## Chizkuni, Genesis

###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:1:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:1:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:1:1)

**ויאמר ה׳‎ אל אברם לך לך** א״‎י או״‎ט די״‎ט בלע״‎ז, פירוש בעוד שהיה תרח באור כשדים. ד״‎א **מארצך** מחרן שאתה דר שם כדכתיב לעיל ויבאו עד חרן וישבו שם.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויאמר ה' אל אברם לך לך, The Lord said to Avram: “go for yourself, etc;” While Terach and Avram were still in Ur Casdim, G-d told Avram to leave his homeland. He did not specify his ultimate destination. A different interpretation of the words: מארצך, “from your homeland.” “Leave the land in which you are currently residing.”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:1:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:1:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:1:2)

**וממולדתך** שלא תאמר אשוב אל ארץ מולדתי אשוב אל בית אבי בשביל ירושתי שהרי אברכך יותר מכדי ירושתך. כאן פרש״‎י וכאן אי אתה זוכה לבנים הוא שאמרו רבותינו שלשה דברים מבטלים את הגזרה שינוי מקום וקריאת שם וכו'

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
וממולדך, “G-d added this to prevent Avram from returning to his birthplace, Ur Casdim. ומבית אביך, “and from the house of your father.” G-d did not want Avram to ever return to his father’s house in order to receive his share of the inheritance. He promised to reward him far beyond anything he could expect as his share of his father’s estate. Rashi here adds a peculiar comment, writing that here the meaning of בית אביך is that where Avram had resided thus far he would not be able to become a father of children. Apparently, he bases himself on our sages in the Jerusalem Talmud, Taanit: 2,1: that there are three things which are apt to cancel a decree against someone siring children: changing the place of one’s residence, changing one’s name, and observing a fast, praying for children. (Compare also Bereshit Rabbah 44,11)


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:1:3
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:1:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:1:3)

**אל הארץ** וגו׳‎ לפי שהיה מזרעו של שם שנפלה הארץ לחלקו כמו שפרש״‎י. הוליכו הקב״‎ה להתהלך בה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
אל הארץ, “to the land;” the definitive article ה, is to remind Avraham that seeing he was descended from Shem, he had a legal claim to this land. This conforms to how Rashi (Verse 6) explains why he was instructed to walk throughout this land (Genesis 13,17) in order to claim it through having set foot in it. G-d Himself guided him.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:2:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:2:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:2:1)

**ואעשך לגוי גדול** אעפ״‎י שאשתך עקרה כדכתיב לעיל ותהי שרי עקרה. ד״‎א ואשימך אין כתיב אלא **ואעשך** לומר ממה שאני עושה אותך בריה חדשה אתה פרה ורבה. שבתחילה היה אברהם חסר ה׳‎ דברים עינים, אזנים וראש הגויה כמו שאמרו רבותינו. והוסיף לו הקב״‎ה אות ה״‎א בשמו כנגד חמשה ענינים שנשלם בם.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ואעשך לגוי גדול, “I am going to make you into a great nation, etc.” G-d, being aware that Avram’s wife is presently barren, tells him that notwithstanding this fact he will become the founding father of a great nation. We had been told in Genesis 11,30, of Sarah’s inability to have children. A different interpretation of this verse: The Torah does not write: ואשימך לגוי גדול, “I will make you to be a great nation, which could have been misinterpreted.” G-d stressed that He would perform an act that would neutralise any negative decree from which Avram suffered, i.e. changing both his and his wife’s name. People called: Avraham, and: Sarah, had never been decreed to remain childless. According to the Midrash, originally Avram lacked 5 important organs: eyes, ears, as well as the glans. The glans is called “the head of the body,” as sacrificing, i.e. circumcising it is equivalent to offering one’s entire body as an offering to G-d. (Compare Talmud, Nedarim 32.) When G-d added the letter ה to his name, He supplied these missing 5 organs of his body. This is meant when G-d invited him to become תמים, “whole, a perfect specimen. (Genesis 17,1)


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:2:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:2:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:2:2)

