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Genesis 20
New English Translation

Abraham and Abimelech

20 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev[a] region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident[b] in Gerar, 2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.

3 But God appeared[c] to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead[d] because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.”[e]

4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord,[f] would you really slaughter an innocent nation?[g] 5 Did Abraham[h] not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said,[i] ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience[j] and with innocent hands!”

6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience.[k] That is why I have kept you[l] from sinning against me and why[m] I did not allow you to touch her. 7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed[n] he is a prophet[o] and he will pray for you; thus you will live.[p] But if you don’t give her back,[q] know that you will surely die[r] along with all who belong to you.”

8 Early in the morning[s] Abimelech summoned[t] all his servants. When he told them about all these things,[u] they[v] were terrified. 9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom?[w] You have done things to me that should not be done!”[x] 10 Then Abimelech asked[y] Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?”[z]

11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought,[aa] ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of[ab] my wife.’ 12 What’s more,[ac] she is indeed my sister, my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s daughter. She became my wife. 13 When God made me wander[ad] from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me:[ae] Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”

14 So Abimelech gave[af] sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him. 15 Then Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please.”[ag]

16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given 1,000 pieces of silver[ah] to your ‘brother.’[ai] This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you.”[aj]

17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children. 18 For the Lord[ak] had caused infertility to strike every woman[al] in the household of Abimelech because he took[am] Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 20:1 tn Or “the South [country]”; Heb “the land of the Negev.”sn Negev is the name for the southern desert region in the land of Canaan.
  2. Genesis 20:1 tn Heb “and he sojourned.”
  3. Genesis 20:3 tn Heb “came.”
  4. Genesis 20:3 tn Heb “Look, you [are] dead.” The Hebrew construction uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with a second person pronominal particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with by the participle. It is a highly rhetorical expression.
  5. Genesis 20:3 tn Heb “and she is owned by an owner.” The disjunctive clause is causal or explanatory in this case.
  6. Genesis 20:4 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
  7. Genesis 20:4 tn Apparently Abimelech assumes that God’s judgment will fall on his entire nation. Some, finding the reference to a nation problematic, prefer to emend the text and read, “Would you really kill someone who is innocent?” See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 149.
  8. Genesis 20:5 tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  9. Genesis 20:5 tn Heb “and she, even she.”
  10. Genesis 20:5 tn Heb “with the integrity of my heart.”
  11. Genesis 20:6 tn Heb “with the integrity of your heart.”
  12. Genesis 20:6 tn Heb “and I, even I, kept you.”
  13. Genesis 20:6 tn Heb “therefore.”
  14. Genesis 20:7 tn Or “for,” if the particle is understood as causal (as many English translations do) rather than asseverative.
  15. Genesis 20:7 sn For a discussion of the term prophet see N. Walker, “What is a Nabhi?” ZAW 73 (1961): 99-100.
  16. Genesis 20:7 tn After the preceding jussive (or imperfect), the imperative with vav conjunctive here indicates result.sn He will pray for you that you may live. Abraham was known as a man of God whose prayer would be effectual. Ironically and sadly, he was also known as a liar.
  17. Genesis 20:7 tn Heb “if there is not you returning.” The suffix on the particle becomes the subject of the negated clause.
  18. Genesis 20:7 tn The imperfect is preceded by the infinitive absolute to make the warning emphatic.
  19. Genesis 20:8 tn Heb “And Abimelech rose early in the morning and he summoned.”
  20. Genesis 20:8 tn The verb קָרָא (qaraʾ) followed by the preposition ל (lamed) means “to summon.”
  21. Genesis 20:8 tn Heb “And he spoke all these things in their ears.”
  22. Genesis 20:8 tn Heb “the men.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “they” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
  23. Genesis 20:9 tn Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” JNES 18 (1959): 280-81.
  24. Genesis 20:9 tn Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.
  25. Genesis 20:10 tn Heb “And Abimelech said to.”
  26. Genesis 20:10 tn Heb “What did you see that you did this thing?” The question implies that Abraham had some motive for deceiving Abimelech.
  27. Genesis 20:11 tn Heb “Because I said.”
  28. Genesis 20:11 tn Heb “over the matter of.”
  29. Genesis 20:12 tn Heb “but also.”
  30. Genesis 20:13 tn The Hebrew verb is plural. This may be a case of grammatical agreement with the name for God, which is plural in form. However, when this plural name refers to the one true God, accompanying predicates are usually singular in form. Perhaps Abraham is accommodating his speech to Abimelech’s polytheistic perspective. (See GKC 463 §145.i.) If so, one should translate, “when the gods made me wander.”
  31. Genesis 20:13 tn Heb “This is your loyal deed which you can do for me.”
  32. Genesis 20:14 tn Heb “took and gave.”
  33. Genesis 20:15 tn Heb “In the [place that is] good in your eyes live!”
  34. Genesis 20:16 sn A thousand pieces [Heb “shekels”] of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 11.5 kilograms, or 400 ounces (about 25 pounds).
  35. Genesis 20:16 sn To your ‘brother.’ Note the way that the king refers to Abraham. Was he being sarcastic? It was surely a rebuke to Sarah. What is amazing is how patient this king was. It is proof that the fear of God was in that place, contrary to what Abraham believed (see v. 11).
  36. Genesis 20:16 tn Heb “Look, it is for you a covering of the eyes, for all who are with you, and with all, and you are set right.” The exact meaning of the statement is unclear. Apparently it means that the gift of money somehow exonerates her in other people’s eyes. They will not look on her as compromised (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:74).
  37. Genesis 20:18 tn In the Hebrew text the clause begins with “because.”
  38. Genesis 20:18 tn Heb had completely closed up every womb.” In the Hebrew text infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.sn The Lord had closed up every womb. This fact indicates that Sarah was in Abimelech’s household for weeks or months before the dream revelation was given (20:6-7). No one in his household could have children after Sarah arrived on the scene.
  39. Genesis 20:18 tn Heb “because of the matter of.” The words “he took” are used in the translation for clarity.
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Genesis 19
Genesis 21
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Genesis 21:22-34
New English Translation

