Genesis 20:16

_AND 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._ I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver. [The word _ SHEQEL_ (H8255) is often omitted: cf. Genesis 37:28; Deuteronomy 22:19; Hosea 3:2.] HE IS TO THEE A COVERING OF THE EYES. This is commonly understood to mean a veil to conceal her charms, and be a public manifestation to all that she was a married woman (1 Corinthians 11:10).

16._He is to thee a covering of the eyes_. Because there is, in these words, some obscurity, the passage is variously explained. The beginning of the verse is free from difficulty. For when Abimelech had given a thousand pieces of silver; in order that his liberality might not be suspected, he declare6 that he had given them to Abraham; and that since Abraham had been honorably received, his wife was not to be regarded as a harlot. But what follows is more obscure, ‘He shall be a veil to thee.’ Many interpreters refer this to the gift; in which they seem to me to be wrong. The Hebrews, having no neuter gender, use the feminine instead of it. But Moses, in this place, rather points to the husband; and this best suits the sense. For Sarah is taught that the husband to whom she is joined was as a veil, with which she ought to be covered lest she should be exposed to others. Paul says, that...

14-18 We often trouble ourselves, and even are led into temptation and sin, by groundless suspicions; and find the fear of God where we expected it not. Agreements to deceive generally end in shame and sorrow; and restraints from sin, though by suffering, should be thankfully acknowledged. Though the Lord rebuke, yet he will pardon and deliver his people, and he will give them favour in the sight of those with whom they sojourn; and overrule their infirmities, when they are humbled for them, so that they shall prove useful to themselves and others....

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 understands it. The Septuagint has χιλια διδραχμα, a thousand didrachma, no doubt meaning _shekels_; for in Genesis 23:15-1, this translation uses διδραχμα for the Hebrew שקל _shekel_. As _shakal_ signifies literally _to_ _weigh_, and the shekel was a coin of such a weight, Mr. Ainsworth and others think this to be the origin of our word _scale_, the instrument to _weigh_ with. The shekel of th

- Abraham in Gerar 2. אבימלך .2 _'ǎbı̂ymelek_, Abimelekh, “father of the king.” 7. נביא _nābı̂y'_ “prophet,” he who speaks by God, of God, and to God, who declares to people not merely things future, but also things past and present, that are not obvious to the sense or the reason; related: “flow, go forth.” 13. התעוּ _hı̂t‛û_ is plural in punctuation, agreeing grammatically with אלהים _'ĕlohı̂ym_. ו(w), however, may be regarded as the third radical, and the verb may thus really be singular. 16. נכהת _nokachat_ an unusual form, either for נכחת noka

EXPOSITION GENESIS 20:1 AND ABRAHAM JOURNEYED (_vide_ Genesis 12:9) FROM THENCE. Mamre (Genesis 18:1). In search of pasture, as on a previous occasion (Keil); or in consequence of the hostility of his neighbors (Calvin); or because he longed to escape from the scene of so terrible a calamity as he had witnessed (Calvin, Wilier, Murphy); or in order to benefit as many places and peoples as possible by his residence among them (A Lapide); or perhaps being impelled by God, who designed thereby to remind him that Canaan was not intended for a permanent habitation, but for a constant pilgrimage (Poole, Kalisch). Toward the south c

AND UNTO SARAH HE SAID, BEHOLD, I HAVE GIVEN THY BROTHER A THOUSAND [PIECES] OF SILVER,.... Or shekels of silver, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, which, if two shillings and sixpence of our money, amount to one hundred and twenty five pounds; though perhaps little pieces of silver, current in this country, may be meant, that were not worth so much. Some think that the sheep, oxen, c. Abimelech had given to Abraham, were worth so many pieces of silver: but it rather seems that he gave these over and above them, and chiefly for Sarah's use, as will be observed hereafter since the words are directed to her, and in which there is a sharp cutting expression, calling Abraham her brother, and not her husband, thereby putting her in mind and upbraiding her with her equivocation and dissimulation: BEHOLD, HE [IS] TO THEE A COVERING OF THE EYES, UNTO ALL THAT [ARE] WITH THEE; a protecti...

CHAPTER 20 ABRAHAM IN GERAR _ 1. Abraham in Gerar (Genesis 20:1)_ 2. Second denial of Sarah (Genesis 20:2) 3. God's dealing with Abimelech (Genesis 20:3) 4. Abimelech and Abraham (Genesis 20:8) Note Abraham's going down to Egypt in chapter 12 and now going to Gerar and denying again Sarah. In chapter 26 Isaac goes also to Gerar and denies Rebekah. It shows what the flesh is. But Abraham is greatly honored by the Lord. The Lord called him a prophet. Abraham prayed and God healed Abimelech....

GENESIS 20. ABRAHAM PASSES OFF SARAH AS HIS SISTER AT GERAR. The first complete narrative from E. The writer uses Elohim, but P's characteristics are absent. Phraseology as well as the use of Elohim instead of Yahweh forbid us to assign it to J, who has also a variant of the story (Genesis 12:1); contrast Genesis 20:13 with Genesis 12:11. Features which point to E are the phraseology, the representation of Abraham as a prophet (Genesis 20:7) and his home as in the Negeb (Genesis 20:1), also the speaking of God in a dream; Sarah is obviously of an age a

BROTHER. Figure of speech _Irony._ COVERING, &C. Figure of speech _Periphrasis._ App-6. Having called Abraham her "brother", he uses this beautiful Figure for her husband. Compare Genesis 24:65; 1 Corinthians 11:5, &c. REPROVED, i.e. by the Irony....