Genesis 20.1-18.
| 20.1ויסע משם אברהם | Avrahamα pulls out of there, |
|---|---|
| ארצה הנגב | to the land of the Negev. |
| וישב בין קדש ובין שור | He lives between Qadesh and Shur, |
| ויגר בגרר׃ | staying in Gerar. |
| 20.2ויאמר אברהם אל שרה אשתו | Avraham says of his wife Sara,β |
| אחתי הוא | “She’s my sister.” |
| וישלח אבימלך מלך גרר | Gerar’s king, the Avimelk, sends for |
| ויקח את שרה׃ | and takes Sara. |
| 20.3ויבא אלהים אל אבימלך | God comes to the Avimelk |
| בחלום הלילה | in a dream at night |
| ויאמר לו | and says to him, |
| הנך מת | “Look: You die, |
| על האשה אשר לקחת | because the woman you’re taking, |
| והוא בעלת בעל׃ | she has a husband.”γ |
| 20.4ואבימלך לא קרב אליה | The Avimelk didn’t come near her. |
| ויאמר אדני | He says, “My Master, |
| הגוי גם צדיק תהרג׃ | would You destroy a righteous Gentile? |
| 20.5הלא הוא אמר לי אחתי הוא | Doesn’t he tell me, ‘She’s my sister’ |
| והיא גם הוא אמרה אחי הוא | and she says, ‘He’s my brother’? |
| בתם לבבי ובנקין כפי עשיתי זאת׃ | I do this with an upright heart and clean palms.” |
| 20.6ויאמר אליו האלהים בחלם | God says to him in the dream, |
| גם אנכי ידעתי כי בתם לבבך עשית זאת | “Yes. I know how you do this with an upright heart. |
| ואחשך גם אנכי אותך מחטו לי | I keep you from sinning against Me. |
| על כן לא נתתיך לנגע אליה׃ | I don’t give you a chance to touch her. |
| 20.7ועתה השב אשת האיש | Return the man’s wife |
| כי נביא הוא ויתפלל בעדך | —he’s a prophet; he’ll pray for you— |
| וחיה | and live. |
| ואם אינך משיב | If you do not return her, |
| דע כי מות תמות | know that dying you will die— |
| אתה וכל אשר לך׃ | you and all who are yours.” |
| 20.8ויקרא אבימלך לאברהם | The Avimelk rises early in the morning |
| ויקרא לכל עבדיו | and calls out to all his slaves, |
| וידבר את כל הדברים האלה באזניהם | and he speaks all these words in their ears, |
| וייראו האנשים מאד׃ | and the men fear greatly. |
| 20.9ויקרא אבימלך לאברהם ויאמר לו | The Avimelk calls Avraham and says to him, |
| מה עשית לנו ומה חטאתי לך | "What do you do to us? How do I sin against you, |
| כי הבאת עלי ועל ממלכתי חטאה גדלה | that you bring great sin upon me and my kingdom? |
| מעשים אשר לא יעשו עשית עמדי׃ | You do business with me that should not be done.” |
| 20.10ויאמר אבימלך אל אברהם | The Avimelk says to Avraham, |
| מה ראית כי עשית את הדבר הזה׃ | “What did you see that made you do this?” |
| 20.11ויאמר אברהם כי אמרתי | Avraham says, “I say this: |
| רק אין יראת אלהים במקום הזה | ‘This place has no fear of God. |
| והרגוני על דבר אשתי׃ | They’ll kill me by my wife’s message.’ |
| 20.12 וגם אמנה אחתי | Yes, she’s actually my sister; |
| בת אבי הוא אך לא בת אמי | my father’s daughter, not my mother’s daughter. |
| ותהי לי לאשה׃ | She becomes my wife. |
| 20.13ויהי כאשר התעו אתי אלהים מבית אבי | When God makes me wander from my father’s house |
| ואמר לה זה חסדך | I tell her, ‘Do this love for me, |
| אשר תעשי עמדי אל כל המקום אשר נבוא שמה | which you’ll do with me to every place we come: |
| אמרי לי אחי הוא׃ | say, ‘He’s my brother.’ ” |
| 20.14ויקח אבימלך צאן ובקר | The Avimelk takes sheep and cattle, |
| ועבדים ושפחת | slaves and bondwomen, |
| ויתן לאברהם | and gives to Avraham. |
| וישב לו את שרה אשתו׃ | He returns his wife Sara to him. |
| 20.15ויאמר אבימלך הנה ארצי לפניך | The Avimelk says, “See, my land is before your face. |
| בטוב בעיניך שב׃ | Live where it’s good in your eyes.” |
| 20.16ולשרה אמר | He says to Sara, |
| הנה נתתי אלף כסף לאחיך | “Look, I give a thousand silvers to your brother. |
| הנה הוא לך | Look, it’s for you; |
| כסות עינים לכל אשר אתך | a veil for the eyes of everyone with you. |
| ואת כל ונכחת׃ | It’s all right with everyone.” |
| 20.17 ויתפלל אברהם אל האלהים | Abraham prays to God, |
| וירפא אלהים את אבימלך ואת אשתו ואמהתיו | and God heals the Avimelk and his wife and maids, |
| וילדו׃ | and they beget. |
| 20.18כי עצר עצר יהוה | For holding back, Yahweh holds back |
| בעד כל רחם לבית אבימלך | every womb in the Avimelk’s house |
| על דבר שרה אשת אברהם׃ | by the message of Sara, Avraham’s wife. |
I was looking up prayer. The first time prayer is ever mentioned in Scripture is Genesis 20, the story of the Avimelk of Gerar, and how Abraham screws him over.
Avimelk, אבימלך, meaning “father-king,” is a title of Gerar’s king (like Pharaoh of Egypt or Benhadad of Syria). More than 40 years later, Abraham’s son scams another Avimelk with the same trick. (Ge 26.6-11)
Abraham pulled this scam once before with the Pharaoh of Egypt. (Ge 12) What’s with this “She’s my sister” scam? Well, Abraham explains that Sarah actually is his sister; biologically his half-sister. In American culture, this is disgusting, but in Abraham’s culture, marrying relatives was the best way to make sure that family property stayed within the family. While the Torah later prohibited sibling marriage, marriage between cousins was still frequently encouraged to keep family lines—and family property—intact. (There’s a popular myth that if siblings do marry, their kids will come out retarded and disfigured. There have—unfortunately—been enough incest cases in the medical record to demonstrate that this actually doesn’t happen. The children are much more likely to have genetic disabilities, but that’s all.)
Abraham’s argument in Egypt was that Sarah was beautiful and he’d be killed for her sake. Since she was now about ninety (Ge 17.17) the argument seems now to be that Abraham was rich. Anyone who killed him and married his wife would get all his stuff. On the other hand, if Abraham was unmarried and had an unmarried sister, anyone who married her would get all his stuff anyway, and no one would have to die... yet. Abraham must have figured his chances of survival were better by claiming to be Sarah’s brother, so that’s what he did. Of course, once it got out that Sarah was married, the kings would have panicked—pagans or not, their gods were offended at polyandry (a woman with multiple husbands; hey, it was a sexist time back then) —and they’d pay restitution, and Abraham would be richer. True, he pimped out his wife, but no one would be dead.
The Avimelk wasn’t entirely guiltless in this story. He already had a wife and concubines. He didn’t need another wife (particularly one with Sarah’s temper and track record at childbirth). He only wanted her for the money. Hence, he had to make restitution for her with his money. God’s punishment fit the crime. So Abraham gets slaves, animals, and $10,000 in silver.
One interesting thing about the tricking-Avimelk story, as opposed to the tricking-Pharaoh story, is that the Avimelk was already on speaking terms with God. Abraham presumed that the people of Gerar were a bunch of pagans, but not only does God talk to the Avimelk; God’s actually been watching out for him to make sure he doesn’t sin. That’s impressive. I don’t see that kind of relationship between God and Abraham. Abraham blows it; it’s all his own fault. The Avimelk has God watching his back. (Probably because he’s responsible for a city-state.)
Before this story, talking to God had not been called “prayer.” It was simply talking to God. Abraham talked to God; Noah talked to God; Adam talked to God. Here, God told the Avimelk that Abraham would pray for him—Abraham would do more than just talk, but petition God on behalf of the man who had wronged him. This is why the translators of the Bible use the word “prayer” instead of “talk.” Prayer means petition. “I pray thee” was how people used to say our present-day phrase, “I beg you.” Same idea.
Often we teach that prayer is more than just requests—that we should remember to thank and praise God as well. While true, this makes many worry they might be too greedy or selfish when they make requests of God. But prayer is all about requests. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus even phrased His praise, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done” (Mt 6.10) as requests. Never feel greedy if you have a lot to ask of God. He wants to supply our needs.
α. Abraham.
β. Sarah.
γ. Lit. “husbanded by a husband.”
