INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 20
This chapter relates the removal of Abraham to Gerar, Genesis 20:1;
the king of Gerar's taking to him Sarah, whom Abraham had called his
sister, Genesis 20:2; who is rebuked of God for it in a dream,
Genesis 20:3; for which he makes an apology that is admitted, only he
i... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ABRAHAM JOURNEYED FROM THENCE TOWARDS THE SOUTH COUNTRY,.... He
returned from the plains or oaks of Mamre, where he had lived fifteen
or twenty years, into the more southern parts of the land of Canaan:
the reason of this remove is not certain; some think, because he could
not bear the stench of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ABRAHAM SAID OF SARAH HIS WIFE, SHE [IS] MY SISTER,.... This he
gave out in all conversation he came into, and said it to every one
that asked who she was, which was little better than a lie; it at
least was an equivocation and deception, and not at all justifiable,
and tended to expose his wife... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT GOD CAME TO ABIMELECH IN A DREAM BY NIGHT,.... Put a dream into
his mind, by which he cautioned him against taking Sarah to be his
wife; so careful was the Lord that no wrong should be done to such a
godly and virtuous person, to which she was exposed through the
weakness of her husband. Aben Ez... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT ABIMELECH HAD NOT COME NEAR HER,.... Sarah had been put into an
apartment in his palace, and not yet admitted into his company, not at
least to his bed; he had not lain with her, which is the design of the
expression: the Septuagint version is, "had not touched her", as in
Genesis 20:6; which is... [ Continue Reading ]
SAID HE NOT UNTO ME, SHE [IS] MY SISTER?.... By this it appears, that
Abimelech had a personal conversation with Abraham, and inquired of
him about Sarah, who she was, and what relation she was to him, who
told him that she was his sister; and for the truth of this he appeals
to the omniscient God,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND GOD SAID UNTO HIM IN A DREAM,.... The same dream continued:
YEA, or "also"
I KNOW THAT THOU DIDST THIS IN THE INTEGRITY OF THY HEART; not only
thou knowest, but I, who know all things, know and acknowledge that
this was so done by thee. Abimelech's plea is admitted, and a very
great testimony... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THEREFORE RESTORE THE MAN [HIS] WIFE,.... Which will be a full
proof and evidence to all of the integrity of thy heart, and the
innocence of thine hands, which thou pleadest, and which I own:
FOR HE [IS] A PROPHET; familiar with God, dear unto him, a friend of
his, to whom he communicates his s... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE ABIMELECH ROSE EARLY IN THE MORNING,.... Awaking upon the
dream, could sleep no more, his thoughts running upon what had been
said to him by the Lord in it: wherefore as soon as it was light he
rose from his bed,
AND CALLED ALL HIS SERVANTS; his household servants, and particularly
his co... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN ABIMELECH CALLED ABRAHAM,.... Who might be in the king's palace,
being taken into it caressed by the king for the sake of Sarah:
AND SAID UNTO HIM; not in a passion, as might have been expected, but
in a mild and gentle manner, yet with great strength of reasoning, and
making very just expostu... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ABIMELECH SAID UNTO ABRAHAM,.... Continuing his discourse with
him:
WHAT SAWEST THOU, THAT THOU HAST DONE THIS THING? he desires to know
what he had observed, either in him or his people, that gave him any
reason to conclude that they were a lustful people, and would stick at
nothing to gratify... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ABRAHAM SAID,.... In defence of himself, as well as he could:
BECAUSE I THOUGHT; within himself, concluding from the general
depravity of the Canaanites, that this was the case of the inhabitants
of Gerar:
SURELY THE FEAR OF GOD [IS] NOT IN THIS PLACE; this is a certain
truth, which he thought... [ Continue Reading ]
AND YET INDEED [SHE IS] MY SISTER,.... In the same sense as Lot was
his brother; for she was sister to Lot, and both were the children of
Haran, the brother of Abraham:
SHE [IS] THE DAUGHTER OF MY FATHER, BUT NOT THE DAUGHTER OF MY MOTHER;
she was the daughter of his father, being his granddaughter... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN GOD CAUSED ME TO WANDER FROM MY FATHER'S
HOUSE,.... In Ur of the Chaldees, from whence God called him to go
forth; which laid him under an obligation to depart from thence, and
move from place to place, and go he knew not where, as in
Hebrews 11:8; or "the Gods", as it is... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ABIMELECH TOOK SHEEP, AND OXEN, AND MENSERVANTS, AND
WOMENSERVANTS, AND GAVE [THEM] UNTO ABRAHAM,.... In a good measure
satisfied with what Abraham had said to excuse himself; and these
gifts he gave unto him, that he might, as Jarchi observes, pray and
intercede for him, that he and his family... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ABIMELECH SAID, BEHOLD, MY WHOLE LAND [IS] BEFORE THEE,....
Instead of bidding him be gone, and sending him away in haste out of
his country, as the king of Egypt did in a like case, he solicits his
stay in it; and to encourage him to it, makes an offer of his whole
kingdom to him, to choose whi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND UNTO SARAH HE SAID, BEHOLD, I HAVE GIVEN THY BROTHER A THOUSAND
[PIECES] OF SILVER,.... Or shekels of silver, as the Targums of
Jonathan and Jerusalem, which, if two shillings and sixpence of our
money, amount to one hundred and twenty five pounds; though perhaps
little pieces of silver, current... [ Continue Reading ]
SO ABRAHAM PRAYED UNTO GOD,.... As the Lord had told Abimelech be
would, Genesis 20:7; he might pray for the forgiveness of him and his
wife, and might give thanks that Sarah had been restored to him; but
chiefly it was on account of Abimelech and his family:
AND GOD HEALED ABIMELECH, AND HIS WIFE,... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE LORD HAD FAST CLOSED UP ALL THE WOMBS OF THE HOUSE OF
ABIMELECH,.... With large tumours probably, so that they could not
cohabit with their husbands and conceive; nor could those that had
conceived bring forth: and this disorder they were smitten with,
BECAUSE OF SARAH ABRAHAM'S WIFE; who w... [ Continue Reading ]