Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Abraham said about Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
- KJV And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
- NKJV Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
- NASB And Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar sent men and took Sarah.
- NLT Abraham introduced his wife, Sarah, by saying, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar sent for Sarah and had her brought to him at his palace.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Abraham again claims Sarah is his sister, and King Abimelech takes her. Abraham repeats a past failure, endangering Sarah and the promised line.
Overview
Fearing for his life, Abraham resorts to a half-truth he had used in Egypt, exposing his wife and jeopardizing God's promise of an heir through Sarah. The episode reveals that even great men of faith stumble into the same sins repeatedly. Yet God's covenant does not depend on Abraham's perfection, and the Lord Himself will intervene to protect the line that leads to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Gen 12:15When Pharaoh’s officials saw Sarai, they commended her to him, and she was taken into the palace of Pharaoh.
- Gen 26:7But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.”
- Gen 12:11–13As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman,
- Col 3:9Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off the old self with its practices,
- Gen 26:1Now there was another famine in the land, subsequent to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.
- Eph 4:25Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one another.
- Gen 20:12Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father—though not the daughter of my mother—and she became my wife.
- Gal 2:11–12When Cephas came to Antioch, however, I opposed him to his face, because he stood to be condemned.
- Eccl 7:20Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
- Gen 26:16Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Depart from us, for you are much too powerful for us.”
- Prov 24:16For though a righteous man may fall seven times, he still gets up; but the wicked stumble in bad times.
- 2 Chr 19:2Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to confront him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, the wrath of the LORD is upon you.
- 2 Chr 32:31And so when ambassadors of the rulers of Babylon were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone to test him, that He might know all that was in Hezekiah’s heart.
- 2 Chr 20:37Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your works.” So the ships were wrecked and were unable to sail to Tarshish.
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 20:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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