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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the land of the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. |
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| 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. |
She is my sister – An imperfection demonstrated by Abraham in his endeavor to hold on to the divine promises. R4387:3
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| 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, because of the woman whom thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife. |
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| 4 Now Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Jehovah, wilt thou slay even a righteous nation? |
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| 5 Said he not himself unto me, She is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and the innocency of my hands have I done this. |
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| 6 And God said unto him in the dream, Yes, I know that in the integrity of thy heart thou hast done this, and I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. |
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| 7 Now therefore restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely begin to die, thou, and all that are thine. |
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| 8 And Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid. |
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| 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? And wherein have I sinned against thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? Thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. |
What hast thou done – The King was governed by high principles. SM379:T
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| 10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? |
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| 11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake. |
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| 12 And moreover she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife: |
My sister – My niece. R2934:1
Is the daughter – The grand-daughter; in olden times it was customary to speak of a grandchild as the son or the daughter of the grandparent. R2934:1
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| 13 and it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me: at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother. |
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| 14 And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and men-servants and women-servants, and gave them unto Abraham and restored him Sarah his wife. |
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| 15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee. |
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| 16 And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, it is for thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee; and in respect of all thou art righted. |
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| 17 And Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maid-servants; and they bare children. |
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| 18 For Jehovah had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. |
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