Genesis 20:11

11 Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’

Genesis 20:11 in Other Translations

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.

11 Abraham said, "I did it because I thought, There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.

11 Abraham replied, “I thought, ‘This is a godless place. They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.’

11 Abraham said, "I just assumed that there was no fear of God in this place and that they'd kill me to get my wife.

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.

11 Abraham said, "I thought that because there are no God-fearing people in this place, I'd be killed because of my wife.

11 Abraham replied, "I thought, 'There is absolutely no fear of God in this place. They will kill me because of my wife.'

11 Abraham replied, "I thought, 'There isn't any respect for God in this place at all. They will kill me because of my wife.'

Genesis 20:11 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 20:11

And Abraham said
In defence of himself, as well as he could: because I thought;
within himself, concluding from the general depravity of the Canaanites, that this was the case of the inhabitants of Gerar: surely the fear of God [is] not in this place;
this is a certain truth, which he thought might be depended upon, and taken for granted, since so it was everywhere: or "only" ^F5, as the word used signifies; this was the only thing he had to plead, that he verily thought with himself that there was no true religion and godliness in Gerar: that the inhabitants of it were without any fear of God before their eyes, or in their hearts; and he knew, where this is the case, there is nothing to restrain from the commission of the grossest sins: and they will slay me for my wife's sake;
that they might marry her, see ( Genesis 12:12 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 (qr) "tantum", Montanus; so Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius; so the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and Ben Melech.

Genesis 20:11 In-Context

9 Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.”

10 And Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”

11 Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’

12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife.

13 And when God had me wander from my father’s household, I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 42:18; Nehemiah 5:15; Job 31:23; Psalms 36:1; Proverbs 16:6
• 2. S Genesis 12:12; Genesis 26:7; Genesis 31:31