Genesis 20:11

11 And Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place; they will kill me on account of the matter of my wife.

Genesis 20:11 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 20:11

And Abraham said
In defence of himself, as well as he could: because I thought;
within himself, concluding from the general depravity of the Canaanites, that this was the case of the inhabitants of Gerar: surely the fear of God [is] not in this place;
this is a certain truth, which he thought might be depended upon, and taken for granted, since so it was everywhere: or "only" ^F5, as the word used signifies; this was the only thing he had to plead, that he verily thought with himself that there was no true religion and godliness in Gerar: that the inhabitants of it were without any fear of God before their eyes, or in their hearts; and he knew, where this is the case, there is nothing to restrain from the commission of the grossest sins: and they will slay me for my wife's sake;
that they might marry her, see ( Genesis 12:12 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 (qr) "tantum", Montanus; so Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius; so the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and Ben Melech.

Genesis 20:11 In-Context

9 And Abimelech called for Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you that you brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin? You have done things to me that should not be done."

10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, "{What were you thinking} that you did this thing?"

11 And Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely there is no fear of God in this place; they will kill me on account of the matter of my wife.

12 {Besides}, she [is] my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife.

13 And it happened [that] as God caused me to wander from the house of my father I said to her, 'This [is] your loyal kindness that you must do for me at every place where we come: say concerning me, "He [is] my brother." '"