Genesis 20:12-18 ESV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 20:8-13

Abimelech, being thus warned of God in a dream, takes the warning, and, as one truly afraid of sin and its consequences, he rises early to obey the directions given him. I. He has a caution for his servants, Gen. 20:8. Abraham himself could not be more careful than he was to command his household in this matter. Note, Those whom God has convinced of sin and danger ought to tell others what God has done for their souls, that they also may be awakened and brought to a like holy fear. II. He has... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 20:14-18

Here is, I. The kindness of a prince which Abimelech showed to Abraham. See how unjust Abraham's jealousies were. He fancied that if they knew that Sarah was his wife they would kill him; but, when they did know it, instead of killing him they were kind to him, frightened at least to be so by the divine rebukes they were under. 1. He gives him his royal licence to dwell where he pleased in his country, courting his stay because he gives him his royal gifts (Gen. 20:14), sheep and oxen, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 20:12

And yet indeed she is my sister ,.... In the same sense as Lot was his brother; for she was sister to Lot, and both were the children of Haran, the brother of Abraham: she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother ; she was the daughter of his father, being his granddaughter, grandchildren are sometimes called children, but not the daughter or granddaughter of Abraham's mother; Terah having had two wives, by the one he had Haran, the father of Sarah, and by the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 20:13

And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house ,.... In Ur of the Chaldees, from whence God called him to go forth; which laid him under an obligation to depart from thence, and move from place to place, and go he knew not where, as in Hebrews 11:8 ; or "the Gods", as it is in the plural number, and so the verb in construction with it; not the idol gods, the gods of the Gentiles, as the Targum of Jonathan, who interprets the words thus,"and it was when the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 20:14

And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham ,.... In a good measure satisfied with what Abraham had said to excuse himself; and these gifts he gave unto him, that he might, as Jarchi observes, pray and intercede for him, that he and his family might be healed, having understood by the divine oracle that he was a prophet, and if he prayed for him he would be restored to health: and these were not given to bribe him to give his consent... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 20:15

And Abimelech said, behold, my whole land is before thee ,.... Instead of bidding him be gone, and sending him away in haste out of his country, as the king of Egypt did in a like case, he solicits his stay in it; and to encourage him to it, makes an offer of his whole kingdom to him, to choose which part of it he would to dwell in: dwell where it pleaseth thee ; if there was anyone part of it better than another, or more convenient for him, his family and his flocks, he was welcome to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 20:16

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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 20:17

So Abraham prayed unto God ,.... As the Lord had told Abimelech be would, Genesis 20:7 ; he might pray for the forgiveness of him and his wife, and might give thanks that Sarah had been restored to him; but chiefly it was on account of Abimelech and his family: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants : who by reason of some disease were rendered unfit for and incapable of cohabitation with their husbands, and they with them; but upon Abraham's prayer for them, who... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 20:18

For the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech ,.... With large tumours probably, so that they could not cohabit with their husbands and conceive; nor could those that had conceived bring forth: and this disorder they were smitten with: because of Sarah Abraham's wife ; who was taken into the house of Abimelech, in order to be his; to rebuke and punish for which, and to convince of the evil of it, and cause to abstain from it, this disorder was inflicted on them. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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 in a contrary sense to that which he knows to be true. It is, in a word, any action done or speech delivered with the intention to deceive, though both may be absolutely true and right in themselves. See note on Genesis... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 20:8-13

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 20:14-18

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 20:12

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 20:13

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 20:14

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 20:15

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 20:16

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 20:17

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 20:18

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 20:12

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