The only portion of the Book of Abraham that corresponds with any of Genesis is Chapter 2, which lines up roughly with Genesis 11:28-12:13. This is the crucial passage that includes the Abrahamic Covenant, and following is a list of textual differences and an explanation of five important ones.
| Event († denotes only found in Abraham) | Abraham | Genesis |
|---|---|---|
| Haran dies; Famine in the land† | 2:1 | 11:28 |
| Sarai barren | 11:30 | |
| Trip to Haran with Terah | 2:4 | 11:31-32 |
| Go to a land I will show thee. To Haran (Abr), from Haran (Gen) | 2:3 | 12:1 |
| **Abrahamic Covenant** | ||
| **Divine Introduction** | 2:7-8 | |
| **Land** | 2:6 | 12:7 |
| **Great Nation** | 2:9 | 12:2 |
| **Priesthood** | 2:9, 11 | |
| **Missionary Work (bear the ministry)** | 2:9-10 | |
| **All the families of the earth be blessed** | 2:11 | 12:3 |
| Age Leaving Haran: 75 (62†) | 2:14 | 12:4 |
| Give the land of Canaan | 2:19 | 12:7 |
| Sarai as sister. Abraham's (God's†) idea. | 2:22-25 | 12:12-13 |
There are a number of significant differences between the story of Abraham contained in Abraham 2 and the corresponding parts of Genesis (11:28-12:13). The most important involve God’s interaction with Moses, which is far richer in the revealed account. Firstly, Abraham features a transcendent divine introduction (2:7-8) revealing His power, His omniscience, His care for Abraham, and, not least of all, His name. The second distinction and one crucial to us is the description of the Priesthood (2:9,11), that it is bound with the covenant of Abraham and is intimately connected with the ideas of posterity and family, something grievously absent from the Genesis accounts. Third, bracketed within these Priesthood verses is the message that Abraham’s line will be responsible for spreading both the Priesthood and the Gospel ministry over all the earth (2:9-10), another sentiment conspicuously absent in Genesis. The fourth and fifth differences I will point out are subtler, involving the emphasis of the writer. Only the Genesis account mentions the barrenness of Sarai (11:30), and perhaps this fact contributes to the manner in Abraham emphasizes posterity far more than the corresponding Genesis verses mentioned it. In Abraham it is included in every verse of the Abrahamic covenant (2:9-11 and 19), whereas Genesis only indirectly refers to it except in 12:7 where they are promised land. Thus in Abraham God is providing for the interests of Abraham’s entire family. *Finally,* we are again centered on the wisdom of God, rather than any fallible cunning of Abraham in the Abraham account of the concern over the Egyptian’s lusting after Sarai. In the Genesis account we read of a pessimistic Abraham who is later accused by Pharaoh of causing them to sin by unwittingly capturing a married woman. Abraham makes it clear that it was not Abraham’s paranoia but God’s discernment (2:22-24) that ordered this chain of events, and the curse that Genesis (12:17) records falling upon Pharaoh must be God’s protection and not Abraham’s entrapment.