Genesis 20:15

And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Abimelech	אֲבִימֶ֔לֶךְ 'a.vi.Me.lekh	H40	Abimelek · proper noun, a man's name
said	וַיֹּ֣אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
land	אַרְצִ֖י 'ar.Tzi	H776	the earth (at large · noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 1st person feminine singular
thee	לְפָנֶ֑יךָ le.fa.Nei.kha	H6440	the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
dwell	שֵֽׁב Shev	H3427	properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
pleaseth	בַּטּ֥וֹב ba.Tov	H2896	good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · preposition with the article + adjective, masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Genesis 13:9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or…
Genesis 34:10 And ye shall dwell with us: and the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you possessions therein.
Genesis 47:6 The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and i…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 20:14–end

Here is, I. The kindness of a prince which Abimelech showed to Abraham. See how unjust Abraham's jealousies were. He fancied that if they knew that Sarah was his wife they would kill him; but, when they did know it, instead of killing him they were kind to him, frightened at least to be so by the divine rebukes they were under. 1. He gives him his royal licence to dwell where he pleased in his country, courting his stay because he gives him his royal gifts (Gen 20:14), sheep and oxen, and (Gen 20:16) a thousand pieces of silver. This he gave when he restored Sarah, either, [1.] By way of satisfaction for the wrong he had offered to do, in taking her to his house: when the Philistines restore…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 20:12

yet indeed she is my sister--(See on Gen 11:31). What a poor defense Abraham made. The statement absolved him from the charge of direct and absolute falsehood, but he had told a moral untruth because there was an intention to deceive (compare Gen 12:11-13). "Honesty is always the best policy." Abraham's life would have been as well protected without the fraud as with it: and what shame to himself, what distrust to God, what dishonor to religion might have been prevented! "Let us speak truth every man to his neighbor" [Zac 8:16; Eph 4:25]. Next: Genesis Chapter 21

Adam Clarke on Genesis 20:13

When God caused me to wander - Here the word אלהים Elohim is used with a plural verb, (התעו hithu, caused me to wander), which is not very usual in the Hebrew language, as this plural noun is generally joined with verbs in the singular number. Because there is a departure from the general mode in this instance, some have contended that the word Elohim signifies princes in this place, and suppose it to refer to those in Chaldea, who expelled Abraham because he would not worship the fire; but the best critics, and with them the Jews, allow that Elohim here signifies the true God. Abraham probably refers to his first call.

John Gill on Genesis 20:15

And Abimelech said, behold, my whole land is before thee,.... Instead of bidding him be gone, and sending him away in haste out of his country, as the king of Egypt did in a like case, he solicits his stay in it; and to encourage him to it, makes an offer of his whole kingdom to him, to choose which part of it he would to dwell in: dwell where it pleaseth thee; if there was anyone part of it better than another, or more convenient for him, his family and his flocks, he was welcome to it.

The Church Fathers

Do you see, dearly beloved, God's inventive wisdom? I mean, the man who was fearful of death and took every means to be able to avoid it, not only did avoid it but was granted as well great confidence and became immediately famous. This, you see, is the way things are with God. Not only does he deliver from distress those who make every effort to strive boldly against the onset of temptation, but also he guarantees them such serenity in this very distress that we have complete tranquillity and achieve great material prosperity. See now the attention of the king to the just man. Not only does he show his regard with so many gifts, but also he grants him the right to occupy the land. " 'Behold,' he said, 'my land is before you; settle wherever you please.' " You see, once he had learned that it was on his account and through his prayers that his life had been spared, he was anxious now to shower attention in this way on him, as a benefactor and champion, the man who was a stranger, a vagabond, one completely unknown.
— John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 45.21

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Abimelech — My father a king, or father of a king, a common name of the Philistine kings, as “Pharaoh” was of the Egyptian kings. (1.) The Philistine king of Gerar in the time of Abraham (Gen. 20:1-18). By an…
Abraham — Father of a multitude, son of Terah, named (Gen. 11:27) before his older brothers Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises. Till the age of seventy, Abram sojourned among his kindred…
Gedor — A wall. (1.) A city in the mountains or hill country of Judah (Josh. 15:58), identified with Jedar, between Jerusalem and Hebron. (2.) 1 Chr. 4:39, the Gederah of Josh. 15:36, or the well-known…
Good For Evil · Abraham, to Abimelech — Abraham, to Abimelech
Hospitality · .Abimelech to Abraham — .Abimelech to Abraham
Ignorance · .Abimelech — .Abimelech
Marriage · Consanguinous, Abraham and Sarah — Consanguinous, Abraham and Sarah

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 20:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 20:14–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 20:12

Adam Clarke on Genesis 20:13

John Gill on Genesis 20:15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 20:15

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 20:14–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 20:12

Adam Clarke on Genesis 20:13

John Gill on Genesis 20:15

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 20:14-15

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 20:14-16

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 20:14-16

Rashi on Genesis 20:15