10 Jul 2025 – jeffersonvann

Genesis 20

Genesis 20:1 Abraham traveled from that place to the territory of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur, and he lived as a guest in Gerar.

Genesis 20:2 And Abraham told people regarding Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So, Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

Genesis 20:3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “Notice, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is another man’s wife.”

Genesis 20:4 But Abimelech had not had relations with her. So, he said, “Lord, will you kill a blameless nation?

Genesis 20:5 Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with integrity in my heart and with innocent hands.”

Genesis 20:6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, in fact, it was I who kept you from failing[1] me. For this reason, I did not let you touch her.

Genesis 20:7 So, return the man’s wife now because he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will stay alive. But if you do not return her, know that you will definitely die, you, and everyone associated with you.”

Genesis 20:8 So Abimelech got up early in the morning and called all his slaves and told them all these things. And the men were very frightened.

Genesis 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I failed you, that you have caused me and my kingdom to commit a great failure?[2] You have done to me things that ought not to be done.”

Genesis 20:10 And Abimelech asked Abraham, “What were you thinking that possessed you to do this thing?”

Genesis 20:11 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’s beauty.

Genesis 20:12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not my mother’s daughter, and she later became my wife.

Genesis 20:13 And when God caused me to roam from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is the covenant faithfulness you must show me: at every place where we go, say of me, He is my brother.'”

Genesis 20:14 Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male slaves and female slaves, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him.

Genesis 20:15 And Abimelech said, “Notice, my land is before you; live wherever you want to.”

Genesis 20:16 To Sarah, he said, “Notice, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all with you, and before everyone, you are vindicated.”

Genesis 20:17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and also healed his wife and female slaves[3] so that they could again give birth to children.

Genesis 20:18 You see, Yahveh had closed all the uteruses of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

[1] חָטָא = fail. Genesis 20:6, 9; 31:39; 39:9; 40:1; 42:22; 43:9; 44:32.

[2] חֲטָאָה = failure.

[3] אָמָה = female slave. Genesis 20:17; 21:10, 12, 13; 30:3; 31:33.

Genesis 20 quotes:

“The portrayal of the monarch in this tale is as interesting as the portrayal of husband and wife. He is scrupulously honest. The divine being directly reveals the truth to this person. The effect, as in Genesis 12, is to show the foreigner’s implicit fear of God. The character who should be playing the role of adversary plays a veritable patriarchal role in his close and positive relationship with the divine. Implicit here is a certain respect for people such as Abimelech who are in positions of power, a respect that is not grudging or implicitly mocking but genuine. It is also significant that he is a non-Israelite. Such people are capable of deserving respect, human and divine. As noted in the morphological analysis, the should-be “adversary” in Genesis 20 is the victim, his problem and its rectification a focus of the tale equally important to the focus on the hero and his wife. This is a tale without a villain.”

Niditch, Susan. A Prelude to Biblical Folklore: Underdogs and Tricksters. University of Illinois Press, 2000. p. 56.

“I chose to do an Old Testament Exegesis to show that healing not only happened in the New Testament, but also in the Old Testament. Canonically, this is important because it shows that healing is an integral part of the message of the Holy Bible. The Bible is Holy because it is to be read as a whole, not as fragments, and this wholeness brings in healing as an integral message of the whole Bible (to heal is to make whole). I chose Genesis 20:17-18 particularly because it is the first recorded healing in the Bible, and as such, lays a foundation for the rest of the healing in the Bible.”

Moore, Les. Healing in the Christian Spiritual Tradition. Author, 2003. p.2.

“Abraham is described not only as dwelling in the Negeb but also as sojourning in Gerar. The word “sojourn,” which is used also of Abraham’s stay in Egypt (Genesis 12:10), contains the word ger or “foreigner,” and really means that he lived there as a foreigner. Gerar itself must have been a city of importance in the time of Abraham, since it is described as under a king named Abimelech (Genesis 20:2).”

Finegan, Jack. In the Beginning; a Journey through Genesis. [1st ed.] ed., Harper, 1962. p. 89.