Genesis 26:10
in Genesis 26“What is this you have done to us?” asked Abimelech. “One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might easily have lain with thy wife, and thou wouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.
KJV
And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.
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This verse in Genesis 26
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us - It is likely that Abimelech might have had some knowledge of God’s intentions concerning the family of Abraham, and that it must be kept free from all impure and alien mixtures; and that consequently, had he or any of his people taken Rebekah, the Divine judgment might have fallen upon the land. Abimelech was a good and holy man; and he appears to have considered adultery as a grievous and destructive crime.
This site's exposition
What is this you have done to us?
on Genesis 26:10-11
This is the third time a pagan king rebukes a patriarch, after Pharaoh in chapter 12 and this king's namesake in chapter 20. Each time the man outside the covenant states the moral case. Abimelech then puts the couple under a decree of death for anyone who harms them. The protection Isaac lied to secure is handed to him openly by the man he lied to.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), and then, to convince him how groundless and unjust his jealousy of them was, took him and his family under his particular protection, forbidding any injury to be done to him or his wife upon pain of death,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And Abimelech said, what is this thou hast done unto us?....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
ויצו, after Avimelech had found out that Rivkah was Yitzchok’s wife, he had to inform the people of this fact to ensure that no one would touch her.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲבִימֶ֔לֶךְ | ʾavimelekh | Abimelech | H40 → | 66 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| זֹּ֖את | zot | this | H2063 → | 603 times |
| עָשִׂ֣יתָ | ʾasita | have you done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| לָּ֑נוּ | lanu | to <the> us | ||
| כִּ֠מְעַט | kimat | like a little | H4592 → | 101 times |
| שָׁכַ֞ב | shakhav | he lay with | H7901 → | 212 times |
| אַחַ֤ד | ʾachad | one of | H259 → | 971 times |
| הָעָם֙ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אִשְׁתֶּ֔ךָ | ʾishtekha | wife your | H802 → | 781 times |
| וְהֵבֵאתָ֥ | veheveta | and you will bring | H935 → | 2568 times |
| עָלֵ֖ינוּ | ʾaleinu | on us | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אָשָֽׁם׃ | ʾasham | guilt | H817 → |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֲבִימֶ֔לֶךְAbimelech
ʾavimelekhH40 →66 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
זֹּ֖אתthis
zotH2063 →603 times
עָשִׂ֣יתָhave you done
ʾasitaH6213 →2628 times
לָּ֑נוּto <the> us
lanu
כִּ֠מְעַטlike a little
kimatH4592 →101 times
שָׁכַ֞בhe lay with
shakhavH7901 →212 times
אַחַ֤דone of
ʾachadH259 →971 times
הָעָם֙the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אִשְׁתֶּ֔ךָwife your
ʾishtekhaH802 →781 times
וְהֵבֵאתָ֥and you will bring
vehevetaH935 →2568 times
עָלֵ֖ינוּon us
ʾaleinuH5921 →5755 times
אָשָֽׁם׃guilt
ʾashamH817 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.