Polygamy in the Old Testament Part 2, Genesis 20
Last week on the blog, we took a further look at the narrative of Abram sojourning to Egypt and letting his wife be taken by Pharaoh. We compared that Genesis 12 narrative to the Garden of Eden, and to the narrative of the Fall, to look at the similarities between them.
If you haven't read through that one yet, I'd encourage you to do so before moving onto today's post, which will build on that information.
What we found last week is astonishing! Abram letting his wife be taken by another man (to save his own skin) is pictured just like the Fall and like the judgments given to Adam and Eve by God. This is the way biblical authors write their narratives: tying stories together to show their readers theology.
Today, let's compare a similar narrative to last week’s. Just as Genesis 12 parallels chapters 1-3, chapter 20 highlights and repeats many of the same words, phrases, and themes. This is an intentionally employed literary device for the purpose of teaching truths to readers!
The narrative in Genesis 20 picks up after God has again promised to bless Abraham and Sarah – and the blessing was really clear this time: the promised seed would come through Abraham and Sarah.
But as a sojourn to Gerar, Abraham uses the same deception: say that you are my sister.
And Abimelech, the king of Gerar, sent for her and took her.
That phrasing is the same as back at the end of Genesis 3: God expels Adam and Eve from the garden so that they would not send out a hand and take from the tree of life (which they were now barred from). So, in a very similar setup, we have someone sending out a hand and taking something that they aren't supposed to.
And as before, there is a consequence from God for taking someone's wife, just as there was a consequence for taking from a tree they weren’t supposed to. God comes to Abimelech in a dream and says he's a dead man if he doesn't give back the man's wife.
Now when Abimelech confronts Abraham, just like Pharaoh did in chapter 12, and just like God did to Adam and Eve, Abimelech uses the same phrasing from Genesis 3:
1. The ruler of the land, Abimelech calls to Abraham and said, “What on earth have you done to me?”
2. Abimelech goes even further than Pharaoh and makes it explicit that what Abraham has done is enormously wrong. He says, “Hod did I sin against you that you have brought such enormous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.”
a. Note here how the consequence of wrongdoing brings guilt not only on him, but all his people. Just as the curse upon Adam was not just for him, but all people.
3. Again we see Abraham fear- he was afraid he would be killed so he tells the part-truth about Sarah, and let's another man his wife.
4. Even though I take hold are the ones suffering for him taking what he shouldn't, it is Abraham who is to blame (cf 20:9).
5. The consequence of Abimelech’s household align with the consequence of taking from the forbidden tree; the consequence was death. The wombs of the women of his house had been closed. Reproduction of life had stopped.
The focus of Genesis 20 (vs. Gen. 12) is more on depicting Abimelech as a righteous Gentile who fears the Lord and what He says. Yet we observe how Abraham fails in a way that the Gentile does not. Abraham has a failure of faith in the word of the Lord, which was just set down for the reader two chapters back.