Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Abraham's wife is seized by the king in Gerar; hence the king is punished and rebuked by God, verse 3; who, verse 9, remonstrates with Abraham for having called her his sister; and finally, verse 17, when Abraham prays for him, he is healed.
Vulgate Text: Genesis 20:1-18
1. Abraham departed from there to the southern land, and dwelt between Cades and Sur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 2. And he said of Sarah his wife: She is my sister. So Abimelech, the king of Gerar, sent and took her. 3. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him: Behold, you shall die because of the woman you have taken; for she has a husband. 4. Now Abimelech had not touched her, and he said: Lord, will You slay an innocent and just nation? 5. Did he not himself say to me: She is my sister; and she herself said: He is my brother. In the simplicity of my heart and the cleanness of my hands I have done this. 6. And God said to him: And I know that you did this with a simple heart; and therefore I kept you from sinning against Me, and I did not permit you to touch her. 7. Now therefore restore the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you shall live; but if you will not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all that are yours. 8. And Abimelech, rising immediately in the night, called all his servants and spoke all these words in their hearing, and all the men were greatly afraid. 9. And Abimelech called Abraham also and said to him: What have you done to us? How have we sinned against you, that you have brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin? You have done to us what you ought not to have done. 10. And again remonstrating, he said: What did you see, that you should do this? 11. Abraham answered: I thought to myself, saying: Perhaps there is no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me on account of my wife. 12. Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, though not the daughter of my mother, and I took her as my wife. 13. And after God brought me out of my father's house, I said to her: You shall show me this kindness: in every place to which we come, you shall say that I am your brother. 14. Abimelech therefore took sheep and oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and restored to him Sarah his wife, 15. and said: The land is before you; dwell wherever it pleases you. 16. And to Sarah he said: Behold, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your brother; this shall be a covering of your eyes before all who are with you, and wherever you go; and remember that you were discovered. 17. And when Abraham prayed, God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservants, and they bore children; 18. for the Lord had closed every womb of the house of Abimelech, on account of Sarah, Abraham's wife.
Verse 1: Abraham Departed from There
From Mamre, as is clear from chapter 18:1, he departed for Gerar, first, because of the recent destruction of Sodom, so that he might be farther away from Sodom and the Dead Sea, which by its fumes was breathing sterility and pestilence upon the neighboring places.
Second, because God wished him to be a stranger in Canaan and to be continually on pilgrimage, in order to teach us that in this life we are pilgrims and journeying toward heaven, Hebrews 11:40.
Third, so that in various places and among various peoples he might benefit them with his teaching, piety, and the example of his life, and scatter everywhere the seeds of true religion and virtue. So says Chrysostom.
Verse 2: He Took Her
'He took her' — to take her as his wife. Sarah was already ninety years old, whence it might seem surprising to some that at that age she was of such beauty that she was desired by a king. But ninety-year-olds at that time were like our forty- or fifty-year-olds, at which age some robust people still retain their former beauty. Procopius adds that, by divine providence, along with Sarah's fertility, her former beauty was also restored.
Sarah's beauty was also aided by the fact that she was of very good constitution, that she had never given birth, that she had never nursed, and that, as Torniellus and others think, for many years before, namely from the time she knew with certainty that she was barren, she had abstained from conjugal intercourse, as can be gathered from chapter 18:12; for these things preserve strength and beauty. Just as, on the contrary, a weak constitution, frequent births, long periods of nursing, frequent use of the marriage bed, weaken the strength, and hasten wrinkles and old age.
Note: Sarah conceived Isaac a few days after the angels' departure from Abraham, and at the same time went with Abraham to Gerar, where immediately Abimelech took her for himself, and therefore was soon struck by God, as is clear from verse 17, with a general sterility and a very grave disease, but one unknown to physicians: and so he was prevented from abusing Sarah. When the physicians' help was despaired of, God appeared to him in dreams and ordered Sarah to be returned: so Josephus.
Verse 3: In a Dream
Hence it is clear that this vision was presented to the sleeping Abimelech in his imagination: for the angel so formed in it these words of God speaking and Abimelech responding, that the king seemed entirely to himself to be conversing with God. 'Behold you shall die' — namely, unless, now knowing her to be married, you return her to her husband, as is clear from verse 7.
Verse 5: In Simplicity
'In simplicity' — with a simple, innocent, right and sincere mind; for in Scripture one is called simple who is upright, sincere, harmless, and injurious to no one.
