiah 30:6), and for warlike operations (Genesis 21:7), and in which their fiches consisted (Job 1:3; 42:21). Though the camel does not thrive well in Egypt, and seldom appears on the monuments, the historian has not necessarily been guilty of an "inaccuracy and a blunder" in assigning it to Abram as one of Pharaoh's presents (Bohlen); for (1) the camel thrives better in Egypt than it does anywhere else out of its own proper habitat; . . .

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(16) He entreated Abram well.--Heb., did good to Abram. It was usual to give the relatives a sum of money when taking a daughter or sister to wife. The presents here show that Pharaoh fully believed that he was acting lawfully, while the largeness of them proves that Sarai, in spite of her years, was looked upon as a valuable acquisition. Among the presents are "asses." The charge on this account brought against the author of "inaccuracy," as if asses were not known at this time in Egypt, is disproved by the occurrence of representations of this animal on the tombs of Benihassan: we have proof even that they were numerous as far back as when the Pyramids of Gizeh were built. The horse is not mentioned, and the earliest representation of one is in the war-chariot of Ahmes, the first: Pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty, who expelled the Hyksos. Male and female slaves are, curiously enough, introduced between "he-asses" and "she-asses." As she-asses were especially valuable, perhaps these and the camels were looked upon as the monarch's choicest gifts.Camels are not represented on the monuments, and are said not to thrive well in Egypt; but the Semitic hordes who were peopling the Delta would certainly bring camels with them. Many, too, of the Egyptian monarchs--as, for instance, those of the twelfth dynasty--held rule over a great part of the Sinaitic peninsula, and must have known the value of the camel for transporting heavy burdens in the desert, and its usefulness to a nomad sheik like Abram. (See Genesis 24:10.)