[10] And Abimelech said
unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?
What sawest thou that thou hast done this thing - What
reason hadst thou to think, that if we had known her to be thy wife, thou
wouldst have been exposed to any danger by it?
[11] And Abraham said, Because
I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay
me for my wife's sake. [12] And yet indeed she is my sister; she
is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she
became my wife.
I thought surely the fear of God is not in this place,
and they will slay me - There are many places and persons that have more
of the fear of God in them than we think they have; perhaps they are not
called by our name, they do not wear our badges, they do not tie themselves
to that which we have an opinion of; and therefore we conclude they have
not the fear of God in their hearts!
[13] And it came to pass, when
God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This
is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we
shall come, say of me, He is my brother. [14] And Abimelech took
sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto
Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. [15] And Abimelech said,
Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.
When God caused me to wander from my father's house -
Then we settled this matter. It may be, that God denied Abraham and Sarah
the blessing of children so long to punish them for this sinful compact
they had made to deny one another: if they will not own their marriage,
why should God own it? But we may suppose, that alter this reproof they
agreed never to do so again, and then presently we read, Genesis 21:1,2,
that Sarah conceived.
[16] And unto Sarah he said,
Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he
is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with
all other: thus she was reproved. [17] So Abraham prayed unto God:
and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they
bare children. [18] For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs
of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife.
Thy brother is to thee a covering of the eyes - Thou
must look at no other, nor desire to be looked at by any other. Yoke -
fellows must be to each other for a covering of the eyes. The marriage
- covenant is a covenant with the eyes, like Job's, Job 31:1.
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