Study Notes
Spoken with Blood: 2nd Verse Same as the First August 21, 2016
Genesis 20
1 From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife." 4 Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, "Lord, will you kill an innocent people? 5 Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this." 6 Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. 7 Now then, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours."
8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done." 10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, "What did you see, that you did this thing?" 11 Abraham said, "I did it because I thought, There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. 12 Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 13 And when God caused me to wander from my father's house, I said to her, 'This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, He is my brother.'"
14 Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, "Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you." 16 To Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated." 17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. 18 For the LORD had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
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Study Notes
20:1–18 Sarah and Abimelech
The contrast between Abraham’s saintly deeds in ch. 18 and his deceitful cowardice here shocks every reader. If his fear in Egypt (12:10–20) was understandable though not justified, what can be said for his repeating the same misleading story about his wife in Gerar, a small town in the southeastern corner of Canaan (cf. 10:19)? After enjoying such intimacy with God in ch. 18 why had he apparently abandoned faith in divine protection and relied on his cunning? On the other hand, the men of Gerar are shown to be very different from the Sodomites. Abimelech protested the purity of his motives and his desire to please God. So we learn that Abraham was not as saintly as ch. 18 perhaps suggested, nor were all the Canaanites as wicked as Sodom. Real life is often a mixture of contradictions—the totally pure or completely evil exist only in fiction.
Nevertheless, despite Abraham’s failings, God did protect him and Sarah and enrich them and grant grazing rights (15). Moreover, he heard Abraham’s prayers for Abimelech and his wives and healed their temporary infertility (17–18). Despite Abraham’s failings, the promises were still being fulfilled. But if God could answer Abraham’s prayers for Abimelech’s infertile wife, what about Sarah? Was she not going to have the child as promised?
Notes. 1 From there, i.e. from Mamre (cf. 18:1). On Kadesh see 14:7, and on Shur see 16:7. 3 Throughout the ancient orient, adultery warranted the death penalty (cf. Lv. 20:10; Dt. 22:22). 5 A leader’s sins have dire consequences for his people (cf. 2 Sa. 24). 12 Later 1 biblical law forbade marriage with half or full sisters (Lv. 18:9, 11).
Abraham and Abimelech
(Genesis 20:1–18)
The present episode presents us with a familiar situation. In Genesis 12:10–20 Abraham had attempted to evade danger by presenting Sarah to the Egyptians as his sister, and not as his wife. The same pattern of events appears a third time in Genesis when Isaac tries to deceive Abimelech in the same manner (26:1–11). For many scholars this triplet of similar accounts is evidence of a multiplicity of sources for the book of Genesis. As Petersen remarks, they ‘have long served as whetstones on which various techniques of higher 156 criticism have been sharpened’. Recent studies have shown that this position is tenuous at best. Literary analysis has gone a long way in verifying the fact that the three wife /
1 Wenham, G. J. (1994). Genesis. In D. A. Carson, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, & G. J. Wenham (Eds.), New Bible commentary: 21st century edition (4th ed., p. 75). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
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Study Notes
sister accounts are separate events. The stories certainly look alike and are arranged in a similar fashion, but we now know that duplication is the very essence of Hebrew narrative.
20:1. Then Abraham travelled from there to the land of the Negev, and he resided between Kadesh and Shur. And he sojourned in Gerar.
Abraham now moves ‘from there’—no location is given here, but it obviously refers to Mamre near Hebron (18:1). He heads ‘south’ (that is the meaning of the term ‘Negev’), and he ‘reside[s]’ between Kadesh and Shur. Abraham is seminomadic and, therefore, this may indicate a change of pasture: Abraham is moving his flocks in and through the region between the two towns. The locations of Kadesh and Shur have already been discussed in the commentary on Genesis 14:7 and 16:7.
At one point in his transhumant wanderings, Abraham arrives at Gerar. The precise location of Gerar is uncertain, although biblical texts indicate that it lies near Beersheba (see 21:32; 26:33), and it is on a main thoroughfare from Canaan to Egypt (2 Chr. 14:12–13). Numerous suggestions for its location have been proffered: Tel Sera’ in the western Negev, some twenty kilometres northwest of Beersheba; Tel Haror, in the same region, approximately twenty kilometres west of Beersheba, and Tell Jemmeh. In any event, as Abraham approaches Gerar, the author reminds us of the patriarch’s status: he is a sojourner, or alien, without the rights and privileges of the citizens of Gerar.
