7 And now, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and will pray for thee, that thou mayest live. And if thou do not restore [her], know that thou shalt certainly die, thou and all that is thine.
And now, take for yourselves seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt-offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you, for him will I accept: lest I deal with you [after your] folly, for ye have not spoken of me rightly, like my servant Job.
And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray Jehovah for you.
And David spoke to Jehovah when he saw the angel that smote among the people, and said, Behold, it is I that have sinned, and it is I that have committed iniquity; but these sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I pray thee, be on me, and on my father's house!
And Naaman was wroth, and went away and said, Behold, I thought, He will certainly come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of Jehovah his God, and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leper.
And the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that belonged to Korah, and all their property. And they went down, they and all that they had, alive into Sheol, and the earth covered them; and they perished from among the congregation.
Which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; And he confirmed it unto Jacob for a statute, unto Israel for an everlasting covenant, Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance; When they were a few men in number, of small account, and strangers in it. And they went from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people. He suffered no man to oppress them, and reproved kings for their sakes, [Saying,] Touch not mine anointed ones, and do my prophets no harm.
The secret of Jehovah is with them that fear him, that he may make known his covenant to them.
And Jehovah said unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
But if they be prophets, and if the word of Jehovah be with them, let them now make intercession to Jehovah of hosts, that the vessels which are left in the house of Jehovah, and in the house of the king of Judah, and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon.
When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt certainly die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, that he may live: the same wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand.
And when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt certainly die, and he turneth from his sin, and doeth judgment and justice; if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, doing nothing that is wrong; he shall certainly live, he shall not die. None of his sins which he hath committed shall be remembered against him: he hath done judgment and justice; he shall certainly live.
He that speaks with a tongue edifies himself; but he that prophesies edifies [the] assembly.
[Let] marriage [be held] every way in honour, and the bed [be] undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers will God judge.
Is any sick among you? let him call to [him] the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of [the] Lord; and the prayer of faith shall heal the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he be one who has committed sins, it shall be forgiven him. Confess therefore your offences to one another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. [The] fervent supplication of the righteous [man] has much power.
and if any one wills to injure them, fire goes out of their mouth, and devours their enemies. And if any one wills to injure them, thus must he be killed. These have power to shut the heaven that no rain may fall during the days of their prophecy; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth as often as they will with every plague.
And the priest shall make atonement for him before Jehovah, and it shall be forgiven him concerning anything of all that he hath done so as to trespass therein.
And Jehovah plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.
For Jehovah had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah Abraham's wife.
And Jehovah said to Moses, See, I have made thee God to Pharaoh; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
And Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak unto all the assembly of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month let them take themselves each a lamb, for a father's house, a lamb for a house.
then it shall be, if he hath sinned and transgressed, that he shall restore what he robbed or that in which he hath defrauded, or the deposit, or the lost thing which he found,
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt certainly die.
And all the people said to Samuel, Pray to Jehovah thy God for thy servants, that we die not; for we have added to all our sins the wickedness to ask for ourselves a king.
Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against Jehovah in ceasing to pray for you; and I will teach you the good and right way.
And it came to pass after many days, that the word of Jehovah came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself to Ahab; and I will send rain upon the face of the earth. And Elijah went to shew himself to Ahab. And the famine was severe in Samaria. And Ahab called Obadiah, who was the steward of his house (now Obadiah feared Jehovah greatly; and it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Jehovah, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and maintained them with bread and water); and Ahab said to Obadiah, Go through the land, to all the fountains of water and to all the torrents, perhaps we may find grass to save the horses and the mules alive, so that we may not have to destroy some of [our] beasts. And they divided the land between them to pass through it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him; and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Is it indeed thou, my lord Elijah? And he said to him, I [am he]: go, say to thy lord, Behold Elijah! And he said, What have I sinned, that thou givest thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to put me to death? As Jehovah thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom whither my lord has not sent to seek thee; and when they said, He is not [here], he took an oath of the kingdom or nation that they found thee not. And now thou sayest, Go, say to thy lord, Behold Elijah! And it shall come to pass when I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of Jehovah shall carry thee whither I know not; and when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he will kill me; and I thy servant fear Jehovah from my youth. Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of Jehovah, how I hid a hundred men of Jehovah's prophets by fifty in a cave, and maintained them with bread and water? And now thou sayest, Go, say to thy lord, Behold Elijah! and he will kill me. And Elijah said, As Jehovah of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will certainly shew myself to him to-day. Then Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah. And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Is it thou, the troubler of Israel? And he said, I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of Jehovah, and thou hast followed the Baals. And now send, gather to me all Israel to mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the Asherah four hundred, who eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel. Then Elijah drew near to all the people, and said, How long do ye halt between two opinions? if Jehovah be God, follow him; and if Baal, follow him. And the people answered him not a word. And Elijah said to the people, I, only I, remain a prophet of Jehovah; and Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks: and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood, and put no fire; and I will sacrifice the other bullock, and put it on the wood, and put no fire. And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of Jehovah; and the god that answers by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, The word is good. And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one bullock for yourselves, and sacrifice it first; for ye are the many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire. And they took the bullock which had been given them, and sacrificed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us! But there was no voice, and none answered. And they leaped about the altar that had been made. And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud; for he is a god; for he is meditating, or gone aside, or he is on a journey; perhaps he sleeps, and will awake. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with swords and spears, till the blood gushed out upon them. And it came to pass when midday was past, that they prophesied until the [time] of the offering up of the oblation; but there was neither voice, nor any that answered, nor any attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, Draw near to me. And all the people drew near to him. And he repaired the altar of Jehovah which was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Jehovah came saying, Israel shall be thy name; and with the stones he built an altar in the name of Jehovah, and made a trench round about the altar, of the capacity of two measures of seed; and he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it on the wood. And he said, Fill four pitchers with water, and pour it on the burnt-offering, and on the wood. And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. And it came to pass at [the time of] the offering up of the oblation, that Elijah the prophet drew near, and said, Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things by thy word. Answer me, Jehovah, answer me, that this people may know that thou Jehovah art God, and [that] *thou* hast turned their heart back again. And the fire of Jehovah fell, and consumed the burnt-offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And all the people saw [it], and they fell on their faces and said, Jehovah, he is God! Jehovah, he is God! And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape! And they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the torrent of Kishon, and slaughtered them there. And Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. And Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed down on the earth, and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked, and said, [There is] nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time that he said, Behold there is a cloud, small as a man's hand, arising out of the sea. And he said, Go up, say to Ahab, Harness and go down, that the pour of rain stop thee not. And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heavens became black [with] clouds and wind, and there was a great pour of rain. And Ahab got on the chariot, and went to Jizreel. And the hand of Jehovah was upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jizreel.
And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz. And they said to him, Thus says Hezekiah: This day is a day of trouble and of rebuke and of reviling; for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. It may be Jehovah thy God will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master has sent to reproach the living God; and will rebuke the words which Jehovah thy God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that is left.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 20
Commentary on Genesis 20 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 20
Ge 20:1-18. Abraham's Denial of His Wife.
1. Abraham journeyed from thence … and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur—Leaving the encampment, he migrated to the southern border of Canaan. In the neighborhood of Gerar was a very rich and well-watered pasture land.
2. Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister—Fear of the people among whom he was, tempted him to equivocate. His conduct was highly culpable. It was deceit, deliberate and premeditated—there was no sudden pressure upon him—it was the second offense of the kind [see on Ge 12:13]—it was a distrust of God every way surprising, and it was calculated to produce injurious effects on the heathen around. Its mischievous tendency was not long in being developed.
Abimelech (father-king) … sent and took Sarah—to be one of his wives, in the exercise of a privilege claimed by Eastern sovereigns, already explained (see on Ge 12:15).
3. But God came to Abimelech in a dream—In early times a dream was often made the medium of communicating important truths; and this method was adopted for the preservation of Sarah.
9. Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said … What hast thou done?—In what a humiliating plight does the patriarch now appear—he, a servant of the true God, rebuked by a heathen prince. Who would not rather be in the place of Abimelech than of the honored but sadly offending patriarch! What a dignified attitude is that of the king—calmly and justly reproving the sin of the patriarch, but respecting his person and heaping coals of fire on his head by the liberal presents made to him.
11. And Abraham said … I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place—From the horrible vices of Sodom he seems to have taken up the impression that all other cities of Canaan were equally corrupt. There might have been few or none who feared God, but what a sad thing when men of the world show a higher sense of honor and a greater abhorrence of crimes than a true worshipper!
12. yet indeed she is my sister—(See on Ge 11:31). What a poor defense Abraham made. The statement absolved him from the charge of direct and absolute falsehood, but he had told a moral untruth because there was an intention to deceive (compare Ge 12:11-13). "Honesty is always the best policy." Abraham's life would have been as well protected without the fraud as with it: and what shame to himself, what distrust to God, what dishonor to religion might have been prevented! "Let us speak truth every man to his neighbor" [Zec 8:16; Eph 4:25].