Events now develop in the way Abram foresaw them. The focus of the story remains on Abram, even though Sarai is the center of events in verses 14-16.

When Abram entered Egypt: as in each of the earlier passages, the narrator speaks of Abram, but we must understand this to mean Abram and Sarai and all his people, or Abram and all those with him.

The Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful: the woman refers, of course, to Sarai, and it may be desirable to translate as in Good News Translation, “his wife,” or “Sarai” (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, Revised English Bible). Some translations bring out the fact that this was what Abram had expected, by saying “… just as he had said.” Sarai’s beauty is seen first by the people of Egypt, then by a more restricted group called “princes,” and finally by the king himself.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .