Génesis 20:12

12 Y á la verdad también es mi hermana, hija de mi padre, mas no hija de mi madre, y toméla por mujer.

Génesis 20:12 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 20:12

And yet indeed [she is] my sister
In the same sense as Lot was his brother; for she was sister to Lot, and both were the children of Haran, the brother of Abraham: she [is] the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother;
she was the daughter of his father, being his granddaughter, grandchildren are sometimes called children, but not the daughter or granddaughter of Abraham's mother; Terah having had two wives, by the one he had Haran, the father of Sarah, and by the other Abraham. According to the Arabic writers F6, Abraham and Sarah were the immediate children of Terah, but by two mothers:

``the mother of Abraham (they say) died, whose name was Juna, and Terah married another wife, whose name was Lahazib, some say Tahuitha, who bore him Sarah, afterwards married to Abraham; hence Abraham said, she is my sister on my father's side, but not on my mother's side:''
and she became my wife;
as in those times it was judged lawful, and so it has been accounted lawful in many nations to marry sisters on the father's side, when those on the mother's were prohibited F7.
FOOTNOTES:

F6 Elmacinus, p. 51. Patricides, p. 17. apud Hottinger. Smegma Oriental. p. 281.
F7 Vid. Philo. de Special. Leg. p. 779. Clement. Alex. Stromat. l. 2. p. 421.

Génesis 20:12 In-Context

10 Y dijo más Abimelech á Abraham: ¿Qué viste para que hicieses esto?
11 Y Abraham respondió: Porque dije para mí: Cierto no hay temor de Dios en este Lugar, y me matarán por causa de mi mujer.
12 Y á la verdad también es mi hermana, hija de mi padre, mas no hija de mi madre, y toméla por mujer.
13 Y fue que, cuando Dios me hizo salir errante de la casa de mi padre, yo le dije: Esta es la merced que tú me harás, que en todos los lugares donde llegáremos, digas de mí: Mi hermano es.
14 Entonces Abimelech tomó ovejas y vacas, y siervos y siervas, y diólo á Abraham, y devolvióle á Sara su mujer.
The Reina-Valera Antigua (1602) is in the public domain.