Genesis 20:11-13

20:11 Abraham replied, “Because I thought, ¹  ‘Surely no one fears God in this place. They will kill me because of ²  my wife.’ 20:12 What’s more, ³  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 ⁴  from my father’s house, I told her, ‘This is what you can do to show your loyalty to me: ⁵  Every place we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”

[20:11]  ¹ tn Heb “Because I said.”

[20:11]  ² tn Heb “over the matter of.”

[20:12]  ³ tn Heb “but also.”

[20:13]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “This is your loyal deed which you can do for me.”