אל הארץ אשר אראך, to the specific area within the country which I will show you in a heavenly vision. This is why Avram kept moving further into the land without pitching his tent to settle down until he received the appropriate sign from G’d. This occurred when he reached Shechem, where we are told that G’d appeared to him (verse 7)

והיה ברכה, a true blessing by G’d is when G’d rejoices in our deeds and actions. Our sages (Berachot 7) illustrate this when they quote a conversation between the High Priest Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha who, while offering incense on Yom Kippur, had a vision of the angel Katriel sitting on the throne of G’d. The latter said to him: “Yishmael, My son, bless Me.” He said to him: (in the words attributed as being G’d’s own ‘prayer’) “may it be Your will that Your mercy will subdue Your anger and may Your mercy exile Your justified attribute to punish Your people for their sins, and may Your mercy prevail so that You deal with Your children by applying the attribute of Mercy.” When G’d’s representative, the angel Katriel heard this, he touched the High Priest on the head, which the latter took as a sign that the blessing uttered by an inferior creature for a superior should not be dismissed as worthless.” [I have stuck more closely to the text of the Talmud than did the author here. Ed.] G’d here blessed Avram, with becoming the one who would preach monotheism including awareness of the benevolence of G’d which He extends to all of His creatures.

ויצאו ללכת ארצה כנען, a land of which they had heard that it was singularly suited for people of their religious beliefs, a land in which the true G’d could be worshipped without hindrance.

ויבאו ארצה כנען, as opposed to Terach, who had also set out originally to go to the land of Canaan but had stopped at Charan, these people with Avram at their head made good on their intention.

ויעבר אברם בארץ, Avram did not stop anywhere in his journey south through the land of Canaan until G’d appeared to him as He had said: “to the land which I will show you.” (verse 1).

בית אל מים והעי מקדם, between two large cities, in order to attract large crowds who could hear him preach.

הלוך ונסוע הנגבה, when he journeyed, as is the custom of shepherds, he did not move to the east and to the west alternately, but kept moving in a southerly direction. He did this in order not to deviate from moving between one of the two towns he had been between when he first stopped between Bet El and Ai. Members of those cities had begun to trail him planning to join him.

לגור שם, not to settle there permanently.

כאשר הקריב, close to the time when it became necessary to take such precautions, so that he would not forget.

לבא מצרימה, a country which was equivalent to a giant brothel. This is mentioned even more forcefully in Ezekiel 23,20 where the prophet describes the carnal attitudes of the Egyptians as אשר בשר חמורים בשרם, וזרמת סוסים זרמתם, “those whose flesh is the flesh of donkeys, and whose sperm is the sperm of horses.”

והרגו אותי, because they do not expect me to agree to give you to them.

למען ייטב לי, so that when you will say that you are my sister, each one will entertain the hope that I will agree to your marrying them. Therefore, none of them will have any reason to kill me. Rather, he will seek my approval by offering me a dowry for you. It was the custom in those days that the father of the bride would be bribed with money or its equivalent to agree to let his daughter marry someone. This also explains why the Torah speaks of מהר ימהרנה in Exodus 22,15-16, i.e. “he (the seducer) shall pay a heavy dowry,” and why the option to refuse such a marriage is not so much the girl’s but her father’s, as we see from the verse following.

ויראו המצרים, all of them, when looking at Sarai, entertained the very thoughts Avraham had anticipated.

ויראו אותה שרי פרעה, they quickly quashed any hopes the commoners had entertained relating to marrying this woman.

ותקח האשה ולאברם היטיב, the members of Pharaoh’s household did not even waste time to seduce Sarai but abducted her forcefully. They thought that seeing that it was a compliment for Sarai to be desired by the king himself, she would automatically consent to such an elevation of her status. Seeing that she had described herself only as Avram’s sister and not his wife, they had no reason to believe that there was a legal obstacle to such a union. Pharaoh himself said “I took her as a wife for myself,” not a concubine, not a mistress. In verse 19 he explains that he had taken Sarai as a wife, feeling certain that she was not legally linked to any other man.

וינגע ה' את פרעה נגעים גדולים, only Pharaoh was struck with “great” afflictions,

whereas his household suffered lesser afflictions. This was arranged by G’d so that the Egyptians, when they saw that only Sarai had remained completely immune to these afflictions, would conclude that the afflictions were on account of her and her fate.

למה לא הגדת לי, even if you had reason to suspect the ordinary citizens would harm you on account of her, surely you could have told me, the king, the truth, seeing that it is my task to rule with justice.

?למה אמרת אחותי היא, even after she had already been brought to my palace?

ואקח אותה לי לאשה, so that I took her to be my wife, not my concubine. I though that seeing that she is your sister you would surely approve of this union!