1 AND Abraham journeyed from thence [ Hebron; this happens shortly after sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed. ] toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. [ Took up residence in Gemar. ]

2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, [ She must have been good looking cause she would be about 90 years old here and the King still wants her. A repeat almost of Gen 12. Same tests for both Sarah - to see if she will place her virtue on the altar and Abraham - tested to see if he will place his wife on the altar. This again puts all of their trust in God. ] She is my sister: [ Abraham is doing this so they don't kill him to get Sarah – however he is not lieing to the king either - remember that his father adopted Sarah after her father Haran died. Abraham could validly state that Sarah was his sister. In the Bible the Hebrew words brother and sister are often used for other blood relatives. (See Genesis 14:14, in which Lot, Abraham’s nephew, is called “his brother.”) Because Abraham and Haran, Sarah’s father, were brothers, Sarah was Abraham’s niece and thus could be called sister. Also God had specifically told Abraham to say that she was his sister to the Pharoah earlier so had he simple followed the same advice again? ] and Abimelech [ It is believed that they called all their kings "Abimelech" – just as the Egyptians called all theirs Pharaoh. Abimelech means "my father is King" - Ab - father/papa; melech - king. According to the LDS topical guide under "Abimelech" it says that Abimelech "reproves Isaac for denying his wife (26:7–11); makes covenant with Isaac (26:16, 26–33)." So it appears that the same thing that happened to Sarah, and again with Isaac's wife, so it is possible that the same story was preserved in two different forms. ] king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. [ It is not clear how long she stayed in the palace, although Nachmanides states that it was many days.( Nachmanides on Genesis 20:17, in Chavel, Ramban, 1:267) Whatever the exact duration, it was long enough for Abimelech to experience a sickness that prevented him from approaching Sarah, and long enough for the women of Abimelech's household to suffer from an inability to conceive,( On this point see Nachmanides reasoned discussion in Chavel, Ramban, 1:267) which took effect from the time Sarah entered the palace. ]

3 But God came to Abimelech [ The king. ] in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife. [ JST "Behold, thou hasst taken a women which is not thine own, for she is Abraham's wife". ]

4 But Abimelech had not come near her: [ He had not been intimate with her. ] and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? [ Was that not Abrahams question to God when God was going to destroy sodom? ]

5 Said he [ Abraham. ] not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. [ It was an honest mistake I did not know. I acted on what they told me. My motive was pure and my intentions were righteous. Protesting that he had done so innocently, God answered that he knew that and had thus prevented Abimelech from sinning against God. "Therefore I did not let you touch her. Now then, return the man's wife; for he is a prophet"-the first occurrence of this word in the Old Testament-"and he will pray [or "intercede" (JPST Gen. 20:7)] for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all that are yours" (NRSV Gen. 20:7). ]

6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; [ I know it was an honest mistake for you. ] for I also withheld [ Protected. ] thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not [ For this reason I made it difficult for you to touch her because God made Abimelech experience a sickness that prevented him from approaching Sarah. So Abimelech has been taught straight from God that Abraham is special, and he better fear Abraham as God is on his side. ] to touch her.

7 Now therefore [ Or this is what I would have you do now! ] restore the man his wife; [ Give Sarah back to Abraham. ] for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine. [ Never the less it is your choice. But if you do not as I say I Gods will slay you and all of your kinfolk. Could Abraham not have made that statement to begin with since he was the prophet? However doing it this way opened the opportunity for Abimelech to get to know the God of Abraham and Abraham's relationship with God. ]

8 Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, [ I am sure he was in a big hurry to make things right after the night he has just had. ] and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid. [ So the men now know that God is a friend to Abraham. So beware. ]

9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, [ Why did you act this way toward me Abraham? How did you come to the conclusion that I had done something wrong? ] that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? Thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? [ The King asks Abraham what did he see that made him say that she was his sister? ]

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. [ Because I was afraid the the people; the kings people did not know God or keep his commandments (especially thou shall not kill the husbands just because they had a beautiful wife. Which is the culture of which he was familiar. Just as the Pharaoh had once done. ]

12 And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, [ Abraham denote how she in his culture is his sister. So Abraham defends his statement. She is the daughter of my Father but not the daughter of my mother. So she is a half sister. ] but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, [ Abraham's wife Sarah. ] This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, [ Remember that God was the first one to tell Abraham what to say about Sarah. ] 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. [ The King gives Abraham expensive gifts just to make sure that there are no hard feelings of Abraham toward Abimelech. Just as the Pharaoh had once done, Abimelech called Abraham and restored to him his wife, while bestowing on her a royal robe16 and on Abraham an abundance of sheep, oxen, slaves, and a sizeable payment of silver. ]

15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee. [ The King tells Abraham live anywhere you would like in the land. ]

16  And unto Sarah he said, [ So Abimelech turns and addressed Sarah directly. I am sure that it would have been a little ackward, even though he had done nothing. ] Behold, I have given thy brother [ Most likely does this with a little wink, as they are both in on the joke now. ] a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved. [ See JST the King admonishes Abraham that because of the great beauty of Sarah that he should have Sarah veil her face to avoid such problems as she travels in the future. ]

17 ¶ So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, [The king then asked for forgiveness and pleaded with Abraham to intervene to save the endangered king and his kingdom. Thus had God arranged it, so that only by Abraham's intercession would God save Abimelech. In otherwords God made it so that Abraham could administer the Priesthood of God to Abimelech and his household, a witness to them that it was the God of Abraham who could do these things. Of what? The fact that since he had brough Sarah into his house they had not been able to have any children from any of his maidservants...vs 18. And he was sick enough that he could not come unto Sarah. The net result was another king(Abimelech) was introduced to the power of the true God, Abraham's God. It made such an impact on him that Abimelech later approached Abraham to enter into a treaty of perpetual alliance, for, declared the king, "God is with you in all that you do; now therefore swear to me.." (NRSV Gen. 21:22-23). Now interesting enough, the well where the event took place was then called the "Well of the Oath," or Beersheba,( Kasher, Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation, 3:126) and here Abraham would reside. Perhaps the entire encounter with Abimelech was another divinely orchestrated opportunity that opened the doors of the gospel to a kingdom by first convincing the king. ] and his wife, [ Jewish tradition even insists that Abimelech's wife had previously been unable to bear a child, but Abraham's prayer allowed her to do so.( See Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, 1:261; and Kasher, Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation, 3:98-99) ] and his maidservants; and they bare children.

18 For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife. [ We get to see the specific consequences for Abimelech taking Sarah. None of his family were able to bear children. I wonder how long Sarah was in the house of the king. It must have been a while if they were able to recognize that they were not getting pregnant, or where the cycles of all of the women stopped? You mess with another family and break it up then the Lord might stop your increase because that is what you have doen to another - you reap what you sow. The reason for the problems that the King had experienced. ]