Bible Strands
Genesis 20:16
And 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.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Abimelech speaks to Sarah, offering her a financial gift immediately after granting Abraham land and before Abraham’s prayer restores fertility to the king’s household. The exchange occurs at the close of their confrontation over Abraham’s deception.
The words — נָתַתִּי (na.Ta.ti) translates literally as “I give,” and אֶ֤לֶף (’E.lef) means “a thousand,” marking the precise quantity of silver transferred. הִנֵּ֨ה (hi.Neh) appears twice to direct Sarah’s attention to the gift and its legal purpose.
The thread — The silver serves as a public settlement, paralleling Abimelech’s earlier assertion of integrity in Genesis 20:5 and the biblical principle of tangible restitution. The transaction stands between the land grant in Genesis 20:15 and the healing prayer in Genesis 20:17, framing material compensation within covenantal restoration.
Why it lands — The text records a public transfer of silver intended to clear Sarah’s name before witnesses. Readers must acknowledge that vindication requires concrete action to neutralize suspicion, not merely verbal claims of innocence.
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 unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother 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.
Cross-references
- Genesis 20:5 Didn’t Abraham tell me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this in the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands.”
- Proverbs 27:5 Better an open rebuke than love that is concealed.
- Genesis 24:65 and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?” “It is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.
- Genesis 26:11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever harms this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”
- 1 Chronicles 21:3 But Joab replied, “May the LORD multiply His troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all servants of my lord? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”
- Proverbs 9:8 Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.
- Proverbs 12:1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.
- Proverbs 25:12 Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man’s rebuke to a listening ear.
- Jonah 1:6 The captain approached him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call upon your God. Perhaps this God will consider us, so that we may not perish.”
- Revelation 3:19 Those I love I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.