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Genesis 20:3 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

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.'

Cross Reference

Genesis 20:7 YLT

and now send back the man's wife, for he `is' inspired, and he doth pray for thee, and live thou; and if thou do not send back, know that dying thou dost die, thou, and all that thou hast.'

Job 33:15 YLT

In a dream -- a vision of night, In the falling of deep sleep on men, In slumberings on a bed.

Psalms 105:14 YLT

He hath not suffered any to oppress them And He reproveth for their sakes kings.

Matthew 1:20 YLT

And on his thinking of these things, lo, a messenger of the Lord in a dream appeared to him, saying, `Joseph, son of David, thou mayest not fear to receive Mary thy wife, for that which in her was begotten `is' of the Holy Spirit,

Matthew 27:19 YLT

And as he is sitting on the tribunal, his wife sent unto him, saying, `Nothing -- to thee and to that righteous one, for many things did I suffer to-day in a dream because of him.'

Genesis 28:12 YLT

And he dreameth, and lo, a ladder set up on the earth, and its head is touching the heavens; and lo, messengers of God are going up and coming down by it;

Genesis 31:24 YLT

And God cometh in unto Laban the Aramaean in a dream of the night, and saith to him, `Take heed to thyself lest thou speak with Jacob from good unto evil.'

Genesis 37:5 YLT

And Joseph dreameth a dream, and declareth to his brethren, and they add still more to hate him.

Genesis 37:9 YLT

And he dreameth yet another dream, and recounteth it to his brethren, and saith, `Lo, I have dreamed a dream again, and lo, the sun and the moon, and eleven stars, are bowing themselves to me.'

Genesis 40:8 YLT

And they say unto him, `A dream we have dreamed, and there is no interpreter of it;' and Joseph saith unto them, `Are not interpretations with God? recount, I pray you, to me.'

Genesis 41:1-36 YLT

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.'

Job 4:12-13 YLT

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,

Ezekiel 33:14-15 YLT

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.

Jonah 3:4 YLT

And Jonah beginneth to go in to the city a journey of one day, and proclaimeth, and saith, `Yet forty days -- and Nineveh is overturned.'

Matthew 2:12-13 YLT

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 » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 20

Commentary on Genesis 20 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Verses 1-3

After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham removed from the grove of Mamre at Hebron to the south country, hardly from the same fear as that which led Lot from Zoar, but probably to seek for better pasture. Here he dwelt between Kadesh (Genesis 14:7) and Shur (Genesis 16:7), and remained for some time in Gerar , a place the name of which has been preserved in the deep and broad Wady Jurf el Gerגr (i.e., torrent of Gerar) about eight miles S.S.E. of Gaza, near to which Rowland discovered the ruins of an ancient town bearing the name of Khirbet el Gerגr . Here Abimelech, the Philistine king of Gerar, like Pharaoh in Egypt, took Sarah, whom Abraham had again announced to be his sister, into his harem, - not indeed because he was charmed with the beauty of the woman of 90, which was either renovated, or had not yet faded ( Kurtz ), but in all probability “to ally himself with Abraham, the rich nomad prince” ( Delitzsch ). From this danger, into which the untruthful statement of both her husband and herself had brought her, she was once more rescued by the faithfulness of the covenant God. In a dream by night God appeared to Abimelech, and threatened him with death ( מת הנּך en te moriturum ) on account of the woman, whom he had taken, because she was married to a husband.


Verses 4-7

Abimelech, who had not yet come near her, because God had hindered him by illness (Genesis 20:6 and Genesis 20:17), excused himself on the ground that he had done no wrong, since he had supposed Sarah to be Abraham's sister, according to both her husband's statement and her own. This plea was admitted by God, who told him that He had kept him from sinning through touching Sarah, and commanded him to restore the woman immediately to her husband, who was a prophet, that he might pray for him and save his life, and threatened him with certain death to himself and all belonging to him in case he should refuse. That Abimelech, when taking the supposed sister of Abraham into his harem, should have thought that he was acting “in innocence of heart and purity of hands,” i.e., in perfect innocence, is to be fully accounted for, from his undeveloped moral and religious standpoint, by considering the customs of that day. But that God should have admitted that he had acted “in innocence of heart,” and yet should have proceeded at once to tell him that he could only remain alive through the intercession of Abraham, that is to say, through his obtaining forgiveness of a sin that was deserving of death, is a proof that God treated him as capable of deeper moral discernment and piety. The history itself indicates this in the very characteristic variation in the names of God. First of all (Genesis 20:3), Elohim (without the article, i.e., Deity generally) appears to him in a dream; but Abimelech recognises the Lord, Adonai , i.e., God (Genesis 20:4); whereupon the historian represents האלהים ( Elohim with the article), the personal and true God, as speaking to him. The address of God, too, also shows his susceptibility of divine truth. Without further pointing out to him the wrong which he had done in simplicity of heart, in taking the sister of the stranger who had come into his land, for the purpose of increasing his own harem, since he must have been conscious of this himself, God described Abraham as a prophet, whose intercession alone could remove his guilt, to show him the way of salvation. A prophet: lit., the God-addressed or inspired, since the “inward speaking” ( Ein-sprache ) or inspiration of God constitutes the essence of prophecy. Abraham was προφήτης as the recipient of divine revelation, and was thereby placed in so confidential a relation to God, that he could intercede for sinners, and atone for sins of infirmity through his intercession.


Verse 8-9

Abimelech carried out the divine instructions. The next morning he collected his servants together and related what had occurred, at which the men were greatly alarmed. He then sent for Abraham, and complained most bitterly of his conduct, by which he had brought a great sin upon him and his kingdom.


