10 Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?”
11 And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely athe fear of God is not in this place; and bthey will kill me on account of my wife.
12 But indeed asheis truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
13 And it came to pass, when aGod caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, bsay of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”
14 Then Abimelech atook sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him.
15 And Abimelech said, “See, amy land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.”
16 Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; aindeed this vindicates you bbefore all who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was2 rebuked.
17 So Abraham prayed ato God; and God bhealed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children;
yet indeed she is my sister—(See on Genesis 11:31). What a poor defense Abraham made. The statement absolved him from the charge of direct and absolute falsehood, but he had told a moral untruth because there was an intention to deceive (compare Genesis 12:11-13). "Honesty is always the best policy." Abraham's life would have been as well protected without the fraud as with it: and what shame to himself, what distrust to God, what dishonor to religion might have been prevented! "Let us speak truth every man to his neighbor" [Zechariah 8:16; Ephesians 4:25].
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Genesis 20:12:
DISCLAIMER: Church of the Great God (CGG) provides these resources to aid the individual in studying the Bible. However, it is up to the individual to "prove all things, and hold fast to that which is good" (I Thessalonians 5:21). The content of these resources does not necessarily reflect the views of CGG. They are provided for information purposes only.
