Genesis 20:1-18

Abraham and Abimelech

20:1 Abraham journeyed from there to the Negev ¹  region and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he lived as a temporary resident ²  in Gerar, 20:2 Abraham said about his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her.

20:3 But God appeared ³  to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead ⁴  because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.” ⁵ 

20:4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her. He said, “Lord, ⁶  would you really slaughter an innocent nation? ⁷  20:5 Did Abraham ⁸  not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ⁹  ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a clear conscience ¹⁰  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. ¹¹  That is why I have kept you ¹²  from sinning against me and why ¹³  I did not allow you to touch her. 20:7 But now give back the man’s wife. Indeed ¹⁴  he is a prophet ¹⁵  and he will pray for you; thus you will live. ¹⁶  But if you don’t give her back, ¹⁷  know that you will surely die ¹⁸  along with all who belong to you.”

20:8 Early in the morning ¹⁹  Abimelech summoned ²⁰  all his servants. When he told them about all these things, ²¹  they ²²  were terrified. 20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? ²³  You have done things to me that should not be done!” ²⁴  20:10 Then Abimelech asked ²⁵  Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?” ²⁶ 

20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ²⁷  ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of ²⁸  my wife.’ 20:12 What’s more, ²⁹  she is indeed my sister, my father’s daughter, but not my mother’s daughter. She became my wife. 20:13 When God made me wander ³⁰  from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: ³¹  Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”

20:14 So Abimelech gave ³²  sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him. 20:15 Then Abimelech said, “Look, my land is before you; live wherever you please.” ³³ 

20:16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver ³⁴  to your ‘brother.’ ³⁵  This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you.” ³⁶ 

20:17 Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, as well as his wife and female slaves so that they were able to have children. 20:18 For the Lord ³⁷  had caused infertility to strike every woman ³⁸  in the household of Abimelech because he took ³⁹  Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Genesis 4:11-16

4:11 So now, you are banished ⁴⁰  from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 4:12 When you try to cultivate ⁴¹  the

ground it will no longer yield ⁴²  its best ⁴³  for you. You will be a homeless wanderer ⁴⁴  on the earth.” 4:13 Then Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment ⁴⁵  is too great to endure! ⁴⁶  4:14 Look! You are driving me off the land ⁴⁷  today, and I must hide from your presence. ⁴⁸  I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me.” 4:15 But the Lord said to him, “All right then, ⁴⁹  if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.” ⁵⁰  Then the Lord put a special mark ⁵¹  on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. ⁵²  4:16 So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, ⁵³  east of Eden.

Genesis 4:1

The Story of Cain and Abel

4:1 Now ⁵⁴  the man had marital relations with ⁵⁵  his wife Eve, and she became pregnant ⁵⁶  and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created ⁵⁷  a man just as the Lord did!” ⁵⁸ 

Genesis 28:9-10

28:9 So Esau went to Ishmael and married ⁵⁹  Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Abraham’s son Ishmael, along with the wives he already had.

Jacob’s Dream at Bethel

28:10 Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran.

Genesis 28:20

28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food ⁶⁰  to eat and clothing to wear,

Colossians 4:17

4:17 And tell Archippus, “See to it that you complete the ministry you received in the Lord.”

[20:1]  ¹ tn Or “the South [country]”; Heb “the land of the Negev.”

[20:1]  ² tn Heb “and he sojourned.”

[20:3]  ³ tn Heb “came.”

[20:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “Look, you [are] dead.” The Hebrew construction uses the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with a second person pronominal particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with by the participle. It is a highly rhetorical expression.

[20:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “and she is owned by an owner.” The disjunctive clause is causal or explanatory in this case.

[20:4]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[20:4]  ⁷ 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.

[20:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “and she, even she.”

[20:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “with the integrity of my heart.”

[20:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “with the integrity of your heart.”

[20:6]  ¹² tn Heb “and I, even I, kept you.”

[20:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “therefore.”

[20:7]  ¹⁴ tn Or “for,” if the particle is understood as causal (as many English translations do) rather than asseverative.

[20:7]  ¹⁵ sn For a discussion of the term prophet see N. Walker, “What is a Nabhi?” ZAW 73 (1961): 99-100.

[20:7]  ¹⁶ tn After the preceding jussive (or imperfect), the imperative with vav conjunctive here indicates result.

[20:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “if there is not you returning.” The suffix on the particle becomes the subject of the negated clause.

[20:7]  ¹⁸ tn The imperfect is preceded by the infinitive absolute to make the warning emphatic.

[20:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “And Abimelech rose early in the morning and he summoned.”

[20:8]  ²⁰ tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the preposition לְ (lamed) means “to summon.”

[20:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “And he spoke all these things in their ears.”

[20:8]  ²² tn Heb “the men.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “they” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[20:9]  ²³ tn Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” JNES 18 (1959): 280-81.

[20:9]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.

[20:10]  ²⁵ tn Heb “And Abimelech said to.”

[20:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “What did you see that you did this thing?” The question implies that Abraham had some motive for deceiving Abimelech.

[20:11]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Because I said.”

[20:11]  ²⁸ tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[20:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “but also.”

[20:13]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew verb is plural. This may be a case of grammatical agreement with the name for God, which is plural in form. However, when this plural name refers to the one true God, accompanying predicates are usually singular in form. Perhaps Abraham is accommodating his speech to Abimelech’s polytheistic perspective. (See GKC 463 §145.i.) If so, one should translate, “when the gods made me wander.”

