And there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
Genesis 20:2 (NIV)
It’s easy to think that Abraham’s lie to Abimelek is just like his lie to Pharaoh, but the differences are the key to understanding the story.
For starters, there’s no mention of Sarah’s beauty. She’s 90 now, so it’s unlikely that her physical appearance is related.
Second, there is no mention of fear. Genesis 12 mentions the fear of famine that drove them to Egypt and the fear that Pharaoh would kill Abram. But here in Gerar, Abraham isn’t afraid, and he doesn’t think that the men of the city are going to try to kill him. At least, not in the same way. In Genesis 12, the fear is truly about dying. But in Genesis 20:11, the fear mentioned is that the people here don’t “fear God.” The fear of dying, then, isn’t like Genesis 12. Abraham believes he will be kept alive because God has proven Himself faithful. So perhaps Abraham’s fear is about something else.
The rabbis point out an unusual way Abraham relates to Sarah in this verse.
“and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah…”
The text reads “of Sarah,” or אֶל־שָׂרָה in Hebrew. The word “of” here is אֵל (el).
It should be עַל (al), not אֵל (el).
What’s the difference?
“al-Sarah” would mean “about Sarah,” or “of Sarah.” But instead, we are given “el-Sarah,” which really means “towards Sarah.” The word implies a directional relationship, and it carries with it a sense of utility.
The rabbis tie this story to 1 Samuel 4:21.
She named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The Glory has departed from Israel”—because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband.
1 Samuel 4:21 (NIV)
Here, we have “of the ark,” or “el haron” and it’s the same usage, and the story involves a fissure in the relationship where the ark is used as utility, and not relationally.
The whole story of 1 Samuel 4 involves the people of God taking the ark and believing that simply using it will get them a victory or reward.
This may be the meaning: Abraham isn’t repeating a mistake from the past. He is taking God and his wife for granted. Perhaps he has the following mindset:
“The last time something like this happened, we walked out with treasure. Perhaps we can do it again.” For Abraham, Sarah becomes a means to an end.
The lesson is that we who are within God’s covenant can find ourselves misusing our relationship with one another and with God. It should not be this way.
The ark in the land of the Philistines is Sarah in Gerar.
Abimelek is the King of the Philistines.