Gen 20:1
And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.: Why Abraham went on this journey isn't said, but he did live in tents, so he was probably living a nomadic lifestyle. John Wesley says that it could have been the reproach from Lot's incestual relationship with his daughters.
Gen 20:2
Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.: Apparently, Abraham didn't learn from the first time he tried this trick (Gen 12:11-13). And isn't it curious that Sarah has retained her beauty at around the age 90? This possibly means that Abraham and Sarah were not just given children but were restored to youth. Abraham lives to be 175 and Sarah lives to be 127. Either they were restored, or it's possible that at 90, people looked like we do when we're 40. Who knows? The name Abimelech here is likely a title and not the real name of the king.
Gen 20:3
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, "Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.": This is interesting because we see God intervening here for Abraham by inflicting Abimelech with something that will kill him and his family. Now, we know that God doesn't like lying, but we also see how God can't allow Abimelech to sleep with Sarah. See what we do to God when we try to take situations into our own hands? God doesn't need our assistance, and has to resort to these types of actions when we don't trust Him enough to guide us through what we're facing. Abraham's actions here are purely from lack of faith... Yet Abraham is known as the man of faith. The Bible is always faithful in presenting humans as humans. We have lapses of faith, but God still loves us. We aren't capable of complete faith, but God honors the tiny bits of faith we have.
Gen 20:4
But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, "Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also?: Abimelech hadn't slept with Sarah, and he took her only because Abraham said that Sarah was his sister, so Abimelech believes himself to be righteous in this regard. This event is also right after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, so likely Abimelech was asking God about slaying a righteous nation because Sodom and Gomorrah were just destroyed by God for sexual immorality. Abimelech was probably concerned that Gerar would be destroyed in the same manner.
Gen 20:5
Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she, even she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.": This is the defense of Abimelech. He says that he only took Sarah because Abraham said that she was his sister. And not only did Abraham say it, Sarah said it as well. He argues that this is the only reason he took her.
Now, this means that if Abraham had simply told the truth, Sarah wouldn't have been taken, and God wouldn't have needed to go through all of this. When we try to help God, we just make a mess of things.
Gen 20:6
And God said to him in a dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.: This verse reminds me of the restrainer that will be removed in the last days to reveal the Antichrist (2Th 2:1-12). God restrains. In this case, God saw that Abimelech was trying to do right, and because of this, God restrained Abimelech from sinning. We may ask ourselves, "Why then do I sin?" I don't have a solid answer for that. I believe it's because God gave us free will and He has to allow us to make choices and live with the consequences. However, there are some things that God can't allow, such as Abimelech sleeping with Sarah. What the cutoff line is, I don't know, but it seems like allowing Abimelech to sleep with Sarah would possibly break the promise of God in giving Abraham a child with Sarah. Because of this, it seems that Abimelech taking Sarah was an attack by Satan in an attempt to have God break His promise to Abraham. If that's the case, it's possible that the cutoff line is when allowing humans to continue down a certain path will result in God not keeping His promises.
Gen 20:7
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 do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.": Notice that God doesn't force Abimelech. God gives Abimelech a choice. Give Sarah back or die. And even giving Sarah back isn't all. Abraham needs to pray for Abimelech. God's confidence here is how we want Him to view us. God knows that if He tells Abraham to pray for Abimelech, Abraham will pray for him. People can say, "Well, that isn't much of a choice!" I agree. However, God knows what it will take for people to make the right choice. I believe that we are getting a glimpse of what spiritual warfare looks like. Satan has Abimelech take Sarah in an attempt to make God break His promise to Abraham, but God stops it from happening by putting Abimelech in a situation where he would do right (For some additional insight on spiritual warfare, check out L.A. Marzulli's Cosmic Chess Match).
Gen 20:8
So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid.: This was a man convinced. He didn't wait when he woke up. He didn't take his time. God had warned him that he would die if he didn't restore Sarah. And his speech must have been convincing because his staff was scared.
Gen 20:9
And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done.": The disease or whatever malady God had brought on Abimelech was most definitely caused by Abraham's half-truths. Abimelech is rightfully accusatory here because even God said that Abimelech was acting out of integrity. In other words, Abimelech wouldn't have taken Sarah if he knew she was married.
Gen 20:10
Then Abimelech said to Abraham, "What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?": Abimelech's real question is, "Why!?" Please explain yourself! He berates Abraham first, then asks the question.
Gen 20:11
And Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.: Abraham's reason is the same as before. He was scared that the people in Egypt would just kill him and take Sarah. Instead of this happening, Abraham would rather they take Sarah. Egypt wasn't Sodom, but it must have been pretty bad. And I can't wrap my head around the treatment of women in those days. Lot offered up his daughters (Gen 19:1-11), and now we see Abraham allowing his wife to be taken, rather than be killed. Women were just not valued. We can thank Jesus for this idea that women are equal to men.
Gen 20:12
But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.: Today, we look at this and think, "gross!" but this was standard practice back then. There hadn't been the prohibition against incest established yet.
Abraham engaged in a half-truth here, or a sin of omission. However you look at it, Abraham lied, and it led to all this unnecessary drama. And this small example of a half-truth can be used as an example for us. Lies lead to drama.
Gen 20:13
And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, 'This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, "He is my brother." ' ": Here's the explanation of why we see Sarah taken twice in the same manner. Abraham asked her that while they travel, Sarah say that she is his brother. I don't see how Abraham could think good would come out of it. And as her husband, he's supposed to be her protector. Instead, he put her in the position where she was taken twice. This is the same Abraham that had enough people to wage a war against kings (Gen 14:13-16). Sad how unvalued women were in that time.
Gen 20:14
Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him.: This verse was confusing to me for a while until I found the Keil & Delitzsch commentary. They compare this gift to the restoration of a slave. The slave is restored for $30, so the gift of all the cattle, servants, etc, plus the $1000 (Gen 20:16) shows the seriousness that Abimelech took concerning God's command to restore Sarah. I didn't understand why Abimelech would give the gift since all God told him to do was to restore her. It seems that the restoration includes recompense.
Gen 20:15
And Abimelech said, "See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.": On top of the cattle and servants, Abimelech tells Abraham that he can live whereever he wants. This is important because Abraham was a shepherd and had a lot of animals. He needed somewhere they could graze. This reminds me of Gen 50:20. God uses bad things for good.
Gen 20:16
Then to Sarah he said, "Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody." Thus she was rebuked.: The sentence "Thus she was rebuked," isn't in a lot of translations. It seems like it may have been added? Because the way that Abimelech calls Abraham "your brother" is certainly a rebuke. It's possible that it was added for clarification, but that is purely speculation. And some of the commentaries differ on this mention of 1000 pieces of silver. Some say that it's on top of the cattle and servants, and some say that the 1000 pieces are how much the cattle and servants were worth. A plain reading seems to indicate that the 1000 pieces were on top of everything.
Gen 20:17
So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children: As God had commanded, Abraham prayed for Abimelech and his family. God had closed their wombs because of Sarah, and now they are restored by God.
Gen 20:18
for the LORD had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife.: This just explains the previous verse. God restored Abimelech's family's ability to reproduce because God had closed their wombs.
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