Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

What does Genesis Chapter 20 mean?

Genesis chapter 20 should be familiar to anyone who has read Genesis chapter 12. In the prior account, Abraham and his household moved to Egypt to escape a devastating famine (Genesis 12:10). Worried that the people would see how beautiful his wife was and kill him to get her, Abraham asked her to lie and say she was his sister (Genesis 12:13). This was a half-truth: they shared the same father, but different mothers (Genesis 20:12).

Perhaps Abraham imagined that, as her brother, any proposals would be brought to him and he could simply refuse them. That didn’t work. A Pharaoh in Egypt took Sarah for one of his wives (Genesis 12:15). In that first series of incidents, God intervened. Sarah was returned (Genesis 12:19). Abraham and his household left Egypt with far more than they had brought in. God blessed Abraham in spite of his fear and faithlessness (Genesis 12:16; 12:20).

Here in chapter 20, a similar pattern emerges. Abraham and company pull up stakes at Mamre and move to a place called Gerar, south of Gaza. Once again, Abraham and Sarah lie: claiming they are brother and sister (Genesis 20:13). The intent is to disguise the fact that they are married. Again, the most powerful man in the region, King Abimelech, takes this supposedly unattached woman for one of his wives (Genesis 20:2).

God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah, to provide them a natural-born child, is now at risk. God’s actions demonstrate both His faithfulness and His mercy. God afflicts Abimelech with an illness and “closes the wombs” of all the women in his household (Genesis 20:18). Then God appears to Abimelech in a dream, announcing that Abimelech will die for taking a married woman as his wife (Genesis 20:3).

Abimelech responds truthfully that he has not yet approached Sarah and that he acted with full integrity, believing her to be Abraham’s sister (Genesis 20:4–5). The Lord agrees. If Abimelech will return Sarah, Abraham will pray for them, and Abimelech and all of his household will live. If not, they will all die (Genesis 20:7).

Abimelech confronts Abraham about his lie and demands to know why he did it (Genesis 20:9). Abraham’s excuse is his fear of being killed by someone who would take Sarah as a wife. He explains that she is, in fact, his half-sister, though also his wife (Genesis 20:12). The answer reveals, once more, Abraham’s lack of confidence in God to protect him and Sarah, in spite of all of the ways God has shown Himself faithful.

Abimelech returns Sarah, along with gifts of animals, servants, choice land, and a large sum of silver to show Sarah’s innocence and protect her reputation (Genesis 20:14–16). Abraham prays to God. Abimelech is healed. His wife and the women of his household are once again able to bear children.

Soon, just as promised (Genesis 17:15–16), Sarah will bear a child of her own (Genesis 21:1–2).

Chapter Context
After the dramatic events of the previous chapters, Abraham moves south of Gaza to Gerar. As he did in Egypt, he claims that his wife is his sister. The king of Gerar, Abimelech, takes Sarah as his wife, but is soon struck ill and never approaches her. The Lord offers to spare Abimelech and his household if he will return Sarah and if Abraham will pray for them. Sarah is returned. All are healed, including all the women who have been unable to bear children. In the following chapter, Sarah herself will finally bear Abraham a son—an outcome God safeguards through His actions in this chapter.

Verse by Verse

Verse 1. From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar.

Abraham moves his great household from the region around Mamre south toward the border of the land of Canaan. We’re not told the reason for this move. They settle in Gerar, between Kadesh and Shur. Gerar was south of Gaza, near the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and within the borders of the Promised Land. Abraham travelled often throughout the land of Canaan during his lifetime.

The events of this chapter echo those of Genesis chapter 12, where Abraham succumbed to fear during his travels. There, Abraham lied about being married to Sarah, resulting in her being taken by the ruling Pharaoh as a wife. Only after God’s intervention was the situation resolved. Here, strangely, Abraham seems to make exactly the same fearful mistake. Rather than simply acting in faith, and being honest, Abraham and Sarah once again try to scheme their way towards a goal. And, as happened in other cases, the scheme backfires (Genesis 12:13–15).

Context Summary
Genesis 20:1–18 describes what happens when Abraham once again moves to a new place and insists on lying that Sarah is merely his sister and not his wife. Abimelech, the king of Gerar, takes Sarah as one of his wives. He is soon struck with an illness and visited in a dream with a warning from God that he will die if he doesn’t return Sarah to Abraham and if Abraham doesn’t pray for him. Sarah is returned untouched, Abraham prays, and all are healed.