20:2–5. And Abraham said about Sarah his wife, ‘She is my sister.’ So Abimelech King of Gerar sent for and took Sarah. And God came to Abimelech in a dream at night, and he said to him, ‘Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman that you have taken, for she is a married woman!’ And Abimelech had not gone near her. And he said, ‘Lord, will you indeed destroy a nation [that is] righteous? Did he not say to me, “She is my sister”? And indeed [did not] she herself say, “He is my brother”? With integrity of my heart and with innocence of my hands I have done this thing.’
In order to protect himself, Abraham tells the people of the region that Sarah is his sister. He had used this deception previously with the Egyptians (see 12:10–20). While it is true that Sarah is Abraham’s sister, it is not the whole truth. She is his halfsister and she is married to him—Abraham conveniently omits these points.
So the King of Gerar, Abimelech (a common name in the ancient Near East, meaning ‘My father is king’), takes Sarah from Abraham. According to Genesis 17:17, Sarah is ninety years old—what interest could the king have in such an old woman? Possibly he takes her not for her beauty but in order to form an alliance with Abraham, who is a man of great wealth. Or, perhaps Sarah may still have a youthful appearance—after all, she is soon to bear a child!
God speaks to Abimelech in a dream. Revelation through dreams was a common form of divine communication in the ancient Near East, and occurs on a number of occasions in the
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Study Notes
book of Genesis. God’s first word to the king is ‘Behold!’ and here it is a particle of exclamatory force. God emphatically announces that Abimelech is a dead man because he has taken Sarah. This is an example of aposiopesis, in which a threat is given but the speech is incomplete: in this case the omission is the qualification that if the monarch restores her to Abraham, then the threat will not be carried out.
The biblical author inserts the remark that Abimelech had not approached her—that is, he had not touched her. The king’s hesitation is not due to any altruistic behaviour on his part, but it appears that he may have been suffering from some sort of sexual illness (see 20:17).
The king vigorously protests his innocence. The Hebrew particle gam is used twice in his protestation (it is an emphatic adverb meaning ‘indeed’). His argument that he is innocent in ‘heart and hands’ signifies that he has not sinned with either thought or … deed in the situation.
20:6–7. Then God spoke to him in the dream, ‘Indeed, I know that you have done this thing in the integrity of your heart. And I also restrained you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not give you leave to touch her. Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return [her], know that you will certainly die, you and all who belong to you.’
From what God says, there is one reason why Abimelech has not touched Sarah: God has restrained him. The latter is accomplished through a sexual malfunction (see 20:17–18). Adultery is seen as a sin against God, and not only a violation of the marriage arrangement. Indeed, God is the one who established the standards and norms for human relationships; when they are violated, then he is disobeyed (see Ps. 51:4).
ā Abraham is called ‘a prophet’ (Hebrew n bî’). The word is used here for the first time in the Bible. Part of the work of a prophet in Scripture is intercession between God and mankind; he serves as a mediator (see Deut. 18:18). Abraham has already interceded on behalf of the righteous in Sodom (18:22–33), and now it is expected that he will pray on behalf of Abimelech. True forgiveness is also seen as arising from the fact that one who is wronged is the one who makes intercession.
20:8. When Abimelech got up in the morning, he called for all his servants. And he spoke all these words in their hearing. And the men were very afraid.
The king appears to be shocked and staggered by his conversation with Yahweh. So, first thing in the morning, he calls for an assembly of his council of state. When the king’s officials hear what has happened they only have one response: they are ‘very afraid’. This verse serves as a pivot linking two conversations. The first is between Yahweh and Abimelech (20:3–7), and the second is between Abimelech and Abraham (20:9–13). The idea of the people’s fear is being highlighted by the author because it demonstrates God’s
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Study Notes
protection of Abraham.
20:9–10. Then Abimelech called for Abraham, and he said to him, ‘What have you done to us? And what is my sin against you that you bring a great sin on me and on my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.’ And Abimelech said to Abraham, ‘What have you seen that you have done this thing?’
