Now therefore restore the man [his] wife; for he [is] a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore [her] not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that [are] thine.
7. for he is a prophet ] Abraham is here given the title of “prophet,” or “ nb ” (the first occurrence of it in Scripture). The prophet the one who utters or pours forth is one who is in intimate relations with God, moved by His Spirit, protected by His Power. From 1Sa 9:9 we learn the nabi was in old times called roeh, or Seer. To call Abraham a “prophet” ( nb) is, therefore, an anachronism, indicating the atmosphere of the monarchical period. The prophet was one who was privileged to have intercourse with God, and was bound to communicate “the word” to his own kith and kin (Gen 18:19). He was their representative, their intercessor, their spokesman. He who has the vision, r’eh, must declare the message, nb.
A comment on this passage is supplied by Psa 105:14-15, “he suffered no man to do them wrong and do my prophets no harm.” Perhaps the prophets of Israel traced their “guild” back to Abraham as their founder, as well as to Moses, their greatest leader (Deu 34:10).
pray ] i.e. intercede. For the efficacy of a “prophet’s” intercession, cf. Deu 9:20; 1Sa 7:5 ; 1Sa 12:19; 1Sa 12:23; Jer 7:16.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 7. He is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee] The word prophet, which we have from the Greek , and which is compounded of , before, and , I speak, means, in its general acceptation, one who speaks of things before they happen, i.e., one who foretells future events. But that this was not the original notion of the word, its use in this place sufficiently proves. Abraham certainly was not a prophet in the present general acceptation of the term, and for the Hebrew nabi, we must seek some other meaning. I have, in a discourse entitled “The Christian Prophet and his Work,” proved that the proper ideal meaning of the original word is to pray, entreat, make supplication, c., and this meaning of it I have justified at large both from its application in this place, and from its pointed use in the case of Saul, mentioned 1 Samuel 10, and from the case of the priests of Baal, 1 Kings 18, where prophesying most undoubtedly means making prayer and supplication. As those who were in habits of intimacy with God by prayer and faith were found the most proper persons to communicate his mind to man, both with respect to the present and the future, hence, nabi, the intercessor, became in process of time the public instructer or preacher, and also the predicter of future events, because to such faithful praying men God revealed the secret of his will. Hence St. Paul, 1Co 14:3, seems to restrain the word wholly to the interpreting the mind of God to the people, and their instruction in Divine things, for, says he, he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort. See the discourse on this text referred to above. The title was also given to men eminent for eloquence and for literary abilities hence Aaron, because he was the spokesman of Moses to the Egyptian king, was termed nabi, prophet; Ex 4:16; Ex 7:1. And Epimenides, a heathen poet, is expressly styled , a prophet, by St. Paul, Tit 1:12, just as poets in general were termed vates among the Romans, which properly signifies the persons who professed to interpret the will of the gods to their votaries, after prayers and sacrifices duly performed. In Arabic the word [Arabic] naba has nearly the same meaning as in Hebrew, but in the first conjugation it has a meaning which may cast light upon the subject in general. It signifies to itinerate, move from one place or country to another, compelled thereto either by persecution or the command of God; exivit de una regione in aliam. – [Arabic] migrans de loco in locum. – GOLIUS. Hence Mohammed was called [Arabic] an nabi, because of his sudden removeal from Mecca to Medina, when, pretending to a Divine commission, his townsmen sought to take away his life: e Mecca exiens Medinam, unde Muhammed suis [Arabic] Nabi Allah dictus fuit. – GOLIUS. If this meaning belonged originally to the Hebrew word, it will apply with great force to the case of Abraham, whose migratory, itinerant kind of life, generally under the immediate direction of God, might have given him the title nabi. However this may be, the term was a title of the highest respectability and honour, both among the He brews and Arabs, and continues so to this day. And from the Hebrews the word, in all the importance and dignity of its meaning, was introduced among the heathens in the and vates of the Greeks and Romans. See Clarke on Ge 15:1.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He is a prophet, a person very dear to me, and familiarly acquainted with me, and therefore the injuries done to him I take as done to myself. See Psa 105:15.
He shall pray for thee, which is one part of a prophets work, Jer 14:11; 15:1.
Thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine; which was not unjust, because they all had sins of their own, for which they deserved death whensoever God thought fit to inflict it; and God might take this occasion to do it, that in punishing them he might also punish the king, whose subjects they were.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Now therefore restore the man [his] wife,…. Which will be a full proof and evidence to all of the integrity of thy heart, and the innocence of thine hands, which thou pleadest, and which I own:
for he [is] a prophet; familiar with God, dear unto him, a friend of his, to whom he communicates his secrets; is able to foretell things to come, as well as to interpret the mind of God, and instruct in the knowledge of divine things, all which agrees with Abraham’s character; and he is the first man that is dignified in Scripture with the title of a prophet; so he is called in the Apocrypha:
“Beware of all whoredom, my son, and chiefly take a wife of the seed of thy fathers, and take not a strange woman to wife, which is not of thy father’s tribe: for we are the children of the prophets, Noe, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: remember, my son, that our fathers from the beginning, even that they all married wives of their own kindred, and were blessed in their children, and their seed shall inherit the land.” (Tobit 4:12)
Jarchi thinks this is observed to encourage Abimelech to return his wife to him, because being a prophet he knew he had not touched her, and therefore would receive her more readily, and entertain no ill opinion of her; but rather it is mentioned for the reason following:
and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live; it being one part of the business of a prophet to pray for others, and make intercession for them, especially in any distress or trouble, see Jer 27:18. Prophets were praying persons, had usually a great gift in prayer, and great power with God, and prevailed with him for the good of others; and such an one was Abraham; and it is here intimated, that upon the restoration of his wife to him, as he was familiar with God, and had an interest with him, he would make use of it, and pray for Abimelech, that whatsoever offence he had been guilty of to God or men, it might be forgiven, and that he might be healed of the disease with which he was smitten, and so recover of it, and live in health and happiness:
and if thou restore [her] not, know thou, that thou shalt surely die,
thou, and all that [are] thine: if he proceeded to take her to be his wife, and defile her, he is strongly assured that he should die, death being the punishment for adultery before the law of Moses, see
Ge 38:24; and not only he, but all his family, especially such who had been, or would be accessory to this affair, and even all who might he justly punished of God for other sins they had committed; and Abimelech being punished, both in his own person, and in his servants and subjects, the greater his punishment was, the greater abhorrence and detestation was shown to the sin he would be guilty of, to deter him from which this threatening is given out.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
7. Now therefore, restore the man his wife. God does not now speak of Abraham as of a common man, but as of one who is so peculiarly dear unto himself, that He undertakes the defense of his conjugal bed, by a kind of privilege. He calls Abraham a prophet, for the sake of honor; as if he were charging Abimelech with having injured a man of great and singular excellence; that he might not wonder at the greatness of the punishment inflicted upon him. And although the word prophet is properly the name of an office; yet I think it has here a more comprehensive import, and that it is put for a chosen man, and one who is familiar with God. For since at that time, no Scripture was in existence, God not only made himself known by dreams and visions but chose also to himself rare and excellent men, to scatter abroad the seed of piety, by which the world would become more inexcusable. But since Abraham is a prophet, he is constituted, as it were, a mediator between God and Abimelech. Christ, even then, was the only Mediator; but this was no reason why some men should not pray for others; especially they who excelled in holiness, and were accepted by God; as the Apostle teaches, that
‘
the fervent prayers of a righteous man avail much.’ (Jas 5:16.)
And we ought not, at this day, to neglect such intercession, provided it does not obscure the grace of Christ, nor lead us away from Him. But that, under this pretext, the Papists resort to the patronage of the dead, is absurd. For as the Lord does not here send the king of Gerar to Noah, or to any one of the dead fathers, but into the presence of the living Abraham; so the only precept we have on this subject is, that, by mutually praying for each other, we should cultivate charity among ourselves.
And if thou restore her not. Hence we are to learn, the intention of those threats and denunciations with which God terrifies men; namely, forcibly to impel those to repentance, who are too backward. In the beginning of this discourse, it had been absolutely declared, ‘Thou art a dead man;’ now the condition is added, ‘Unless thou restore her.’ Yet the meaning of both expressions is the same; though at first God speaks more sharply, that he may inspire the offender with the greater terror. But now, when he is subdued, God expresses his intention more clearly, and leaves him the hope of pardon and salvation. Thus is the knot untied, with which many entangle themselves, when they perceive that God does not always, or instantly, execute the punishments which he has denounced; because they deem it a sign, either that God has changed his purpose, or that he pretends a different thing by his word, from that which he has secretly decreed. He threatens destruction to the Ninevites, by Jonah, and afterwards spared them. (Jon 3:4.) The unskilful do not perceive how they can escape from one of two absurdities; namely, that God has retracted his sentence; or that he had feigned himself to be about to do what he really did not intend. But if we hold fast this principle, that the inculcation of repentance is included in all threats, the difficulty will be solved. For although God, in the first instance, addresses men as lost; and, therefore, penetrates them with the present fear of death, still the end is to be regarded. For if he invites them to repentance, it follows, that the hope of pardon is left them, provided they repent.