Genesis 20:1-18
Gen. 20:1-18
- Locate the passage
This passage is immediately after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sin and the incest between Lot and his daughters and the consequences the text foreshadows. These two events point to the consequences of sin that should have been a warning to Abraham. Note the sequence:
- The consequences of the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:12-29)
- The consequences of the sin of Lot and his daughters (Gen. 19:30-38)
- The consequences of the sin of Abraham (20:1-14)
- Genre
The passage is narrative. Note the conversations between Abraham and Abimelech; God and Abimelech; Abimelech and Sarah; and Abraham and God
- Determine the structure of the passage
20:1-2 – Abraham lies about his wife, again, and Abimelech takes her as his wife
20:3-8 – God prevented Abimelech from violating Sarah
20:9-16 – Abimelech confronts Abraham
20:16-18 – God listened to the prayers of the wayward, but eventually obedient prophet
- Exegete the passage
This passage records Abraham’s deceit 2.0. Perhaps Abraham did not learn his lesson from his previous deceit of Pharaoh, or maybe he was satisfied with the lucrative benefits from the last time.
While Abraham’s deceit is repulsive, these two episodes of Abraham’s offering of his wife do indicate the unusual beauty of Sarah. Note that the two men who showed an interest in the nonagenarian were both monarchs (Pharaoh and king).
20:1 – Abraham journeyed – see 12:9
20:1 – Abraham dwelt in Kadesh
- This is the region to which Hagar had previously fled (cf. 16:7)
20:2 – “She is my sister”
- This is the second time that Abraham has lied about Sarah (cf. 12:10-20)
- The action is selfish, callous, and repulsive
- Abraham is oddly and inexplicably unconcerned about the welfare or potential physical and sexual abuse of his wife
- The fact that Sarah twice goes along with this says more about her than it does about Abraham
20:2 – “Abimelech”
- The name means, “my father is king”
- He is the king of Gerar
- 26:1 – Isaac, who followed in his father’s sin, also tried to deceive a man named, Abimelech, who was also the king of Gerar
- It is possible that, like Pharaoh, this was a name given to kings of Gerar
20:2 – Abimelech took Sarah
- This could imply wife-stealing, but it is clear that Abimelech was not aware that Sarah was married to Abraham
- 17:17 – Sarah is at least 90 years old
- The same language “took her as his wife” is common (11:29; 12:19; 16:3; 24:67; 25:1, 20; 30:9; 38:6; Deut. 24:3; Ruth 4:13; 1 Chron. 7:15; 2 Chron. 11:18; Ezra 2:61; Neh. 7:63) and does not necessarily imply force
20:3-7 – Mathews proposes a chiastic structure in verses 3-7
A vs. 3 you are as good as dead
B vs. 3 the woman you have taken
C vs. 4 Abimelech had not gone near her
D vs. 4 will you destroy an innocent nation
E vs. 5 with a clear conscience
F vs. 6 God said to him in a dream
E´ vs. 6 with a clear conscience
D´ vs. 6 I have kept you from sinning
C´ vs. 6 I did not let you touch her
B´ vs. 7 return the man’s wife
A´ vs. 7 you will live … if you do not … you and all your will die[1] Kenneth A. Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, New American Commentary, vol. 1B (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2005): 250.
20:3 – God came to Abimelech in a dream
- God spoke to a
- 31:24
20:3 – You are a dead man
- God’s message is abrupt and direct
- The reason for God’s judgment – he has taken another man’s wife
- Abimelech doesn’t deny that taking another man’s wife would be wrong; he denies his knowledge of it
20:5 – Didn’t he say …
- The irony of what the prophet didn’t say
20:5 – Abimelech’s assertion of his “integrity” in vs. 5 is divinely affirmed in vs. 6.
20:6 – “I withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.”
- God prevented Abimelech from sinning in ignorance
20:7 – He is a prophet
- He’s not acting like one
- It’s a little sad that Abimelech has to be told that Abraham is a prophet
- There was nothing in their past that would indicate that
20:8 – “Abimelech rose early”
- 22:3
- Abimelech is eager to rectify the situation
20:8 – the men were very much afraid
- vs. 11
- Abraham was wrong; there actually was fear of God in this place
- The problem seems to be that Abraham doesn’t really fear God
20:9 – what have you done to us
- 20:18 – the consequences of Abraham’s deception had impacted all those in his house
20:9 – You have done deed to me that ought not to be done
- It’s ironic that a pagan king would need to remind the prophet of this
20:10 – what did you have in view
- “what did you see”
- This is possibly a reference to Abraham as a “seer”
20:11 – I … me … my
- There’s no reference to Abraham seeking God
20:12 – She actually is my sister
- A half-truth is still a lie
20:13 – God caused me to wander
- In language that resembles Eve in the garden, Abraham is close to blaming God for his sin
20:14 – Abimelech gave to Abraham
- Abraham has now twice financially benefited from betraying and endangering his wife and deceiving a king
20:16 – Abimelech spoke to Abraham
- He seems more concerned with her honor than her husband
20:16 – “she was rebuked” (NKJV)
- The translation “rebuked” seems an unfortunate translation here
- “yacach” – carries the idea of “proven; decided; or shown to be right”
- A better translation seems to be vindicated or exonerated
20:17 – God healed Abimelech
- Hb – “raphe” usually implies recovery from disease
- Infertility was considered a disease or a curse (Ex. 15:26; Deut. 7:12-15; 28:4, 18)
20:17-18 – Abraham finally acts like a prophet of God
- Abraham was an imperfect intercessor
- Christ is our perfect intercessor!
- Then they bore children
- The text does not indicate how long Sarah was held in Abimelech’s house, but clearly it was long enough for the people to notice that their wives were not bearing children
- Let the structure of the text drive the sermon
Exp. God’s thwarting of the adultery taking place doesn’t absolve Abraham of his sin, but it reveals God’s reverence for the sanctity of marriage
Exp. God desires purity in your marriage even more than you do
- When there’s no fear of God – It doesn’t bother us to repeatedly Sin (2)
- He’s done this before – and it was wrong then!
- He didn’t learn his lesson the first time to truth God
- When there’s no fear of God – It doesn’t bother us for others to suffer for our sin
- Sarah (20:2)
- Abimelech (20:3)
- Isaac (26:7)
- When there’s no fear of God – It doesn’t bother us to weaken our witness (7)
- When there’s no fear of God – It doesn’t bother us to spiritualize disobedience (11)
- Abraham had a spiritual excuse for his inexcusable actions
- In essence, he blamed God for his sin
- Abraham misrepresent his faith in God – He invoked God’s name to convince people that God had anything to do with his faithless actions
- Abraham had a spiritual excuse for his inexcusable actions
- When there’s no fear of God – It doesn’t bother us to Rationalize Sin (12)
- When there’s no fear of God – It doesn’t bother us to live w/ unconfessed sin (13)
- When there’s no fear of God – It doesn’t bother us to profit from sin (16)
References