And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!”
- KJV 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.
- BSB Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”
- NASB Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.”
- NLT Then Abimelech called for Abraham. “What have you done to us?” he demanded. “What crime have I committed that deserves treatment like this, making me and my kingdom guilty of this great sin? No one should ever do what you have done!
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
Abimelech confronts Abraham for bringing great sin upon him and his kingdom. The pagan king rightly rebukes the man of God.
Overview
Abimelech's pointed questions expose Abraham's failure, as a believer is here corrected for his conduct by an unbeliever. The deceit had threatened to bring guilt upon an entire kingdom, showing how one person's sin can endanger many. The reversal of roles humbles Abraham and reminds God's people that their witness suffers when they fail to live truthfully before the watching world.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Gen 12:18Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why didn’t you tell me that she was your wife?
- Gen 39:9No one is greater in this house than I am, and he has not kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
- Gen 26:10Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”
- Josh 7:25Joshua said, “Why have you troubled us? Yahweh will trouble you today.” All Israel stoned him with stones, and they burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.
- Gen 34:7The sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it. The men were grieved, and they were very angry, because he had done folly in Israel in lying with Jacob’s daughter; a thing ought not to be done.
- Lev 20:10“‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
- 1 Sam 26:18–19He said, “Why does my lord pursue his servant? For what have I done? What evil is in my hand?
- 2 Sam 12:10–11Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’
- 2 Sam 12:5David’s anger burned hot against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As Yahweh lives, the man who has done this deserves to die!
- 2 Sam 13:12She answered him, “No, my brother, do not force me! For no such thing ought to be done in Israel. Don’t you do this folly.
- Exod 32:35Yahweh struck the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.
- Rom 2:11For there is no partiality with God.
- Prov 28:10Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way, he will fall into his own trap; but the blameless will inherit good.
- Heb 13:4Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
- Gen 38:24About three months later, Judah was told, “Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute. Moreover, behold, she is with child by prostitution.” Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.”
- Titus 1:11whose mouths must be stopped; men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for dishonest gain’s sake.
- Exod 32:21Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you have brought a great sin on them?”
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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 20:9 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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