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Genesis 20

God protects Sarah and confronts the danger Abraham’s deception brings, while appointing Abraham to pray for the household harmed.

Abraham settles as a foreigner in Gerar and identifies Sarah, his wife, as his sister. King Abimelech takes her, but God warns him in a dream that she is married and must be returned. Abimelech has not touched Sarah; God says he has prevented him from doing so. Confronted by the king, Abraham explains his fear of being killed. Abimelech returns Sarah with gifts, and Abraham prays for the healing of the king’s household.

fear for the futureguilt and confession
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1Abraham traveled from there toward the land of the South, and lived between Kadesh and Shur. He lived as a foreigner in Gerar.
2Abraham said about Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
3But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man, because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a man’s wife.”
4Now Abimelech had not come near her. He said, “Lord, will you kill even a righteous nation?
5Didn’t he tell me, ‘She is my sister’? She, even she herself, said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.”
6God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn’t allow you to touch her.
7Now therefore, restore the man’s wife. For he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you don’t restore her, know for sure that you will die, you, and all who are yours.”
9Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!”
11Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely the fear of God is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife’s sake.’
12Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
13When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”
14Abimelech took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah, his wife, to him.
15Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you. Dwell where it pleases you.”
16To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you. In front of all you are vindicated.”
17Abraham prayed to God. So God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children.
18For the LORD had closed up tight all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Genesis 20:7God commands Sarah’s return and names Abraham as a prophet whose prayer will help the household his deception endangered.
Genesis 20:17Abraham’s prayer brings the account to its resolution: God heals the household that suffered because Sarah was taken.
Genesis 20:6God acknowledges Abimelech’s integrity while revealing that his own restraint kept the king from sinning against him.
Where this chapter reaches

Job shares the pattern of God directing someone to seek another person’s prayer, followed by God’s acceptance of that intercession. James connects prayer with healing, a link enacted here when Abraham prays and God heals Abimelech’s household.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does Abimelech’s response to God’s warning challenge Abraham’s judgment about the people of Gerar?

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What does Abraham’s explanation reveal about the harm that fear-driven half-truths can cause?

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Questions people ask about Genesis 20

Was Sarah Abraham’s sister in Genesis 20?

Abraham says Sarah is his half sister: they share a father, but have different mothers. She is also his wife. His statement concealed their marriage, leading Abimelech to take her. Abraham explains that fear for his life prompted the arrangement, which he had asked Sarah to follow wherever they went.

Why does God call Abraham a prophet after he deceives Abimelech?

God identifies Abraham as a prophet and appoints him to pray for Abimelech. The chapter gives no further explanation for that title here. It records both Abraham’s deception and Abimelech’s rebuke without withdrawing Abraham’s role. God’s command joins two requirements: Sarah must be restored, and Abraham will intercede.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).