Genesis 20:16

And unto Sarah he said, behold, I have given thy brother a thousand [pieces] of silver,.... Or shekels of silver, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, which, if two shillings and sixpence of our

And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.

Thy brother; a sharp rebuke and irony: q.d. he whom thou didst miscall thy brother. A thousand pieces of silver, to wit, shekels, which is commonly understood when a sum of silver or gold is indefinitely mentioned, as ,85 . He is to thee a covering of the eyes, i.e. a protection to thee from the wanton eyes and attempts of others, whilst they know thee to be the wife of another man, and he such a one whom they reverence and fear; and therefore thou didst take a very wrong course to disown him, whereby thou didst expose thyself to great danger. Or, this is to thee, & c., i.e. this I give to thee to buy thee a veil, wherewith thou mayst cover thy face, as it is fit and usual for married persons to do. Compare ,6,7,10. Unto all that are with thee; unto all that here live with thee, or near thee, and with all men whomsoever. Thus she was reproved, or admonished to be more circumspect for the future; or, and be thou admonished; for they may be the words of Abimelech.

Genesis 20:16 And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand [pieces] of silver: behold, he [is] to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that [are] with thee, and with all [other]: thus she was reproved.Ver. 16. I have given thy brother.] Not thee, to avoid suspicion, "Provide," we must, "things honest in the sight of all men"; and not only keep a good conscience, but a good name as much as may be; learning this of the unjust steward, by lawful (though he did it by unlawful) means. For our Saviour noted this defect, when he said, "The children of this world," &c. It was good counsel that Livia gave her husband Augustus. It behoveth thee not only not to do wrong, but not to seem to do so, &c. We must shun, and be shy of, the very show and shadow of sin, if we tender either our credit abroad or comfort at home. The Church took it ill, that her veil was pulled off, and that she was judged to be a dishonest woman. As in the first chapter, she prays her spouse to tell her, where she may come to him: for "why should she be as one that turneth aside," or as one that was veiled or covered, a sign of lightness and dishonesty? She was willing to eschew all appearance of evil. Some take the sense of the text thus: - I have given thy husband money to buy thee a veil, to cover thy face that all may know thee to be a married woman. Lεισε, ω Aυγουστε, μημονονμηδεναδικειν, αλλαμηδεδοκιεν. - Dio in Vita.

(16) A thousand pieces of silver.—Heb., a thousand of silver. This was the total value of Abimelech’s present, and not an additional gift. A thousand shekels would be about £125, a large sum at a time when silver was scarce and dear. He is to thee a covering of the eyes.—This speech of Abimelech is full of difficulty. It begins with a touch of irony in calling Abraham “thy brother.” Next, if the pronoun is translated in the masculine, he, the meaning would be that Abraham ought to have been Sarah’s protector, but had failed in this duty; but, more probably, it is neuter, and refers to the gift. The “covering of the eyes” may mean a veil to protect her from the wanton desires of others, or to conceal her shame at the wrong done to her. Finally, the verb rendered “reproved” is equivocal, and should rather be translated righted. It may also be the third person singular feminine, as in our version, or the second person, in which case it is part of Abimelech’s speech. The clause “and with all” must then be taken with this verb, and the whole be rendered, and in everything thou art even righted. The correct rendering probably is, “And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother (a gift worth) a thousand (pieces) of silver: behold, it shall be to thee for a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee (that is,—so large a compensation for the wrong done thee in taking thee from thy husband, will be a proof to all thy friends and attendants that thou hast not been disgraced, but treated with honour); and in respect of all that has happened thou art thus righted.”

Verse 16. And unto Sarah he said] But what did he say? Here there is scarcely any agreement among interpreters; the Hebrew is exceedingly obscure, and every interpreter takes it in his own sense. A thousand pieces of silver] SHEKELS are very probably meant here, and so the Targum understands it. The Septuagint has χιλιαδιδραχμα, a thousand didrachma, no doubt meaning shekels; for in Genesis 23:15-16, this translation uses διδραχμα for the Hebrew שקל shekel. As shakal signifies literally to weigh, and the shekel was a coin of such a weight, Mr. Ainsworth and others think this to be the origin of our word scale, the instrument to weigh with. The shekel of the sanctuary weighed twenty gerahs, Exodus 30:13. And according to the Jews, the gerah weighed sixteen grains of barley. R. Maimon observes, that after the captivity the shekel was increased to three hundred and eighty-four grains or barley-corns. On the subject of ancient weights and measures, very little that is satisfactory is known. Behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes] It - the one thousand shekels, (not he-Abraham,) is to thee for a covering - to procure thee a veil to conceal thy beauty (unto all that are with thee, and with all other) from all thy own kindred and acquaintance, and from all strangers, that none, seeing thou art another mans wife; may covet thee on account of thy comeliness. Thus she was reproved] The original is ונכחת venochachath, but the word is probably the second person preterite, used for the imperative mood, from the root נכח nachach, to make straight, direct, right; or to speak rightly, correctly; and may, in connection with the rest of the text, be thus paraphrased: Behold, I have given thy BROTHER (Abraham, gently alluding to the equivocation, Genesis 20:2; Genesis 20:5) a thousand shekels of silver; behold, IT is (that is, the silver is, or may be, or let it be) to thee a covering of the eyes (to procure a veil; see above) with regard to all those who are with thee; and to all (or and in all) speak thou the truth. Correctly translated by the Septuagint, καιπαντααληθευσον, and in all things speak the truth-not only tell a part of the truth, but tell the whole; say not merely he is my brother, but say also, he is my husband too. Thus in ALL things speak the truth. I believe the above to be the sense of this difficult passage, and shall not puzzle my readers with criticisms. See Kennicott.

16. I have given thy brother] Abimelech emphasizes the word which Sarah had used (Genesis 20:5), and which freed his conscience from any blame. By the sarcastic use of the word “brother,” Abimelech implies that compensation for wrong done to her is due to Abraham as one of her family, not as her husband. a thousand pieces of silver] Lit. “1000 silver.” The word shekel, meaning “a weight,” is omitted. Money in the patriarchal times was reckoned by weight: there were no stamped coins. The standard weight was supplied, as a rule, by metal, generally silver. Hence the word “silver” is in Hebrew often used for “money”; and the word shekel, or weight, is equivalent to “a piece of money.” See note on Genesis 23:16. 1000 shekels of silver would be worth about £137. 10s., reckoning a shekel = 2 Samuel 9 d. But the purchasing value of silver varies. A slave in Exodus 21:32 is worth 30 shekels. it is for thee a covering of the eyes] R.V. marg. he (= A.V.) is unsuitable and improbable. “A covering of the eyes” is a metaphor for a gift, which will have the effect of appeasing indignation and of causing the offended person to forget, or be blind to, the offence. Cf. Genesis 32:20, “I will appease him,” lit. “cover his face”; 1 Samuel 12:3, “of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind mine eyes therewith”; Job 9:24, “he covereth the faces of the judges.” There is no need to suppose that there is any reference to a woman’s veil (Genesis 24:65), as if the money paid was to be in lieu of lost modesty, symbolized by the veil. to all that are with thee] i.e. those of her family will recognize that full amends have been made. LXX καὶπάσαιςταῖςμετὰσοῦ introducing a special reference to Sarah’s personal attendants. in respect of all] R.V. marg. before all men. The text in the original is very doubtful. The meaning is fairly clear. Sarah is righted, and her honour saved; but whether the translation should be “and in respect of all that has happened,” or “and in regard to all men, thou art put right,” remains uncertain. LXX καὶπάνταἀλήθευσον = “and in all things observe truth,” furnishes a good moral, but a fantastic rendering. Lat. quocunque perrexeris: mementoque te deprehensam is no translation of our text.

16. I have given thy brother — The use of the word brother, in this connexion, must have had for Sarah a pungent significance. A thousand pieces of silver — Hebrews, a thousand of silver.