6 And God H430 said H559 unto him in a dream, H2472 Yea, H1571 I know H3045 that thou didst H6213 this in the integrity H8537 of thy heart; H3824 for I also withheld H2820 thee from sinning H2398 against me: therefore suffered H5414 I thee not to touch H5060 her.
For in very deed, H199 as the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel H3478 liveth, H2416 which hath kept me back H4513 from hurting H7489 thee, except H3884 thou hadst hasted H4116 and come H935 to meet H7125 me, surely there had not been left H3498 unto Nabal H5037 by the morning H1242 light H216 any that pisseth H8366 against the wall. H7023
Now therefore, my lord, H113 as the LORD H3068 liveth, H2416 and as thy soul H5315 liveth, H2416 seeing the LORD H3068 hath withholden H4513 thee from coming H935 to shed blood, H1818 and from avenging H3467 thyself with thine own hand, H3027 now let thine enemies, H341 and they that seek H1245 evil H7451 to my lord, H113 be as Nabal. H5037
There is none greater H1419 in this house H1004 than I; neither H3808 hath he kept back H2820 any thing H3972 from me but thee, because H834 thou H859 art his wife: H802 how then can I do H6213 this great H1419 wickedness, H7451 and sin H2398 against God? H430
And your father H1 hath deceived H2048 me, and changed H2498 my wages H4909 ten H6235 times; H4489 but God H430 suffered him H5414 not to hurt H7489 me. H5978
Therefore, behold, I will hedge H7753 up thy way H1870 with thorns, H5518 and make H1443 a wall, H1447 that she shall not find H4672 her paths. H5410 And she shall follow H7291 after her lovers, H157 but she shall not overtake H5381 them; and she shall seek H1245 them, but shall not find H4672 them: then shall she say, H559 I will go H3212 and return H7725 to my first H7223 husband; H376 for then was it better H2896 with me than now. H6258
And G2532 for this G5124 cause G1223 God G2316 shall send G3992 them G846 strong G1753 delusion, G4106 that G1519 they G846 should believe G4100 a lie: G5579
Now G1161 concerning G4012 the things whereof G3739 ye wrote G1125 unto me: G3427 It is good G2570 for a man G444 not G3361 to touch G680 a woman. G1135
For the LORD H3068 God H430 is a sun H8121 and shield: H4043 the LORD H3068 will give H5414 grace H2580 and glory: H3519 no good H2896 thing will he withhold H4513 from them that walk H1980 uprightly. H8549
So I gave them up H7971 unto their own hearts' H3820 lust: H8307 and they walked H3212 in their own counsels. H4156
If a soul H5315 sin, H2398 and commit H4603 a trespass H4604 against the LORD, H3068 and lie H3584 unto his neighbour H5997 in that which was delivered H6487 him to keep, or in fellowship, H8667 H3027 or in a thing taken away by violence, H1498 or hath deceived H6231 his neighbour; H5997
For I will cast out H3423 the nations H1471 before H6440 thee, and enlarge H7337 thy borders: H1366 neither shall any man H376 desire H2530 thy land, H776 when thou shalt go up H5927 to appear H7200 before H6440 the LORD H3068 thy God H430 thrice H6471 H7969 in the year. H8141
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].