And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.
Abimelech, king of Gerar, offered and welcomed Abraham to dwell and settle wherever he pleased in his land, as part of the relations between them. The verse belongs to the account of Abraham's sojourn among the Philistines, as his household continued its pilgrim journey and received the king's goodwill. Apart from this setting, one account gives no specific explanation of the verse itself.
It belongs to the second time Abraham deceptively said Sarah was his sister. That deception showed Abraham's faith was not yet perfect but imperfect through unbelief, lacking trusting faith in God's protecting care. He did not come at once to fullness of faith but needed the lesson over and over.
The account, standing within Genesis 12 to 26, shows God's overruling providence and providential care and interest among people in His dealings with Abraham and the family of Abraham as the chosen progenitor of the Seed, as part of the story of God's dealing with the Seed. Abimelech knew the true God and knew the prohibition against adultery through God's direct instruction to him. The Philistines are presented as having a higher regard for morality than other nations of Palestine.
The chapter is evidence that people knew the principles of God's moral law before Moses. This included the command against falsehood, since God condemned lying in Genesis 20:13-17, showing that command existed before the law was given at Sinai.
Abimelech, king of Gerar, offered and welcomed Abraham to dwell and settle wherever he pleased in his land, as part of the relations between them. The verse belongs to the account of Abraham's sojourn among the Philistines, as his household continued its pilgrim journey and received the king's goodwill. Apart from this setting, one account gives no specific explanation of the verse itself.
It belongs to the second time Abraham deceptively said Sarah was his sister. That deception showed Abraham's faith was not yet perfect but imperfect through unbelief, lacking trusting faith in God's protecting care. He did not come at once to fullness of faith but needed the lesson over and over.
The account, standing within Genesis 12 to 26, shows God's overruling providence and providential care and interest among people in His dealings with Abraham and the family of Abraham as the chosen progenitor of the Seed, as part of the story of God's dealing with the Seed. Abimelech knew the true God and knew the prohibition against adultery through God's direct instruction to him. The Philistines are presented as having a higher regard for morality than other nations of Palestine.
The chapter is evidence that people knew the principles of God's moral law before Moses. This included the command against falsehood, since God condemned lying in Genesis 20:13-17, showing that command existed before the law was given at Sinai.