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) He is a prophet.This is not said as an aggravation of Abimelechs sin, but as an encouragement to him to restore Sarah. It is therefore rightly joined with the words He shall pray for thee. For the word prophet is used here in its old sense of spokesman (comp. Exod. Gen. 7:1, with Gen. 4:16), and especially of such an one as mediates between God and man. There was a true feeling that God in His own nature is beyond the reach of man (Job. 9:32-33; Job. 16:21; 1Ti. 6:16); and this in heathen nations led to men peopling their heavens with a multitude of minor deities. In Israel, after the founding of the prophetic schools by Samuel, the prophets became an order, whose office it was partly to enliven the services of the Temple with sacred minstrelsy (1Ch. 25:1), but chiefly to be Gods spokesmen, both declaring His will to Jew and Gentile ( Jer. 1:5), and also maintaining religion and holiness by earnest preaching and other such means. In this way they were forerunners, and even representatives, of Christ, who is the one true and only Mediator between God and man. Not only Abraham, therefore, but the patriarchs generally are called Christs and prophets (Psa. 105:15), as being speakers for God to man, and for man to God, until the true Christ and prophet came. Abimelech, moreover, is thus taught that he does not himself hold a near relation to God, but requires some one to speak for him; perhaps, too, he would gather from it that he had need of fuller instruction, and that he ought to try to attain to a higher level, and that Abraham would become a prophet to him in its other sense of being a teacher. (For the prophet as an intercessor, see Exo. 8:28-29; Deu. 9:19-20; 1Sa. 7:5; 1Sa. 12:19; 1Sa. 12:23; 1Ki. 13:6; Job. 42:8.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. He is a prophet Here the word prophet first occurs, but the spirit of prophecy had been abroad long before, speaking though Enoch and Noah . A prophet, , is one who announces a divine message . The message itself may refer to things past, present, or future, so that prediction, or foretelling of events, is only incidental to prophecy, not its leading idea . On the distinction between the names prophet and seer, see note on 1Sa 9:9. Abraham was a prophet to Abimelech, and sent to pray for him; for prayer and praise were elements of prophesying. In the offering of sacrifices and in his intercession for Sodom, he appeared as priest. In his battles with the eastern kings, and in his disposal of the spoil, he appeared as king; so that in the father of the faithful we may see these several offices combined.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Gen 20:7. For he is a prophet, and shall pray for thee, &c. This is the first place in Scripture where the word prophet occurs; and Abraham is the first to whom that appellation is given. It is evident, as Houbigant remarks, that, as it is added, he shall pray for thee, the word prophet contains the idea of a person acceptable to God, who can ask and obtain favours for men. In Exo 7:1 a prophet is a person who speaks for another as his interpreter, as his mouth. The foretelling of future things does not appear to have been yet contained in the word. The Greek , a prophet, signifies immediately one that speaks for another: and the Hebrew nabi, signifies a person who speaks something in an eminent and extraordinary manner. As prophets, or those who spoke for and as commissioned by God, foretold future events in his name, hence the word prophet came to imply not only a person who has familiar intercourse with God, and who is authorised to declare his will, and who by his prayers could obtain special blessings for others, but also a discloser of future events. Jer 14:11; Jer 15:1; Jer 27:18. Psa 99:6.
REFLECTIONS.God again interposes to save Sarah from imminent danger. We have,
1. His appearance to Abimelech, to warn him of his danger in a dream. Why may not dreams sometimes be still monitory? He informs him he is a dead man if he touch her. Note; Every sin hath these wages. The sinner is already dead in the eye of God’s law.
2. Abimelech’s plea; ignorance, and in this case innocence. It is a blessed plea, to have the testimony of a good conscience. God will not slay the righteous.
3. God’s acceptance of it, and injunction. He, who knew his heart, was satisfied of his integrity. Observe, God’s approbation is a counterbalance against every unjust suspicion of the world. And God it was, who had withheld him. Learn hence, that we are all wonderfully indebted to God’s restraining grace: how much worse else had we been than we are? But he must send her back, or die, for she is a prophet’s wife, whose prayers should be accepted for him. Note; (1.) God’s prophets have his peculiar care. (2.) The king upon the throne is as much exposed to the Divine wrath by sin, as the meanest. Let kings remember, they have the same law to be judged by as their subjects.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 20:7 Now therefore restore the man [his] wife; for he [is] a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore [her] not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that [are] thine.
Ver. 7. Now therefore restore. ] Let knowledge reform what ignorance offended in. “The times of ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent”. Act 17:30 As a master, when he sets up his servant a double light, expects more work and better. We have a privilege not only above the blind Ethnics, but above the Church of the Old Testament. The sea about the altar was brazen; 1Ki 7:23 and what eyes could pierce through it? Now our sea about the throne is glassy, Rev 4:6 “like unto crystal,” clearly conveying the light and sight of God to our eyes. God hath “destroyed the face of the covering cast over all people”. Isa 25:7 “And we all with open face beholding, as in a glass, the glory of the Lord,” must see to it, that we be “changed into the same image, from glory to glory”. 2Co 3:18 If those good souls passed “from strength to strength,” Psa 84:7 travelling many a weary step, to see the face of God in Sion, in the obscure glass of the ceremonies; voe torpori nostro , woe to us, if, now that such a light is sprung up, we walk not as children of that light! To know heavenly things, is to “ascend into heaven”. Pro 30:3-4 And to know our Master’s will is a great talent; of all other, there is a “much” in that. Luk 12:48 But then, not to do his will so known, is to “be beaten with many stripes.” None so deep in hell, as your knowing men, a because they “imprisoned the truth” (which is as a prophet from God) “in unrighteousness”; Rom 1:18 they kept it in their heads, as rain in the middle region, not suffering it to warm their hearts, or work upon their affections; therefore came wrath upon them to the utmost. None are oftener drowned than they that have most skill in swimming. So none sooner miscarry than men of greatest parts.
