ST. CATHARINES CONCORDIA - Brock University

18 LLI'HEKAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
he was craven or sinister, that he was at fault, that he lied, in short, that he cornrnitled
a grave sin.21 Some of them sympathize with him in aclcnowledging his dilemma, but
refuse ro excuse him. Thcy may explain his "fall" as a failure to be honest and to believe
that God would protect both him and Sarai from danger. Instead, similar to the later
occasion when he and Sxai tried to produce an heir through Hagar (Gcn. 16:l-21, he
herc took matters into his own hands instead of relying on God. A few com~nmentators
even claim that, in this case, Pharaoh was more righteous than Abram. Claus Westermann
ventured the ideal action of the belicvcr that, in such aperilous situation, a person
"can choose not to sacrifice something in order to buy life, not to submit to violence.
... to conquer rear of death through confidence that God knows a way out has always
been the extraordinary coursc ... , ,22
2. ABRAM'S FAITH
Somc highcr critics takc a more neutral stance in observing that the Biblical
account does not put any blame on Abram. John Skinner claimed that, for the ethical
code then in vogue, lying to one's advantage was cx~usable.~~ Gcrhard von Rad,
following Hermann Gunkel, believed that the narrator celebrated both the cunning of
the patriarch and the beauty of the matriarch, as well as God's timely aid.24
Luther, however, statcd categoricallj~ that Abram "did not lie" and "did not sin."
Hc argued that his opinion is "in agreement with Script~~re." That is, he likely had the
unnlogiufidei in mind, the Lestimony of Scripture as a whole: "Because Scripture often
presents Abraham to us as a bclicving father and a perfect model of faith [e.g., 2 Ch.
20:7; Isa. 29:22; 41:8: 51:2; Mic. 7:20; Matt. 1:l; Lk. 16:22-31; Ac. 7:2-X; Rom. 4;
Gal. 3; Js. 2:21-221, 1 prefer to decide in favor of the opinion that hcre, too, his great
faith is rcvcaled ..." Luthcr even referred to Abram's belief in the resurrection, as was
evidenced when he followed God's conlrnand to sacrifice Isaac (Heb. 11: 19).25
e.g., Nachmanidcs, ciled in Jacob 90): Jacub himself (134); John Calvin. Cornmclztarics on the Fiist Book of
Mosrs h-. J. King, (reps.: Grand Rapids: Baker. 1979K359-360; Car1 F. Kcil Tiw First Book of Moses,
Cornme~nary on the OldTestamenr by Keil &F. Delirzsch, tr. J. Mxtin (rcpr.: Grand Rapids: lierdmans, 1978)
197-198; PaulE. Kretzmann, PopuIar Conm?cnrary of t h Rihle: ~ T ~ Oiil'l'esfoment P
(St. Louis: Conco~dia, 1923)
28; Herbert C. Leupold, Expo.~zth nf(;rnr.~i~ (Columhus: Wwtburg, 1942)424-425; Derek Kidne~, Gena~is,
Tyridale Old Tr~rtlnwit Cornn~~nto~ws (Downers Grove: Inter-Vru-sity, 1967) llG; Bruce Vawier, 012 Genesis:
A New li'mding) (Garden Clty: Doubleday, 1977) 181-152; Walier R. Roehrs, Old Testanzent. Concorclia
Sey-Study Commenfaly by Roehs ad M. H. Franzrnann (St. Luuis: Concordia, 1979) 30; Claus Westermann,
Genesis 12-36. A Cornmentulv, tr. J. J. Scullion, (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1985) 163-167; Victor P. Hamilton,
The Book uf Genes&. Chupters 1-17, New Into-nntionul Conlmentary on the Old Testanz~nt (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans. 1990) 380-385; and John C. Jeske, Genesis, People's Bible Commentmy (St. Louls: Concordia, 1992)
125.
Genesis: A P~.actlcal Comnientur:v, 11.. D. E. Green, '1L.xt nnd Intelptetatioti (Grand Rapids: Eedmans. 1987)
104.
A C~vtlral