**ואגדלה שמך** באות אחד למנין רמ״‎ח נמצא שם שלם וגוף שלם.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ואגדלה שמך, “I will make your name great.” This was accomplished by adding a single letter to his name. Through this addition the numerical value of the letters in his name amounted to 248, the total number of limbs in a perfectly formed human (male) specimen. [Incidentally, this is also the total number of positive commandments in the Torah. Ed.] Avraham then had a perfect body and a perfect, whole name.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:2:3
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:2:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:2:3)

**והיה ברכה** ברכה תהיה מצויה בכל אשר תעשה, דוגמא ״‎בימים ההם אשים את ירושלים ברכה בקרב הארץ״‎ (זכריה יב,ג ישעיה יט,כד).

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
והיה ברכה, “as a result you will become a source of blessing.” We find a parallel to this expression in Isaiah 19,24: ביום ההוא אשים את ישראל ברכה בקרב הארץ, “on that day I will set up Israel as a blessing in the midst of the earth.”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:3:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:3:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:3:1)

**ואברכה מברכיך** אל תחשוב בלבך לומר אין לי קרוב וגואל בארץ כי אני אוהבך אאהב, ומשנאיך אשנא.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ואברכה מברכיך, “I will bless those who bless you.” You must never think that there are no people on earth that are psychologically close to you and are potential saviours of you, for I love those who love you and I hate the people who hate you. [in other words I know that there are people who love you. Ed.]


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:3:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:3:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:3:2)

**ואברכה מברכיך ומקללך אאר** וא״‎ת במקום אחר מצינו שקדמה קללה לברכה כדכתיב אורריך ארור, לפי שהצדיקים תחלתן יסורין וסופן שלוה. אלא י״‎ל קרא פתח בברכה ברישא כדכתיב והיה ברכה ואיידי דקאי בברכה נקט נמי ואברכה מברכיך והדר נקט ומקללך אאר. **ומקללך.** לשון יחיד ללמדך שמברכין מרובין על המקללים. [ומקללך אאר אברהם ידוע היה שהוא אהוב ולא יקללוהו רבים כתוב לשונו בל׳‎ יחיד]. **ונברכו** משקל רפה, לשון ״‎מברכך ומרכיב״‎ (שביעית ב,ו), כלומר בך יתערבו משפחות שרי הארץ ולא תחשב כנכרי וגר ביניהם ולפיכך כתב כאן משפחת האדמה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ואברכה מברכיך ומקללך אאור, “I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you;” you may question why elsewhere G-d uses the reverse order, i.e. “he who curses you, and I will bless him who blesses you” (Genesis 27,29). The reason for that formulation is that as a general rule, the righteous first experience trials and tribulations in their lives, whereas their relative serenity does not occur until they are well advanced in age.[When Yaakov was well advanced in years and thought the time had come for him to “retire,” according to Rashi in his commentary on Bereshit Rabbah 84,3, he attributes his problem with Joseph to Yaakov expecting worry free life in this world also. Ed.] The answer to the above question is that we must distinguish between who does the blessing and cursing. When the subject is a human being, a righteous person who bestows a blessing, he will commence by mentioning the negative first and the positive as the conclusion (as did Yitzchok when he blessed Yaakov, thinking that Esau was righteous, as in Genesis 27,29) When the subject is G-d Himself, as when G-d blessed Avraham, here, it is more appropriate that He should commence by mentioning the positive aspects first. Furthermore, as generally speaking there are likely to be more people who bless a man such as Avraham, seeing that they are the majority, they are mentioned first, whereas the Torah speaks of מקללך, “he who curses you,” in the singular mode, not “they who curse you,” in the plural mode.ונברכו, a weak conjugation, according to Rash’bam, in the sense of refining through mixing. Through mixing with your descendants many nations will become spiritually uplifted. This is also why the Torah refers here to: משפחות האדמה, “the families on earth.”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:4:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:4:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:4:1)

**וילך אתו לוט** לפי שהרן אביו מת באור כשדים בגלל אברהם אחיו כמו שאמרו רבותינו היה לו לוט כבן בית.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
וילך אתו לוט, “Lot (his nephew) went with him.” Seeing that the death of Lot’s father Haran was indirectly due to Avraham who had been saved from Nimrod’s furnace a deed Haran emulated, but only after having seen Avraham being saved Avraham did not feel he could reject him at this stage. He adopted him as if he had been his own son.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:4:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:4:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:4:2)

