Knowing The Word in Genesis 20:1-7, Abraham and Abimelech

1 From there Abraham journeyed [the same verb used of his trip to Egypt] toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned [settled] in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” [We have heard this one before. How can he make the same mistake again—this prophet who boldly asked God to save Sodom?] And Abimelech [a Canaanite name meaning “My father is Milku”] king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. [Eve took the fruit, Lamech took two wives, the sons of God took wives, Pharaoh took Sarai, Sarai took Hagar, and now Abimelech takes Sarah.] 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream [interceding] 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.” [In the ANE a wife was seen as her husband’s alter ego and his most treasured possession. To take her was the worst kind of theft punishable by death.] 4 Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? [He is worried about his people—the sign of a good ruler.] 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.” [He claims to have acted in innocence since both claimed to be siblings.] 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. [God’s remarks shows he understood the situation even better than what Abimelech had disclosed. God is not only omniscient but omnipotent, restraining the king from sinning against him. Why would the sin be against God and not against Abraham? Every sin is first against God before it is against another person.] 7 Now then, return the man's wife, for he is a prophet [only use of the word in Genesis], so that he will pray [only use of the word in Genesis] for you, and you shall live. [The prayers of a righteous man are effective.] But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” [The real test of Abimelech’s sincerity is the return of Sarah. He is offered the choice of life or death. If she is not returned, his punishment will be the same as that of taking the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.]