Abimelech summons Abraham and shares with him his deep feelings of indignation. The king believes he has been wronged, and he expresses it with three pointed questions. The first question arising from his vexation is: ‘What have you done to us?’ It is the same question Pharaoh had asked Abraham in the parallel episode in Genesis 12:18, although Pharaoh personalizes it by using a first person singular. The second question is accusatory—Abraham has brought ‘a great sin’ on Gerar. This phrase is most often used in the Old Testament of idolatry (see its use in the goldencalf incident—Exod. 32:21). However, it is also used to condemn adultery. In fact, in the ancient Near East it was a legal 163 term for adultery. Abimelech’s third question is an attempt to find out the reason for Abraham’s deception. The verb translated ‘seen’ can mean ‘to experience’ or ‘learn’. Thus, the king is asking Abraham if he has encountered anything in Gerar that would have caused him to act in such a way.
20:11–13. And Abraham answered, ‘For I said, “Surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me over the matter of my wife.” Besides, she truly is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. And it came to pass when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, “This is your covenant loyalty that you will do for me: to every place where we go, say about me, ‘He is my brother.’ ” ’
Abimelech had just asked three direct questions; now Abraham responds with three excuses to justify his actions. First, he supposed that there was ‘no fear of God’ in Gerar, and that the people would kill him to secure his wife. That phrase is probably not to be seen as referring to Yahweh, for it is obvious that these people have no awe of him. It is more likely that it is to be understood as a euphemism for an absence of moral standards / norms of conduct / transcendent truth. It means that Abraham does not believe the people of Gerar to be very religious or moral.
Secondly, Abraham argues that he is justified because she ‘truly is my sister’. This, of course, is not the whole truth: she is his halfsister and also his wife (for commentary on their genealogy, see 11:27–32). The fact that they have no children also plays an important role in the ruse.
Abraham’s final excuse is the uncertainty of the nomadic life that God has called him to live. He is a sojourner with few of the rights, protections and privileges of the native populations. His status puts him at great risk. And there is a recurrent problem: the natives
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Study Notes
want his wife. And so Abraham’s modus operandi in ‘every place’ is to proclaim his relationship with Sarah as that of a brother and sister. The recurrence of the problem is confirmed by the episode of Genesis 12:10–20 in which Pharaoh attempts to take Sarah for his own (see commentary on that passage).
The verb ‘caused me to wander’ in verse 13 is a plural. That is a problem because its subject is God. Although the name for God here, Elohim, is a plural, when it signifies the one true God it almost always takes a singular verb and singular adjectives. One answer that has been proposed is that perhaps the verb is not in fact plural but is an archaic singular form. Maybe Abraham is not speaking specifically of Yahweh here, but of deity in general. He is in conversation with a heathen, and his address to a foreigner might be more generic.
20:14–15. Then Abimelech took sheep and cattle and male servants and female servants and he gave [them] to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife. And Abimelech said, ‘Behold, my land is before you; settle wherever it is good in your eyes.’
Abimelech now showers gifts on Abraham as a form of reparation. This is done as a restitution for the injustice committed against him by the king, even though it was done unknowingly. Transference of the property is carried out according to the verbal formula, ‘took gave’. That construction is reminiscent of Akkadian cuneiform documents from … Ras Shamra. A number of these texts use a similar formula when denoting a king’s conveyance of property. These verbs are part of the legal language of the royal court when property is being transferred by a king. As Labuschagne comments, ‘There is more than enough evidence to show that the background of our Biblical Hebrew phrase is the royal transactions, more specifically the king’s conveyance of property ’ … One of the things the king offers to Abraham is that he should ‘settle’, or ‘dwell’, in the land of Gerar. This invitation ought to be seen in the light of verse 1, in which Abraham is considered a sojourner/alien in the land of Gerar. He is apparently being offered the rights and privileges of citizenship. It is the opposite of what he had received in Egypt when he was escorted out of the land (see 12:19–20).
20:16. And to Sarah he said, ‘Behold, I have given your brother a thousand [pieces] of silver. Behold, it is a covering of the eyes for you and for all who are with you and for everyone, so that you are justified.’
Abimelech now turns specifically to address Sarah. He tells her he has given her ‘brother’ silver on her account. It is difficult to know why the king calls Abraham by that title. Is it sarcasm? Is this perhaps an attempt by the monarch to avoid compromising Abraham? Or is he recognizing the validity of Abraham’s argument? The amount of recompense is uncertain: in Hebrew, after a numeral often the particular measure is omitted. Some translations insert the measure ‘shekel’, but that is mere supposition. It may also be that this ‘silver’ is not a separate reparation, but Abimelech may be assigning a value to the gifts
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Study Notes
listed in verse 14.