[20:13]  ³¹ tn Heb “This is your loyal deed which you can do for me.”

[20:14]  ³² tn Heb “took and gave.”

[20:15]  ³³ tn Heb “In the [place that is] good in your eyes live!”

[20:16]  ³⁴ sn A thousand pieces [Heb “shekels”] of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 11.5 kilograms, or 400 ounces (about 25 pounds).

[20:16]  ³⁵ sn To your ‘brother.’ Note the way that the king refers to Abraham. Was he being sarcastic? It was surely a rebuke to Sarah. What is amazing is how patient this king was. It is proof that the fear of God was in that place, contrary to what Abraham believed (see v. 11).

[20:16]  ³⁶ tn Heb “Look, it is for you a covering of the eyes, for all who are with you, and with all, and you are set right.” The exact meaning of the statement is unclear. Apparently it means that the gift of money somehow exonerates her in other people’s eyes. They will not look on her as compromised (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:74).

[20:18]  ³⁷ tn In the Hebrew text the clause begins with “because.”

[20:18]  ³⁸ tn Heb had completely closed up every womb.” In the Hebrew text infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[20:18]  ³⁹ tn Heb “because of.” The words “he took” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[4:11]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “cursed are you from the ground.” As in Gen 3:14, the word “cursed,” a passive participle from אָרָר (’arar), either means “punished” or “banished,” depending on how one interprets the following preposition. If the preposition is taken as indicating source, then the idea is “cursed (i.e., punished) are you from [i.e., “through the agency of”] the ground” (see v. 12a). If the preposition is taken as separative, then the idea is “cursed and banished from the ground.” In this case the ground rejects Cain’s efforts in such a way that he is banished from the ground and forced to become a fugitive out in the earth (see vv. 12b, 14).

[4:12]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “work.”

[4:12]  ⁴² tn Heb “it will not again (תֹסֵף, tosef) give (תֵּת, tet),” meaning the ground will no longer yield. In translation the infinitive becomes the main verb, and the imperfect verb form becomes adverbial.

[4:12]  ⁴³ tn Heb “its strength.”

[4:12]  ⁴⁴ tn Two similar sounding synonyms are used here: נָע וָנָד (na’ vanad, “a wanderer and a fugitive”). This juxtaposition of synonyms emphasizes the single idea. In translation one can serve as the main description, the other as a modifier. Other translation options include “a wandering fugitive” and a “ceaseless wanderer” (cf. NIV).

[4:13]  ⁴⁵ tn The primary meaning of the Hebrew word עָוֹן (’avon) is “sin, iniquity.” But by metonymy it can refer to the “guilt” of sin, or to “punishment” for sin. The third meaning applies here. Just before this the Lord announces the punishment for Cain’s actions, and right after this statement Cain complains of the severity of the punishment. Cain is not portrayed as repenting of his sin.

[4:13]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “great is my punishment from bearing.” The preposition מִן (min, “from”) is used here in a comparative sense.

[4:14]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “from upon the surface of the ground.”

[4:14]  ⁴⁸ sn I must hide from your presence. The motif of hiding from the Lord as a result of sin also appears in Gen 3:8-10.

[4:15]  ⁴⁹ tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) in this context carries the sense of “Okay,” or “in that case then I will do this.”

[4:15]  ⁵⁰ sn The symbolic number seven is used here to emphasize that the offender will receive severe punishment. For other rhetorical and hyperbolic uses of the expression “seven times over,” see Pss 12:6; 79:12; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.

[4:15]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “sign”; “reminder.” The term “sign” is not used in the translation because it might imply to an English reader that God hung a sign on Cain. The text does not identify what the “sign” was. It must have been some outward, visual reminder of Cain’s special protected status.

[4:15]  ⁵² sn God becomes Cain’s protector. Here is common grace – Cain and his community will live on under God’s care, but without salvation.

[4:16]  ⁵³ sn The name Nod means “wandering” in Hebrew (see vv. 12, 14).

[4:1]  ⁵⁴ tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) introduces a new episode in the ongoing narrative.

[4:1]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “the man knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.

[4:1]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “she conceived.”

[4:1]  ⁵⁷ tn Here is another sound play (paronomasia) on a name. The sound of the verb קָנִיתִי (qaniti, “I have created”) reflects the sound of the name Cain in Hebrew (קַיִן, qayin) and gives meaning to it. The saying uses the Qal perfect of קָנָה (qanah). There are two homonymic verbs with this spelling, one meaning “obtain, acquire” and the other meaning “create” (see Gen 14:19, 22; Deut 32:6; Ps 139:13; Prov 8:22). The latter fits this context very well. Eve has created a man.

[4:1]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “with the Lord.” The particle אֶת־ (’et) is not the accusative/object sign, but the preposition “with” as the ancient versions attest. Some take the preposition in the sense of “with the help of” (see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת; cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV), while others prefer “along with” in the sense of “like, equally with, in common with” (see Lev 26:39; Isa 45:9; Jer 23:28). Either works well in this context; the latter is reflected in the present translation. Some understand אֶת־ as the accusative/object sign and translate, “I have acquired a man – the Lord.” They suggest that the woman thought (mistakenly) that she had given birth to the incarnate Lord, the Messiah who would bruise the Serpent’s head. This fanciful suggestion is based on a questionable allegorical interpretation of Gen 3:15 (see the note there on the word “heel”).

[28:9]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “took for a wife.”

[28:20]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.