**ואברם בן חמש ושבעים שנה** מנה הכתוב שנותיו ללמד שעדיין אביו קיים.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ואברם בן חמש ושבעים שנה, “and Avram was 75 years old;” the Torah told us how old Avram was at the time in order to show that he followed G-d’s instructions and abandoned the house of his father, an aged man still alive.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:4:3
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:4:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:4:3)

**בצאתו מחרן** פעם שניה כדאיתא בסדר עולם חזר לחרן ועשה שם חמש שנים כדכתיב ואברם בן חמש שנים ושבעים שנה בצאתו מחרן.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
בצאתו מחרן, “when he left Charan.” The Torah repeats this, as already pointed out in Seder Olam, an ancient historical text deemed reliable by the sages. According to that text, Avram had first returned to Charan and five years later departed from there once more.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:5:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:5:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:5:1)

**ואת לוט בן אחיו** לוט אחיה של שרה היה כדכתיב ואת לוט בן הרן, וכתיב בהרן אבי מלכה ואבי יסכה ואמרו רבותינו יסכה זו שרה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ואת לוט בן אחיו, “and Lot, the son of his brother.” Lot was a brother of Sarai, as we had been told in Genesis 11,31. The Torah had also stated that Haran was the father of Milkah and Yiskah in verse 29 there. Our sages in Megillah 14 state that “Yiskah” is identical with “Sarah.”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:5:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:5:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:5:2)

**ואת הנפש אשר עשו.** אמרי׳‎ בשמעתא דתנא דבי אליהו כאן מתחיל מתן תורה, והתרגום ראיה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ואת הנפש עשו בחרן “and the proselyte (to monotheism) they had made in Charan.” Our sages Avodah Zarah 9, claim that this is the first stage of Matan Torah, the giving (revealing) of the Torah. The manner in which Targum Onkelos renders this phrase is further evidence of this. [He speaks of Avraham communicating, i.e. converting to Torah. Ed.]


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:6:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:6:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:6:1)

**עד מקום שכם.** שהרי באותו הפרק לא היתה שם עיר בנויה רק המקום.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
.עד מקום שכם, as far as the location of Sh’chem (in Moses’ time). During Avraham’s time the city of Sh’chem did not exist yet


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:6:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:6:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:6:2)

**עד אלון מורה.** פרש״‎י הראהו הר גריזים והר עיבל כדאמר בפ׳‎ ראה אצל אלוני מורה, ואלון מורה ואלוני ממרא חד הוא.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
עד אלון מורה, “as far as the terebinth at Moreh;” according to Rashi, this is a reference to the mountains of Gerizim and Eyvol, which G-d showed Avraham on this occasion as a location where the Israelites would confirm their loyalty to the Torah. The Torah refers to this location again in Deuteronomy 11,30. According to our author, Elon Moreh and Elon mamre are the same location.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:6:3
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:6:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:6:3)

