Abraham and Abimelech

Sister

Then Abraham traveled to the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. While staying in Gerar, he claimed Sarah was his sister. So Abimelech, king of Gerar, took her.

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Abraham left Hebron and headed south to the Negev. Then he turned back north and stayed among the Philistines of Gerar for a time.¹ Only a year passed between Genesis 19 and 21, leaving not much time for the events of chapter 20.² Abraham must have left Hebron soon after, and possibly because of, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The events in Gerar certainly indicate that something had shaken Abraham’s great faith.

At the beginning of his pilgrimage, Abraham had passed Sarah off as his sister while in Egypt.³ That didn’t end well.⁴ Nonetheless, almost twenty-five years later, he tried the same ruse in Gerar. Why was he afraid someone would want to kill him over his ninety-year-old wife? In her sixties, Sarah was beautiful, but her appearance is never mentioned in chapter 20. More likely, Abimelech took her because the marriage would have allied him with the wealthy and powerful Abraham.⁵

Regardless of Abimelech’s reasons, Abraham’s foolishness once again cost him his wife. But this time, it put Yahweh’s promise at risk.⁶ Sarah couldn’t give birth to Abraham’s son while in Abimelech’s harem.

Abimelech’s Dream

One night, God spoke to Abimelech in a dream. “You are as good as dead because of the woman you took. She has a husband!”

Abimelech, who had not approached her, replied, “My Lord, would you kill an innocent nation? Didn’t he tell me she’s his sister? And didn’t she also say he’s her brother? I did this innocently, with the best of intentions.”

In the dream, God said, “Yes, I know you did this innocently. I am the one who prevented you from sinning against me by not allowing you to touch her. Now return the man’s wife. Because he is a prophet, he will pray for you so you will live. But if you don’t return her, know that you and all who belong to you will certainly die.”

Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay

As he had in Egypt, God intervened to save Abraham and Sarah from their own folly.⁷ In a dream, he warned Abimelech that he stood condemned for taking another man’s wife, a serious crime throughout the Near East.⁸ Abimelech immediately admitted he had taken her but pled innocent because he was deceived.

Some question Abimelech’s concern that God would punish the entire nation because of his sin.⁹ But the Bible consistently affirms that sin hurts the innocent, especially when someone in authority sins.¹⁰ When the head of a household sins, the entire household suffers. When a ruler sins, the entire nation suffers.¹¹ God also confirmed Abimelech’s fear that “all who belong to you” would die with him.

Had Abimelech violated Sarah, he would have unwittingly brought on himself the curse required by God’s covenant with Abraham.¹² And such a union would have brought the paternity of Isaac, Sarah’s promised son, into question. So knowing Abimelech had been deceived, God prevented him from committing adultery. But he could no longer claim ignorance. He had to return Sarah or die.

The Fear of God

The next morning, Abimelech rose early and summoned all his servants. When he told them about his dream, they were terrified.

Then Abimelech summoned Abraham. “What have you done to us? What did I do to you that you would cause me and my kingdom to commit such a terrible sin? Who would do such a thing! What were you thinking that led you to do this?”

Abraham answered, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place.’”

Image by Klaus Hausmann from Pixabay

Like Abraham, and in contrast to Lot, Abimelech obeyed God’s command promptly.¹³ Early the next morning, he called in his servants and told them about the dream and what God had said. As members of Abimelech’s household, they were implicated in his sin and could serve as witnesses to his attempt to reconcile with Abraham.

Abimelech was understandably bewildered at Abraham’s behavior. Who would pass his wife off as his sister, allowing others to think she was available for marriage? Abraham explained he acted out of a belief that the Philistines didn’t fear God. But it was Abraham who lacked appropriate fear. He failed to consider how God viewed his scheming because he was more afraid of Abimelech! The destruction of Sodom may have made him wary of living among the Canaanites.

Despite the popularity of the claim that fearing God really means honoring or respecting him, there’s no evidence to back it up. The clear meaning of Scripture should not be changed just because some people find it unpleasant. When Abimelech realized what he’d done, he and his servants were terrified. They weren’t afraid of Abraham. They were afraid of his God, whose wrath they had incurred. It was this fear that led them to do the right thing and return Sarah.

