Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!” Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you have done this thing?”
Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely the fear of God is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife’s sake.’ Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”
Abimelech took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah, his wife, to him. Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you. Dwell where it pleases you.” To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you. In front of all you are vindicated.”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 9. Then Abimelech called Abraham. There are those who…
9. Then Abimelech called Abraham. There are those who suppose that the king of Gerar did not make a complaint against Abraham; but rather declared his own repentance. If, however we fairly weigh his words we find confession mixed with expostulation. Although he complains that Abraham had acted unjustly, he yet does not so transfer the blame to him, as to free himself from all fault. And he may, with justice, impute part of the blame to Abraham, as he does; provided he also acknowledges his own sin. Let we therefore know, that this king did not act as hypocrites are in the habit of doing. For, as soon as ever a pretext is furnished for inculpating others, they confidently absolve themselves: they even esteem it a lawful purgation for themselves, if they can draw others into a participation of their crime. But Abimelech, while he complains that he had been deceived, and had fallen through impudence, yet does not, meanwhile, scruple to condemn himself as guilty of a great sin, ‘It is not,’ he says, ‘through thee, that I and my whole kingdom have been prevented from falling into the greatest wickedness.’ No one therefore may exonerate himself from blame, under the pretense that he had been induced by others to sin. It is, however to be noted, that adultery is here called a great sin; because it binds not one man only, but a whole people, as in a common crime. The king of Gerar could not indeed have spoken thus, had he not acknowledged the sacred right of marriage. But, at the present time, Christians — at least they who boast of the name — are not ashamed jocularly to extenuate so great a crime, from which even a heathen shrinks with the greatest horror. Let us however know, that Abimelech was a true herald of that divine judgment, which miserable men in vain endeavor to elude by their cavils. And let that expression of Paul ever recur to our memory, ‘Be not deceived; because of those things cometh the wrath of God upon the disobedient.’ (1 Corinthians 5:9; Ephesians 5:6.) It is not without reason, that he makes this sin common to the whole nation; for when crimes are committed with impunity, a whole region is, in a certain sense, polluted. And it is especially notorious, that the anger of God is provoked against the whole body of the people, in the person of the king. Hence, with so much the greater earnestness and care, must we beseech God to govern, by his Spirit, those whom he has placed in authority over us; and then, to preserve the country, in which he has granted us a dwelling-place, exempt and pure from all iniquity.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv9, 11, 12, 15, 16 The wickedness of the King bringeth God’s wrath upon…
The wickedness of the King bringeth God’s wrath upon the whole realm.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–16 Gen 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto…
Gen 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.
Ver. 9. What hast thou done unto us? &c.] Some warmth must be in a reproof, but it must not be scalding hot. Words of reviling and disgrace, they scald, as it were; but words that tend to stir up the conscience to a due consideration of the fault (as here) they be duly warm, and tend to make the physic work more kindly. {a} How could Abraham resist this sweet and sovereign reprehension? How could he but be much ashamed, that he should give occasion to it? No oratory is so powerful with good natures as that of mildness. Remember to reprove with modesty and moderation.
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{a} Aegros, quos potus fortis non curavit, ad salutem pristinam aqua tepens revocavit . - Greg.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16 What hast thou done unto us? How great a…
What hast thou done unto us? How great a danger hast thou exposed us to!