22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you[a] in all that you do. 23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name[b] that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants.[c] Show me, and the land[d] where you are staying,[e] the same loyalty[f] that I have shown you.”[g]

24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.”[h] 25 But Abraham lodged a complaint against[i] Abimelech concerning a well[j] that Abimelech’s servants had seized.[k] 26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover,[l] you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”

27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty.[m] 28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning[n] of these seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 30 He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof[o] that I dug this well.”[p] 31 That is why he named that place[q] Beer Sheba,[r] because the two of them swore an oath[s] there.

32 So they made a treaty[t] at Beer Sheba; then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned[u] to the land of the Philistines.[v] 33 Abraham[w] planted a tamarisk tree[x] in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord,[y] the eternal God. 34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time.[z]

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 21:22 sn God is with you. Abimelech and Phicol recognized that Abraham enjoyed special divine provision and protection.
  2. Genesis 21:23 tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”
  3. Genesis 21:23 tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”
  4. Genesis 21:23 tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.
  5. Genesis 21:23 tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.
  6. Genesis 21:23 tn Or “kindness.”
  7. Genesis 21:23 tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”
  8. Genesis 21:24 tn Heb “I swear.” No object is specified in the Hebrew text, but the content of the oath requested by Abimelech is the implied object.
  9. Genesis 21:25 tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to argue; to dispute”; it can focus on the beginning of the dispute (as here), the dispute itself, or the resolution of a dispute (Isa 1:18). Apparently the complaint was lodged before the actual oath was taken.
  10. Genesis 21:25 tn Heb “concerning the matter of the well of water.”
  11. Genesis 21:25 tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to steal; to rob; to take violently.” The statement reflects Abraham’s perspective.
  12. Genesis 21:26 tn Heb “and also.”
  13. Genesis 21:27 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
  14. Genesis 21:29 tn Heb “What are these?”
  15. Genesis 21:30 tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”
  16. Genesis 21:30 sn This well. Since the king wanted a treaty to share in Abraham’s good fortune, Abraham used the treaty to secure ownership of and protection for the well he dug. It would be useless to make a treaty to live in this territory if he had no rights to the water. Abraham consented to the treaty, but added his rider to it.
  17. Genesis 21:31 tn Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”
  18. Genesis 21:31 sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, beʾer shavaʿ) means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven.” Both the verb “to swear” and the number “seven” have been used throughout the account. Now they are drawn in as part of the explanation of the significance of the name.
  19. Genesis 21:31 sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.
  20. Genesis 21:32 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
  21. Genesis 21:32 tn Heb “arose and returned.”
  22. Genesis 21:32 sn The Philistines mentioned here may not be ethnically related to those who lived in Palestine in the time of the judges and the united monarchy. See D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 238.
  23. Genesis 21:33 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  24. Genesis 21:33 sn The planting of the tamarisk tree is a sign of Abraham’s intent to stay there for a long time, not a religious act. A growing tree in the Negev would be a lasting witness to God’s provision of water.
  25. Genesis 21:33 tn Heb “he called there in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 13:4; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.
  26. Genesis 21:34 tn Heb “many days.”
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