The reason for the gift is as ‘a covering of the eyes’. It is a unique phrase in the Bible, and its symbolic value is difficult to pinpoint. It appears ‘to describe a method for diverting or forestalling suspicion’. The payment may be an indication that Sarah’s honour has been violated, and now her honour is being reestablished. The eyes of everyone will now be closed to what has occurred. As Gunkel points out, ‘It refers to appeasement which hinders 171 one from seeing the harm done.’ The idea that this act is to restore Sarah’s honour is supported by the telescopic statement at the end of the verse: ‘so that you are justified’. The basic thrust of this verb in Hebrew is to correct or to set right.
20:17–18. So Abraham prayed to God. And God healed Abimelech and his wife and his handmaids so that they bore children. For Yahweh had certainly closed every womb of the house of Abimelech on account of the matter of Sarah the wife of Abraham.
After the return of Sarah, Abraham prays on behalf of Abimelech, as God had said he would (20:7). It is an effective intercession, and that is one sign of a true prophet (see Deut. 18:21–22). God intervenes by healing Abimelech and his household; as was suspected as early as verses 2–5, Abimelech and his people are under a spell of sexual dysfunction. It appears that they have been incapable of intercourse, and they have been sterile. God cures them of the malady.
The biblical author wants the reader to know the actual cause of the physical problem. Yahweh ‘had certainly closed’ all the wombs of the women—that is a typical grammatical construction, an infinitive absolute before a cognate verb, that is emphatic. It is ‘Yahweh’ who has done this thing. Because the name Yahweh has not appeared in this chapter, some commentators want to see it as a later addition to the text. On the other hand, its appearance serves a significant purpose as pivotal point, introducing the subject of the next chapter: in Genesis 21:1 it is Yahweh who visits Sarah and opens her womb that she might conceive. A major point of both episodes is the sovereignty of Yahweh over conception and childbirth. Yahweh is the one who opens and closes the womb!
Application
As we have seen, this episode is in many ways similar to the events in Egypt narrated in Genesis 12:10–20. In that earlier story, Abraham had lied in order to protect himself. His faith had faltered, and his trust in God waned. It was a low point in the life of Abraham. In this story of Abimelech, God puts Abraham in a similar situation: the cycle is reenacted, and the same issues are in doubt. How will Abraham react this time? Will he trust in the promises of God? Will he realize that God will protect him? What happens, unfortunately, is that Abraham does the same thing that he did in Egypt—he falters in his faith, and he attempts to rely on his own cunning to get out of difficult circumstances.
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Study Notes
Each of us has deeply worn channels of a corrupt nature—besetting sins that refuse to let us go. And these sins come in cycles. They revisit us time and time again. Similar situations lead us to act in a similar vein. But, as in the case of Abraham, God continues to bring the situations upon us so that we should see our sin, and that we should turn to him, that we should trust him and realize he will protect us. Such repetitive cycles highlight our 2 besetting sins, but they also point to a solution, which is complete trust and faith in God.
ACTING IN A DISGRACEFUL WAY
Genesis 20:1–18
Genesis 20 presents many problems to the interpreter. Abraham’s actions here are inexplicable in view of the divine announcement that the child of promise would be born within the year. Furthermore, at age ninety, pregnant, and “worn out,” to use her own words, Sarah was still physically attractive to a pagan king it seems. For these reasons some have proposed that this chapter is not in chronological order. Without question chronological dislocation can be demonstrated in the patriarchal narratives. Here, however, there does not appear to be sufficient grounds for transposing this episode to an earlier phase of Abraham’s life. In five thought movements the narrative unfolds.
A. Indiscretion by Abraham (Gn 20:1–2)
Abraham renewed his journeys, this time traveling into the Negev. He camped between Kadesh on the southern edge of the Negev and Shur on the border of Egypt. The territory was known as Gerar. Some authorities place Gerar much further north near Gaza, but this interpretation would necessitate two moves by Abraham in a very short period of time. Abraham had remained some twenty years at Mamre and no hint is given as to why he now moved. Aalders speculates that it was because of an influx of Hittites into the area of Hebron (cf. Gn 23).
In Gerar Abraham repeated an old sin. He identified Sarah as his sister (cf. Gn 12:13). Whitelaw observes that “a sin once committed is not difficult to repeat, especially if its legitimate consequences, as in the case of Abraham and Sarah, have been mercifully averted. One is apt to fancy that a like immunity will attend its repetition.” The lie was unjustified and it was worthless. “Abimelech sent and took Sarah.” As it turned out, the lie was also unnecessary for Abimelech was a man with high moral standards, higher in fact
2 Currid, J. D. (n.d.). A Study Commentary on Genesis: Genesis 1:1–25:18 (Vol. 1, pp. 360–369). Darlington, England: Evangelical Press.
