Genesis 20:7

Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
restore	הָשֵׁ֤ב ha.Shev	H7725	to turn back (hence · verb, hiphil imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
man	הָאִישׁ֙ ha.'Ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
wife	אֵֽשֶׁת 'e.shet-	H802	a woman · noun, common feminine singular construct
prophet	נָבִ֣יא na.Vi'	H5030	a prophet or (generally) inspired man · noun, common masculine singular absolute
pray	וְיִתְפַּלֵּ֥ל ve.yit.pa.Lel	H6419	to judge (officially or mentally) · conjunction + verb, hithpael, 3rd person masculine singular
thee	בַּֽעַדְךָ֖ ba.'ad.Kha	H1157	in up to or over against · cardinal number, both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
live	וֶֽחְיֵ֑ה vech.Yeh	H2421	to live · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
restore	מֵשִׁ֗יב me.Shiv	H7725	to turn back (hence · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
know	דַּ֚ע da'	H3045	to know (properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
surely	מ֣וֹת Mot	H4191	to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal infinitive absolute
die	תָּמ֔וּת ta.Mut	H4191	to die (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular

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

Job 42:8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my se…
1 Samuel 7:5 And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the LORD.
Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
2 Samuel 24:17 And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these…
Numbers 16:32-33 And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.
1 Kings 13:6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored…
2 Kings 5:11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD…
1 Chronicles 16:22 Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 20:3-7

It appears by this that God revealed himself by dreams (which evidenced themselves to be divine and supernatural) not only to his servants the prophets, but even to those who were out of the pale of the church and covenant; but then, usually, it was with some regard to God's own people as in Pharaoh's dream, to Joseph, in Nebuchadnezzar's, to Daniel, and here, in Abimelech's, to Abraham and Sarah, for he reproved this king for their sake, Psa 105:14, Psa 105:15. I. God gives him notice of his danger (Gen 20:3), his danger of sin, telling him that the woman is a man's wife, so that if he take her he will wrong her husband; his danger of death for this sin: Thou art a dead man; and God's sayin…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 20:3

But God came to Abimelech in a dream--In early times a dream was often made the medium of communicating important truths; and this method was adopted for the preservation of Sarah.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 20:7

He is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee - The word prophet, which we have from the Greek προφητες, and which is compounded of προ, before, and φημι, I speak, means, in its general acceptation, one who speaks of things before they happen, i.e., one who foretells future events. But that this was not the original notion of the word, its use in this place sufficiently proves. Abraham certainly was not a prophet in the present general acceptation of the term, and for the Hebrew נביא nabi, we must seek some other meaning. I have, in a discourse entitled "The Christian Prophet and his Work," proved that the proper ideal meaning of the original word is to pray, entreat, make supplication, etc.,…

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John Gill on Genesis 20:7

Now therefore restore the man his wife,.... Which will be a full proof and evidence to all of the integrity of thy heart, and the innocence of thine hands, which thou pleadest, and which I:own: for he is a prophet; familiar with God, dear unto him, a friend of his, to whom he communicates his secrets; is able to foretell things to come, as well as to interpret the mind of God, and instruct in the knowledge of divine things, all which agrees with Abraham's character; and he is the first man that is dignified in Scripture with the title of a prophet; so he is called in the Apocrypha:"Beware of all whoredom, my son, and chiefly take a wife of the seed of thy fathers, and take not a strange wom…

The Church Fathers

The reason why the good Lord inflicted this penalty on the king, guiltless though he was of sin, was that he might accede to the just man's prayers and thus resolve the problem, thereby rendering the just man more famous and well known. You see, all God's planning and each arrangement he makes have the purpose of rendering conspicuous those who serve him, just like lamps, and making their virtue obvious in every way.
— John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 45.23

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…
Dream — God has frequently made use of dreams in communicating his will to men. The most remarkable instances of this are recorded in the history of Jacob (Gen. 28:12; 31:10), Laban (31:24), Joseph…
Prophet — (Heb. nabi, from a root meaning “to bubble forth, as from a fountain,” hence “to utter”, comp. Ps. 45:1). This Hebrew word is the first and the most generally used for a prophet. In the time of…
Adultery · PENALTIES FOR — PENALTIES FOR
Condescension Of God · Warns Abimelech in a dream — Warns Abimelech in a dream
Cowardice · .Abraham, in — .Abraham, in
Dreams · Mentioned in scripture of: Abimelech — Mentioned in scripture of: Abimelech
Heathen · .Abimelech — .Abimelech
Ignorance · SINS OF — SINS OF
Intercession · OF MAN WITH GOD — OF MAN WITH GOD
Sarah · Gerar, takes her; she is restored to Abraham by means of a dream — Gerar, takes her; she is restored to Abraham by means of a dream

Genesis 20:7

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 20:3-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 20:3

Adam Clarke on Genesis 20:7

John Gill on Genesis 20:7

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 20:7

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 20:3-7

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 20:3

Adam Clarke on Genesis 20:7

John Gill on Genesis 20:7

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 20:7

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 20:4-7

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 20:7

Rashi on Genesis 20:7