November 21, 2023
Passage Read: Genesis 9-12
Meditation Verses: 12:14-16
Thought
By Joseph's day, the language of the Israelites and Egyptians was different enough to require a translator. The languages were changed at Babel, before Abram was born, and Abram was from another family, whose language likely was different from the Egyptians. By this point there might have been a common trade language, or Abram may have learned some local languages, but how much of this happened because of a hindrance in communication. Did the Egyptians take Sarai without sufficient communication? The custom of the day seems to require a negotiation before taking a woman for a wife, and if the father is not available, then the oldest brother would be the negotiator, but there seems to have been little discussion beforehand, yet a bride price was given after Sarai was taken. Is that why the Lord doesn't rebuke Abram, and the Egyptians don't take back their gifts when everything finally comes out? Abram didn't technically do anything wrong; he expected to be approached first if someone took a liking to Sarai, but communication hindered the process and the one interested was a king who may have thought he was above the normal process.
Application
How much did confused languages play in these early days after Babel? These peoples all were neighbors, but at some level of family, their languages were changed and not mutually intelligible. Enough time had passed to allow for interpreters to arise, but how available would they be, how much was Abram learning local languages and how much were the languages close enough that he could freely communicate with the Canaanites and the Egyptians and eventually the Philistines? The text reads like there is no language barrier, but the nations had spread abroad according to their language groups, and that would include the Egyptians, the Canaanites and Abram's ancestors. The Egyptians and Canaanites all come from Ham, but not Abram. God protected Abram, and if Abram knew the Lord better, he should have trusted Him to guard his life, but this ruse may not have been as unreasonable as it first seems given everything else that may have been in play at the time. I need to be careful how quickly I judge a situation before I know all available facts.