Genesis 20:11-13
This page isn't yet indexed by search engines.
Abraham's defense reveals a subtle but crucial misunderstanding: he assumed that a lack of his specific fear of God meant there was no fear of any god at all, leading him to underestimate the moral restraints of the Gerarites. This highlights how easily we can project our own understanding of faith onto others, missing the genuine conviction that might still guide their actions, even if their worship differs from our own.
Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”
English Standard Version (ESV)
Abraham has just been confronted by King Abimelech for taking Sarah, whom Abraham had claimed was his sister. Abimelech, having been warned by God in a dream, is bewildered because he insists he acted with an honest heart, and Abraham is now explaining his actions. Abraham's justification reveals his deep-seated fear that people in this land lacked reverence for God, making them a danger to him and his wife.
Abraham faced a crisis and offered a reason for his deception. What did he assume about the people around him, and was he right?
Abraham's defense boils down to a crucial assumption: 'There is no fear of God at all in this place.' He believed that where the true God was not known or revered, there were no moral restraints. Therefore, he concluded, these people would kill him to take his wife, Sarah, without any fear of divine judgment or earthly consequences.
While it's true that the 'fear of God'—meaning reverence and obedience to the true God—is the foundation of godly living, Abraham's reasoning reveals a dangerous tendency: to judge entire groups of people based on a presumed lack of true religion. The text hints that this assumption wasn't entirely accurate; God's intervention shows that even the 'godless' can be protected and that morality can exist outside of Abraham's specific understanding of faith. This highlights the difference between a general sense of morality and the specific fear of the Lord.
Abraham was a man of great faith, yet he lied. What does this story reveal about the struggle between trusting God and succumbing to fear?
This incident is a stark reminder that even those with profound faith can stumble when fear takes hold. Abraham had already experienced God's protection in Egypt under similar circumstances (Genesis 12:10-20). Yet, here in Gerar, faced with the potential loss of his wife and his life, he reverts to a familiar, albeit flawed, strategy: deception.
His 'excuse' is a confession of his own lack of faith. He didn't fully trust God to protect him and Sarah. Instead of relying on God's promises and power, he relied on his own cunning. This story doesn't excuse his actions but reveals the human struggle. Even the 'father of faith' wrestled with trusting God completely when the stakes felt incredibly high. His act was a 'sorry one,' as one commentator noted, showing that faith isn't about never feeling fear, but about how we respond when fear tries to dictate our actions.
Ask a follow-up
Understand the original words
yir'ah · Hebrew Noun
A reverential awe, respect, and submission toward God, characterized by an awareness of His holiness and a desire to live according to His will. It is the beginning of wisdom and a defining trait of those who belong to God.
chesed · Hebrew Noun
A covenantal term referring to steadfast, loyal, and faithful love. It often describes the active, self-sacrificing commitment God shows His people, or the loyalty expected within human relationships, especially those bound by covenant.
ta'ah · Hebrew Verb
To be made to stray, wander, or go astray. In a theological sense, it often describes God’s sovereign direction of an individual’s life, leading them away from familiar surroundings toward His ordained purpose, often through testing or movement.
Abraham's statement reveals a deep-seated fear and a low view of the godliness of those outside his covenant community. It highlights how even those close to God can let fear override faith and lead to flawed actions.
c. 2000 BC— this verse
Abraham travels to Gerar
Abraham and his household sojourn in the land of the Philistines, near Gerar, a city ruled by King Abimelech.
c. 2000 BC
Abraham claims Sarah is his sister
Fearing that the men of Gerar would kill him to take his beautiful wife Sarah, Abraham instructs her to say she is his sister.
c. 2000 BC
Abimelech takes Sarah
King Abimelech hears of Sarah's beauty and takes her into his harem, unaware she is Abraham's wife.
c. 2000 BC
God warns Abimelech
God appears to Abimelech in a dream, revealing Sarah is married and warning him he will die if he does not return her.
c. 2000 BC
Abimelech confronts Abraham
Abimelech questions Abraham about his deception and asks why he brought such guilt upon his kingdom.
c. 2000 BC
Abraham explains his fear
Abraham defends his actions by stating he believed there was no reverence for God in Gerar, and he feared for his life because of Sarah.
c. 2000 BC
God heals Gerar
God heals the women of Abimelech's household, who had been made barren due to the deception, and Abraham intercedes for them.
This earlier passage shows Abraham using the same lie about Sarah to protect himself, demonstrating a recurring pattern of fear and flawed trust in his dealings with unfamiliar cultures.
Exodus 20:13The verse explicitly states 'You shall not murder,' highlighting the moral standard Abraham believed was absent in Gerar, a standard God upholds even when humans fail to recognize it.
Psalm 111:10This verse declares that 'the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,' directly contrasting with Abraham's assumption that a place devoid of this fear would be lawless and dangerous.
Romans 3:10-12Paul quotes from this section to show that 'no one is righteous, no not one,' which could speak to Abraham's low view of humanity but also his own inclusion in this universal fallenness, even as a man of faith.
1 Peter 3:15This verse calls believers to 'always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that you have,' a readiness Abraham lacked here, relying instead on a human deception.
cambridgeGenesis 20:11: "And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake."
11 . Because I thought ] Lit. “I said”: see note on Genesis 18:17 . Surely the fear of God ] Abraham’s defence is that he assumed a heathen people did not fear God; and, therefore, would not be afraid of any Divine retribution, if they took the life of a stranger ( gêr ). The stranger had no rights; his God would not be known. He would have no “avenger of…
gillGenesis 20:11: "And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake."
And Abraham said,.... In defence of himself, as well as he could: because I thought; within himself, concluding from the general depravity of the Canaanites, that this was the case of the inhabitants of Gerar: surely the fear of God is not in this place; this is a certain truth, which he thought might be depended upon, and taken for granted, since so it wa…
Abraham's defense reveals a subtle but crucial misunderstanding: he assumed that a lack of his specific fear of God meant there was no fear of any god at all, leading him to underestimate the moral restraints of the Gerarites. This highlights how easily we can project our own understanding of faith onto others, missing the genuine conviction that might still guide their actions, even if their worship differs from our own.
Abraham has just been confronted by King Abimelech for taking Sarah, whom Abraham had claimed was his sister. Abimelech, having been warned by God in a dream, is bewildered because he insists he acted with an honest heart, and Abraham is now explaining his actions. Abraham's justification reveals his deep-seated fear that people in this land lacked reverence for God, making them a danger to him and his wife.
Abraham has just been confronted by King Abimelech for taking Sarah, whom Abraham had claimed was his sister. Abimelech, having been warned by God in a dream, is bewildered because he insists he acted with an honest heart, and Abraham is now explaining his actions. Abraham's justification reveals his deep-seated fear that people in this land lacked reverence for God, making them a danger to him and his wife.
"Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she…" — Abraham's defense reveals a subtle but crucial misunderstanding: he assumed that a lack of his specific fear of God meant there was no fear of any god at all, leading him to underestimate the mor…
Get the original Greek and Hebrew, verse-by-verse context, and related passages inside the app.
Last reviewed October 2026