Abraham’s Defense

Abraham answered, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, so they’ll kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she really is my sister. She’s my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s, and she became my wife. When God made me stray from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your devotion to me: wherever we go, tell people I’m your brother.’”

Abimelech gave Abraham flocks, herds, and slaves, and he returned Sarah to him.

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Abraham’s reply to Abimelech stands in stark contrast to his reply to the wicked king of Sodom in Genesis 14:21–24. After saving Sodom, Abraham returned the people, refused even the slightest reward, and unashamedly proclaimed his loyalty to Yahweh.¹⁴ But the shame of his lie turned the tables. After endangering all Gerar, he had Sarah returned to him, accepted flocks, herds, and slaves from Abimelech, and even blamed God for making him “stray” from his homeland.

Given the trouble he caused, Abraham’s defense comes across as rather pathetic. He openly admitted he believed Abimelech and all his people capable of murder. He then tried to deny he lied, claiming Sarah was his half sister as well as his wife. This obvious cover-up should be taken with a grain of salt. Genesis 11:31 explicitly calls her Terah’s daughter-in-law.¹⁵

Worst of all, Abraham blamed his actions on God.¹⁶ The Hebrew verb taʿah means “to go astray,” both literally and figuratively, and is never used positively. God called Abraham to follow him to a new home where he would live under God’s protection. But Abraham made it sound like God had led him astray into a life of aimless wandering in a land where he had to rely on deception to protect himself. As Adam did when he blamed God for creating Eve, Abraham turned his blessings into an excuse for sin.¹⁷

Vindicated

[Abimelech said,] “Look, my land is before you! You may live wherever you like.”

Then he said to Sarah, “Here, I give a thousand shekels of silver to your brother to exonerate you in the eyes of everyone with you. You are vindicated!”

So Abraham prayed to God, and God restored Abimelech, his wife, and his maidservants so they could have children again. Yahweh had made everyone in Abimelech’s household infertile because of Abraham’s wife, Sarah.

Image by Kevin Schneider from Pixabay

Abimelech wisely accepted Abraham’s explanation of why he lied about Sarah. Whether or not what Abraham said was true, Abimelech did not want to risk further angering his God. He even called Abraham Sarah’s “brother” to show the matter was closed—and probably to get in one last sarcastic barb.

One positive aspect of Abraham’s defense is his admission that he was the one who asked Sarah to lie. She was not to blame. She had submitted to her husband’s wishes with no intention of committing adultery. Abimelech also vouched for her, giving Abraham a thousand shekels of silver—a substantial amount of money—as a guarantee that no adultery had taken place and Sarah was innocent of wrongdoing.

This guarantee would soon prove vital. Just a few months earlier, God had promised Sarah would give birth to Isaac “around this time next year.”¹⁸ Sarah would soon realize she was pregnant, and she may have already been in her first trimester when taken into Abimelech’s harem. Had adultery occurred, it would have been impossible to prove Isaac was Abraham’s son.

Once again, God intervened to protect his promise from a serious threat.¹⁹ To protect Sarah’s womb, he closed the wombs of all the women in Abimelech’s household. When Abraham prayed, God released them from the curse of infertility.

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Genesis 21:1–21 →

Gerar was not between Kadesh and Shur, so this represents the next stop in his journey.
See Genesis 17:21; 18:10.
See Abram’s Lie.
See Riches and Regret.
1 Kings 11:19; 2 Chronicles 18:1; Ezra 9:12; Dan. 11:17.
See Threats to the Promise.
See Yahweh’s Intervention.
Wenham, Genesis 16–50, 70.
Forster, Exegetical Helps on Genesis, 20:4.
See Innocent Suffering.
See Numbers 16:25–33; Joshua 7:19–26; 2 Kings 21:10–15.
See Contempt.
See Genesis 22:1–3; Hesitant.
See The King of Sodom.
See also Nahor and Milcah.
Or “the gods.” The verb is plural, leaving the meaning ambiguous, which may be intentional. When the subject is the one true God, the verb is usually singular, but there are occasional exceptions. Reyburn and Fry, Handbook on Genesis, 455; see The Plurality of God.
See Genesis 3:12.
Genesis 17:21.
See Threats to the Promise.