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Genesis 20

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Abraham Deceives Abimelech in Gerar 1–2

1
And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the land of the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. ​
2
And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. ​

God Warns Abimelech in a Dream 3–7

3
But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, because of the woman whom thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife. ​
4
Now Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay even a righteous nation? ​
5
Said he not himself unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and the innocency of my hands have I done this.
6
And God said unto him in the dream, Yea, I know that in the integrity of thy heart thou hast done this, and I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. ​
7
Now therefore restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine. ​

Abimelech Confronts Abraham 8–13

8
And Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.
9
Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and wherein have I sinned against thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. ​
10
And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?
11
And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake. ​
12
And moreover she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife: ​
13
and it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me: at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

Sarah Restored; Abraham Compensated 14–16

14
And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and men-servants and women-servants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. ​
15
And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.
16
And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, it is for thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee; and in respect of all thou art righted. ​

Abraham Intercedes for Abimelech 17–18

17
And Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maid-servants; and they bare children. ​
18
For Jehovah had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Genesis 20

Verse 1

sojourned in Gerar — Gur, to live as a guest in a land not one's own, the life Hebrews sums up: 'By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country' (Heb 11:9). The 'south country' (negeb) lies by Kadesh and Shur, where Hagar was found (16:7, 14). Isaac later goes to Gerar too (26:1).

Verse 2

She is my sister — These are the words Abraham spoke in Egypt, 'Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister' (12:13), and that Isaac repeats at Gerar (26:7). Sarah is 'taken' (laqach) as she was into Pharaoh's house (12:15), though the son was promised 'at this set time in the next year' (17:21).

Verse 3

in a dream by night — God speaks to a king outside Abraham's house, as he did to 'Laban the Syrian in a dream by night' (31:24). The verdict, 'thou art but a dead man', is given with its ground: 'she is a man's wife'. The psalm recalls it: 'he reproved kings for their sakes… Touch not mine anointed' (Ps 105:14–15).

Verse 4

a righteous nation — 'Righteous' (tsaddiq) is the word of Abraham's plea at Sodom, which Abimelech takes up: 'Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?' (18:23) and 'to slay the righteous with the wicked' (18:25). He addresses God as 'Lord' (Adonai), as Abraham had (18:3), and pleads that he 'had not come near her'.

Verse 6

I also withheld thee — Chasak, to hold back, the verb of Ps 19:13, 'Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins', and of God's word to Abraham, 'thou hast not withheld thy son' (22:12). The sin is named as 'against me', as Joseph says, 'sin against God' (39:9). 'The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD' (Prov 21:1).

Verse 7

he is a prophet — Navi, used here for the first time in Scripture; the next is Exod 7:1. Its first use joins it to intercession: 'he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live'. The same verb (palal) is used when 'Abraham prayed' in v.17. Job later stands in the same place: 'my servant Job shall pray for you' (Job 42:8).

Verse 9

a great sin — Chata'ah with 'great', the phrase Moses uses to Aaron over the calf, 'brought so great a sin upon them' (Exod 32:21). 'What is this that thou hast done unto me?' is Pharaoh's charge in Egypt (12:18); Abimelech says to Isaac, 'What is this thou hast done unto us?' (26:10). 'Ought not to be done' is the wording of 34:7, the wrong done to Dinah.

Verse 11

the fear of God is not in this place — Abraham judged by what he supposed ('Surely'), and the chapter answers him: Abimelech acts 'in the integrity of thy heart' (v.6), and his servants were 'sore afraid' (v.8). The same reasoning had led him in Egypt to say, 'they will kill me, but they will save thee alive' (12:12).

Verse 12

the daughter of my father — Abraham gives the kinship that made 'sister' literally true. The law later forbids it: 'The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother… thou shalt not uncover' (Lev 18:9). The explanation answers the word 'sister' but not the charge of v.9, the 'great sin' brought on Abimelech and his kingdom.

Verse 14

sheep, and oxen — Abimelech gives before anything is asked, and 'restored him Sarah his wife' (shub, the same verb as the command of v.7). The gifts match those Abraham received in Egypt, 'sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants' (12:16). In v.15 he adds the land: 'dwell where it pleaseth thee'.

Verse 16

a covering of the eyes — The silver is a kesuth, a covering 'unto all that are with thee': the gift publicly clears Sarah. 'Reproved' is yakach, to set right or decide, the verb used when 'Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water' (21:25) and for the bride 'appointed' for Isaac (24:14).

Verse 17

Abraham prayed — Palal, the verb of v.7, 'he shall pray for thee'. God 'healed' (rapha) Abimelech, his wife and his maidservants, 'and they bare children', reversing what v.18 reports. The man who had put the house at risk is the one whose prayer is heard; 'I am the LORD that healeth thee' (Exod 15:26).

Verse 18

fast closed up — Atsar, to shut up, doubled in the Hebrew. Sarah used the verb of herself: 'the LORD hath restrained me from bearing' (16:2). Here the divine name 'the LORD' appears for the only time in this chapter, in the account's own voice; the same kind of judgment fell on Pharaoh's house 'because of Sarai Abram's wife' (12:17).