For he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee.
Thou shalt surely die.
a Sapientes sapienter descendunt in infernum . – Bern.
b Non desunt qui ad phthiriasin referunt, quo avus quoque ipius Herod. Mag. periit. – Beza Annot. in Acts xii
c Orosius.
d He protested, Siquam sui corporu partem Lutherianismo sciret infectam revulsurum illico, ne longius serperet . – Sleid Comment. lib. ix.
e Act. and Mon., 1914. – Camden’s Elis., fol. 165. – Act. and Mon., fol. 1949.
f Spec. Bel. Sac., p. 248.
g M. Newcomen, Fast Serm., 27.
h Like Hannibal’s O Formosum Spectaculum .
i De Alexandra Josephus. – Act. and Mon. , fol. 1901.
j Hist. of Coun. of Trent, 417.
k Carol. Scriban., Instit. Princip., cap. 20.
l Bucholcer.
m Paul. Jovius.
n Jacob. Revius.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
prophet. First occ, showing that prediction is only a small part of its meaning = God’s spokesman. Here, it is prayer (compare Exo 4:16 with Exo 7:1), and prayer is associated with prophesying, i.e. witnessing (1Co 11:5).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
a prophet: The word navi, rendered a prophet, not only signifies one who foretell future events, but also an intercessor, instructor. See note on 1Sa 10:1, see note on 1Ki 18:1-46, and see note on 1Co 14:4. The title was also given to men eminent for eloquence and literary abilities. Hence Aaron, because he was the spokesman of Moses to the Egyptian king, is called a prophet. Exo 4:16, Exo 7:1, Exo 12:1-3, Exo 18:17, Exo 7:1, 1Ch 16:22, Psa 25:14, Psa 105:9-15, Heb 1:1
pray: Lev 6:4, Lev 6:7, 1Sa 7:5, 1Sa 7:8, 1Sa 12:19, 1Sa 12:23, 2Sa 24:17, 1Ki 13:6, 2Ki 5:11, 2Ki 19:2-4, Job 42:8, Jer 14:11, Jer 15:1, Jer 27:18, Jam 5:14-16, 1Jo 5:16, Rev 11:5, Rev 11:6
surely: Gen 20:18, Gen 2:17, Gen 12:17, Job 34:19, Psa 105:14, Eze 3:18, Eze 33:8, Eze 33:14-16, Heb 13:4
all: Gen 12:15, Num 16:32, Num 16:33, 2Sa 24:17
Reciprocal: Gen 20:3 – a dead Gen 20:14 – restored Gen 20:17 – General Gen 28:12 – he dreamed Gen 38:24 – let her Num 12:6 – a prophet Num 21:7 – And Moses 2Ch 30:18 – prayed Psa 105:15 – and do Mat 2:12 – warned Mat 10:41 – that receiveth a prophet Joh 9:31 – him Act 3:25 – the children Act 8:24 – Pray Jam 5:16 – The effectual
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 20:7. He is a prophet A person favoured with peculiar intercourse with God, who is made acquainted with his will and purposes in an extraordinary way, and is the interpreter of that will, and the revealer of those purposes to others. This seems to be the meaning of the appellation prophet, first, as we here see, given to Abraham in the Scriptures.
Gen 20:9-10. Thou hast done deeds that ought not to be done Equivocation and dissimulation, however they may be palliated, are very ill things, and by no means to be admitted in any case. He takes it as a very great injury to himself and his family, that Abraham had thus exposed them to temptation and sin. What have I offended thee? If I had been thy worst enemy thou couldest not have done me a worse turn, nor taken a more effectual course to be revenged on me. He challenges him to assign any just cause he had to suspect them as a dangerous people for an honest man to live among. What sawest thou that thou hast done this thing? What reason hadst thou to think, that if we had known her to be thy wife, thou wouldest have been exposed to any danger by it?
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
20:7 Now therefore restore the man [his] wife; for he [is] a {h} prophet, and he {i} shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore [her] not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that [are] thine.
(h) That is, one to whom God reveals himself familiarly.
(i) For the prayer of the godly is of force towards God.