Verse 6: And I Know
'And I know' — that you are innocent of adultery, but not of injury: for you took her against her will by your authority, and therefore I punished you, verse 17. 'That you might not sin' — lest even unknowingly you might commit adultery, and be at least materially an adulterer. 'I did not let you' — I prevented you by disease, verse 17.
Verse 7: He Will Pray
'He will pray' — and will obtain by prayer that this plague of yours may cease. 'Because he is a prophet' — because he is a holy man, with whom God deals and speaks familiarly. Secondly, Abraham was properly a prophet: for he foreknew many future things, such as that Isaac would be born to him, and from him Christ, and that his descendants in the fourth generation would obtain Canaan, that Sodom would be destroyed, etc. I have assigned seven significations of the word prophet at 1 Corinthians 14, at the beginning.
Verse 8: And Immediately in the Night
'And immediately in the night' — early in the morning, as the Hebrew, Chaldean and Septuagint have it.
Verse 9: You Have Brought Upon Me a Great Sin
'Upon my kingdom.' For God is accustomed to punish kingdoms on account of the sins of kings, because the people are something belonging to the prince, and as it were a part of the prince, or a political member. So Abulensis. 'You have brought upon me a great sin' — material adultery. For by saying that Sarah was your sister, not your wife, you gave me the occasion of taking her as a wife, whereas she cannot be my wife, but only a concubine and adulteress; for the common people call a material sin a sin, and think it is a sin.
Abimelech could also have feared and doubted whether he had sufficiently examined and inquired of Abraham whether Sarah was married. Certainly he seems to have sinned through some desire and license, as some kings are accustomed to do, especially pagan ones, imperiously demanding many things, even the wives and goods of others. Add that there was some formal fault in Abimelech, in that he carried off Sarah against her will. Secondly, 'a great sin,' that is, a great vengeance for my aforementioned sin, a punishment and plague, as is clear from verse 17. So Abulensis. For God from time to time punishes men even for material sins, that is, chastises and afflicts them, so that they themselves, and especially princes and prelates, may investigate and root them out. So God acted here with Abimelech.
Verse 10: What Did You See
'What did you see,' that is, what was in your mind, that, etc.
Verse 12: She Is Truly My Sister
'She is truly my sister' — that is to say: Truly, according to the custom of my people, which calls nieces sisters and nephews brothers, I called Sarah my sister, since she is my niece, as I said at chapter 12, verse 13; so Abraham calls Lot his brother, that is, his nephew, chapter 13, verse 8.
St. Chrysostom adds that all in the family of Terah called Terah himself father, as if they were all brothers and sisters among themselves; especially since after the death of Haran, the father of Sarah and Lot, they had Terah in the place not only of a grandfather, but also of a father. So commonly the Flemish and French call their grandfathers great fathers.
Wherefore it is not probable, what Cajetan and others construct from this passage, that Sarah was properly the sister of Abraham, born from the same immediate father Terah, but from a different mother; for by the law of nature marriage is illicit and void in the first degree of consanguinity, not only in the direct line, but also in the collateral, namely between brother and sister. So St. Augustine, book 22 Against Faustus, chapter 35. And who would believe that Abraham, a man so upright, prudent and honorable, would have taken his own sister as his wife?
'The daughter of my father, and not the daughter of my mother' — that is to say: Sarah descends from the same father Terah as I do, but through a different mother; whence it seems that Terah had two wives, from one of whom Abraham was born, and from the other Haran, who begot Sarah and Lot.
Hence it is clear that marriage in the second degree of collaterals, namely between an uncle and a niece, is not entirely forbidden by the law of nature, and was then customary; but now it is forbidden by positive law. So St. Augustine above.
Verse 13: After God Led Me Out
'After God led me out.' In Hebrew it is, 'when the gods made me wander and travel about like a wanderer' (for this is the Hebrew hithu), that is, one God, but three in Persons.
Verse 16: A Thousand Pieces of Silver
'A thousand pieces of silver' — namely shekels, as the Chaldean translates; for when in Scripture a piece of silver or gold is mentioned, a shekel is understood, as Mariana well proves in chapter 6 of De Ponderibus, and Delrio here; now a thousand silver shekels are a thousand Brabantine florins: for a shekel is a florin, or 4 Spanish reales.
The Septuagint translates it as a thousand didrachmas, namely Hebrew ones: for the Hebrew didrachma, or shekel, contained not 2, but 4 Attic drachmas, that is, 4 reales, as I said above. 'To your brother' — whom you call your brother, though he is your husband. It is irony.
