GroundedNarrativeGenesis 20

Sarah and Abimelech

Genesis 20 (selected)narrative

Sarah and Abimelech

The history

This is the third time a patriarch passes his wife off as his sister to a foreign king, after Genesis 12 and before Genesis 26. Three versions of one story is strong evidence that the traditions behind Genesis circulated in variant forms the editors kept side by side rather than smoothing into one. The sharpest detail here is that Abimelech, the pagan king, behaves more honorably than Abraham, the man of the promise, and God still calls Abraham a prophet.

Friedman · Westermann

1Now Abraham journeyed from there to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar, 2Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him. 3One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.” 4Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he replied, “Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent? 5Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.” 6Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her. 7Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet; he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, be aware that you will surely die—you and all who belong to you.” 11Abraham replied, “I thought to myself, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.’ 14So Abimelech brought sheep and cattle, menservants and maidservants, and he gave them to Abraham and restored his wife Sarah to him. 17Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—