**והכנעני אז בארץ.**פרש״‎י שהיה הולך וכובש ארץ ישראל מזרעו של שם לפי שחם אביו גדול שנתים משם דודו. עוד פרש״‎י בחלקו של שם עצמו נפלה הארץ כשחלק נח. חז״‎ק שהרי בפרשת שלח ובפרשת עקב פרש״‎י שחם בנה חברון לבנו כנען א״‎כ משמע שארץ כנען נפלה לחלקו של חם, אלא יש לומר לשם שפירש רש״‎י כאן שהיה כובש את א״‎י מזרעו של שם שמא היינו במקצת הארץ ולא בכולה במצר צפוני מזרחי ועלה לחלקו של שם ובאותו חלק היתה ירושלים וארץ בני כנען היתה מתפשטת לצד מצרים אחיהם לדרומו של עולם ובה היתה חברון אבל לפי לשון התלמוד שבמסכת כתובות ניחא אפשר אדם בונה בית לבנו קטן ואח״‎כ לבנו גדול וכו'. דלא בחם מיירי כלל אלא בנח וכך פי׳‎ אפשר דנח בנה חברון לשם בנו הקטן והדר בנה צוען לחם בנו הגדול ממנו בתמיה, אלא מאי בודאי בנה צוען לחם בנו ברישא והדר בנה חברון לשם בנו הקטן ממנו דחם גדול היה משם שתי שנים כדאיתא בפרק בן סורר ומורה. והא דקחשיב שם ברישא דרך חשיבותא קא חשיב. והשתא ניחא שפיר דחברון לחלקו של שם נפלה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
והכנעני אז בארץ, “and the Canaanite was at that time in the process of conquering the Holy Land from the descendants of Shem. (according to Rashi) The justification appears to have been that Cham his father was senior to his brother Shem by two years. Rashi explains further that originally that land had been bequeathed by Noach to his son Shem. This is why G-d told Avraham that in due course, He would give that land back to Avraham’s descendants, as he was a descendant of Shem. In Numbers 13,22 as well as in Deuteronomy 11,10 Rashi states that Cham had built the city of Chevron for his son Canaan. According to this it would appear that the land of Canaan (Holy Land) had been given by Noach to his son Cham. We must therefore understand what Rashi wrote here as referring not to Shem personally, but as to one of Shem’s descendants. Perhaps he referred only to part, the northern section of Eretz Yisrael. His section included Jerusalem. The major section of the land of Canaan spread southwards in the direction of Egypt. Chevron was already part of the southern section. However, if we look at the wording in the Talmud in Ketuvot 112, where the Talmud challenges the underlying assumption that Cham built a city for his younger son Canaan before he built a city for his older son Mitzrayim, this sounds peculiar. According to the Torah in Numbers 13,22 Chevron was built seven years before Tzoan of Egypt. Clearly then the Torah had not spoken of Cham having built these cities, but of Noach. We may assume that the interpretation of the passage we quoted from the Talmud is to be understood as a question, i.e. “surely this is unbelievable?” [This is the way it appears in our versions of the Talmud. Ed.] Noach built Chevron for his younger son Shem, and subsequently he built Tzoan for his son who was 2 years older than Shem. The Torah, according to the Talmud, wished to state that the city of Chevron was seven times more successful than the city Tzoan. [The word שנים, usually meaning “years,” may also be used instead of פעמים, “repeated times.” Ed.] If we accept this interpretation, the line that the Canaanites were at that time trying to wrest the land of Shem from him, i.e. to conquer Chevron and Jerusalem, makes much better sense.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:6:4
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:6:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:6:4)

**והכנעני אז בארץ** שהיה הולך וכובש את א״‎י מזרעו של שם בחזקה. **והכנעני אז בארץ** על שם העתיד נכתב כשהיו ישראל מוחזקים בקרקע לכך נופל בו לשון **אז** כלומר אז בימי אברהם היה הכנעני בארץ, וכן לפנינו והכנעני והפרזי אז יושב בארץ .

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
והכנעני אז בארץ, the word: אז, “then,” (in the past) indicates that the Torah did not speak about the political situation at the time when the Jewish people were in possession, but about the political situation at the time when Avraham first wandered through that land.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:7:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:7:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:7:1)

**[אתן את הארץ הזאת** לשון זכר גבי נקבה].


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:8:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:8:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:8:1)

**ויעתק משם.** נסתלק משם לשון ״‎המעתיק הרים״‎ (איוב ט,ה) מסלקן ממקומן.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויעתק משם, “he moved on from there;” we find the same expression having a similar meaning in Job 9,5, i.e. המעתיק הרים, “He Who moves mountains.”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:8:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:8:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:8:2)

**מקדם לבית אל.** ממזרחו לצד מערב.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
מקדם לבית אל, “from the eastern side of Bet El, westward.”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:10:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:10:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:10:1)

**[וירד אברם מצרימה** לפי הפשט תלה הכתוב כל ביאות האחרים עליו לפי שכולן תלויים בו].


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:11:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:11:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:11:1)

