Genesis 20:13

13 Und es geschah, als Gott mich wandern ließ aus meines Vaters Hause, da sprach ich zu ihr: Dies sei deine Güte, die du mir erweisen mögest; an jedem Orte, wohin wir kommen werden, sage von mir: Er ist mein Bruder.

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 Und Abraham sprach: Weil ich mir sagte: Gewiß ist keine Gottesfurcht an diesem Orte, und sie werden mich töten um meines Weibes willen.
12 Auch ist sie wahrhaftig meine Schwester, die Tochter meines Vaters, nur nicht die Tochter meiner Mutter; und sie ist mein Weib geworden.
13 Und es geschah, als Gott mich wandern ließ aus meines Vaters Hause, da sprach ich zu ihr: Dies sei deine Güte, die du mir erweisen mögest; an jedem Orte, wohin wir kommen werden, sage von mir: Er ist mein Bruder.
14 Da nahm Abimelech Kleinvieh und Rinder und Knechte und Mägde und gab sie dem Abraham; und er gab ihm Sara, sein Weib, zurück.
15 Und Abimelech sprach: Siehe, mein Land ist vor dir; wohne, wo es gut ist in deinen Augen.
The Elberfelder Bible is in the public domain.