Genesis 20:4-6

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.

[20:4]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[20:4]  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.

[20:5]  ³ tn Heb “he”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and she, even she.”

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

[20:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “with the integrity of your heart.”

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

[20:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “therefore.”