Genesis 20:13

13 and it came about, when 1God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, 'This is the kindness which you will show to me: everywhere * * * * we go, 2say of me, "He is my brother.""'

Genesis 20:13 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 20:13

And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my
father's house
In Ur of the Chaldees, from whence God called him to go forth; which laid him under an obligation to depart from thence, and move from place to place, and go he knew not where, as in ( Hebrews 11:8 ) ; or "the Gods", as it is in the plural number, and so the verb in construction with it; not the idol gods, the gods of the Gentiles, as the Targum of Jonathan, who interprets the words thus,

``and it was when the worshippers of idols sought to cause men to err, and I went from my father's house;''
but the true God, as Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Ben Melech acknowledge, and is by many Christian interpreters understood of the three Persons in the Godhead: that I said unto her, this [is] thy kindness which thou shalt show unto
me;
this I shall take as a favour done me, as an instance of tender affection unto me: at every place whither we shall come, say of me;
or for the sake of me, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi, in order to save me from the hands of wicked men, whom he feared would slay him for her sake: he [is] my brother;
and so he hoped, instead of being ill used, he should meet with favour and friendship on her account, being thus nearly related to her: this he observes to Abimelech, to show that this was an old agreement, near thirty years ago, when they first set out on their travels, and was no new device and scheme which they pursued on account of him and his people in particular; but what they had formerly agreed upon should be said in all places wherever they came, and therefore there was no intention to affront Abimelech; only it supposed they might come into places where wicked men dwelt.

Genesis 20:13 In-Context

11 Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.
12 "Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife;
13 and it came about, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, 'This is the kindness which you will show to me: everywhere we go, say of me, "He is my brother.""'
14 Abimelech then took sheep and oxen and male and female servants , and gave them to Abraham, and restored his wife Sarah to him.
15 Abimelech said, "Behold, my land is before you; settle wherever you please ."

Cross References 2

  • 1. Genesis 12:1-9
  • 2. Genesis 12:13; Genesis 20:5

Footnotes 2

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