This sheet on Genesis 20 was written by Haggai Misgav for 929 and can also be found here
The story of Avimelech and Sarah is a re-run of a similar story, from Genesis Chapter 12, about Pharaoh and Sarah. However, the difference between the two stories is no less important than the similiarity.
Unlike in the case of Pharaoh in Chapter 12, the text in Chapter 20 indicates that Avimelech did not touch Sarah. Avimelech himself declares his innocence - "when I did this, my heart was blameless and my hands were clean" (20:5). And after the situation becomes clear to him, he compensates Abraham and Sarah generously and invites him to remain with him. The opposite was the case with Pharaoh: the gifts he gives to Abraham as he took Sarah as a wife were a form of dowry that is given to an older brother. There is no information about what happened between them, and once it becomes clear to him that his new wife is, in fact, a married woman, he is offended and even banishes the couple from his country.
The story of Avimelech is consistent with the practice of Assyrian laws of that time: "If a man who is neither her father, brother, nor son causes a man's wife to go away with him without knowing that she is a man's wife, he shall swear to that and pay two talents of tin to the woman's husband" (the Ancient Laws of Assyria, A 22). Avimelech indeed swore as to his innocence and indeed compensates the husband.
Pharaoh, as stated, did not do the same. To this day, even after two hundred years of excavations, we have no trace of a book of laws from ancient Egypt, unlike Mesopotamia, that rewrote its laws over and over again from the beginning in every generation. Law certainly existed; and justice, honesty, and order were considered central values in the ancient Egyptian culture. However, we have no way of knowing what legal principles Pharaoh was following in this narrative, and whether he himself was not the standard for what was considered legal.
Avimelech, on the other hand, apparently saw himself as subject to some existing and well-known law. The differences between these two cases attest to the fact that these are different events, with different backgrounds, and perhaps Abraham's fear of the recurrence of the Pharaoh's case is what caused him to apologize: "I thought surely there is no fear of God in this place'" (20:11). The Egyptian custom apparently stood in opposition to what Abraham himself knew from his birthplace, Mesopotamia.
Why Abraham himself behaved as he did is a mystery that to this day readers find difficult. What did he fear? Was he just trying to save his own life or reap some financial gain? Did he hope to delay certain things from happening and manipulate them as he saw fit, all of which were unsuccessful? And what does the Torah itself think about what Abraham did - does it judge him positively or negatively? In contrast to the incident with Pharaoh, where Abraham says what he fears, here there is no explanation for his actions. It seems that in this matter we stand in the same place we stood two thousand years ago. Perhaps one day new evidence will emerge from the ground that will illuminate Abraham's action in the light of some obscure ancient law. Or maybe not.
Unlike in the case of Pharaoh in Chapter 12, the text in Chapter 20 indicates that Avimelech did not touch Sarah. Avimelech himself declares his innocence - "when I did this, my heart was blameless and my hands were clean" (20:5). And after the situation becomes clear to him, he compensates Abraham and Sarah generously and invites him to remain with him. The opposite was the case with Pharaoh: the gifts he gives to Abraham as he took Sarah as a wife were a form of dowry that is given to an older brother. There is no information about what happened between them, and once it becomes clear to him that his new wife is, in fact, a married woman, he is offended and even banishes the couple from his country.
The story of Avimelech is consistent with the practice of Assyrian laws of that time: "If a man who is neither her father, brother, nor son causes a man's wife to go away with him without knowing that she is a man's wife, he shall swear to that and pay two talents of tin to the woman's husband" (the Ancient Laws of Assyria, A 22). Avimelech indeed swore as to his innocence and indeed compensates the husband.
Pharaoh, as stated, did not do the same. To this day, even after two hundred years of excavations, we have no trace of a book of laws from ancient Egypt, unlike Mesopotamia, that rewrote its laws over and over again from the beginning in every generation. Law certainly existed; and justice, honesty, and order were considered central values in the ancient Egyptian culture. However, we have no way of knowing what legal principles Pharaoh was following in this narrative, and whether he himself was not the standard for what was considered legal.
Avimelech, on the other hand, apparently saw himself as subject to some existing and well-known law. The differences between these two cases attest to the fact that these are different events, with different backgrounds, and perhaps Abraham's fear of the recurrence of the Pharaoh's case is what caused him to apologize: "I thought surely there is no fear of God in this place'" (20:11). The Egyptian custom apparently stood in opposition to what Abraham himself knew from his birthplace, Mesopotamia.
Why Abraham himself behaved as he did is a mystery that to this day readers find difficult. What did he fear? Was he just trying to save his own life or reap some financial gain? Did he hope to delay certain things from happening and manipulate them as he saw fit, all of which were unsuccessful? And what does the Torah itself think about what Abraham did - does it judge him positively or negatively? In contrast to the incident with Pharaoh, where Abraham says what he fears, here there is no explanation for his actions. It seems that in this matter we stand in the same place we stood two thousand years ago. Perhaps one day new evidence will emerge from the ground that will illuminate Abraham's action in the light of some obscure ancient law. Or maybe not.
(ה) הֲלֹ֨א ה֤וּא אָֽמַר־לִי֙ אֲחֹ֣תִי הִ֔וא וְהִֽיא־גַם־הִ֥וא אָֽמְרָ֖ה אָחִ֣י ה֑וּא בְּתָם־לְבָבִ֛י וּבְנִקְיֹ֥ן כַּפַּ֖י עָשִׂ֥יתִי זֹֽאת׃
(5) He himself said to me, ‘She is my sister!’ And she also said, ‘He is my brother.’ When I did this, my heart was blameless and my hands were clean.”
Dr. Haggai Misgav is a lecturer in Bible and Land of Israel Studies at Hebrew University, the Herzog College, and Givat Washington Academic College.
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