20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, 1 would you really slaughter an innocent nation? 2 20:5 Did Abraham 3 not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, 4 ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience 5 and with innocent hands!”
20:6 Then in the dream God replied to him, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a clear conscience. 6 That is why I have kept you 7 from sinning against me and why 8 I did not allow you to touch her.
1 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
2 tn Apparently Abimelech assumes that God’s judgment will fall on his entire nation. Some, finding the reference to a nation problematic, prefer to emend the text and read, “Would you really kill someone who is innocent?” See E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 149.
3 tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Heb “and she, even she.”
5 tn Heb “with the integrity of my heart.”
5 tn Heb “with the integrity of your heart.”
6 tn Heb “and I, even I, kept you.”
7 tn Heb “therefore.”