Important notice: Always check out what you hear and see for yourself, as it is up to you as a Christian to do your own studying. Never take anyone's word alone, including this website here, without first always checking it out for yourself. As 2 Timothy 2:15 says "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
Genesis 20
1 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south (= the Negeb) country, and dwelled between Kadesh (= holy [can refer as a good or bad sense]) and Shur (= a wall), and sojourned in Gerar (= a lodging place).
2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister (= half-sister [see verse 12]): and Abimelech (= father-king) king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
Abimelech is the official title for the kings in Gerar just as Pharaoh is the official title for the kings in Egypt. Here is the second occurrence of a "king" taking Sarah; the first occurring in Genesis 12. Again, Sarah kept her beauty very well [here she was around the age of 90]. As we can see, this is another attempt by satan to disrupt the seedline in which CHRIST would eventually come through. Notice once again, instead of Abraham calling Sarah his wife, he uses the term sister, which isn't a lie, for she was his half-sister but he did this with hopes of not being killed by the Abimelech ("king").
3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.
I.e. GOD is telling the Abimelech that unless he returns Sarah, then he will die.
4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, LORD (YHVH), wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
The Abimelech evidently expected GOD to slay the whole nation. Here we see the Abimelech recognized GOD's sacred name, although the kenite scribes try to hide this by changing YHVH to Adonai, which therefore strips GOD of HIS deity which you can see for yourself in the Masoretic text; this is 1 of the 134 times this incorrect translation takes place in the Sopherim. The name YHVH shows GOD's eternal, never ending power and deity, unlike Adonai which gives HIM the title of an earthly king.
5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.
I.e. the Abimelech is letting GOD know that he took Sarah out of the innocence of his heart and that he wasn't aware that she was Abraham's wife.
6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch (nâgaʻ [sleep with]) her.
I.e. GOD understands the Abimelech wasn't aware of that, so therefore HE's letting him know that HE intervened so that he would let Sarah go, whereby the seedline of the coming MESSIAH (CHRIST) would be protected.
7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.
GOD always takes care of HIS own and as we can see, HE is keeping HIS covenant and promise with Abraham just as HE always does; in this case concerning Isaac. Any time someone interferes with GOD's divine plans, we will see GOD's divine intervention. Here we see GOD's warning to the Abimelech of what will happen if he refuses to let Sarah go. Keep in mind these people in this land, are well aware of what just took place with Sodom and Gomorrah and surely they don't want the same thing to happen to them.
8 Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.
9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought
not to be done.
The Abimelech wants to know why Abraham didn't just plain outright tell him that he was Sarah's husband.
10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?
I.e. "what purpose did you see in your mind for not telling me?"
11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake.
12 And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
Here is the documentation that Sarah was Abraham's half-sister.
13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.
I.e. Sarah agreed to call Abraham her brother for any possible encounters with other nations in the future.
14 And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.
As we can see, the Abimelech wanted to do what was right and wanted to make sure Abraham was treated very well. Notice the blessings Abraham received; a lot like what we saw in Genesis 12 when Abraham (then Abram) journeyed through Egypt, so is it again here, for Abraham came out much richer than before.
15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.
I.e. "feel free to stay wherever you would like in this land."
16 And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.
Notice the Abimelech's use of irony by calling Abraham Sarah's "brother". As we can see, he wanted no humiliation to fall upon any of them (including him) and in other words to just forget about what happened.
17 So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.
Note that this is the first recorded healing in the BIBLE.
18 For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife.
Never underestimate the power of GOD and what HE can do. HE is the same then just as HE is today and just as HE was with Abraham and Sarah, so is HE with us throughout every moment of our lives today, through the power of HIS SPIRIT (the HOLY SPIRIT). GOD always takes care of HIS own and so therefore why fear what men may do? Matthew 10:28 even says "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him (GOD) which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Only GOD has the power of where each soul spends eternity and to those who are on HIS team, they have nothing to fear because for them to die is only gain.
2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister (= half-sister [see verse 12]): and Abimelech (= father-king) king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
Abimelech is the official title for the kings in Gerar just as Pharaoh is the official title for the kings in Egypt. Here is the second occurrence of a "king" taking Sarah; the first occurring in Genesis 12. Again, Sarah kept her beauty very well [here she was around the age of 90]. As we can see, this is another attempt by satan to disrupt the seedline in which CHRIST would eventually come through. Notice once again, instead of Abraham calling Sarah his wife, he uses the term sister, which isn't a lie, for she was his half-sister but he did this with hopes of not being killed by the Abimelech ("king").
3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.
I.e. GOD is telling the Abimelech that unless he returns Sarah, then he will die.
4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, LORD (YHVH), wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
The Abimelech evidently expected GOD to slay the whole nation. Here we see the Abimelech recognized GOD's sacred name, although the kenite scribes try to hide this by changing YHVH to Adonai, which therefore strips GOD of HIS deity which you can see for yourself in the Masoretic text; this is 1 of the 134 times this incorrect translation takes place in the Sopherim. The name YHVH shows GOD's eternal, never ending power and deity, unlike Adonai which gives HIM the title of an earthly king.
5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.
I.e. the Abimelech is letting GOD know that he took Sarah out of the innocence of his heart and that he wasn't aware that she was Abraham's wife.
6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch (nâgaʻ [sleep with]) her.
I.e. GOD understands the Abimelech wasn't aware of that, so therefore HE's letting him know that HE intervened so that he would let Sarah go, whereby the seedline of the coming MESSIAH (CHRIST) would be protected.
7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.
GOD always takes care of HIS own and as we can see, HE is keeping HIS covenant and promise with Abraham just as HE always does; in this case concerning Isaac. Any time someone interferes with GOD's divine plans, we will see GOD's divine intervention. Here we see GOD's warning to the Abimelech of what will happen if he refuses to let Sarah go. Keep in mind these people in this land, are well aware of what just took place with Sodom and Gomorrah and surely they don't want the same thing to happen to them.
8 Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.
9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought
not to be done.
The Abimelech wants to know why Abraham didn't just plain outright tell him that he was Sarah's husband.
10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?
I.e. "what purpose did you see in your mind for not telling me?"
11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake.
12 And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
Here is the documentation that Sarah was Abraham's half-sister.
13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.
I.e. Sarah agreed to call Abraham her brother for any possible encounters with other nations in the future.
14 And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.
As we can see, the Abimelech wanted to do what was right and wanted to make sure Abraham was treated very well. Notice the blessings Abraham received; a lot like what we saw in Genesis 12 when Abraham (then Abram) journeyed through Egypt, so is it again here, for Abraham came out much richer than before.
15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.
I.e. "feel free to stay wherever you would like in this land."
16 And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.
Notice the Abimelech's use of irony by calling Abraham Sarah's "brother". As we can see, he wanted no humiliation to fall upon any of them (including him) and in other words to just forget about what happened.
17 So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.
Note that this is the first recorded healing in the BIBLE.
18 For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife.
Never underestimate the power of GOD and what HE can do. HE is the same then just as HE is today and just as HE was with Abraham and Sarah, so is HE with us throughout every moment of our lives today, through the power of HIS SPIRIT (the HOLY SPIRIT). GOD always takes care of HIS own and so therefore why fear what men may do? Matthew 10:28 even says "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him (GOD) which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Only GOD has the power of where each soul spends eternity and to those who are on HIS team, they have nothing to fear because for them to die is only gain.