Annotations on the Pentateuch, Psalms, Song of Songs, Biblical commentary 1 · Chapter 20
CHAP. XX.
1, Abraham sojourneth in Gerar, 2, saith againe, that his wife is his sister. 3, Abimelech (for taking her) is in a dreame threatned of God. 4, Abimelech excuseth himselfe unto the Lord; 9, rebuketh Abraham, 14, restoreth Sarah, 16, and reproveth her 17, He and his are healed by Abrahams prayer.
ANd Abraham journeyed from thence to the South country; and dwelled betweene Kadesh and Shur: and sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said, of Sarah his wife, she is my sister: and Abimelech, King of Gerar, sent; and tooke Sarah. And God came unto Abimelech, in a dreame by night: and he said to him; Behold thou art a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is maried to an husband. And Abimelech had not come-neere unto her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a just nation? Said not hee unto me, she is my sister? and shee even shee also said, he is my brother: in the perfection of my heart, and in innocency of my hands, have I done this. And God said unto him, in a dreame; I also doe know, that in the perfection of thy hart, thou hast done this: and I also withheld thee from sinning against mee: therefore I gave thee not, to touch her. And now, restore thou the wife of the man, for he is a Prophet; and hee shall pray for thee, and live thou: and if thou restore her not; know thou, that dying thou shalt dye, thou, and all that are thine. And Abimelech rose-early in the morning, and called all his servants, & spake all these words in their eares: and the men were sore afraid. And Abimelech called Abraham, & said to him, what hast thou done unto us, and what have I sinned against thee, that thou hast brought on mee, and on my kingdome a great sinne? Thou hast done unto mee, deeds that should not bee done. And Abimelech said unto Abraham: what sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? And Abraham sayd; because I sayd, Surely there is no foare of God in this place: and they will kill me for my wives sake. And yet truly, shee is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother: and she became my wife. And it was when they, even God, caused me to wander from my fathers house; then I said unto her, this is thy kindnesse which thou shalt doe unto me: at every place whither wee shall come, say thou of mee, hee is my brother. And Abimelech tooke sheepe and oxen, and men servants, and women servants; and gave unto Abraham: and restored to him Sarah his wife. And Abimelech said, Behold my land is before thee: dwell thou in that which is good in thine eyes. And unto Sarah hee said, Behold I have given a thousand shekels of silver to thy brother; behold he is to thee a covering of the eyes; unto all which are with thee: and all that (thou maist be) rebuked. And Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his women-servants, and they bare-children. For Iehovah had closing closed-up, every wombs, in the house of Abimelech: because of Sarah, Abrahams wife.
Annotations.
I Ourneyed] or removed, to weet, from the okes of Mamre, Gen. 18. 1. country] or, land of the south; that is, the south part of the land of Canaan: see Gen. 12. 9. Kadesh] see Gen. 16. 14. 7. Gerar] a country of the Philistines, in the southern parts of the Land of Canaan, Gen. 10. 19. Hither Isaak came afterward to so journe, for famine, Gen. 26. 1.
Vers. 2. of Sarah] the Hebrew el which properly signifieth unto, is used for of, or concerning and is so translated by the Greeke, here and Ier. 27. 19. and so the Greeke pros, in like manner, Heb. 1. 7. and 4. 13. Or if we reade it, unto Sarah, the meaning is, that together with her, both he and she said it: as after in vers. 5. is manifested. See the like done before, in Gen. 12. 11. 12. 13.
Vers. 2. Abimelech] by interpretation, Father-King: a common title of the Kings of Palestina, as Phar… was of the Kings of Aegypt: see Gen. 26. 1. Psal 34. 1. For Kings should beo Fathers to their countries: so rulers are casled fathers, 2 King. 5. 13. Iob …. 16. and 1 Sam. 1…. 15. where your fathers, is translated in Greeke, your King: see Gen. 4. 20.
Vers. 3, God came] the Chaldee saith, word came from the face of God. This serteth forth Gods care for his. he suffered …o man to doe them wrong, but reproved Kings for then sakes, Psal. 165. 14. a dream] which is … …on that the mind of man conce… … isle … natural arising from the … of the body; or affections of the mind, are many, and have their vanities and deceits, Eccles. 5. 7. Esay 29. 7. 8. But dreames supernaturall sent of God, as here, or by his Angels, as Mat. 2. 13. are to bee regarded: for God by them signifieth what he would, or what men should doe, Gen. 41. 25. Iob 33. 14. 15. 16. &c. Dreames also are sometimes by the lying spirit of Satan: which are not to bee beleeved or regarded, Zach. 10. 2. Deut. 13. 1. 2. 3. See also Gen. 37. 5. a dead man] that is, shalt surely dye. But under such threats, conditions often are implyed: as here, if thou deliver not the woman. See Ezek. 33. 14. 15.
