Genesis 12:11 (DRB)

Passage

And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife: I know that thou art a beautiful woman:

Nearby Context

Genesis 12:9 And Abram went forward, going and proceeding on to the south.

Genesis 12:10 And there came a famine in the country: and Abram went down into Egypt, to sojourn there: for the famine was very grievous in the land.

Genesis 12:11 And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife: I know that thou art a beautiful woman:

Genesis 12:12 And that when the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say: She is his wife: and they will kill me, and keep thee.

Genesis 12:13 Say, therefore, I pray thee, that thou art my sister: that I may be well used for thee, and that my soul may live for thy sake.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "near", "enter", "egypt", "said", "sarai", "wife", "thou", and "beautiful". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "near" and "enter", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "And there came a famine in the..." into verse 12's "And that when the Egyptians shall see...", so "near" and "enter" belong inside that flow. In Genesis context, the local focus is creation, human rebellion, covenant promise, and God's providence.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "near" and "enter" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.