Verse 2. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.

After moving to a new place, Gerar, Abraham repeats an old scheme he had used much earlier in his life. Genesis 12 reports that Abraham had moved his household into Egypt, forced out of Canaan by a famine in the land. At that time, he was afraid someone would notice his wife’s great beauty and kill him to get her (Genesis 12:12). So, he asked Sarah to tell a half-lie for him: Say you are my sister. She was, in fact, his half-sister. They shared the same father, but different mothers (Genesis 20:12). Perhaps Abraham thought someone would ask his permission to marry her and, as her brother, he could simply refuse.

It didn’t work. An Egyptian Pharaoh simply took her, added her to his harem, and paid Abraham great sums as her brother. Then, as He often will in these instances, God stepped in to resolve the situation. Here, God will eventually do the same.

This is a frustrating incident in the life of Abraham, who has recently seen many signs of God’s great power and faithfulness. Even so, Abraham acts out of fear and faithlessness. Once again, the lie backfires. The king of Gerar, Abimelech, takes Sarah for a wife, believing her to be Abraham’s sister.

Verse 3. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man ‘s wife.”

As He often does in the Bible, God appears to someone in a nighttime dream. God very matter-of-factly tells Abimelech, king of Gerar, that he is a dead man. He is guilty of adultery because Sarah is another man’s wife. Abimelech had apparently been quite ill—a disease sent by God specifically as a warning about the situation with Sarah (Genesis 20:17). Later verses also indicate that all of the women in Abimelech’s household were afflicted with barrenness, for the same reason (Genesis 20:18).

As the following verses will reveal, even the pagan Abimelech understood adultery to be a great sin. Abimelech will defend himself to God based on two main claims: that he had not actually yet slept with Sarah, and that he did not know she was married (Genesis 20:4–5). After God reassures him that the situation can be resolved, Abimelech will scold Abraham for his lie, demanding an explanation for why such a thing was done (Genesis 20:9).

Verse 4. Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people?

God is speaking to Abimelech in a nighttime dream. God has told Abimelech, the king of Gerar, that he will die from his current illness (Genesis 20:3) for taking a married woman as his wife. Abimelech now pushes back: He had not yet approached Sarah. He asks if God would kill “an innocent people”—the only reason he has taken Sarah is the assumption that she was not married.

To his credit, Abimelech appears to be concerned not just about himself but also about his people, who may have been sick, as well. He seems to assume that God’s judgment will include more than just the king. That makes more sense when, at the end of this chapter, we learn that God has stopped any of the women in Abimelech’s household from bearing children.

Abimelech’s question about God’s character, whether the Lord would kill innocent people, echoes Abraham’s question to the Lord about whether He would destroy righteous people in His judgment of Sodom (Genesis 18:23). In both cases, the answer was “no.” God’s character remains intact throughout these moments. This not only highlights the righteousness of God, it would have been a cutting point for Abraham to hear. His own actions put the innocent at risk, though he had appealed to God for the sake of the innocent in Genesis chapter 18.

Verse 5. Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.”

The conversation between God and Abimelech continues. God has said, flatly, that Abimelech would die from his current illness for taking a married woman for his wife. Abimelech responded that he had not yet had sex with Sarah. If a king had many wives and concubines, it’s possible that Sarah might have been in his house for some time before he would have even approached her for the first time. Later information, regarding the barrenness of Abimelech’s household, supports the idea that she had been there for quite some time (Genesis 20:17–18). Given that nothing has happened, Abimelech asks, would God kill innocent people?

Now Abimelech points out that Abraham himself said that Sarah was his sister. Abraham deceived him. Not only had Abimelech not yet slept with Sarah, he had acted with integrity in his heart. At least according to Abimelech’s opinion, his intentions had only ever been appropriate.

The following verses show God’s response to Abimelech, demonstrating once again that God’s righteousness is impeccable. The situation can be resolved, if Abimelech is willing to follow God’s plan.

Verse 6. Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.

