Bereshis 20:12

12 And yet indeed she is my achot; she is the bat avi, but not the bat immi; and she became my isha.

Bereshis 20:12 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 20:12

And yet indeed [she is] my sister
In the same sense as Lot was his brother; for she was sister to Lot, and both were the children of Haran, the brother of Abraham: she [is] the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother;
she was the daughter of his father, being his granddaughter, grandchildren are sometimes called children, but not the daughter or granddaughter of Abraham's mother; Terah having had two wives, by the one he had Haran, the father of Sarah, and by the other Abraham. According to the Arabic writers F6, Abraham and Sarah were the immediate children of Terah, but by two mothers:

``the mother of Abraham (they say) died, whose name was Juna, and Terah married another wife, whose name was Lahazib, some say Tahuitha, who bore him Sarah, afterwards married to Abraham; hence Abraham said, she is my sister on my father's side, but not on my mother's side:''
and she became my wife;
as in those times it was judged lawful, and so it has been accounted lawful in many nations to marry sisters on the father's side, when those on the mother's were prohibited F7.
FOOTNOTES:

F6 Elmacinus, p. 51. Patricides, p. 17. apud Hottinger. Smegma Oriental. p. 281.
F7 Vid. Philo. de Special. Leg. p. 779. Clement. Alex. Stromat. l. 2. p. 421.

Bereshis 20:12 In-Context

10 And Avimelech said unto Avraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?
11 And Avraham said, Because I thought, Surely the yirat Elohim is not in this place; and they will slay me on account of my isha.
12 And yet indeed she is my achot; she is the bat avi, but not the bat immi; and she became my isha.
13 And it came to pass, when Elohim caused me to wander from my bais avi, that I said unto her, This is thy chesed which thou shalt show unto me; at every place where we shall come, say of me, He is achi.
14 And Avimelech took tzon, and oxen, and avadim, and shfachot, and gave them unto Avraham, and restored to him Sarah his isha.
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