Genesis 20:2-3

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 ¹  to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are as good as dead ²  because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife.” ³ 

Genesis 20:8

20:8 Early in the morning ⁴  Abimelech summoned ⁵  all his servants. When he told them about all these things, ⁶  they ⁷  were terrified.

Genesis 20:14

20:14 So Abimelech gave ⁸  sheep, cattle, and male and female servants to Abraham. He also gave his wife Sarah back to him.

Genesis 20:18

20:18 For the Lord ⁹  had caused infertility to strike every woman ¹⁰  in the household of Abimelech because he took ¹¹  Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Genesis 21:22

21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you ¹²  in all that you do.

Genesis 21:32

21:32 So they made a treaty ¹³  at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned ¹⁴  to the land of the Philistines. ¹⁵ 

Genesis 26:1

Isaac and Abimelech

26:1 There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred ¹⁶  in the days of Abraham. ¹⁷  Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.

Genesis 26:10

26:10 Then Abimelech exclaimed, “What in the world have you done to us? ¹⁸  One of the men ¹⁹  might easily have had sexual relations with ²⁰  your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!”

[20:3]  ¹ tn Heb “came.”

[20:3]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “and she is owned by an owner.” The disjunctive clause is causal or explanatory in this case.

[20:8]  ¹ tn Heb “And Abimelech rose early in the morning and he summoned.”

[20:8]  ² tn The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the preposition לְ (lamed) means “to summon.”

[20:8]  ³ tn Heb “And he spoke all these things in their ears.”

[20:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “the men.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “they” in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[20:14]  ¹ tn Heb “took and gave.”

[20:18]  ¹ tn In the Hebrew text the clause begins with “because.”

[20:18]  ² tn Heb had completely closed up every womb.” In the Hebrew text infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[20:18]  ³ tn Heb “because of.” The words “he took” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[21:22]  ¹ sn God is with you. Abimelech and Phicol recognized that Abraham enjoyed special divine provision and protection.

[21:32]  ¹ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[21:32]  ² tn Heb “arose and returned.”

[21:32]  ³ sn The Philistines mentioned here may not be ethnically related to those who lived in Palestine in the time of the judges and the united monarchy. See D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 238.

[26:1]  ¹ tn Heb “in addition to the first famine which was.”

[26:1]  ² sn This account is parallel to two similar stories about Abraham (see Gen 12:10-20; 20:1-18). Many scholars do not believe there were three similar incidents, only one that got borrowed and duplicated. Many regard the account about Isaac as the original, which then was attached to the more important person, Abraham, with supernatural elements being added. For a critique of such an approach, see R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, 47-62. It is more likely that the story illustrates the proverb “like father, like son” (see T. W. Mann, The Book of the Torah, 53). In typical human fashion the son follows his father’s example of lying to avoid problems. The appearance of similar events reported in a similar way underscores the fact that the blessing has now passed to Isaac, even if he fails as his father did.

[26:10]  ¹ tn Heb “What is this you have done to us?” The Hebrew demonstrative pronoun “this” adds emphasis: “What in the world have you done to us?” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 24, §118).

[26:10]  ² tn Heb “people.”

[26:10]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb means “to lie down.” Here the expression “lie with” or “sleep with” is euphemistic for “have sexual relations with.”