Genesis 20

Abraham Deceives Abimelech

1 Now Abraham *moved south to the Negev and settled for a while between **Kadesh and ***Shur at a place called ****Gerar.

*moved – probably from Mamre.

**Kadesh was an oasis.

***Shur – an Egyptian fortress.

****Gerar – the capital city of the Philistines, which controlled a lucrative caravan route and, perhaps, Abraham went there for business.

2 Abraham told people there that his wife, *Sarah, was his sister. So King **Abimelech sent for her and had her brought to him at his palace.

*Sarah – She’s 90 years old!

**Abimelech – Hebrew father-king. Persian kings were given the title Padi-shach, which also means 'father-king.' Hebrew “av” means master as well as father. So the designation Avi-melekh may mean master-king or arch-king. This was the official title of the kings of Gerar, like Pharaoh in Egypt, rather than the name of an individual. In Genesis 26:1, he is described as the king of the Philistines and is probably a different person. Possibly, he took Sarah to form an alliance through marriage with Abraham.

How could Abraham repeat the very same mistake he made in Egypt – especially, after the promise of a son through Sarah? It’s even possible that Sarah is already pregnant with Isaac!

3 But one night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, "You are a dead man, for that woman you took is married."

Abimelech was a Philistine and a heathen. He knew nothing of the fact that Sarah was the one chosen to be the mother of the Jewish race, and the one from whom the Messiah was to be descended. God’s purpose was in immediate danger of being foiled. But God dealt with the situation by means of a dream: Sarah is delivered, the seeming hindrances to God’s purpose is removed, the situation is saved!

4 But Abimelech had not slept with her yet, so he said, "*LORD, will you kill an **innocent man?

*LORD – Jehovah.

**innocent – He’s not completely innocent; after all, he’d simply taken Sarah without asking Abraham for permission or payment!

5 Abraham told me, `She is my sister,' and she herself said, `Yes, he is my brother.' I acted in complete innocence!"

6 "Yes, I know you are innocent," God replied. "That is why I kept you from sinning *against me; I did not let you touch her.

*against me – This sin would have been against God because then it would have been questionable whether Isaac was Abraham’s or Abimelech’s son.

7 Now return her to her husband, and he will pray for you, for he is a prophet. Then you will live. But if you don't return her to him, you can be sure that you and your entire *household will die."

*household – or nation.

All that Abimelech saw in Abraham was a man guilty of barefaced deception. But God looked at Abraham in Christ, and therefore speaks of him as a "prophet" (one who has His mind), and makes Abimelech debtor to his prayers.

8 Abimelech got up early the next morning and hastily called a meeting of all his servants. When he told them what had happened, great fear swept through the crowd.

9 Then Abimelech called for Abraham. "What is this you have done to us?" he demanded. "What have I done to you that deserves treatment like this, making me and my kingdom guilty of this *great sin? This kind of thing should not be done!

*great sin – Adultery was punishable with death in that society.

10 Why have you done this to us?"

11 "Well," Abraham said, "I figured this to be a godless place. I thought, `They will want my wife and will *kill me to get her.'

*kill me – Abimelech doesn’t deny this possibility!

12 Besides, she is my *sister--we both have the same father, though different mothers--and I married her.

*sister – Marrying one’s sister, or even half-sister, was not allowed later (Leviticus 19:9-11; Leviticus 20:17; Deuteronomy 27:22)

13 When *God sent me to travel far from my father's home, I told her, `Wherever we go, have the kindness to say that you are my sister.' "

*God – Elohim.

This agreement which Abraham made with Sarah was due to the feebleness of his faith in God’s power to take care of them.

14 Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen and servants--both men and women--and gave them to Abraham, and he returned his wife, Sarah, to him.

Just as in Egypt!

15 "Look over my kingdom, and choose a place where you would like to live," Abimelech told him.

Why didn’t Abimelech kick out Abraham the way Pharaoh?

16 Then he turned to Sarah. "Look," he said, "I am giving your `brother' a *thousand pieces of silver to compensate for any embarrassment I may have caused you. This will settle any claim against me in this matter."

* a thousand pieces of silver – Hebrew 1,000 shekels of silver, about 25 pounds or 11.4 kilograms in weight. Why does Abraham accept this gift and not the gift from the kings he rescued from the four-king confederation?

King James Version: And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.

17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and the other women of the household, so they could have children.

18 For the LORD had stricken all the women with infertility as a warning to Abimelech for having taken Abraham's wife