God has appeared to king Abimelech in a nighttime dream with a startling message: You are going to die from your current illness, because you took a married woman as your wife. Abimelech’s response has been that not only had he not yet slept with Sarah, he had acted with integrity. He believed Abraham’s lie that Sarah was merely his sister. Abimelech’s question to the Lord from verse 4 still hangs in the air: Will you kill the innocent?

Now the Lord relieves the tension a little. He agrees that Abimelech has acted with integrity. He also reveals that He, the Lord, has kept Abimelech from even touching Sarah. This is part of God’s faithfulness in protecting His promise to Abraham and Sarah, that they would soon have a natural-born son (Genesis 17:15–16). Making it clear that Sarah and Abimelech were not intimate is key to this passage.

Though the text doesn’t say so here, verse 17 reveals that Abimelech had been ill. In Genesis 12, when Abraham lied in the same way and an Egyptian Pharaoh had taken Sarah as his wife, God had sent plagues on the Pharaoh’s household (Genesis 12:17). Abimelech’s illness may even have been why he has been unable to touch Sarah and complete his sin against the Lord.

Notice that God describes this potential adultery as a sin against Himself and not just against Sarah and Abraham. Later, God will make abundantly clear to His people Israel that adultery is strictly forbidden in all cases.

Verse 7. Now then, return the man ‘s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”

God has appeared to Abimelech, king of Gerar, in a nighttime dream. God has stated flatly that Abimelech will die from his current illness for taking Sarah as his wife, since she is a married woman (Genesis 20:3; 20:17). When Abimelech protested that he did not know this, God agreed that Abimelech acted with integrity and had not yet touched Sarah, albeit because of God’s own intervention (Genesis 20:6).

Now God gives Abimelech a choice about whether he will live or not. He is to return Sarah to Abraham. When he does so, Abraham will pray, and Abimelech and his household will live. Otherwise, they will all die.

This is the first use of the Hebrew word for prophet, nabiy’, in the Old Testament. God considered Abraham to be a prophet, one who speaks for God and to God on behalf of others. Abraham has already approached God on behalf of Lot and the people of Sodom in Genesis 18.

Apparently, this is the end of God’s conversation with Abimelech in a dream. When morning comes, Abimelech will quickly act on what the Lord has said to him.

Verse 8. So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid.

Abimelech, king of Gerar, has taken Abraham’s wife Sarah for his own wife. Abraham had said plainly that Sarah was his sister. Abimelech believed him. Apparently, some time passed during which God kept all of the women in Abimelech’s household from bearing children and during which Abimelech, and possibly others, had become very ill (Genesis 20:17–18).

The previous verses describe a conversation between God and Abimelech in a dream. God said Abimelech would die for taking away another man’s wife (Genesis 20:3). Abimelech said, truthfully, that he didn’t know Sarah was married, and he had not yet touched her (Genesis 20:4–5). God agreed, stating that Abimelech and his household would live if he would return Sarah to Abraham and Abraham would pray for them (Genesis 20:6–7).

Now Abimelech gets up early in the morning and tells all his servants about the dream. Everyone is afraid. They believe, apparently, that God will do as He says. Their fear of God demonstrates more faith in Him than Abraham’s fearful lie to Abimelech.

Verse 9. Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.”

Abimelech appears to be rightfully angry. He calls Abraham before him and confronts him with very similar questions to those asked of Abraham by an Egyptian Pharaoh many years earlier (Genesis 12:18–19). Here, though, the questions have a more pointed tone. Abraham has lied and told Abimelech that Sarah is his sister, leaving out the full truth that they are actually married. When Abimelech took Sarah into his house as an additional wife, he was stricken with a disease and confronted by God in a dream (Genesis 20:3).

Abimelech wants to know what he has ever done to Abraham. It’s a question asked by a reasonable person: Did I do something to deserve this terrible treatment from you? Unlike the Pharaoh, Abimelech also identifies this near-adultery as a great sin with consequences for himself and his whole kingdom. He seems to agree with God that adultery is wrong. He says clearly to Abraham: You shouldn’t have done this.

Verse 10. And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?”

Abraham’s actions put the king and his family at risk—they were stricken with disease and barrenness (Genesis 20:17–18) until God confronted Abimelech in a dream (Genesis 20:3). At that point, Abimelech appealed to his good intentions, and that he had not yet touched Sarah. In the prior verse, Abimelech had demanded to know why Abraham had acted so inappropriately, by lying and allowing this risk to fall on his family.

