This chapter relates the removal of Abraham to Gerar, Gen. 20:1; the king of Gerar’s taking to him Sarah, whom Abraham had called his sister, Gen. 20:2; who is rebuked of God for it in a dream, Gen.

And Abraham journeyed from thence towards the south country, &c.] He returned from the plains or oaks of Mamre, where he had lived fifteen or twenty years, into the more southern parts of the land of Canaan: the reason of this remove is not certain; some think, because he could not bear the stench…

And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, she is my sister This he gave out in all conversation he came into, and said it to every one that asked who she was, which was little better than a lie; it at least was an equivocation and deception, and not at all justifiable, and tended to expose his wife’s…

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night Put a dream into his mind, by which he cautioned him against taking Sarah to be his wife; so careful was the Lord that no wrong should be done to such a godly and virtuous person, to which she was exposed through the weakness of her husband.

But Abimelech had not come near her Sarah had been put into an apartment in his palace, and not yet admitted into his company, not at least to his bed; he had not lain with her, which is the design of the expression: the Septuagint version is, “had not touched her”, as in ; which is another phrase…

Said he not unto me, she is my sister? &c.] By this it appears, that Abimelech had a personal conversation with Abraham, and inquired of him about Sarah, who she was, and what relation she was to him, who told him that she was his sister; and for the truth of this he appeals to the omniscient God,…

And God said unto him in a dream The same dream continued: yea, or “also” I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; not only thou knowest, but I, who know all things, know and acknowledge that this was so done by thee.

Now therefore restore the man his wife Which will be a full proof and evidence to all of the integrity of thy heart, and the innocence of thine hands, which thou pleadest, and which I own: for he is a prophet; familiar with God, dear unto him, a friend of his, to whom he communicates his secrets;…

Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning Awaking upon the dream, could sleep no more, his thoughts running upon what had been said to him by the Lord in it: wherefore as soon as it was light he rose from his bed, and called all his servants; his household servants, and particularly his…

Then Abimelech called Abraham Who might be in the king’s palace, being taken into it caressed by the king for the sake of Sarah: and said unto him; not in a passion, as might have been expected, but in a mild and gentle manner, yet with great strength of reasoning, and making very just…

And Abimelech said unto Abraham Continuing his discourse with him: what sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? he desires to know what he had observed, either in him or his people, that gave him any reason to conclude that they were a lustful people, and would stick at nothing to gratify…

And Abraham said In defence of himself, as well as he could: because I thought; within himself, concluding from the general depravity of the Canaanites, that this was the case of the inhabitants of Gerar: surely the fear of God is not in this place; this is a certain truth, which he thought might…

And yet indeed she is my sister In the same sense as Lot was his brother; for she was sister to Lot, and both were the children of Haran, the brother of Abraham: she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; she was the daughter of his father, being his granddaughter,…

And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house In Ur of the Chaldees, from whence God called him to go forth; which laid him under an obligation to depart from thence, and move from place to place, and go he knew not where, as in ; or “the Gods”, as it is in the plural…

And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham In a good measure satisfied with what Abraham had said to excuse himself; and these gifts he gave unto him, that he might, as Jarchi observes, pray and intercede for him, that he and his family might…

And Abimelech said, behold, my whole land is before thee, &c.] Instead of bidding him be gone, and sending him away in haste out of his country, as the king of Egypt did in a like case, he solicits his stay in it; and to encourage him to it, makes an offer of his whole kingdom to him, to choose…

And unto Sarah he said, behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver Or shekels of silver, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, which, if two shillings and sixpence of our money, amount to one hundred and twenty five pounds; though perhaps little pieces of silver, current in…

So Abraham prayed unto God As the Lord had told Abimelech be would, ; he might pray for the forgiveness of him and his wife, and might give thanks that Sarah had been restored to him; but chiefly it was on account of Abimelech and his family: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his…

For the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech With large tumours probably, so that they could not cohabit with their husbands and conceive; nor could those that had conceived bring forth: and this disorder they were smitten with, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife; who was…