Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Genesis 20:14 - 20:18
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The Plague Removed from Abimelech
v. 14. And Abimelech took sheep and oxen and men-servants and women-servants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah, his wife. The restoration of Sarah with her honor unspotted followed as a matter of course, but the giving of presents in such rich measure was an act of magnanimity on Abimelech's part, showing that he felt no false resentment.
v. 15. And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee; dwell where it pleaseth thee. To offer to Abraham the choice of pasturage in his land in the circumstances was certainly heaping coals of fire on his head.
v. 16. But unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver; behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes unto all that are with thee and with all other. Thus she was reproved. The goods which Abimelech had given to Abraham were estimated at this sum. Now Sarah was to know that this (or he) was to her a covering of the eyes and to her entire household and to all men; that is, according to some explanations, she was to look upon the gifts as presents of atonement, also with respect to such people in whose eyes she might be covered with dishonor. Or, if the reference is to Abraham, it means that he had willfully blinded the eyes of Abimelech and all his people in this transaction, and that Sarah should now be reminded, through this present, never again to agree to such a subterfuge. In that way she stood reproved.
v. 17. So Abraham prayed unto God; and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maid-servants; and they bare children.
v. 18. For the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife. That was the manner in which God's punishment upon Abimelech had begun, by denying offspring to his entire household, for it is in His hands, as the Creator of the universe, to grant the blessing of children. The entire story shows that the Lord holds His protecting hand over His children in the midst of all the temptations of the world, Psa_105:14-15.