Bible Strands
Genesis 20:14
So Abimelech brought sheep and cattle, menservants and maidservants, and he gave them to Abraham and restored his wife Sarah to him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Abimelech acts toward Abraham immediately after God intervenes to expose Abraham’s deception regarding Sarah. This moment resolves the Genesis 20 conflict before Abimelech grants Abraham land in the following verse.
The words — וַ/יִּקּ֨ח (va/i.yi.Kach) translates literally as “and he took,” describing the seizure of livestock and servants. וַ/יִּתֵּ֖ן (va/i.yi.Ten) means “and he gave,” marking the formal transfer of those goods to Abraham.
The thread — The pattern of a foreign ruler returning a taken woman alongside livestock and servants runs through Genesis 12:16 and Genesis 12:19, though those passages involve Pharaoh, not Abimelech. Both accounts record the return of a matriarch with material compensation to the patriarch.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to observe how divine protection precedes material restitution and how human deception is met with external correction. It demands acknowledgment that God’s intervention restores what was compromised without condoning the original lie.
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 Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.
Cross-references
- Genesis 12:16 He treated Abram well on her account, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.
- Genesis 12:19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”
- Genesis 20:2 Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.
- Genesis 20:7 Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet; he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not restore her, be aware that you will surely die—you and all who belong to you.”
- Genesis 20:11 Abraham replied, “I thought to myself, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.’