3 And God cometh in unto Abimelech in a dream of the night, and saith to him, `Lo, thou `art' a dead man, because of the woman whom thou hast taken -- and she married to a husband.'
And it cometh to pass, at the end of two years of days that Pharaoh is dreaming, and lo, he is standing by the River, and lo, from the River coming up are seven kine, of fair appearance, and fat `in' flesh, and they feed among the reeds; and lo, seven other kine are coming up after them out of the River, of bad appearance, and lean `in' flesh, and they stand near the kine on the edge of the River, and the kine of bad appearance and lean `in' flesh eat up the seven kine of fair appearance, and fat -- and Pharaoh awaketh. And he sleepeth, and dreameth a second time, and lo, seven ears are coming up on one stalk, fat and good, and lo, seven ears, thin, and blasted with an east wind, are springing up after them; and the thin ears swallow the seven fat and full ears -- and Pharaoh awaketh, and lo, a dream. And it cometh to pass in the morning, that his spirit is moved, and he sendeth and calleth all the scribes of Egypt, and all its wise men, and Pharaoh recounteth to them his dream, and there is no interpreter of them to Pharaoh. And the chief of the butlers speaketh with Pharaoh, saying, `My sin I mention this day: Pharaoh hath been wroth against his servants, and giveth me into charge in the house of the chief of the executioners, me and the chief of the bakers; and we dream a dream in one night, I and he, each according to the interpretation of his dream we have dreamed. And there `is' with us a youth, a Hebrew, servant to the chief of the executioners, and we recount to him, and he interpreteth to us our dreams, `to' each according to his dream hath he interpreted, and it cometh to pass, as he hath interpreted to us so it hath been, me he put back on my station, and him he hanged.' And Pharaoh sendeth and calleth Joseph, and they cause him to run out of the pit, and he shaveth, and changeth his garments, and cometh in unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh saith unto Joseph, `A dream I have dreamed, and there is no interpreter of it, and I -- I have heard concerning thee, saying, Thou understandest a dream to interpret it,' and Joseph answereth Pharaoh, saying, `Without me -- God doth answer Pharaoh with peace.' And Pharaoh speaketh unto Joseph: `In my dream, lo, I am standing by the edge of the River, and lo, out of the River coming up are seven kine, fat `in' flesh, and of fair form, and they feed among the reeds; and lo, seven other kine are coming up after them, thin, and of very bad form, and lean `in' flesh; I have not seen like these in all the land of Egypt for badness. `And the lean and the bad kine eat up the first seven fat kine, and they come in unto their midst, and it hath not been known that they have come in unto their midst, and their appearance `is' bad as at the commencement; and I awake. `And I see in my dream, and lo, seven ears are coming up on one stalk, full and good; and lo, seven ears, withered, thin, blasted with an east wind, are springing up after them; and the thin ears swallow the seven good ears; and I tell unto the scribes, and there is none declaring to me.' And Joseph saith unto Pharaoh, `The dream of Pharaoh is one: that which God is doing he hath declared to Pharaoh; the seven good kine are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years, the dream is one; and the seven thin and bad kine which are coming up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears, blasted with an east wind, are seven years of famine; this `is' the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: That which God is doing, he hath shewn Pharaoh. `Lo, seven years are coming of great abundance in all the land of Egypt, and seven years of famine have arisen after them, and all the plenty is forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine hath finished the land, and the plenty is not known in the land because of that famine afterwards, for it `is' very grievous. `And because of the repeating of the dream unto Pharaoh twice, surely the thing is established by God, and God is hastening to do it. `And now, let Pharaoh provide a man, intelligent and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt; let Pharaoh make and appoint overseers over the land, and receive a fifth of the land of Egypt in the seven years of plenty, and they gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and heap up corn under the hand of Pharaoh -- food in the cities; and they have kept `it', and the food hath been for a store for the land, for the seven years of famine which are in the land of Egypt; and the land is cut off by the famine.'
And unto me a thing is secretly brought, And receive doth mine ear a little of it. In thoughts from visions of the night, In the falling of deep sleep on men,
And in My saying to the wicked: Thou surely diest, And -- he hath turned back from his sin, And hath done judgment and righteousness, (The pledge the wicked restoreth, plunder he repayeth,) In the statutes of life he hath walked, So as not to do perversity, He surely liveth -- he doth not die.
and having been divinely warned in a dream not to turn back unto Herod, through another way they withdrew to their own region. And on their having withdrawn, lo, a messenger of the Lord doth appear in a dream to Joseph, saying, `Having risen, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and be thou there till I may speak to thee, for Herod is about to seek the child to destroy him.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 20
Commentary on Genesis 20 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 20
We are here returning to the story of Abraham; yet that part of it which is here recorded is not to his honour. The fairest marbles have their flaws, and, while there are spots in the sun, we must not expect any thing spotless under it. The scripture, it should be remarked, is impartial in relating the blemishes even of its most celebrated characters. We have here,
Gen 20:1-2
Here is,
Gen 20:3-7
It appears by this that God revealed himself by dreams (which evidenced themselves to be divine and supernatural) not only to his servants the prophets, but even to those who were out of the pale of the church and covenant; but then, usually, it was with some regard to God's own people as in Pharaoh's dream, to Joseph, in Nebuchadnezzar's, to Daniel, and here, in Abimelech's, to Abraham and Sarah, for he reproved this king for their sake, Ps. 105:14, 15.
Gen 20:8-13
Abimelech, being thus warned of God in a dream, takes the warning, and, as one truly afraid of sin and its consequences, he rises early to obey the directions given him.
Gen 20:14-18
Here is,