Bible Strands
Genesis 20:18
for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — This verse follows Abraham’s prayer in Genesis 20:17, explaining the baseline condition of Abimelech’s household that required divine healing. It addresses the narrator’s audience by clarifying why the king’s family remained unable to bear children prior to intercession.
The words — The passage centers on עָצַר (ʿāṣar), meaning "he had shut up," paired with רֶחֶם (reḥem), meaning "womb," to denote a closed reproductive state. The preposition בְּעַד (beʿaḏ) is explicitly glossed as "behind" in the provided lexical data, indicating positional or relational framing rather than causal force.
The thread — The pattern of divinely withheld fertility recurs in Genesis 12:17 when Yahweh strikes Pharaoh’s household, Genesis 16:2 when Sarai states Yahweh has prevented her bearing, and Genesis 30:2 when Rachel frames her barrenness as God’s withholding.
Why it lands — The text records that reproductive capacity rests under direct sovereign control, requiring mediation to reverse divine restriction. It requires the reader to acknowledge that infertility may operate under divine permission rather than natural accident.
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
For the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.
Cross-references
- Genesis 12:17 The LORD, however, afflicted Pharaoh and his household with severe plagues because of Abram’s wife Sarai.
- Genesis 30:2 Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”
- Genesis 16:2 So Sarai said to Abram, “Look now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go to my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
- 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.”
- 1 Samuel 1:6 Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her viciously to taunt her.
- 1 Samuel 5:10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron, but as it arrived, the Ekronites cried out, “They have brought us the ark of the God of Israel in order to kill us and our people!”