Genesis 20:4
in Genesis 20Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he replied, “Lord, would You destroy a nation even though it is innocent?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay even a righteous nation?
KJV
But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?
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This verse in Genesis 20
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThe expression "had not touched" is emphatic, like the statement "it is good for a man not to touch a woman," which means, even apart from sexual union, in no other way either to gaze at or to touch a woman with passion. God, of course, did not permit Abimelech to touch Sarah, though perhaps too because he had perfect self-control in all matters. Such a quality is truly a divine gift.
This site's exposition
You are as good as dead
on Genesis 20:3-5
This is the first dream in Genesis, and it comes to a pagan king. Abimelech answers God with the plea Abraham had made over Sodom, that God would spare a nation which is innocent, and the plea is allowed to stand. Clarke sees knowledge of the true God outside Abraham's household.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him: Behold, you are about to die because of the woman you have taken, for she has a husband; but Abimelech had not touched her and said: Lord, will you kill an …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Not such a nation as Sodom, which was indeed justly destroyed, but a nation which, in this matter, was innocent. God gives a very full answer to what he had said.
But Abimelech had not come near her,....
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַאֲבִימֶ֕לֶךְ | vaavimelekh | and Abimelech | H40 → | 66 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| קָרַ֖ב | karav | he had drawn near | H7126 → | 280 times |
| אֵלֶ֑יהָ | ʾeleiha | to her | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וַיֹּאמַ֕ר | vaiyomar | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֕י | ʾadonai | O Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| הֲג֥וֹי | hagoy | ¿ a nation | H1471 → | 561 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| צַדִּ֖יק | tzadik | righteous | H6662 → | 206 times |
| תַּהֲרֹֽג׃ | taharog | will you kill | H2026 → | 167 times |
וַאֲבִימֶ֕לֶךְand Abimelech
vaavimelekhH40 →66 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
קָרַ֖בhe had drawn near
karavH7126 →280 times
אֵלֶ֑יהָto her
ʾeleihaH413 →5510 times
וַיֹּאמַ֕רand he said
vaiyomarH559 →5305 times
אֲדֹנָ֕יO Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
הֲג֥וֹי¿ a nation
hagoyH1471 →561 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
צַדִּ֖יקrighteous
tzadikH6662 →206 times
תַּהֲרֹֽג׃will you kill
taharogH2026 →167 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 19:24Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 29:23
All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the…
- Isaiah 13:19
And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Jude 1:7
In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal…
- 2 Peter 2:6
if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;
- Amos 4:11
“Some of you I overthrew as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
- Deuteronomy 29:23
Through
Genesis 20:6Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 25:34
Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal…
- 1 Samuel 25:26
Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and avenging yourself with your own hand. May your enemies and…
- Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.
- 1 Samuel 25:34
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, SELECTIONS ON GENESIS.