Chapter 20:
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| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
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Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Revelation Exodus
Genesis 20
We have here,
I. Abraham's sin in denying his wife, and Abimelech's sin
thereupon in taking her, ver. 1, 2.
II. God's discourse with Abimelech in a dream upon this occasion;
wherein he shews him his error, ver. 3. accepts his plea, ver. 4, 5,
6. and directs him to make restitution, ver. 7.
III. Abimelech's discourse with Abraham; wherein he chides him
for the cheat he had put upon him, ver. 8, 9, 10. and Abraham
excuses it as well as he can, ver. 11, 12, 13.
IV. The good issue of the story; in which Abimelech restores
Abraham his wife, ver. 14, 15, 16. and Abraham by prayer
prevails with God for the removal of the judgment Abimelech was
under, ver. 17, 18.
Verse 1. And Abraham sojourned in Gerar - We are not told upon what
occasion he removed, whether terrified by the destruction of
Sodom, or, as some of the Jewish writers say, because he was
grieved at Lot's incest with his daughters, and the reproach which
the Canaanites cast upon him for his kinsman's sake. The king of
Gerar sent and took her - To his house, in order to the taking of
her to his bed.
Verse
3. But God came to Abimelech in a dream - It appears by this that
God revealed himself by dreams, which evidenced themselves to
be divine and supernatural, not only to his servants the prophets,
but even to those that were out of the pale of the church; but then
usually it was with some regard to God's own people.
Verse
4. Wilt thou slay also a righteous nation - Not such a nation as
Sodom.
Verse
6. I withheld thee from sinning against me - It is God that
restrains men from doing the ill they would do; it is not from him
that there is sin, but it is from him that there is not more sin, either
by his influence on mens minds checking their inclination to sin,
or by his providence taking away the opportunity. It is a great
mercy to be hindered from committing sin, which God must have
the glory of whoever is the instrument.
Verse
9. Thou hast done deeds that ought not to be done - Equivocation
and dissimulation, however they may be palliated, are very ill
things, and by no means to be admitted in any case. He takes it as
a very great injury to himself and his family, that Abraham had
thus exposed them to sin, What have I offended thee? - If I had
been thy worst enemy, thou couldst not have done me a worse
turn, nor taken a more effectual course to be avenged on me.
Note, We ought to reckon, that those do us the greatest
dislikedness in the world, that any way tempt us or expose us to
sin, though they may pretend friendship, and offer that which is
grateful enough to the corrupt nature. He challenges him to assign
any just cause he had to suspect them as a dangerous people for an
honest man to live among.
Verse
10. What sawest thou that thou hast done this thing - What reason
hadst thou to think, that if we had known her to be thy wife, thou
wouldst have been exposed to any danger by it?
Verse
11. I thought surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they
will slay me - There are many places and persons that have more
of the fear of God in them than we think they have; perhaps they
are not called by our name, they do not wear our badges, they do
not tie themselves to that which we have an opinion of; and
therefore we conclude they have not the fear of God in their
hearts!
Verse
13. When God caused me to wander from my father's house -
Then we settled this matter. It may be, that God denied Abraham
and Sarah the blessing of children so long to punish them for this
sinful compact they had made to deny one another: if they will not
own their marriage, why should God own it? But we may
suppose, that alter this reproof they agreed never to do so again,
and then presently we read, chap. xxi, 1, 2, that Sarah conceived.
Verse
16. Thy brother is to thee a covering of the eyes - Thou must look
at no other, nor desire to be looked at by any other. Yoke-fellows
must be to each other for a covering of the eyes. The marriage-
covenant is a covenant with the eyes, like Job's, Job xxxi, 1.
Chapter 20:
| Calvin
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Revelation Exodus
This version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible is a derivative of an electronic version, Copyright 1997, by Sulu D. Kelley. All rights reserved. Used by permission. It may not be modified or used commercially without permission of Wesleyan Heritage Publishing and Sulu Kelley. A special thanks to Mr. Kelley and Wesleyan Heritage Publishing for permission to create and post this version of Wesley's Notes on the Bible.
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