Bible Strands
Genesis 20:3
One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks to Abimelech at night through a dream, intervening after Abimelech has taken Sarah into his household but before he has touched her.
The words — The passage records God saying הִנְּ/ךָ֥ (hi.ne./Kha), literally "behold you," to issue a direct warning. The phrase בַּ/חֲל֣וֹם (ba./cha.Lom), "in a dream," specifies the medium of this divine communication.
The thread — This dream intervention parallels Job 33:15, where God uses dreams to open the ears of men, and contrasts with the warning dream in Matthew 27:19 sent to Pilate's wife. The command to preserve life aligns with Genesis 20:7, where God instructs the return of the woman through a prophet's intercession.
Why it lands — The text states God directly identifies Sarah as a married woman and declares Abimelech's imminent death, establishing a factual boundary against taking another man's wife. It requires immediate recognition of divine authority over human actions and prompt compliance to avert judgment.
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
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.
Cross-references
- 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.”
- Matthew 27:19 While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered terribly in a dream today because of Him.”
- Job 33:15 In a dream, in a vision in the night, when deep sleep falls upon men as they slumber on their beds,
- Psalms 105:14 He let no man oppress them; He rebuked kings on their behalf:
- Genesis 28:12 And Jacob had a dream about a ladder that rested on the earth with its top reaching up to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down the ladder.
- Matthew 1:20 But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
- Genesis 31:24 But that night God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream and warned him, “Be careful not to say anything to Jacob, either good or bad.”
- Genesis 37:5 Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.
- Genesis 37:9 Then Joseph had another dream and told it to his brothers. “Look,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
- Genesis 40:8 “We both had dreams,” they replied, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”