Abraham Again Denies His Wife. Abraham said [again] of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah [into his harem]. Gen 20:2
INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT
II. GOD AND THE CHOSEN FAMILY, Genesis 12-50
1. The History of Abraham and His Son Isaac, Genesis 11:27-25:11
32. How can we account for Abraham’s repeated act of deceit?
ABRAHAM AND ABIMELECH
Now Abraham journeyed from there toward the Negev (the South country), and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he lived temporarily in Gerar.
Abraham said [again] of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah [into his harem].
But God came to Abimelech in a dream during the night, and said, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken [as your wife], for she is another man’s wife.”
Now Abimelech had not yet come near her; so he said, “Lord, will you kill a people who are righteous and innocent and blameless [regarding Sarah]?
Did Abraham not tell me, ‘She is my sister?’ And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”
Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this in the integrity of your heart, for it was I who kept you back and spared you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not give you an opportunity to touch her.
So now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her [to him], know that you shall die, you and all who are yours (your household).”
So Abimelech got up early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things; and the men were terrified.
Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I offended you that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me what ought not to be done [to anyone].”
And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What have you encountered or seen [in us or our customs], that you have done this [unjust] thing?”
Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely there is no fear or reverence of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’
Besides, she actually is my [half] sister; she is the daughter of my father [Terah], but not of my mother; and she became my wife.
When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This kindness and loyalty you can show me: at every place we stop, say of me, “He is my brother.”‘”
Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen and male and female slaves, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him [as God commanded].
So Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; settle wherever you please.”
Then to Sarah he said, “Look, I have given this brother of yours a thousand pieces of silver; it is to compensate you [for all that has happened] and to vindicate your honor before all who are with you; before all men you are cleared and compensated.”
So Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids, and they again gave birth to children,
for the LORD had securely closed the wombs of all [the women] in Abimelech’s household because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. [1Pe_3:1-6]
Comments by
F.B.Meyer
On
Genesis 20:1-18
ABRAHAM AGAIN DENIES HIS WIFE
It is wonderful that Abraham should fall like this. He had walked with God for so many years, and experienced so many deliverances, that we should have expected him to have reached an unassailable position. But the best of men are men at the best; and God, who knows us better than we know ourselves, remembers that we are dust. He often steps in by His providence to intercept the full consequences of our wrongdoing, provided always that our heart is really true to Him. There is delightful reassurance in the words, “I withheld thee.” God may have to chastise His children for their backslidings, but He will not hand them over to the will of their enemies, nor allow His covenant to fail. He rebukes king’s for the sake of His people. See Psa_105:15. There is a high-toned morality in some who are outside our religious pale, which may put us to shame. It crops up in unexpected places, as here in Abimelech’s remonstrance. It was terrible that He was compelled to address Abraham as in Gen_20:9. God has direct dealings with such men, but they need our prayer and help. See Gen_20:3; Gen_20:17.
Comments by
WILLIAM MACDONALD
Believers Bible Commentary
On
Genesis 20:1-18
II. THE PATRIARCHS OF ISRAEL (Chaps. 12-50)
- Abraham (12:1–25:18)
7. Abraham and Abimelech (Chap. 20)
20:1-18 It seems incredible to us that Abraham would again try to pass off Sarah as his sister within twenty years of the same blunder with Pharaoh— incredible, that is, until we remember our own perpetual proneness to sin! The incident with Abimelech in Gerar is almost a replay of Abraham’s duplicity in Egypt (Gen_12:10-17). God intervened to work out His purposes in the birth of Isaac, which might otherwise have been frustrated. He threatened Abimelech with death. He is more than just a spectator on the sidelines of history. He can overrule the evil of His people, even through the lives of the unregenerate. The pagan Abimelech acted more righteously in this incident than Abraham, the “friend of God.” (Abimelech is a title, and not a proper name.) It is shameful when a believer has to be justly rebuked by a man of the world! When a half-truth is presented as the whole truth, it is an untruth. Abraham even tried to shift some of the blame onto God for making him wander in the first place. He would have been wiser to humbly acknowledge his guilt. Nevertheless, he was still God’s man. And so the Lord sent Abimelech to him so that Abraham would pray that his household be healed of its barrenness.
The expression “this vindicates you” (v. 16) is literally “it is a covering of the eyes,” meaning a gift given for the purpose of appeasing. Thus it might read, “It is given to you as a payment in satisfaction as evidence to all who are with you and to all men that the wrong has been righted.”
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