Genesis 20:17

Verse

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—

American Standard Version (1901)

And Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maid-servants; and they bare children.

Bible in Basic English

Then Abraham made prayer to God, and God made Abimelech well again, and his wife and his women-servants, so that they had children.

Douay-Rheims 1899

And when Abraham prayed, God healed Abimelech and his wife, and his handmaids, and they bore children:

Free Bible Version

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves, so that they could have children again.

Geneva Bible 1599

Then Abraham prayed vnto God, and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his women seruants: and they bare children.

King James (Authorized) Version

¶ So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.

One Unity Resource Bible

Abraham [Father of a multitude] prayed to God. God healed Abimelech [My father king], and his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children.

Plain English Version

Then Abraham prayed to God and asked him to make Abimelek and his mob better. You see, before, at the time when Abimelek got Sarah so that he could marry her, God made Abimelek sick and stopped all the women in Abimelek’s house from having babies. But then God talked to Abimelek, and Abimelek gave Sarah back to Abraham. So then Abraham prayed to God, and God made Abimelek better, and he made Abimelek’s wife better, and he made all the women that lived in Abimelek’s house better too, so that they had babies again.

Translation for Translators

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech’s wife and his slave girls so that they could become pregnant.

Unlocked Literal Bible

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves so that they were able to have children.

Noah Webster Bible

So Abraham prayed to God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maid-servants, and they bore children.

World English Bible

Abraham prayed to God. So God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children.

Young's Literal Translation

And Abraham prayeth unto God, and God healeth Abimelech and his wife, and his handmaids, and they bear:

Context

Abraham, Sarah, and Abimelech

¹⁶And he said to Sarah, “See, I am giving your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is your vindication before all who are with you; you are completely cleared.”¹⁷Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—¹⁸for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.

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Summary

In this verse, God intervened to protect Abraham and Sarah from the consequences of Abimelek's unintentional sin. Despite Abimelek's innocence in the matter, God prevented him from sinning further by restoring Sarah to Abraham. This event showcases God's sovereignty and protection over His chosen ones, even in situations where others may unknowingly cause harm. It also demonstrates God's faithfulness to His promises to Abraham, ensuring the continuation of the covenant lineage through Sarah.

Commentary

Adam Clarke
Keil-Delitzsch
John Gill
Tyndale

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

So Abraham prayed - This was the prime office of the נביא nabi; see Gen 20:7.

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

After this reparation, God healed Abimelech at Abraham's intercession; also his wife and maids, so that they could bear again, for Jehovah had closed up every womb in Abimelech's house on Sarah's account. אמהות, maids whom the king kept as concubines, are to be distinguished from שׁפחות female slaves (Gen 20:14). That there was a material difference between them, is proved by Sa1 25:41. כּל־רחם עצר כּל does not mean, as is frequently supposed, to prevent actual childbirth, but to prevent conception, i.e., to produce barrenness (Sa1 1:5-6). This is evident from the expression "He hath restrained me from bearing" in Gen 16:2 (cf. Isa 66:9, and Sa1 21:6), and from the opposite phrase, "open the womb," so as to facilitate conception (Gen 29:31, and Gen 30:22). The plague brought upon Abimelech's house, therefore, consisted of some disease which rendered the begetting of children (the coitus) impossible. This might have occurred as soon as Sarah was taken into the royal harem, and therefore need not presuppose any lengthened stay there. There is no necessity, therefore, to restrict ויּלדוּ to the women and regard it as equivalent to ותּלדנה, which would be grammatically inadmissible; for it may refer to Abimelech also, since ילד signifies to beget as well as to bear. We may adopt Knobel's explanation, therefore, though without approving of the inference that Gen 20:18 was an appendix of the Jehovist, and arose from a misunderstanding of the word ויּלדוּ in Gen 20:17. A later addition Gen 20:18 cannot be; for the simple reason, that without the explanation give there, the previous verse would be unintelligible, so that it cannot have been wanting in any of the accounts. The name Jehovah, in contrast with Elohim and Ha-Elohim in Gen 20:17, is obviously significant. The cure of Abimelech and his wives belonged to the Deity (Elohim). Abraham directed his intercession not to Elohim, an indefinite and unknown God, but to האלהים; for the God, whose prophet he was, was the personal and true God. It was He too who had brought the disease upon Abimelech and his house, not as Elohim or Ha-Elohim, but as Jehovah, the God of salvation; for His design therein was to prevent the disturbance of frustration of His saving design, and the birth of the promised son from Sarah. But if the divine names Elohim and Ha-Elohim indicate the true relation of God to Abimelech, and here also it was Jehovah who interposed for Abraham and preserved the mother of the promised seed, our narrative cannot be merely an Elohistic side-piece appended to the Jehovistic account in Gen 12:14., and founded upon a fictitious legend. The thoroughly distinctive character of this event is a decisive proof of the fallacy of any such critical conjecture. Apart from the one point of agreement-the taking of Abraham's wife into the royal harem, because he said she was his sister in the hope of thereby saving his own life (an event, the repetition of which in the space of 24 years is by no means startling, when we consider the customs of the age) - all the more minute details are entirely different in the two cases. In king Abimelech we meet with a totally different character from that of Pharaoh. We see in him a heathen imbued with a moral consciousness of right, and open to receive divine revelation, of which there is not the slightest trace in the king of Egypt. And Abraham, in spite of his natural weakness, and the consequent confusion which he manifested in the presence of the pious heathen, was exalted by the compassionate grace of God to the position of His own friend, so that even the heathen king, who seems to have been in the right in this instance, was compelled to bend before him and to seek the removal of the divine punishment, which had fallen upon him and his house, through the medium of his intercession. In this way God proved to the Philistine king, on the one hand, that He suffers no harm to befall His prophets (Psa 105:15), and to Abraham, on the other, that He can maintain His covenant and secure the realization of His promise against all opposition from the sinful desires of earthly potentates. It was in this respect that the event possessed a typical significance in relation to the future attitude of Israel towards surrounding nations.

Genesis 20:17

Abraham, Sarah, and Abimelech

Scripture
Sermons
Commentary

Berean Standard Bible

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, so that they could again bear children—

American Standard Version (1901)

And Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maid-servants; and they bare children.

Bible in Basic English

Then Abraham made prayer to God, and God made Abimelech well again, and his wife and his women-servants, so that they had children.

Douay-Rheims 1899

And when Abraham prayed, God healed Abimelech and his wife, and his handmaids, and they bore children:

Free Bible Version

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves, so that they could have children again.

Geneva Bible 1599

Then Abraham prayed vnto God, and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his women seruants: and they bare children.

King James (Authorized) Version

¶ So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.

One Unity Resource Bible

Abraham [Father of a multitude] prayed to God. God healed Abimelech [My father king], and his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children.

Plain English Version

Translation for Translators

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech’s wife and his slave girls so that they could become pregnant.

Unlocked Literal Bible

Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female slaves so that they were able to have children.

Noah Webster Bible

So Abraham prayed to God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maid-servants, and they bore children.

World English Bible

Abraham prayed to God. So God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children.

Young's Literal Translation

And Abraham prayeth unto God, and God healeth Abimelech and his wife, and his handmaids, and they bear:

Adam Clarke
Keil-Delitzsch
John Gill
Tyndale

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

So Abraham prayed - This was the prime office of the נביא nabi; see Gen 20:7.

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

Genesis 20:17

Verse

Context

Abraham, Sarah, and Abimelech

Sermons

Summary

Commentary

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Tyndale Open Study Notes

Genesis 20:17

Abraham, Sarah, and Abimelech

(Genesis) - Part 19

(Through the Bible) Exodus 1-5

Power of Faith - Aimee Semple Mcpherson

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

John Gill Bible Commentary

Tyndale Open Study Notes