CHAPTER XX _Abraham leaves Mamre, and, after having sojourned at Kadesh and_ _Shur, settles in Gerar_, 1. _Abimelech takes Sarah, Abraham having acknowledged her only as_ _his sister_, 2. _Abimelech is warned by God in a dream to restore Sarah_, 3. _He asserts his innocence_, 4, 5. _He is far... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 20:2. _SHE IS MY SISTER_] See the parallel account, Genesis 12:11-1, and the notes there. Sarah was now about ninety years of age, and probably pregnant with Isaac. Her beauty, therefore, must have been considerably impaired since the time she was taken in a similar manner by Pharaoh,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 20:3. _BUT GOD CAME TO ABIMELECH_] Thus we find that persons who were not of the _family_ of _Abraham_ had the knowledge of the true God. Indeed, all the _Gerarites_ are termed גוי צדיק _goi_ _tsaddik_, a righteous nation, Genesis 20:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 20:5. _IN THE INTEGRITY OF MY HEART, C._] Had Abimelech any other than honourable views in taking Sarah, he could not have justified himself thus to his Maker and that these views were of the most honourable kind, God himself, to whom the appeal was made, asserts in the most direct man... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 20:7. _HE IS A PROPHET, AND HE SHALL PRAY FOR THEE_] The word prophet, which we have from the Greek προφητες, and which is compounded of προ, _before_, and φημι, _I speak_, means, in its general acceptation, one who _speaks of things before they happen_, i.e., one who _foretells_ futu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 20:8. _ABIMELECH ROSE EARLY, C._] God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and we find as the day broke he arose, assembled his servants, (what we would call his _courtiers_,) and communicated to them what he had received from God. They were all struck with astonishment, and discerne... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 20:11. _AND ABRAHAM SAID_] The best excuse he could make for his conduct, which in _this_ instance is far from defensible.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 20:12. _SHE IS MY SISTER_] I have not told a lie; I have suppressed only a part of the truth. In this place it may be proper to ask, _What is a lie_? It is any action done or word spoken, whether true or false in itself, which the doer or speaker wishes the observer or hearer to take i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 20:13. _WHEN GOD CAUSED ME TO WANDER_] Here the word אלהים _Elohim_ is used with a plural verb, (התעו _hithu_, caused me to wander), which is not very usual in the Hebrew language, as this _plural noun_ is generally joined with _verbs_ in the _singular_ number. Because there is a depar... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 20:16. _AND UNTO SARAH HE SAID_] But _what_ did he say? Here there is scarcely any agreement among interpreters; the Hebrew is exceedingly obscure, and every interpreter takes it in his own sense. _A THOUSAND_ PIECES _OF SILVER_] SHEKELS are very probably meant here, and so the Targum... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 20:17. _SO ABRAHAM PRAYED_] This was the prime office of the נביא _nabi_; see Genesis 20:7.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 20:18. _FOR THE LORD HAD FAST CLOSED UP ALL THE WOMBS_] Probably by means of some _disease_ with which he had smitten them, hence it is said _they were healed_ at Abraham's intercession; and this seems necessarily to imply that they had been afflicted by some disease that rendered it i... [ Continue Reading ]