Seizing Sarai

In a sermon on the life of Abraham, James Jordan made several points that clarify what is happening to Abram and Sarai when they sojourn in Egypt. He noted parallels between Sarai and Helen of Troy to highlight the fact that it was not unknown for ancient kings to seize beautiful women, even at the cost of catastrophic war.

He also noted that Abram is a great prince, coming to Egypt from Ur of the Chaldees, with an entourage of several thousands. Pharaoh would no doubt want to ally with this great prince. Pharaoh entices Abram to ally with Egypt with gifts, but also forces an alliance by bringing Sarai into his house without negotiating a treaty with her brother, Abram. This also helps explain the force of Abram’s deception of Pharaoh: He expects Pharaoh to want to ally with him, and poses as Sarai’s brother in order to put himself in the position of negotiating a covenant.