**כאשר הקריב.** מחנה שלו, דוגמת ״‎ופרעה הקריב״‎.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
כאשר הקריב, “as he brought his camp closer.” We find a sample of a similar construction, [instead of כאשר קרב “as he approached,” as we would have expected. Ed.] in Exodus 14,10: ופרעה הקריב, “and Pharaoh brought his army closer to the camp of the Israelites.”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:11:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:11:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:11:2)

**הנה נא ידעתי.** פרש״‎י ודומה לו ״‎סורו נא״‎ דגבי לוט. כלומר שני ״‎נא״‎ אלו אינן כשאר ״‎נא״‎ שבמקרא שפירוש לשון בקשה, ושני ״‎נא״‎ אלו פי׳‎ לשון עכשיו.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
הנה נא ידעתי, see Rashi’s commentary on this formulation, and similar examples of it in Genesis 19,2, where Lot greets the angels. [Our author refers to the part ofRashi’s commentary in which Avraham states that Sarai’s physical beauty has for the first time become something critically important. [Similarly, he compares it to Lot, who at this juncture realised for the first time how critically important an offer of hospitality to these angels may become. Ed.] He also understands the word נא in this context not as a plea, but as a reference to time being of the essence in making a decision.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:11:3
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:11:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:11:3)

**כי אשה יפת מראה את.** קאי אבתריה, כלומר **הנה נא ידעתי** על כי אשה יפת מראה את.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
כי אשה יפת מראה את, “for you are an extraordinarily beautiful woman.” This comment is an introduction to the verse following in which Avram suggests how to neutralise the danger to him that Sarai’s beauty now poses.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:12:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:12:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:12:1)

**והיה כי יראו אתך המצרים, והרגו אתי ואתך יחיו** שהן מוזהרין על אשת איש מודבק באשתו ולא באשת חבירו. וא״‎ת הלא כך הם מוזהרים על שפיכות דמים כשיצאו מן התיבה אלא י״‎ל שטופי זמה הם וירבו לחטוא ברציחה עם ניאוף. ד״‎א ניחא להם לחטוא פעם אחת בשפיכות דמים מלהיות חוטאים תדיר באשת איש. ד״‎א **והרגו אתי** פן אזעק למלך על אשר לקחו אותך.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
והיה כי יראו אותך המצרים והרגו אותי ואותך יחיו, “assoon as they will see me (your husband), they will kill me and let you live;” The Egyptian laws respected the inviolability of a man’s wife. If they wanted to get hold of his wife, their only legal way was to kill the husband on some charge. [One of the perverted concepts of Egyptian morality was that sleeping with another man’s wife is a sin which they are guilty of each time they do so, whereas killing her former husband is a sin that they would commit only a single time. Source: one of the Tossaphists. Ed.] An alternate explanation: Avram feared that he would be killed before he had a chance to appeal to the Egyptian king for justice.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:13:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:13:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:13:1)

**אמרי נא אחתי את** דעתו של אברהם היה אם ישאלו עליה אם היא נשואה הוא ישיב להם בעלה הלך למרחוק ולא ימצאו לה תקנה להרוג בעלה ויניחוה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
אמרי נא אחותי את, “please say that you are my sister.” Avraham reasoned that if the Egyptians were to ask him if Sarai was a married woman, he would respond by claiming that her husband had abandoned her. The Egyptians would therefore have no reason to kill him on account of her absent husband, and they would leave her alone.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:14:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:14:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:14:1)

**ויהי כבוא אברם מצרימה** לפי הפשט תלה הכתוב כל ביאות האחרים עליו לפי שכולן תלויין בו. וכן כתיב לעיל וירד אברם מצרימה אעפ״‎י שלוט עמו.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויהי כבוא אברם מצרימה, As soon as Avram came to Egypt, etc.;” according to the plain meaning of the text, it sounds as if all the people in the entourage are considered as merely as an appendage to Avram, his fate dominating what would happen to all the people who had traveled to Egypt with him. Further confirmation of this approach to the text is what we read in verse 10 where Avram is described as descending to Egypt in the singular, i.e. וירד אברם מצרימה, which sounds as if he alone had traveled to Egypt, although we know that Lot was with him.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:16:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:16:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:16:1)