Vers. 4. come-neere] that is lyen with her: being stayed by sicknesse, as it seemeth by verse 17. the Greeke saith, touched her not, the Hebrew also, in verse 6. So Paul useth the phrase of touching a woman, 1 Cor. 7. 1. and Solomon, Prov. 6. 29. just nation] fearing, as it seemeth, wrath upon his people also, vers. 9. as often commeth to passe for the Princes sinnes. So for Davids sinne, a plague came on his people, 1 Chron. 21. 14. 17. Or hee calleth his family a nation: which was now visited of God, vers. 17. 18.
Vers. 5. perfection] or, integrity, simplicy, sincerity. The Chaldee interprets it truth; the Greeke, a pure heart. It is opposed to hypocrisie. innocence of my hands] or, cleannesse of my palmes: the palmes of the hands are named, as wherein filthinesse might be hidden: so purging himselfe even from secret crime.
Vers. 6. with-held] the Greeke translateth, spared thee It seemeth Gods chastisement restiained him, vers. 17. and so hee was not able to doe the evill, which otherwise naturally hee could, and was proneunto. from sinning] the Greeke saith, that thou shouldst not sinne. As God, for Abrahams sake, with held Abimelech from the fact; so respecting the integrity of the Kings hearr, hee kept him also from the sinne. gave thee not] that is, let or suffered thee not; as the Greeke translateth. Giving is often used for suffering, as Gen. 31. 7. Exod. 3. 19. Psal. 16. 10. but it is more then bare sufferance, as implying an action also on Gods part, who giveth meanes to stay from evill, or sendeth delusions, when so it pleaseth him, as 2 Thess. 2. 7.
Vers. 7. a Prophet] therefore doe him no harme, Psal. 105. 15. A Prophet in Hebrew Nabi, in Greek Prophetes, from which we have the word Prophet, so named of speaking, interpreting or uttering words and oracles that come from God, Deut. 18. 15. 16. 18. as of seeing or receiving them by visions, such were named Seers, 1 Sam. 9. 9. So Moses interpreter is called his Prophet, Exod. 7. 1. and all interpreters of the Scriptures, 1 Cor. 14. 29. In speciall, a Prophet was one indued with the Spirit of God, and could foretell things to come, Deut. 18. 22. Psalm. 74. 9. Ier. 29. 15. Such are called holy men of God, which spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost, 2 Pet. 1. 20. The Hebrew Doctors say; It is one of the foundations of the Law, to know that God maketh the sonnes of men to prophesie: and prophesie resideth not, but in a man that is great in wisedome, mighty in his vertuous qualities, so that his affections overcome him not, in any worldly thing; but by his knowledge he overcommeth his affections continually; and he is a man expert in knowledge, and of a very large vnderstanding: &c. On such a man, the holy spirit commeth downe; and when the spirit resteth upon him, his soule is associated unto the Angels, and he is changed to another man; and perceiveth in his owne knowledge, that hee is not so as he was, but that hee is advanced above the degrees of other wise men: even as it is said of Saul (in 1 Sam. 10. 6.) and thou shalt prophesie with them, and shalt be turned into another man. Maimony in Iesudei hatorah, ch. 7. S. 1. shall pray] This was a speciall worke of the Prophets, to pray for the people, Ier. 14. 11. and 15. 1. whereupon it is said; If they bee Prophets, and if the word of the Lord be with them, let them intreat the Lord, &c. Ier. 27. 18. Praying or interpellation, hath the first signification of judging, and so meaneth the presenting of the person and cause of any unto God as the judge; and the judging of ones selfe. live thou] that is, thou shalt live: but it is a powerfull manner of speech: (wherupon God is said to command his mercy, and the salvation and blessing of his people, Psal. 42. 9. and 44. 5. and 133. 3.) The like is often used, as Amos 5. 4. seeke me and live: that is, yee shall live, and dwell for ever, Psal. 37. 27. dying] that is, shalt surely die: see Gen. 2. 17.
Vers. 9. that should not] the Chaldee translateth, that are not meet to be done; the Greeke saith, which none should doe.
Vers. 11. Surely or, OnelyOnly. The Greeke translateth, Lest there be not the feare of God: so making it an unperfect speech, implying doubt, as in Mat. 25. 9. By the feare of the Lord men depart from evill: Prov. 16. 6.
Vers. 12. of my father] The Iewes opinion from hence is, that Sarah was the same that Iseah, mentioned in Gen. 11. 29. and had two names: and that she being the grandchild of Thara, by another woman then Abrahams mother, is so spoken of here. became] Hebr. was to me, for a wife.
