Genesis 20
20
1Abraham traveled towards the Negev, staying between Kadesh and Shur. After that he moved on to live in Gerar. 2During his time there, when Abraham told people about his wife Sarah, he said, “She's my sister.” So Abimelech,#20:2. “Abimelech” means “my father is the king,” or “my father is Molech,” a Canaanite god. This may well have been a formal title rather than a personal name (see also 26:8). king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her to become one of his wives.#20:2. “To become one of his wives”: supplied for clarity.
3But God appeared to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “Listen! You're going to die because the woman you've taken is already married—she has a husband.”
4Abimelech hadn't touched Sarah, and he asked, “Lord, do you kill good people? 5Didn't Abraham tell me himself, ‘She's my sister,’ and didn't Sarah also say, ‘He's my brother’? I did this in all innocence—my conscience is clear!”
6God told him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this in all innocence, so I prevented you from sinning against me. That's why I didn't let you touch her. 7Send the man's wife back to him. He's a prophet. He will pray for you, and you will live. But if you don't send her back to him, you should know for sure that you and all your family will die.”
8Abimelech got up early in the morning and called all his servants together. He explained everything that had happened, and they were all terrified. 9Then Abimelech summoned Abraham and asked him “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you should treat me like this, bringing this terrible sin on me and my kingdom? You've done things to me that no one should ever do!”
10Then Abimelech asked Abraham “What were you thinking when you did this?”
11“Well, I thought to myself, ‘Nobody respects God in this place. They'll kill me just to get my wife,’” Abraham replied. 12“Anyway, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father but not my mother, and I married her. 13Since my God made me move far away from my family home, I told her, ‘If you really love me, then wherever you go with me you must tell people: He's my brother.’”
14Then Abimelech gave Abraham gifts of sheep, cattle, and male and female slaves, and returned his wife Sarah to him. 15Abimelech told him, “Look over my land. You can choose to live anywhere you like.” 16Abimelech also told Sarah, “Notice that I'm giving your brother a thousand pieces of silver. This is to compensate you for the wrong done to you in the eyes of everyone with you, and to make sure that your name is publicly cleared.”
17Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves, so that they could have children again. 18For the Lord had made all the women unable to have children because Abraham's wife, Sarah, had been taken.#20:18. “Had been taken”: supplied for clarity.
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Genesis 20: FBV
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Genesis 20
20
Sarah Rescued from Abimelech
1From there Abraham traveled to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar,#Gn 26:1,6 2Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.”#Gn 12:13; 26:7 So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.
3But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “You are about to die because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”#20:3 Lit is possessed by a husband
4Now Abimelech had not approached her, so he said, “Lord, would you destroy a nation even though it is innocent? 5Didn’t he himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I did this with a clear conscience#20:5 Lit with integrity of my heart and clean#20:5 Lit cleanness of my hands.”
6Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience.#20:6 Lit with integrity of your heart I have also kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I have not let you touch her. 7Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet,#1Sm 7:5; 2Kg 5:11; Jb 42:8 and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.”
8Early in the morning Abimelech got up, called all his servants together, and personally#20:8 Lit in their ears told them all these things, and the men were terrified.
9Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said to him, “What have you done to us? How did I sin against you that you have brought such enormous guilt on me and on my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.”#Gn 12:19; 26:9 10Abimelech also asked Abraham, “What made you do this?”
11Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘There is absolutely no fear of God in this place.#Neh 5:15; Pr 16:6 They will kill me because of my wife.’ 12Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 13So when God had me wander from my father’s house,#Gn 12:1 I said to her: Show your loyalty to me wherever we go and say about me, ‘He’s my brother.’”#Gn 12:13; 20:5
14Then Abimelech took flocks and herds and male and female slaves, gave them to Abraham, and returned his wife Sarah to him. 15Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you.#Gn 13:9; 34:10; 47:6 Settle wherever you want.”#20:15 Lit Settle in the good in your eyes 16And he said to Sarah, “Look, I am giving your brother one thousand pieces of silver. It is a verification of your honor#20:16 Lit a covering of the eyes to all who are with you. You are fully vindicated.”
17Then Abraham prayed to God,#Nm 12:13; 21:7; Jms 5:16 and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves so that they could bear children, 18for the Lord had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household on account of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
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