After beginning with an angry series of confrontational questions in the previous verse, Abimelech’s question here seems more pointed. He genuinely wants to know why Abraham lied and said that Sarah was his sister. More specifically, Abimelech asks what Abraham has seen or encountered that would motivate this kind of deception. Abimelech honestly doesn’t get it. In light of all of God’s goodness to Abraham, his answer in the following verses will not be very satisfying to us either, though it will sound very human.

Verse 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.’

Abimelech has asked Abraham a reasonable question. He wants to know why Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister. This resulted in Abimelech taking Sarah as a wife, and nearly committing adultery as a result (Genesis 20:2–5). Why did Abraham do this thing and bring the wrath of God on Abimelech and his innocent household? Abimelech is pressing the question very directly: he wants to understand what would lead Abraham to do such a thing.

Abraham’s answer reveals how his fear in that situation overcame his faith in God, and an apparent misunderstanding about the faith of Abimelech and his people. Abraham believed there was no fear of God in Gerar. He believed someone might kill him to take Sarah for his own. Notice that Abraham, again, was not wrong about Sarah’s desirability. She must have been extremely attractive. Both in Egypt years earlier and now in Gerar, the most powerful man in the area quickly took her for his own wife (Genesis 12:14–15).

Abraham was wrong, though, about God’s ability and/or willingness to protect him and Sarah. His lack of faith is hard for us, as readers of the Bible, to fully understand. Abraham has literally walked and talked with the Lord. He has seen God utterly destroy the wicked people of Sodom and Gomorrah while rescuing his own nephew Lot from among them. He has received blessing after blessing from the Lord, alongside powerful promises, including one that Sarah will bear him a son within the year.

Abraham was also wrong, it seems, about the lack of faith in God in Gerar. If they didn’t have it before, the king and his people certainly learned to fear the Lord very quickly under threat of death from God.

Verse 12. Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.

Abraham continues to answer Abimelech’s questions about why he lied about Sarah being his sister (Genesis 20:9). Now he reveals that it’s not completely a lie. She is his half-sister, as well as being his wife. They share the same father and different mothers. Of course, even true statements, told with the intent to deceive and to disguise some other important truth, are still lies. Abraham was acting in fear for his own life, and he knew full well what he was doing.

Though God, in the Law of Moses, would later forbid marriage for those in that closeness of family, it was apparently not uncommon or disapproved of in Abraham’s day. God never seems to have condemned Abraham or Sarah for it, either. In contrast, the relations between Lot and his daughters described in the previous chapter was apparently thought to be wrong both in Abraham’s time and, later, under the Law of Moses.

Verse 13. And when God caused me to wander from my father ‘s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

Abraham continues his explanation to Abimelech about why he lied about Sarah being his sister. First, Abraham admitted he was afraid that someone would kill him to take Sarah. Next, he revealed that Sarah was, after all, his half-sister. Finally, he claims that telling this lie has been a strategy they have used ever since they began traveling away from the safety of their homeland. More specifically, Abraham says that he asked Sarah to participate in this lie as a kindness to him.

As details appear, it becomes harder for us to sympathize with Abraham in this situation. He is admitting, here, that he has repeatedly asked Sarah to put herself in harm’s way in order to save his own life. In addition, this is only the second time Scripture has mentioned him doing this when coming to a new place (Genesis 12:12–13). So, is Abraham lying about it being their normal routine? Or has it happened in other places, as well? We don’t know.

This is the end of Abraham’s explanation to Abimelech, as unsatisfying as it must have been.

Verse 14. Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him.

God had said to Abimelech that he and all those who were his would die if he failed to return Sarah to Abraham. They would live, however, when Abraham prayed for them (Genesis 20:7). Abimelech had taken Sarah as a wife, thanks to Abraham’s lie that she was only his sister. Confronted by God in a dream, Abimelech had proclaimed his ignorance, and obeyed God’s instructions to return her to her husband (Genesis 20:3–6).

Now, Abimelech does return Sarah, but he goes well beyond that. He also gives Abraham sheep, oxen, and servants, in addition to a large sum of silver mentioned in verse 16. Abimelech seems eager to clear away any hint of this potential sin and any scandal between him, Abraham, and Sarah.