**ולאברם היטיב בעבורה** חז״‎ק עיין פרש״‎י שהזכיר הכתוב ולא פירש עליו שום דבר.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ולאבדם היטיב בעבורה, “and he had done Avram favours on her account.” Rashi quotes the verse without offering any commentary on it.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:17:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:17:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:17:1)

**וינגע ה׳‎ את פרעה** מה שלא פירש הכתוב מכותיו של פרעה כמו שפירש מכותיו של אבימלך לפי שבסמוך לענינו של אבימלך כתיב וה׳‎ פקד את שרה ולפיכך פי׳‎ שהמכות באו עליו בשביל שהחזיק בה כדי שלא יוכלו לומר, אבימלך הוליד את יצחק אבל ענינו של פרעה קודם לפקידת שרה לפיכך לא חש להזכיר המכות. וא״‎ת למה לקה הרי אברהם אמר אחותי היא שנאמר למה אמרת אחותי היא, יש לפרש **על דבר שרי אשת אברם** על דבורה אשת אברם אני. ועוד דאין התראה לבן נח כדאמרי׳‎ לקמן גבי אבימלך.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
וינגע ה' את פרעה, “Hashem afflicted Pharaoh with a painful plague;” the reason why the Torah offers no further details about the nature of this plague, as opposed to when Avimelech was struck with impotence and the women in his country were afflicted in their birth canals, is because shortly after the episode with Avimelech the Torah reported that Sarah conceived and became pregnant (Genesis 21,1). Had the Torah not spelled out that Avimelech had become totally impotent, people might have attributed Sarah’s pregnancy to her having stayed in Avimelech’s Palace. The episode with Pharaoh had occurred perhaps a s long as 20 years earlier, so that no one could have fabricated such a story. To the question why Pharaoh was punished, seeing that Avram had deceived him by saying that she was his sister, as we know from the Torah quoting him, Sarai had described herself as Avram’s wife even if he had not said so. This is the meaning of the words: על דבר שרי אשת ברם “on account of what Sarai, Avram’s wife had said.” Pharaoh had ignored her. Gentiles do not have to be warned not to violate the commandments they have accepted to observe, as we pointed out in connection with Genesis 20,5. (The second Avimelech and Rivkah)


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:17:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:17:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:17:2)

**וינגע ה׳‎ את פרעה** פרש״‎י במכת ראתן לקה שהתשמיש קשה לו. מדה כנגד מדה וכן גבי אבימלך כי עצור עצר ה׳‎ בעד כל רחם לבית אבימלך. תני ר׳‎ לוי בשם ר׳‎ אב״‎י שמענו בפרעה שלקה בצרעת ואבימלך נעצר מנין ליתן האמור של זה בזה תלמוד לומר **על דבר** לג״‎ש.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
וינגע ה׳ את פרעה, “Hashem afflicted Pharaoh.” According to Rashi, He afflicted him with a kind of gonorrhea, thus making the punishment fit the crime. The same occurred with Sarai and Avimelech. G-d interfered with all the women in the land of the Philistines being unable to give birth to fetuses that were ready to be born. (Bereshit Rabbah end of chapter 52.) According to a dissenting view, Pharaoh had become afflicted with tzoraat, a skin eczema resulting in the afflicted persons being ostracized.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 12:19:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 12:19:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/12:19:1)

**למה אמרת אחותי היא.** ולהלן נאמר ״‎אחי הוא״‎, על ידי שעכשיו ילדה היתה ומתוך צניעות תולה דבורה באברהם, אבל באבימלך גדולה היתה ומדברת בעצמה, כתיב ״‎והיא גם היא אמרה אחי הוא״‎.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
למה אמרת אחותי היא, “why did you say: “she is my sister,” whereas she never said that you are her brother. This is distinctly different from when Sarah had been kidnapped by Avimelech, and the latter had subsequently accused her in his dream of having said that Avraham was her brother. (Genesis 20,5) [It was part of his plea that he was totally innocent. Ed. Our author ascribes Sarah’s conduct vis a vis Pharaoh as due to her relative youth and naivety, whereas by the time she was kidnapped by Avimelech she had become more familiar with the real world.