Genesis 12:20

Pharaoh commanded his men, &c.— Pharaoh, struck with the divine punishment and admonition, (for men had not yet shaken off all degree of regard to a Supreme Being,) restored his wife to Abram, and dismissed the patriarch with an honourable and safe conduct. The AEgyptian kingdom, it is computed, had now been established about three hundred years, (in the days of Reu, ch. Genesis 11:18. according to the Arabian writers,) and was grown very powerful by the means of this king, named Pharaoh; which appellation was not only very ancient, but continued to be the common name of all the kings of AEgypt till the captivity of Babylon, and we know not how much longer.

REFLECTIONS.—We see how near Abram was to lose his wife by his dissimulation, and how God graciously interposed.

1. Sarai's beauty proved her snare, as it has done to a thousand women beside. She is seen, and commended, and taken by Pharaoh. Unsuspicious of the deceit, he loads Abram with benefits, and Sarai with caresses.
2. God interposes to preserve Pharaoh from sin, and Sarai from ruin. God plagued him and his. Observe, (1.) They are blessed corrections, which are made the means of keeping us from sin. (2.) It is God's astonishing mercy which delivers us often from that perilous situation, into which our own folly and sin brought us, and where we must have been inevitably undone, but for his wonderful and unexpected interposition.

3. Pharaoh's commendable behaviour on the occasion. (1.) His mild and just rebuke. At whose door had the sin lain, if Sarai had been taken to his bed, as to his house? What hast thou done? Observe, If they who profess religion are disingenuous, they deserve, and must expect to be reproved for it. (2.) His restoration of Sarai. Behold thy wife! take her. Note; We must remove temptation, if we would keep from sin. And he adds the most generous treatment. The gifts are confirmed; Abram's person and substance are safe, and not a hair of his head is hurt. How often are we in fear, where no fear is? And lest new snares might bring him into new troubles, he is dismissed in peace. Thus the father came up as the figure of his posterity; he went down for famine, and returned full.