Genesis 20:13

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Genesis 20:13 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “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 show unto me. At every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

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 show unto me. At every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.
Genesis 20:13 — American Standard Version

Context — Genesis 20

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
13and 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 show unto me. At every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, etc.] In Ur of the Chaldees, from whence God called him to go forth; which laid him under an obligation to depart from thence, and move from place to place, and go he knew not where, as in (<581108>Hebrews 11:8); or “the Gods”, as it is in the plural number, and so the verb in construction with it; not the idol gods, the gods of the Gentiles, as the Targum of Jonathan, who interprets the words thus, “and it was when the worshippers of idols sought to cause men to err, and I went from my father’s house;” but the true God, as Jarchi, Aben Ezra, and Ben Melech acknowledge, and is by many Christian interpreters understood…”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“- Abraham in Gerar 2. אבימלך .2 'ǎbı̂ymelek, Abimelekh, “father of the king.” 7. נביא nābı̂y' “prophet,” he who speaks by God, of God, and to God, who declares to people not merely things future, but also things past and present, that are not obvious to the sense or the reason; related: “flow, go forth.” 13. התעוּ hı̂t‛û is plural in punctuation, agreeing grammatically with אלהים 'ĕlohı̂ym. ו(w), however, may be regarded as the third radical, and the verb may thus really be singular. 16. נכהת nokachat an unusual form, either for נכחת nokaḥat the second person singular feminine perfect or נכחה nokeḥâh the third person singular feminine perfect, from a verb signifying in hiphil, “make…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification