Sin Against Abimelech and Sarah – Genesis 20

From an early age we learn to protect ourselves in an unsafe world.  We learn our parents cannot always be safe or protective enough.  We develop styles of relating to people that enable us to keep our true selves a secret (being funny, quiet, intellectual, angry, etc.) and habits of self-protection that we hope will ensure our safety.  We don’t see God as trustworthy to protect us, and so we live in faithlessness, even despite, perhaps, being very religious.  We’re just like Abraham.

[1] From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. [2] And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. [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.” [4] Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? [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.” [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. [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.”

[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. [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.” [10] And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?” [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.’ [12] Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. [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.”’”

[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. [15] And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” [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.” [17] Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. [18] For the LORD had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. (Genesis 20, ESV)

We’re not told why Abraham leaves the tree of Mamre to travel further south where he sets up a new place to live between Kadesh and Shur, and then travels to a temporary outpost, Gerar, but it likely has to do with finding pasture for his flocks.  However, in the new territory he once again asks Sarah to say she is his sister, a self-protective ploy to keep anyone from killing him to get his wife (see 12:11-13).  Sarah is very compliant with this ruse.  Of course, that backfired on him before, threatening the holy seed, and we may wonder why he would resort to it again, but doing so once again threatens the holy seed.

Abimelech is a common title (it means “my father is king”) for this area.  This king probably wants to marry Sarah to form an alliance with Abraham, who, though nomadic in lifestyle, is a very wealthy and powerful man.  He takes Sarah into his harem but does not have intercourse with her.  He is warned in a dream by God that he will die if he does.  In the dream he converses with God, defending his integrity, which God acknowledges, and so the reason for God’s warning.  There are contrary views as to how long Abimelech has Sarah.  One commentator thinks it was long enough to notice that no one was able to give birth to children (this would require many months), while another suggests that some sexual issue afflicted the household preventing opportunities for sexual interaction (thus is could have been a very short time that Sarah was there).

Once again an embarrassing interaction takes place between the ruler of this area and Abraham.  Abimelech rightly chastises Abraham for his actions, demanding an explanation.  Abraham’s fear that there is no fear of God in this land is wrong, as is his fear that he will be killed to get his wife.  Hasn’t God told him that he will have a child by Sarah within the year?  Where is his faith?  He is acting out of complete, and in this case, irrational, fear.

Despite his sinful behavior (he is not representing righteousness and justice in this case (18:19), Abraham is once again rewarded by the very person he defrauded, Abimelech, with more flocks, slaves, a huge amount of money in silver, and freedom to pasture his flocks in the territory.  This serves as proof to all around that Abimelech has not slept with Sarah.  This also insures that Isaac is not Abimelech’s child, but Abraham’s.