'This will be for you a veil for the eyes' — that is, a defense of modesty, and, as the Chaldean translates, a veil of your honor, because I sent to take you as my bride, and because I treated you honorably, and returned you untouched to your husband: for the eyes are the seat of modesty. He alludes to the custom of the ancients; for when brides were given in marriage, they veiled themselves out of modesty with a veil called the flammeum, or covered their head with a mantle, as Rebecca did, Genesis chapter 24, verse 63. See Alexander ab Alexandro, book 2 Genial. chapter 5; see also what was said at 1 Corinthians 11:5 and following.
The meaning therefore is, as Delrio rightly explains, as if to say: Behold, I as a bridesman, and patron of your renewed marriage, give you as wife into the hand of your husband — Gaius to Gaia — because I also add as a dowry a thousand shekels. Let that serve you in place of a bridal veil; indeed, buy a veil with them if you wish; with this, as a new bride, cover up the shame both of the wedding, and of your deception, and of whatever suspicions about me and you; for all will easily understand that you were chastely treated by me, from the fact that so solemnly and honorably you have been returned by me to your husband.
Secondly, Hamerus explains it thus: I gave you a thousand pieces of silver, so that you might buy for yourself and your handmaids a veil for the face, to cover your beauty, lest it be for others, as it was for me, an allurement and provocation to lust, as if to say: Do not go about as an unmarried woman with uncovered head, as you did before, but cover and veil it as a married woman.
Thirdly, Cajetan translates not "this" but "this man," namely Abraham your husband, will be a veil of the eyes for all who might desire you as a wife, as if to say: No one who knows this man to be your husband, even if he sees you to be most beautiful, will dare to desire you and take you as a wife. For Abraham, as your husband, will veil and close the eyes of all, and their hope and thought of marriage. But the first interpretation is more genuine.
'Remember that you have been caught.' Lipomanus would have it corrected to "reproved": for so the Hebrew and Chaldean have it. But Sarah was reproved by the very fact that she was caught, and sprinkled as it were with salt by these words, as if to say: Henceforth do not use this dissimulation and deceit, calling your husband your brother, lest you expose yourself to reproach and others to the danger of sin; whence the Septuagint translates, 'in all things be truthful.'
Verse 18: For the Lord Had Closed Every Womb
'For the Lord had closed every womb of the house of Abimelech' — so that the women could not conceive offspring, or bring forth and deliver what had been conceived before: from which it was necessary that they be tortured with the most bitter pains, that is, God made them all barren. Josephus adds that Abimelech was struck by God with so grave a disease that the physicians despaired of his life. Scripture also implies this when it says: 'When Abraham prayed' (see, says St. Chrysostom, what the prayers of the just avail with God), 'God healed Abimelech.' Others cited by Pererius add that he was afflicted with immense torture in his private parts.
Abimelech had not sinned, or certainly had sinned little, as is clear from verses 4 and 6, and so this punishment was not so much a punishment for him, as a restraint that he might not touch Sarah; and a goad that would compel him to return Sarah to Abraham immediately.
The Gerarites and the Worship of the True God
From this chapter it is clear that at that time some nations, namely the Gerarites, worshipped the one true God: for their king Abimelech worshipped Him, a pious and upright man, as is gathered, first, from the fact that he did not want Sarah as a wife except upon hearing that she was Abraham's sister, and thinking her unmarried: but as soon as he knew her to be married, he returned her; secondly, because in verse 4 he calls himself and his people "a just nation;" thirdly, because he conversed familiarly with God, verse 3, and God accepted his excuse, verse 6; fourthly, because in verse 10, remonstrating with Abraham, he says: "What did you see (of impiety in my nation) that you would do this?" fifthly, because in verse 14 he treated Abraham generously and invited him to dwell with him.
Such also was Melchizedek, king of Salem, and, as it seems, his citizens, chapter 14; likewise the Hebronites, chapter 23. Such also was Job with his Uzzites. So Theodoret and others. Besides Abraham therefore and his descendants, there were then other princes and peoples who worshipped and feared the true God.
Moral Reflection from St. Chrysostom
Morally, St. Chrysostom, homily 45, notes how much the just man, for example Abraham, is dear to God's heart and care, so that, because he trusts in Him, He not only delivers him from death, but also suddenly makes him glorious and wealthy. 'For in this manner,' he says, 'God is accustomed to act: He not only frees from sorrows those who bear themselves bravely in the dangers into which they fall, but also provides so much joy in adversity that they come to a complete forgetfulness of their troubles, and find themselves in an abundance of good things.' And further: 'For He always does and manages all things, and dispenses each one, so that those who serve Him may shine like lights, and He may make their virtue manifest everywhere.'