Genesis 20

Genesis 20: Abraham up to his old tricks

Synopsis

In this chapter, Abraham and Sarah move to the region of the Negev, and he again tells the people there that Sarah is his sister, instead of his wife. (As Abraham mentions in verse 12, Sarah is Abraham’s half sister, so he feels this is enough of a loophole that he can keep using this trick when he moves to a new kingdom.) So, the king sends for Sarah, and has her brought to him, presumably to be a wife or concubine. However, God comes to him in a dream one night, and warns the king that Sarah is actually married.

Luckily, the king has not yet touched Sarah, so God spares his life. And then, get this: Again, just like the last time they tried this, instead of getting in trouble for it, the king gives Abraham and Sarah “sheep and cattle and male and female slaves” (verse 14)! Not only do they keep getting away with it, they keep getting rewarded for it!

Maybe it’s not such a dumb idea after all.

Thoughts

When you’re going through the Bible a chapter a day (or so), you sometimes lose perspective on how much time is actually passing in the stories you’re reading. So I sometimes have to stop myself from thinking “didn’t they just try this a couple of chapters ago?”, and remember that that was actually years ago. In any event, Abraham and Sarah are repeating old tricks.

I also have to wonder how Sarah feels about all of this. What if God had not intervened, and she’d ended up as one of the king’s wives or concubines?