A great sin: even the heathens, who thought fornication harmless, judge adultery to be a very great and heinous crime. See Gen 38:24; Lev 20:10; Eze 16:38; 23:45,47. Or, a great punishment, as this word is oft used; which seems better to answer to his offending Abraham now mentioned.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v14 Here is, I. The kindness of a prince which…
Here is, I. The kindness of a prince which Abimelech showed to Abraham. See how unjust Abraham's jealousies were. He fancied that if they knew that Sarah was his wife they would kill him; but, when they did know it, instead of killing him they were kind to him, frightened at least to be so by the divine rebukes they were under. 1. He gives him his royal licence to dwell where he pleased in his country, courting his stay because he gives him his royal gifts (Gen 20:14), sheep and oxen, and (Gen 20:16) a thousand pieces of silver. This he gave when he restored Sarah, either, [1.] By way of satisfaction for the wrong he had offered to do, in taking her to his house: when the Philistines restored the ark, being plagued for detaining it, they sent a present with it. The law appointed that when restitution was made something should be added to it, Lev 6:5. Or, [2.] To engage Abraham's prayers for him; not as if prayers should be bought and sold, but we should endeavour to be kind to those of whose spiritual things we reap, Co1 9:11. Note, It is our wisdom to get and keep an interest with those that have an interest in heaven, and to make those our friends who are the friends of God. [3.] He gives to Sarah good instruction, tells her that her husband (her brother he calls him, to upbraid her with calling him so) must be to her for a covering of the eyes, that is, she must look at no other, nor desire to be looked at by any other. Note, Yoke-fellows must be to each other for a covering of the eyes. The marriage-covenant is a covenant with the eyes, like Job's, Job 31:1.
II. The kindness of a prophet which Abraham showed to Abimelech: he prayed for him, Gen 20:17, Gen 20:18. This honour God would put upon Abraham that, though Abimelech had restored Sarah, yet the judgment he was under should be removed upon the prayer of Abraham, and not before. Thus God healed Miriam, when Moses, whom she had most affronted, prayed for her (Num 12:13), and was reconciled to Job's friends when Job, whom they had grieved, prayed for them (Job 42:8-10), and so did, as it were, give it under his hand that he was reconciled to them. Note, The prayers of good men may be a kindness to great men, and ought to be valued.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–16 Then Abimelech called Abraham,.... Who might be in the…
Then Abimelech called Abraham,.... Who might be in the king's palace, being taken into it caressed by the king for the sake of Sarah:
and said unto him; not in a passion, as might have been expected, but in a mild and gentle manner, yet with great strength of reasoning, and making very just expostulations with him:
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what hast thou done unto us? what evil to him, his family, and his subjects? this was very probably said in the presence of his servants he had called, and therefore the plural number is used:
and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me, and on my kingdom, a great sin? the sin of adultery, he had been in danger of committing, which by the light of nature was known and acknowledged to be a great sin, and therefore was avoided by Heathens, and prohibited and punished by them; or else a "great punishment" (d), as death to him, and all his subjects: and now Abimelech expostulates with him, and desires to know what he had done to incur his displeasure, that he should take such a method as this to avenge himself of him; he plainly intimates that he was not conscious to himself that he had done any thing to offend him; he had suffered him to come into his kingdom, and sojourn in it, and used him well, and in no instance, as he knew of, had done anything to affront him:
thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done; in saying Sarah was his sister, and persuading her to say the same, and so virtually disowning his marriage with her, equivocating in this affair, and dissembling truth, and thereby exposing the chastity of his wife, and the king to the commission of sin with her; things that ought not to be done by any man, and much less by a man professing religion and godliness.
(d) "noxam magnam", Junius & Tremellius; "poenam peccati", Menochius; so Abendana.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 13, 16 Thou hast done deeds that ought not to be…
Thou hast done deeds that ought not to be done - Equivocation and dissimulation, however they may be palliated, are very ill things, and by no means to be admitted in any case. He takes it as a very great injury to himself and his family, that Abraham had thus exposed them to sin, What have I offended thee? - If I had been thy worst enemy, thou couldst not have done me a worse turn, nor taken a more effectual course to be avenged on me. Note, We ought to reckon, that those do us the greatest dislikedness in the world, that any way tempt us or expose us to sin, though they may pretend friendship, and offer that which is grateful enough to the corrupt nature. He challenges him to assign any just cause he had to suspect them as a dangerous people for an honest man to live among.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv11, 12, 13, 16 Verse 11. And Abraham said] The best excuse he…
Verse 11. And Abraham said] The best excuse he could make for his conduct, which in this instance is far from defensible.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv11, 13, 16 Gen 20:11. I thought, Surely the fear of God…
Gen 20:11. I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will slay me — There are many places and persons that have more of the fear of God in them than we think they have; perhaps they are not called by our name, they do not wear our badges, they do not tie themselves to that which we have an opinion of; and therefore we conclude they have not the fear of God in their hearts!
