What must Abimelech do after learning that Sara is Abraham’s wife?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

God tells Abimelech to return Sara and says that Abraham will pray for him. Abimelech restores her, gives Abraham gifts and permission to settle, and speaks to Sara about the silver he has given. When Abraham prays, God heals Abimelech’s household.

Chapter breakdown

Abraham moved to the southern country, lived between Cades and Sur, and stayed in Gerara. He said that his wife Sara was his sister. Abimelech, king of Gerara, sent for her and took her.

God came to Abimelech in a dream at night and warned that he would die because the woman he had taken had a husband. Abimelech had not touched Sara. He asked whether the Lord would destroy a nation that was ignorant and just. Abraham had called her his sister, and Sara had called him her brother; Abimelech said he had acted with an innocent heart and clean hands. God acknowledged his sincere heart and said that he had kept Abimelech from sinning against him by not allowing him to touch her.

God told Abimelech to return the man’s wife. Abraham was a prophet and would pray for him, and he would live. If Abimelech did not return her, he and all who belonged to him would surely die. Abimelech immediately rose during the night, called his servants, and told them everything. The men were very afraid.

Abimelech summoned Abraham and asked what he had done to them. How had they offended him, that he had brought a great sin upon the king and his kingdom? Abimelech said that Abraham had done what he ought not to have done and asked what he had seen that prompted it. Abraham answered that he had thought perhaps there was no fear of God in that place and that they would kill him because of his wife.

Abraham also said that Sara truly was his sister, the daughter of his father but not of his mother, and that he had married her. He explained that after God brought him out of his father’s house, he asked her for this kindness: wherever they went, she was to say that he was her brother. These are Abraham’s stated explanation and account of their arrangement.

Abimelech gave Abraham sheep, oxen, male servants, and female servants, and restored Sara to him. He said that the land was open to Abraham and that he could live wherever he pleased. He told Sara that he had given her brother a thousand pieces of silver. His words describe it as “a covering of thy eyes” to all with her and wherever she went, and tell her to remember that she had been taken.

Abraham prayed, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children. The account explains that the Lord had closed every womb in Abimelech’s household because of Sara, Abraham’s wife.

The story inside

The dream distinguishes Abimelech’s original understanding from what he must do after learning the truth. He says that Abraham and Sara had described each other as siblings and that he had acted innocently. God acknowledges his sincerity and explains why he has not touched Sara. But the next command still requires action: he must return her to her husband. The promise of life is linked to her restoration and Abraham’s prayer, while refusing to restore her carries the stated threat of death for the household. Abimelech tells his servants, questions Abraham, returns Sara, and gives gifts. The final prayer and healing complete the sequence announced in the dream. This account makes Sara’s being untouched explicit; it should not be used to add the same unstated detail to the earlier Egypt episode.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The king’s initial sincerity does not remove the need to restore Sara. God recognises his sincere heart and says he prevented him from touching her, then commands him to return her. Keeping both statements shows what the dream acknowledges and what it requires.
2
Abraham’s fear is his stated reason, not the narrator’s verdict on Gerara. He says he thought the people might lack fear of God and kill him for his wife. His explanation of the sibling description and their earlier arrangement follows. Attributing these words to Abraham avoids presenting his suspicion as a proven fact about the people.
3
The closing healing answers the promised prayer. God names Abraham as a prophet who will pray for Abimelech; later Abraham prays and God heals the king, his wife, and his female servants. The narrator also identifies the closed wombs and their connection to Sara. All these parts belong to the outcome, rather than an invented medical explanation.

Test your recall

How does the dream lead to Sara’s restoration, and how does Abraham’s prayer complete the announced sequence?

Show answer

In the dream, God tells Abimelech that Sara is married and orders him to return her. God acknowledges his sincere intent and says that he has prevented Abimelech from touching her. God also says that Abraham will pray for him and he will live. Abimelech restores Sara and gives gifts; Abraham then prays, and God heals Abimelech, his wife, and his handmaids so that they can bear children again.

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 2091–2100
Genesis Chapter 20 Abraham sojourned in Gerara: Sara is taken into king Abimelech’s house, but by God’s commandment is restored untouched. 20:1. Abraham removed from thence to the south country, and dwelt between Cades and Sur, and sojourned in Gerara. 20:2. And he said of Sara his wife: She is my sister. So Abimelech the king of Gerara sent, and took her.
Lines 2102–2115
20:3. And God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and he said to him: Lo thou shalt die for the woman that thou hast taken: for she hath a husband. 20:4. Now Abimelech had not touched her, and he said: Lord, wilt thou slay a nation that is ignorant and just? 20:5. Did not he say to me: She is my sister: and she say, He is my brother? in the simplicity of my heart, and cleanness of my hands have I done this. 20:6. And God said to him: And I know that thou didst it with a sincere heart: and therefore I withheld thee from sinning against me, and I suffered thee not to touch her.
Lines 2117–2124
20:7. Now therefore restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet: and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: but if thou wilt not restore her, know that thou shalt surely die, thou and all that are thine. 20:8. And Abimelech forthwith rising up in the night, called all his servants: and spoke all these words in their hearing, and all the men were exceedingly afraid.
Lines 2126–2136
20:9. And Abimelech called also for Abraham, and said to him: What hast thou done to us? what have we offended thee in, that thou hast brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done to us what thou oughtest not to do. 20:10. And again he expostulated with him, and said: What sawest thou, that thou hast done this? 20:11. Abraham answered: I thought with myself, saying: Perhaps there is not the fear of God in this place: and they will kill me for the sake of my wife:
Lines 2138–2143
20:12. Howbeit, otherwise also she is truly my sister, the daughter of my father, and not the daughter of my mother, and I took her to wife. 20:13. And after God brought me out of my father’s house, I said to her: Thou shalt do me this kindness: In every place, to which we shall come, thou shalt say that I am thy brother.
Lines 2145–2154
20:14. And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and servants and handmaids, and gave to Abraham: and restored to him Sara his wife, 20:15. And said: The land is before you, dwell wheresoever it shall please thee. 20:16. And to Sara he said: Behold I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver, this shall serve thee for a covering of thy eyes to all that are with thee, and whithersoever thou shalt go: and remember thou wast taken.
Lines 2156–2162
20:17. And when Abraham prayed, God healed Abimelech and his wife, and his handmaids, and they bore children: 20:18. For the Lord had closed up every womb of the house of Abimelech, on account of Sara, Abraham’s wife.