This is not only a sign of good will from Abimelech, it is an important part of God protecting the promise he made to provide Abraham and Sarah with a natural-born son (Genesis 17:15–16). The fact that Abimelech, in no uncertain terms, never touched Sarah maintains the upcoming birth of Abraham’s son, Isaac, as legitimate.

Verse 15. And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.”

Years before this, Abraham had lied about Sarah, causing the Pharaoh of Egypt to take her as a wife. When the Pharaoh realized what had happened, he immediately returned Sarah (Genesis 12:18–19). At the same time, he immediately had his men escort Abraham and his family out of Egypt (Genesis 12:20). That Pharaoh didn’t want to be anywhere near a people whose God brought plagues on his household.

Now, after a very similar lie from Abraham results in almost the same consequences, king Abimelech has a different response. In addition to returning Sarah, along with gifts of herds, flocks, and servants, the king of Gerar offers to allow Abraham to settle anywhere in his kingdom that he would like.

It’s hard to imagine he was happy with Abraham. More likely, the king was eager for Abraham to pray for him and for his household so that they would live. It’s also possible that Abimelech wanted to prove his good intentions to the Lord.

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

Years earlier, the Lord had promised to unconditionally bless Abraham. He continues to do so here. Even when Abraham appears to act dishonorably in fear and faithlessness, God blesses him in it. It happened after Abraham’s lie about Sarah being his sister in Egypt, and it happens again here.

King Abimelech, eager to be healed and show himself obedient to Abraham’s God, has returned Sarah, untouched (Genesis 20:4), to Abraham along with great gifts: herds, cattle, servants, and the choice of any land in the kingdom for a homestead (Genesis 20:15). Now the king goes even further, blessing Abraham and Sarah in two more ways.

First, Abimelech gives Abraham a thousand pieces of silver. That’s a lot of money in this era, far beyond the normal price for a bride. Abimelech’s stated reason for doing so is the second blessing: It is meant as a sign of Sarah’s innocence in this matter. Somehow, this large sum of silver was meant to protect Sarah’s reputation, to tell everyone that she had not been compromised while in Abimelech’s household.

Notice that while telling this to Sarah, he still calls Abraham her “brother” and not her husband. Since that was the half-truth, half-lie used by Abraham, Abimelech might mean that statement as a not-so-subtle sign of his continued displeasure with fearful Abraham.

Verse 17. Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children.

Abraham’s earlier lie had caused king Abimelech to take Sarah as a wife, not realizing she was actually married to Abraham (Genesis 20:2–3). After being confronted by God and stricken with an illness, king Abimelech returned Sarah to Abraham, untouched, along with gifts of herds, cattle, servants, choice land, and a great amount of silver (Genesis 20:16). In return, Abraham fulfilled his obligation. He prayed to God for Abimelech’s healing. God healed Abimelech, as well as returning to Abimelech’s wife and female slaves the ability to bear children again. God restored what He had taken from Abimelech and his household after Abimelech returned what he had taken, in innocence, from Abraham.

More specifically, God healed after Abraham prayed. Why did God require the middle step of another person’s prayer before taking action? God often works that way, especially through his prophets in the Old Testament and in the church today. God stands ready to exercise His power in response to the prayers of His people. He wants us to ask; He acts when we do (James 5:17–18).

Verse 18. For the Lord had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham ‘s wife.

The previous verse reveals that in response to Abraham’s prayer for their healing, God restored the ability of Abimelech’s wife and his female slaves to bear children. This verse concludes that God had closed all the wombs of all the women in the house of Abimelech because of Sarah. She had been taken in as a wife, by Abimelech, who was deceived by a lie told by Sarah and Abraham (Genesis 20:2–3).

This established two points that are important when interpreting this incident. First, Sarah must have been in Abimelech’s household for a while before God appeared to him in the dream. She had to be there long enough for it to become apparent that the women of the household could not bear children. That’s not something one can realize in a few short days, or even weeks.

Second, this shows us once again that God exercises complete control over fertility, giving and withholding children as He sees fit. Psalm 127:3 indicates that children are a gift from the Lord. He sometimes withholds them in judgment, as He did here, or until the time is right, as will happen with the birth of Isaac in the following chapter. At still other times, He withholds children without explanation or condemnation. In all cases, His people are called to trust the Father’s timing, His grace, and His love.

End of Chapter 20.

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