Verses 10-13

What sawest thou, ” i.e., what hadst thou in thine eye, with thine act (thy false statement)? Abimelech did this publicly in the presence of his servants, partly for his own justification in the sight of his dependents, and partly to put Abraham to shame. The latter had but two weak excuses: (1) that he supposed there was no fear of God at all in the land, and trembled for his life because of his wife; and (2) that when he left his father's house, he had arranged with his wife that in every foreign place she was to call herself his sister, as she really was his half-sister. On the subject of his emigration, he expressed himself indefinitely and with reserve, accommodating himself to the polytheistic standpoint of the Philistine king: “ when God (or the gods, Elohim ) caused me to wander, ” i.e., led me to commence an unsettled life in a foreign land; and saying nothing about Jehovah , and the object of his wandering as revealed by Him.


Verses 14-16

Abimelech then gave him back his wife with a liberal present of cattle and slaves, and gave him leave to dwell wherever he pleased in his land. To Sarah he said, “ Behold, I have given a thousand shekele of silver to thy brother; behold, it is to thee a covering of the eyes (i.e., an expiatory gift) with regard to all that are with thee (“because in a mistress the whole family is disgraced,” Del .), and with all - so art thou justified .” The thousand shekels (about £131) were not a special present made to Sarah, but indicate the value of the present made to Abraham, the amount of which may be estimated by this standard, that at a later date (Exodus 21:32) a slave was reckoned at 30 shekels. By the “covering of the eyes” we are not to understand a veil, which Sarah was to procure for 1000 shekels; but it is a figurative expression for an atoning gift, and is to be explained by the analogy of the phrase פּני פ כּפּר “to cover any one's face,” so that he may forget a wrong done (cf. Genesis 32:21; and Job 9:24, “he covereth the faces of the judges,” i.e., he bribes them). ונוכחת can only be the 2 pers. fem. sing. perf. Niphal, although the Dagesh lene is wanting in the ת ; for the rules of syntax will hardly allow us to regard this form as a participle, unless we imagine the extremely harsh ellipsis of נוכחת for אתּ נוכחת . The literal meaning is “so thou art judged,” i.e., justice has been done thee.


Verse 17-18

After this reparation, God healed Abimelech at Abraham's intercession; also his wife and maids, so that they could bear again, for Jehovah had closed up every womb in Abimelech's house on Sarah's account. אמהות , maids whom the king kept as concubines, are to be distinguished from שׁפחות female slaves (Genesis 20:14). That there was a material difference between them, is proved by 1 Samuel 25:41. כּל־רחם עצר כּל does not mean, as is frequently supposed, to prevent actual childbirth, but to prevent conception, i.e., to produce barrenness (1 Samuel 1:5-6). This is evident from the expression “He hath restrained me from bearing” in Genesis 16:2 (cf. Isaiah 66:9, and 1 Samuel 21:6), and from the opposite phrase, “open the womb,” so as to facilitate conception (Genesis 29:31, and Genesis 30:22). The plague brought upon Abimelech's house, therefore, consisted of some disease which rendered the begetting of children (the coitus ) impossible. This might have occurred as soon as Sarah was taken into the royal harem, and therefore need not presuppose any lengthened stay there. There is no necessity, therefore, to restrict ויּלדוּ to the women and regard it as equivalent to ותּלדנה , which would be grammatically inadmissible; for it may refer to Abimelech also, since ילד signifies to beget as well as to bear. We may adopt Knobel's explanation, therefore, though without approving of the inference that Genesis 20:18 was an appendix of the Jehovist, and arose from a misunderstanding of the word ויּלדוּ in Genesis 20:17. A later addition Genesis 20:18 cannot be; for the simple reason, that without the explanation give there, the previous verse would be unintelligible, so that it cannot have been wanting in any of the accounts. The name Jehovah , in contrast with Elohim and Ha-Elohim in Genesis 20:17, is obviously significant. The cure of Abimelech and his wives belonged to the Deity ( Elohim ). Abraham directed his intercession not to Elohim , an indefinite and unknown God, but to האלהים ; for the God, whose prophet he was, was the personal and true God. It was He too who had brought the disease upon Abimelech and his house, not as Elohim or Ha-Elohim , but as Jehovah , the God of salvation; for His design therein was to prevent the disturbance of frustration of His saving design, and the birth of the promised son from Sarah.

But if the divine names Elohim and Ha-Elohim indicate the true relation of God to Abimelech, and here also it was Jehovah who interposed for Abraham and preserved the mother of the promised seed, our narrative cannot be merely an Elohistic side-piece appended to the Jehovistic account in Genesis 12:14., and founded upon a fictitious legend. The thoroughly distinctive character of this event is a decisive proof of the fallacy of any such critical conjecture. Apart from the one point of agreement-the taking of Abraham's wife into the royal harem, because he said she was his sister in the hope of thereby saving his own life (an event, the repetition of which in the space of 24 years is by no means startling, when we consider the customs of the age) - all the more minute details are entirely different in the two cases. In king Abimelech we meet with a totally different character from that of Pharaoh. We see in him a heathen imbued with a moral consciousness of right, and open to receive divine revelation, of which there is not the slightest trace in the king of Egypt. And Abraham, in spite of his natural weakness, and the consequent confusion which he manifested in the presence of the pious heathen, was exalted by the compassionate grace of God to the position of His own friend, so that even the heathen king, who seems to have been in the right in this instance, was compelled to bend before him and to seek the removal of the divine punishment, which had fallen upon him and his house, through the medium of his intercession. In this way God proved to the Philistine king, on the one hand, that He suffers no harm to befall His prophets (Psalms 105:15), and to Abraham, on the other, that He can maintain His covenant and secure the realization of His promise against all opposition from the sinful desires of earthly potentates. It was in this respect that the event possessed a typical significance in relation to the future attitude of Israel towards surrounding nations.