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Study Notes than Abraham himself. In the previous chapter Lot offered his daughters to the men of Sodom. In the present chapter under far less dangerous circumstances Abraham in effect offered his wife to a pagan king. God would have the reader know that his choice of Abraham had nothing to do with merit!
The problem of Abimelech’s desire for a pregnant, ninety year old woman must be honestly faced. Some have suggested that Sarah had been rejuvenated in order to have children. Others have suggested that the marriage had nothing to do with physical attraction. Abimelech, so they say, was seeking a marriage alliance with the clan of Abraham.
B. Intervention by God (Gn 20:3–7)
God dealt with Abraham here better than he deserved. Divine grace intervened and rescued both Abimelech and Abraham from a potentially disastrous situation. Five aspects of grace can be seen in these verses.
1. Revealing grace. God came to Abimelech in a dream warning him that he had taken another man’s wife into his harem. Abimelech pled innocent of any intention to commit adultery.
2. Restraining grace. God had prevented Abimelech from having a sexual relationship with Sarah and thus sinning against God. That the act of adultery had not actually been consummated was certainly not due to Abraham’s actions!
3. Protecting grace. The purity of the promised seed was protected by the restraint placed on Abimelech.
4. Directing grace. Abimelech was told to restore Abraham’s wife immediately. Abimelech still could be forgiven of the sin he innocently committed through the intercessory prayer of the prophet Abraham. If he disobeyed this divine directive he and all his family would die.
5. Chastening grace. The Lord had brought the curse of infertility on the house of Abimelech because he had taken Sarah. Taking another’s spouse is so serious a sin that it must be punished even if done in ignorance.
The Bible does not whitewash its characters. In no way is Abraham exonerated for what he did. Not one word of defense is offered on his behalf. God’s intervention must be seen, not as his approval of what was done, but as his determination to fulfill the covenant promise in spite of the moral lapses of his servant.
C. Confrontation with Abraham (Gn 20:8–13)
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Study Notes
Abimelech was eager to comply with the directive of God. Early the next morning he assembled his servants and briefed them concerning what had happened. They were afraid when they heard that their master had committed this offense against God.
Abimelech next called Abraham to the assembly and interrogated him. His probing questions were designed to rebuke Abraham publicly. Abimelech was being most charitable in his words when he said: “You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!” In the mind of the king there had to be some logical explanation, some grand scheme behind such a dastardly deception.
Abraham gave three explanations of his conduct: (1) He thought his life was in danger in Gerar because of Sarah. Pagan kings took the women they wanted even if it meant killing a husband. Where the fear of God is absent there is no respect for the rights of others. Abraham never dreamed that these pagans would be Godfearing men. (2) Sarah was in fact his half sister. The two shared a common father. Therefore Abraham told a halftruth. (3) Claiming a brothersister relationship was a strategy going back to the days when God called the patriarch from Ur of Chaldees. The scheme was Abraham’s. (At least give Abraham credit. He did not try to blame the whole idea on his wife!) Apparently the sibling relationship was more universally respected than the marital relationship in this period.
D. Vindication of Sarah (Gn 20:14–16)
Abimelech restored Sarah to Abraham as the Lord directed. He then made three other gestures to demonstrate his contrition over the incident: (1) He gave Abraham a gift of sheep, oxen, male and female servants. (2) He invited Abraham to dwell in the land of Gerar anywhere he pleased. (3) He gave an additional gift of a thousand pieces of silver to Sarah’s brother. Abimelech spoke sarcastically. This was to be Sarah’s vindication. People would be reluctant to ridicule Sarah when they observed how richly she had been blessed.
E. Intercession by Abraham (Gn 20:17–18)
In Genesis 20 Abraham appears again in the role of an intercessor (cf. Gn 18). In spite of his sin, Abraham still had his standing with God. He was a prophet (20:7). God was better to Abraham than he deserved, for he was made the medium of bestowing blessing on Abimelech. God answered the prayer of Abraham and healed the infertility of the king’s house. How ironic that Abraham’s prayers opened the wombs of Philistine women, but for 3 twentyfive years his own wife had not been able to conceive.
3 Smith, J. E. (1993). The Pentateuch (2nd ed., pp. 153–156). Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co.
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