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv9, 12, 14, 16 Why, &c. He expostulates with him in a friendly…
Why, &c. He expostulates with him in a friendly but earnest manner. --- A great sin, or punishment, (Menochius) ver. 18, and exposed me to the danger of committing adultery. Abraham might have answered, this would have been his own fault, as he could not have done it without offering violence to Sara, in whose chastity he could confide. Having an opportunity here to vindicate himself, Abraham speaks freely, which he was not allowed to do in Egypt, chap. xii. 20.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv9, 11, 12 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said . . .…
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.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16 9. Abimelech called Abraham — The king remonstrated with…
9. Abimelech called Abraham — The king remonstrated with Abraham “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.” — Keil. Mark again the poetic fervour of his words:
What hast thou done to us?
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And what have I sinned against thee?
That thou bringest upon me and upon my kingdom
A great sin?
Deeds which should not be done
Hast thou done with me.
Abraham seems to have been stunned and confused by this sharp rebuke, and after some silence Abimelech asks again:
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv9–16 9. What hast thou done unto us] Syriac Peshitto…
9. What hast thou done unto us] Syriac Peshitto “what have I done unto thee,” which suits the second clause rather better.
deeds … that ought not to be done] Cf. Gen_34:7; 2Sa_13:12. The moral standard of the heathen king here stands higher than that of Abraham the prophet. There were at Gerar, presumably, no written laws; but the custom of the people, with which was bound up its religion, was more powerful than law. The Code of Hammurabi reflects the moral standard of the most civilized community of the time.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 (10) What sawest thou?—Some modern commentators explain the Hebrew…
(10) What sawest thou?—Some modern commentators explain the Hebrew as meaning, What purpose hadst thou? What didst thou look for? But the old rendering is probably right. Abimelech first denies by indignant questions that he had been guilty of any wrong towards Abraham, and then asks what he had seen in the conduct of himself and people to justify such mistrust of them. Throughout, the king speaks as a man conscious that his citizens so respected the rights of a stranger and of marriage, that Sarah would have been perfectly safe had Abraham openly said that she was his wife.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv9–16 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him (in…
Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him (in the presence of his people), What hast thou done unto us? identifying himself once more with his people, as he had already done in responding to God (Ver. 4)and what have I offended thee (thus modestly allowing that he may himself have unwittingly occasioned the sin of Abraham), that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? The gravamen of Abimelech"s accusation was that Abraham had led him and his to offend against God, and so to lay themselves open to the penalties of wrong-doing. Thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. Literally, deeds which ought not to be done thou hast done with me. (cf. Gen_34:7; Lev_4:2, Lev_4:13; vide Glass, "Philol. Tract., 1. 3. t. 3. 100. 6.) The king"s words were unquestionably designed to convey asevere reproach.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, surely the fear…
Gen_20:11
And Abraham said, Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place
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On harsh and selfish judgments
The true fear of God was at that moment in Abimelechs heart, and not in Abrahams; it was Abimelech who was playing the Christian part, that of the child of the light and of the day; Abraham was for the moment the child of fear, darkness, night.
I. CONSIDER THE ORIGIN OF THE HABIT OF HARSH JUDGMENT. TWO main sources.
1. The first a heathen Roman can illustrate for us (Act_22:27-28). The thing has cost us much; we feel it is hard to believe that it can be widely shared. Abraham had made a terrible sacrifice to assure his calling. As for those easy, jovial, prosperous heathen, surely the fear of God was not there.
2. A second source of this harshness of judgment is the predominance in all of us of the natural aristocratic principle over the Christian principle of communion. Men naturally believe in election. But, with tale exceptions, they naturally believe themselves to he the elect. It is hard indeed to believe that a private possession gains instead of loses by being shared by all mankind.
II. THE HISTORIES OF SCRIPTURE ARE A PERPETUAL WARNING AGAINST NARROW AND SELFISH JUDGMENTS OF MEN. It is as if the Spirit had resolved that the virtues of those outside the pale should be kept clearly before the eyes of men. God is no respecter of persons, and He keeps hold in ways, of which we little dream, of the most unlikely human hearts.
