Passage

Genesis 20.12

Book: Genesis · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

10. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? 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.

12. And moreover she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife:

and it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me: at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother. 14. And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and men-servants and women-servants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. (Genesis 20:10-14, ASV)

WEB

10. Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you have done this thing?” 11. Abraham said, “Because I thought, ‘Surely the fear of God is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife’s sake.’

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

When God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’” 14. Abimelech took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored Sarah, his wife, to him. (Genesis 20:10-14, WEB)

KJV

10. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? 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.

12. And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother. 14. And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. (Genesis 20:10-14, KJV)

YLT

10. Abimelech also saith unto Abraham, 'What hast thou seen that thou hast done this thing?' 11. And Abraham saith, 'Because I said, 'Surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they have slain me for the sake of my wife;

12. and also, truly she is my sister, daughter of my father, only not daughter of my mother, and she becometh my wife;

and it cometh to pass, when God hath caused me to wander from my father's house, that I say to her, This [is] thy kindness which thou dost with me: at every place whither we come, say of me, He [is] my brother.' 14. And Abimelech taketh sheep and oxen, and servants and handmaids, and giveth to Abraham, and sendeth back to him Sarah his wife; (Genesis 20:10-14, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Abraham, explaining himself
Audience: Abimelech, king of Gerar
Location: Gerar
Time period: the patriarchal age, commonly placed in the early second millennium BC

Theological reading

She is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother, and she became my wife.

Abraham's defence of the deception, offered after Abimelech confronts him. Three features are worth naming.

It is a half-truth, and the narrative presents it as such. Abraham has just admitted his motive, that he thought there was no fear of God in the place and that they would kill him for his wife, so the relationship is being used to conceal rather than to inform.

The marriage itself is between half-siblings, which the Mosaic law would later prohibit at Leviticus 18:9. The prohibition postdates the patriarchs by centuries, which is the same chronological point argued at Cains Wife Objection Defeater, and the narrative reports the arrangement without comment.

And it is the second time Abraham has done this, after the parallel episode in Egypt. The book records its central figure repeating a failure, which is the sort of detail invented charters do not include.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Cains Wife Objection Defeater

Concepts:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.