Genesis 20:13

13 So when God sent me from my father's house into foreign lands, I said to her, "You can show how loyal you are to me by telling everyone that I am your brother.' "

Genesis 20:13 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 20:13

And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my
father's house
In Ur of the Chaldees, from whence God called him to go forth; which laid him under an obligation to depart from thence, and move from place to place, and go he knew not where, as in ( Hebrews 11:8 ) ; or "the Gods", as it is in the plural number, and so the verb in construction with it; not the idol gods, the gods of the Gentiles, as the Targum of Jonathan, who interprets the words thus,

``and it was when the worshippers of idols sought to cause men to err, and I went from my father's house;''
but the true God, as Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Ben Melech acknowledge, and is by many Christian interpreters understood of the three Persons in the Godhead: that I said unto her, this [is] thy kindness which thou shalt show unto
me;
this I shall take as a favour done me, as an instance of tender affection unto me: at every place whither we shall come, say of me;
or for the sake of me, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi, in order to save me from the hands of wicked men, whom he feared would slay him for her sake: he [is] my brother;
and so he hoped, instead of being ill used, he should meet with favour and friendship on her account, being thus nearly related to her: this he observes to Abimelech, to show that this was an old agreement, near thirty years ago, when they first set out on their travels, and was no new device and scheme which they pursued on account of him and his people in particular; but what they had formerly agreed upon should be said in all places wherever they came, and therefore there was no intention to affront Abimelech; only it supposed they might come into places where wicked men dwelt.

Genesis 20:13 In-Context

11 Abraham answered, "I thought that there would be no one here who has reverence for God and that they would kill me to get my wife.
12 She really is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not of my mother, and I married her.
13 So when God sent me from my father's house into foreign lands, I said to her, "You can show how loyal you are to me by telling everyone that I am your brother.' "
14 Then Abimelech gave Sarah back to Abraham, and at the same time he gave him sheep, cattle, and slaves.
15 He said to Abraham, "Here is my whole land; live anywhere you like."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.