Genesis 20
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 20
Abraham at Gerar.[a] 1 From there Abraham journeyed on to the region of the Negeb, where he settled between Kadesh and Shur.[b] While he resided in Gerar as an alien, 2 Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him: You are about to die because of the woman you have taken, for she has a husband. 4 Abimelech, who had not approached her, said: “O Lord, would you kill an innocent man? 5 Was he not the one who told me, ‘She is my sister’? She herself also stated, ‘He is my brother.’ I acted with pure heart and with clean hands.” 6 [c]God answered him in the dream: Yes, I know you did it with a pure heart. In fact, it was I who kept you from sinning against me; that is why I did not let you touch her. 7 So now, return the man’s wife so that he may intercede for you, since he is a prophet,[d] that you may live. If you do not return her, you can be sure that you and all who are yours will die.
8 Early the next morning Abimelech called all his servants and informed them of everything that had happened, and the men were filled with fear. 9 Then Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him: “What have you done to us! What wrong did I do to you that you would have brought such great guilt on me and my kingdom? You have treated me in an intolerable way. 10 What did you have in mind,” Abimelech asked him, “that you would do such a thing?” 11 Abraham answered, “I thought there would be no fear of God[e] in this place, and so they would kill me on account of my wife. 12 Besides, she really is my sister,[f] but only my father’s daughter, not my mother’s; and so she became my wife. 13 When God sent me wandering from my father’s house, I asked her: ‘Would you do me this favor? In whatever place we come to, say: He is my brother.’”(A)
14 Then Abimelech took flocks and herds and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham; and he restored his wife Sarah to him. 15 Then Abimelech said, “Here, my land is at your disposal; settle wherever you please.” 16 To Sarah he said: “I hereby give your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This will preserve your honor before all who are with you and will exonerate you before everyone.” 17 Abraham then interceded with God, and God restored health to Abimelech, to his wife, and his maidservants, so that they bore children; 18 for the Lord had closed every womb in Abimelech’s household on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
Footnotes
- 20:1–18 Abraham again passes off his wife Sarah as his sister to escape trouble in a foreign land (cf. 12:10–13:1, the J source). The story appears to be from a different source (according to some, E) and deals with the ethical questions of the incident. Gn 26:6–11 is yet another retelling of the story, but with Isaac and Rebekah as characters instead of Abraham and Sarah.
- 20:1 Kadesh and Shur: Kadesh-barnea was a major oasis on the southernmost border of Canaan, and Shur was probably the “way to Shur,” the road to Egypt. Gerar was a royal city in the area, but has not been identified with certainty.
- 20:6 Abimelech is exonerated of blame, but by that fact not cleared of the consequences of his act. He is still under the sentence of death for abducting another man’s wife; the consequences result from the deed not the intention.
- 20:7 Prophet: only here is Abraham explicitly called “prophet,” Hebrew nabi (cf. Ps 105:15).
- 20:11 Fear of God is the traditional though unsatisfactory rendering of Hebrew yir’at YHWH, literally, “revering Yahweh.” The phrase refers neither to the emotion of fear nor to religious reverence of a general kind. Rather it refers to adherence to a single deity (in a polytheistic culture), honoring that deity with prayers, rituals, and obedience. The phrase occurs again in 26:24; 43:23; and 50:19. It is very common in the wisdom literature of the Bible.
- 20:12 My sister: marrying one’s half sister was prohibited later in Israel’s history.
創世記 20
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
亞伯拉罕與亞比米勒
20 亞伯拉罕從幔利遷往南地，住在加低斯和書珥之間。在基拉耳寄居期間， 2 他稱妻子撒拉是自己的妹妹。基拉耳王亞比米勒派人帶走了撒拉。
3 晚上，上帝在夢中對亞比米勒說：「你的死期到了，因為你帶來的那個女人是別人的妻子。」 4 亞比米勒還沒有親近撒拉，因此他說：「主啊，難道你要毀滅一個無辜的國家嗎？ 5 那人親口對我說這女人是他妹妹，她也說那人是她哥哥。我問心無愧，沒有做錯。」 6 上帝在夢中對他說：「我知道你問心無愧，所以我才阻止你，不讓你親近她，免得你得罪我。 7 現在你要把那人的妻子還給他，他是個先知，他會為你禱告，使你活命。要知道，如果你不這樣做，你和你的人民都必死。」
8 亞比米勒清早起來召來他的臣僕，把這件事情告訴他們，他們聽了都十分害怕。 9 亞比米勒召見亞伯拉罕，對他說：「你為什麼要害我們？我什麼地方得罪了你？你竟使我和我的人民陷入大罪！你不該這樣做。」 10 又說：「你為什麼這樣做？」 11 亞伯拉罕回答說：「因為我想這裡的人不敬畏上帝，他們必為了奪我妻子而殺我。 12 況且，她真是我的妹妹，與我同父異母，後來做了我的妻子。 13 上帝吩咐我離開家鄉到外面漂泊的時候，我對她說，『無論我們到哪裡，你都要說我是你哥哥，這就是你對我的恩情。』」
14 於是，亞比米勒帶來牛、羊和男女僕婢送給亞伯拉罕，並把他妻子撒拉還給他， 15 又對他說：「我的國土就在你面前，你想住在哪裡都可以。」 16 亞比米勒對撒拉說：「我給你哥哥十一公斤銀子，在你家人面前證明你是清白的，你沒有做錯什麼。」
17 亞伯拉罕祈求上帝，上帝就治好了亞比米勒，也使他妻子和眾婢女恢復了生育能力。 18 原來耶和華因為亞伯拉罕的妻子撒拉這件事，使亞比米勒宮中所有的婦女都不能生育。
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