The big picture
After Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed, Abraham moves south and stays near Gerar, a city ruled by King Abimelech. Sarah is Abraham's wife and also his half-sister. Abraham again fears that men will kill him to take her, so he says she is his sister and leaves out the marriage. Abimelech sends for Sarah and brings her into his household. Before he touches her, God warns him in a dream. The danger now reaches Sarah, Abimelech, and everyone under his rule.
In this chapter
- God Stops Abimelech Before He Acts Genesis 20:1-7
Abraham settles for a time in Gerar and tells people that Sarah is his sister.
- Abimelech Confronts Abraham About the Lie Genesis 20:8-13
Abimelech gets up early and tells his servants what God said.
- Sarah Returns and Abimelech Makes Amends Genesis 20:14-18
Abimelech returns Sarah to Abraham.
Central truth
Genesis 20 shows how Abraham's fear endangers Sarah and others, while God stops the wrong and brings the damage into the open.
Scripture beside the summary
Genesis · King James Version · 18Genesis 20:1-7
God Stops Abimelech Before He Acts
Abraham settles for a time in Gerar and tells people that Sarah is his sister. Abimelech, the king, sends for Sarah and takes her into his household. God comes to Abimelech in a dream and tells him Sarah is married. Abimelech says he has not touched her and did not know the truth. God agrees that Abimelech acted without knowing. He also says He kept the king from sinning with Sarah. Abimelech must return her to Abraham. God calls Abraham a prophet and says Abraham will pray for him. Refusal will bring death on Abimelech and all who belong to him.
In everyday life
A husband brings his unconscious wife to an emergency room after a crash. Fearing that police will blame him for causing it, he tells staff she is his sister. Doctors now make urgent decisions without knowing that her husband is standing beside them while she cannot speak. A physician discovers the marriage before a major procedure and stops the consent process until it is corrected. The hospital can repair the record; Abimelech has royal power over Sarah and faces a direct warning from God.
Notice
Genesis 20:6 God says He kept Abimelech from touching Sarah. That matters because the danger is stopped before Abimelech acts, even though Abraham's deception created the risk.
Genesis 20:1-7
King James Version1And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.
2And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
3But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.
4But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
5Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.
6And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.
7Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.
Genesis 20:8-13
Abimelech Confronts Abraham About the Lie
Abimelech gets up early and tells his servants what God said. They are frightened. He then summons Abraham and demands an explanation. Abraham says he expected Gerar to have no fear of God. He thought men there would kill him to get Sarah. Abraham adds that Sarah truly is his half-sister because they share a father. Yet she is also his wife, the fact he hid. He says the plan began when God led him away from his father's home. Abraham had asked Sarah to call him her brother wherever they travelled. His answer shows a standing plan built on a true statement that concealed the crucial truth.
In everyday life
A man handling his mother's estate tells his brothers that the buyer for the family house is an old friend. That is true, but he hides that the buyer is also his business partner. They sign a sale that benefits him, then find the partnership papers and confront him. Fear of losing the deal drives a true statement that conceals the decisive fact. Abraham's hidden fact concerns Sarah's marriage and safety, not a house sale.
Notice
Genesis 20:13 Abraham says this was the arrangement wherever they travelled. His deception was not a sudden panic in Gerar but a plan he had carried with him.
Genesis 20:8-13
King James Version8Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.
9Then 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.
10And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?
11And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.
12And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
13And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.
Genesis 20:14-18
Sarah Returns and Abimelech Makes Amends
Abimelech returns Sarah to Abraham. He also gives Abraham sheep, cattle, male servants, and female servants. The king lets Abraham choose where to live in his land. Then Abimelech speaks to Sarah about one thousand pieces of silver given to Abraham. His phrase about a covering of the eyes is difficult to pin down. It appears to mark a public settling of the wrong done to her. Abraham then prays for Abimelech. God heals the king, his wife, and the women who serve in his household. They can have children again. Genesis says God had closed every womb in Abimelech's house because Sarah had been taken.
In everyday life
A superintendent removes a teacher from work after a false theft accusation. He later learns the charge came from bad information. He restores her job, repays lost wages, and sends a written correction to everyone who received the accusation. The teacher gets her income and public name back as far as human action can restore them. No superintendent can give the bodily healing that Genesis says God gives Abimelech's household.
Notice
Genesis 20:16 Abimelech addresses Sarah directly and mentions the thousand pieces of silver. The difficult phrase about a covering of the eyes suggests the settlement concerns how the incident is seen by others.
Genesis 20:14-18
King James Version14And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.
15And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.
16And 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.
17So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.
18For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Genesis 20:1 begins with “And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.”
Where the chapter turns
Genesis 20:9 forms a natural hinge: “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…”
The final note
Genesis 20:18 leaves the reader with “For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Abimelech, Abraham, wife, Sarah, brother, sister help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- sojourned
- lived temporarily in a place away from his permanent home.
- withheld
- held back or prevented from taking an action.
- prophet
- a person who receives and speaks a message from God.
- reproved
- corrected or set right; the exact force of this phrase is uncertain.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
