Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
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.
- BSB Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.
- 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 12:15The princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
- Gen 26:7The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “My wife”, lest, he thought, “the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at.”
- Gen 12:11–13When he had come near to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look at.
- Col 3:9Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,
- Gen 26:1There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar.
- Eph 4:25Therefore putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another.
- Gen 20:12Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
- Gal 2:11–12But when Peter came to Antioch, I resisted him to his face, because he stood condemned.
- Eccl 7:20Surely there is not a righteous man on earth, who does good and doesn’t sin.
- Gen 26:16Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
- Prov 24:16for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.
- 2 Chr 19:2Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked, and love those who hate Yahweh? Because of this, wrath is on you from before Yahweh.
- 2 Chr 32:31However concerning the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.
- 2 Chr 20:37Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have joined yourself with Ahaziah, Yahweh has destroyed your works.” The ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.