1 And Abraham journeyeth from thence toward the land of the south, and dwelleth between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourneth in Gerar;
And there is a famine in the land, besides the first famine which was in the days of Abraham, and Isaac goeth unto Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar.
therefore hath one called the well, `The well of the Living One, my beholder;' lo, between Kadesh and Bered.
And a messenger of Jehovah findeth her by the fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way `to' Shur,
`Because ye trespassed against me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribath-Kadesh, the wilderness of Zin -- because ye sanctified Me not in the midst of the sons of Israel;
The voice of Jehovah paineth a wilderness, Jehovah paineth the wilderness of Kadesh.
and Asa and the people who `are' with him pursue them even to Gerar, and there fall of the Cushim, for they have no preserving, because they have been broken before Jehovah, and before His camp; and they bear away very much spoil, and smite all the cities round about Gerar, for a fear of Jehovah hath been upon them, and they spoil all the cities, for abundant spoil hath been in them;
And Saul smiteth Amalek from Havilah -- thy going in to Shur, which `is' on the front of Egypt,
And the border of the Canaanite is from Sidon, `in' thy coming towards Gerar, unto Gaza; `in' thy coming towards Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, unto Lasha.
and we cry unto Jehovah, and He heareth our voice, and sendeth a messenger, and is bringing us out of Egypt; and lo, we `are' in Kadesh, a city `in' the extremity of thy border.
And they go and come in unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto all the company of the sons of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and they bring them and all the company back word, and shew them the fruit of the land.
and shepherds of Gerar strive with shepherds of Isaac, saying, `The water `is' ours;' and he calleth the name of the well `Strife,' because they have striven habitually with him;
And Isaac hath come in from the entrance of the Well of the Living One, my Beholder; and he is dwelling in the land of the south,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 20
Commentary on Genesis 20 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 20
We are here returning to the story of Abraham; yet that part of it which is here recorded is not to his honour. The fairest marbles have their flaws, and, while there are spots in the sun, we must not expect any thing spotless under it. The scripture, it should be remarked, is impartial in relating the blemishes even of its most celebrated characters. We have here,
Gen 20:1-2
Here is,
Gen 20:3-7
It appears by this that God revealed himself by dreams (which evidenced themselves to be divine and supernatural) not only to his servants the prophets, but even to those who were out of the pale of the church and covenant; but then, usually, it was with some regard to God's own people as in Pharaoh's dream, to Joseph, in Nebuchadnezzar's, to Daniel, and here, in Abimelech's, to Abraham and Sarah, for he reproved this king for their sake, Ps. 105:14, 15.
Gen 20:8-13
Abimelech, being thus warned of God in a dream, takes the warning, and, as one truly afraid of sin and its consequences, he rises early to obey the directions given him.
Gen 20:14-18
Here is,