Bible Strands
Genesis 12:18
So Pharaoh summoned Abram and asked, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Pharaoh summons Abram immediately after the Lord strikes his household with plagues because of Sarai. He confronts Abram directly to demand an explanation for the deception that triggered the crisis.
The words — The Hebrew construction מַה־זֹּאת עָשִׂיתָ (mah-zot asita) renders literally as "what, this you have done?" It functions as a direct indictment of the action that caused the divine affliction.
The thread — The same confrontational structure appears when Abimelech questions Abraham in Genesis 20:9 and Isaac in Genesis 26:9. A parallel demand for accountability occurs when Saul commands Jonathan to explain his actions in 1 Samuel 14:43.
Why it lands — The text records a ruler forcing a patriarch to account for a lie that endangered others and provoked divine judgment. It requires the reader to recognize that deception inevitably produces external consequences that must be confronted and reversed.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
Cross-references
- Genesis 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”
- Genesis 26:9 Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”
- 1 Samuel 14:43 “Tell me what you have done,” Saul commanded him. So Jonathan told him, “I only tasted a little honey with the end of the staff that was in my hand. And now I must die?”
- Proverbs 21:1 The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.
- Genesis 3:13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”
- Genesis 4:10 “What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
- Genesis 31:26 Then Laban said to Jacob, “What have you done? You have deceived me and carried off my daughters like captives of war!
- Genesis 44:15 “What is this deed you have done?” Joseph declared. “Do you not know that a man like me can surely divine the truth?”
- Exodus 32:21 “What did this people do to you,” Moses asked Aaron, “that you have led them into so great a sin?”
- Joshua 7:19 So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make a confession to Him. I urge you to tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”