seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 20:14 Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.”
16 To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels[a] of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, 18 for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
16 To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels[a] of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, 18 for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
a. Genesis 20:16 That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms
This is from studylight.org.
In showing such generosity to Abraham, Abimelech was essentially heaping coals of fire on Abrahams head (as in Romans 12:20). Abraham should give gifts to Abimelech, because Abraham was in the wrong.
I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver: We can imagine the irony in Abimelechs voice when he referred to Abraham as Sarahs brother.
Thus she was reproved: The ancient Hebrew word for reproved is yakach. It has the idea of set right, so it is debatable if Sarah was set right by Abimelechs rebuke, or if she was found to be right because of her humble submission in this occasion. In a sense, both were true.
Also, it is interesting to see Abraham accepted these gifts, when he had refused gifts from a pagan king previously (Genesis 14:21-24), because he wanted no one to think a man had made him rich. Here, because of Abrahams compromise, he found it hard to reclaim the same high moral ground.
I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver: We can imagine the irony in Abimelechs voice when he referred to Abraham as Sarahs brother.
Thus she was reproved: The ancient Hebrew word for reproved is yakach. It has the idea of set right, so it is debatable if Sarah was set right by Abimelechs rebuke, or if she was found to be right because of her humble submission in this occasion. In a sense, both were true.