Vers. 13. they euen God] Aelohim the name of God, in forme plurall, is usually joyned with a word singular, as hee created, Gen. 1. 1. here and in some few other places, it is coupled with a word plurall …no without mystery of the Trinity: which the Gentiles not understanding, they fell to hold many gods, contrary to the truth, Deut. 6. 4. A like speech of God is after used, in Gen. 35. 7. and in 2 Sam 7. 23. they even God went: which an other Prophet relating saith singularly, God hee went, I Chron. 17. 21. so that though words of the plurall number be joyned, yet the plurality of gods is no way intended; one Scripture clearing another: yea sometime the very same text, explaining it selfe, as Ios. 24. 19. Aelohim holies (or holy ones) he. The Greek translateth here singularly, when God brought mee out from my father house: the Chaldee otherwise thus, And it was when the peoples wandered, (that is, committed idolarry,) after the workes of their hands, the Lord applyed mee unto his feare, out of my fathers house. is thy kindnesse] or shall be thy mercy, that is, thy worke of mercy: so love, (1 Iohn 3. 1.) is put for the benefits proceeding from love; and wrath, (Mic. 7. 9. Rom. 13.) is for punishment proceeding from wrath.
Vers. 15. before thee] exposed to thy choice: See Gen. 13. 9. good in thine eyes] that is, as the Greek translateth, where it pleaseth thee.
Vers. 16. a 1000 shekels] or shistings. The word shekels understood in the Hebrew, is expressed by the Chaldee interpreter: so in 2 Sam. 18. 12. and 2 King. 6. 25. and the Greeke also hath a 1000 didrachmes, meaning shekels, for so in Gen. 23. 15, 16. and in many other places, the Hebrew shekels are turned in Greeke didrachmes, (or double drams:) and usually where silver is set downe, and not the summe, shekels are understood, as appeareth by Num. 7. 13. 85. where the shekell of the sanctuary named after, sheweth the same to bee meant before. Also where shekels are set downe, and the mettall not expressed, silver is understood, not gold or any other: as is manifest by Exod. 30 13, 15. compared with Exod. 38. 25, 26. A shekel (comming of Shakal, he weighed, from whence our English skole and skale to weigh with, is derived,) is by interpretation a weight, as being the most common in payments, in which they used to weigh their money, Gen. 23. 16. Ier. 32. 9. And the shekel of the sanctuary, weighed twenty gerahs, Exod. 30. 13. and a Gerah by the Iewes records, weighed sixteen graines of barley: so the holy shekell weighed 320 graines: as Maimony sheweth in treat. of Valuations, &c. ch. 1. S. 4. But the common shekel weighed they say, halfe so much, viz. 160. graines; which make two drammes and 16. graines. The Chaldee calleth a shekel Silghna, and Selang, (from whence our English shilling, seemeth to be borrowed:) and the quantity of the common shekel differed not much from our shilling, as the shekel of the sanctuary was about two shillings. This Chaldee name came in use among the Iewes after their captivity in Babylon, and was somewhat more in weight, then the shekell of Moses, which weighed 320 graines of barley: but now our wise men have added thereto, (saith Maimony in treat. of shekels, ch. 1. S. 2.) and made the weight of it equall to the coine called Selangh, in the time of the second Temple: and that Selangh weighted 384. common graines of barley. to thy brother] that is, to Abraham, thy husband, whom thou calledst thy brother: to him rather then to her, was it given, lest suspition should arise that she was defiled. he is to thee, &c.] that is, he is, (and shall be) thy husband to defend thee from injury, and to whom thou must professe subjection. For the covering of the eies and face with a vaile, was a signe of the womans subjection to the man, and of his power over her. Gen. 24. 65. 1 Cor. 113, 6, 7, 10. Or thus, it shall be to thee: that is, this gift of mine to thy brother, shall bee a recompence of the injury done in taking thee from thy husband. The Hebrew is ambiguous, and may indifferently bee read, he or it; and so the Chaldee; though it favoureth most this latter, saying, behold it is to thee a covering of honour, for that I did send to take thee, and have seene thee and all that are with thee. The Greek more plainly thus, these (1000 didrachmes) shall be to thee, for an honour of thy face, and to all the (women) that are with thee. and all that, &c.] that is, and all (this is) that (thou maist be) rebuked, and warned to cary thy selfe otherwise: and so they are the words of Abimelech. Or, if they be the words of Moses, wee may read, and all (this was) that (shee might bee) rebuked. The Chaldee translateth, and for all that thou hast said, and be thou rebuked: the Greeke thus, and all things speake thou truely.
Vers. 18. closing closed] that is, fast closed. See the like phrase, in Gen. 2. 17.