III. THE TRUE CHRISTIAN POLICY IN JUDGING MANKIND.
1. Let your personal fellowship be based on the clear explicit manifestation of that which is in tune with your higher life and Christs.
2. As for those who are without, believe that God is nearer to them than you wot of, and has more to do with them than you dream. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)
Morality outside the Church
I. MORALITY OUTSIDE THE CHURCH MAY ATTAIN TO GREAT EXCELLENCE.
1. Belief in a moral standard of right and wrong.
2. Belief in the moral relations of human society.
3. A sense of injured moral feeling in the presence of wrong.
4. A readiness to make restitution for faults committed against others.
II. MORALITY OUTSIDE THE CHURCH MAY HAVE LESSONS OF REPROOF FOR THOSE WHO ARE WITHIN IT.
1. For their mean subterfuges.
2. Their distrust of Providence.
3. Their religious prejudices. (T. H. Leale.)
Prejudice
1. It is often strong in those who enjoy high religious privileges. Abraham thought himself so highly favoured of God that he was unwilling to admit that any goodness could be found among those who were less favoured.
2. The evils of it are great.
(1) It limits the power of the grace of God. He is not confined to one mode of making Himself known.
(2) It is a sin against charity.
(3) It issues in committing wrong against others.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v11 (See Scofield "Psa 19:9").
fear
(See Scofield "Psa 19:9").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v14 The Plague Removed from Abimelech
The Plague Removed from Abimelech
v. 14. And Abimelech took sheep and oxen and men-servants and women-servants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah, his wife. The restoration of Sarah with her honor unspotted followed as a matter of course, but the giving of presents in such rich measure was an act of magnanimity on Abimelech’s part, showing that he felt no false resentment.
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v. 15. And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee; dwell where it pleaseth thee. To offer to Abraham the choice of pasturage in his land in the circumstances was certainly heaping coals of fire on his head.
v. 16. But 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. The goods which Abimelech had given to Abraham were estimated at this sum. Now Sarah was to know that this (or he) was to her a covering of the eyes and to her entire household and to all men; that is, according to some explanations, she was to look upon the gifts as presents of atonement, also with respect to such people in whose eyes she might be covered with dishonor. Or, if the reference is to Abraham, it means that he had willfully blinded the eyes of Abimelech and all his people in this transaction, and that Sarah should now be reminded, through this present, never again to agree to such a subterfuge. In that way she stood reproved.
v. 17. So Abraham prayed unto God; and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maid-servants; and they bare children.
v. 18. For the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. That was the manner in which God’s punishment upon Abimelech had begun, by denying offspring to his entire household, for it is in His hands, as the Creator of the universe, to grant the blessing of children. The entire story shows that the Lord holds His protecting hand over His children in the midst of all the temptations of the world, Psa 105:14-15.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv10, 13, 15 What prompted you to do this thing?
What prompted you to do this thing?
"What caused you to do this?" or "Why did you do this?" What Abraham did can be stated explicitly. AT: "Why did you tell me that Sarah is your sister?" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
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Because I thought, 'Surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.'
This is a quotation within a quotation. It can be stated as an indirect quotation. AT: "Because I thought that since no one here fears God, someone may kill me so they can take my wife." (See: Quotes Within Quotes and Direct and Indirect Quotations)
no fear of God in this place
Here "place" refers to the people. AT: "no one here in Gerar fears God" (See: Metonymy)
fear of God
This means to deeply respect God and show that respect by obeying him.
Besides, she is indeed my sister
"Also, it is true that Sarah is my sister" or "Also, Sarah really is my sister"
the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother
"we have the same father, but we have different mothers"
translationWords
Abimelech
Abraham
fear
God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11, 14 20:11-13 Abraham’s duplicity was not a momentary loss of…
20:11-13 Abraham’s duplicity was not a momentary loss of faith. Despite the rebuke he received in Egypt, he practiced this strategy wherever he went (cp. 12:12-13). Living by faith requires perseverance.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.