World English Bible · The patriarchs
Genesis 20
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traveled from there toward the land of the South, and lived between and . He lived as a in . said about his wife, "She is my sister." king of sent, and took . But came to in a of the night, and said to him, "Behold, you are a man, because of the woman whom you have taken; for she is a man's wife." Now had not come near her. He said, ", will you kill even a nation? Didn't he tell me, 'She is my sister'? She, even she herself, said, 'He is my brother.' I have done this in the integrity of and the innocence of my hands." said to him in the , "Yes, I know that in the integrity of you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn't allow you to touch her. Now therefore, restore the man's wife. For he is a , and he will for you, and you will live. If you don't restore her, know for sure that you will , you, and all who are yours." 8 rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ear. The men were very scared. Then called , and said to him, "What have you done to us? How have I against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great ? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done!" 10 said to , "What did you see, that you have done this thing?" said, "Because I thought, 'Surely is not in this place. They will kill me for my wife's sake.' Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of , but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. When caused me to wander from house, I said to her, 'This is your kindness which you shall show to me. Everywhere that we go, say of me, "He is my brother."'" took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and gave them to , and restored , his wife, to him. said, "Behold, my land is before you. where it pleases you." To he said, "Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, it is for you a covering of the eyes to all that are with you. In front of all you are vindicated." to . So healed , his wife, and his female servants, and they bore children. For had closed up tight all the wombs of the house of , because of , wife.
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The world at this moment · The patriarchs, 2000 BC to 1600 BC ›
Abraham's family as herdsmen among settled Canaanite city-states, in a world where Egypt and Mesopotamia are the great powers and Canaan is the corridor between them.
- Mesopotamia
- Abraham's own century is Hammurabi's. The great empire of Ur has already fallen, and Babylon rises under a king who published a law code on a stone pillar for everyone to see. Reading Genesis alongside Hammurabi's laws is illuminating in both directions: some provisions are strikingly similar, and the places where Israel's later law diverges are the places worth stopping at.
- Egypt
- The Middle Kingdom, wealthy, bureaucratic, and organised around the Nile flood. Egyptian tomb paintings from this period show Semitic traders arriving with donkeys and striped cloaks, which is more or less the picture Genesis gives of a family going down to Egypt in a famine. Toward the end of the era the Hyksos, rulers of Semitic origin, take the delta.
- Anatolia and the Aegean
- Assyrian merchants run a long-distance trading colony at Kanesh in Anatolia, leaving thousands of clay letters about copper, tin, and debt. On Crete the Minoan palaces are at their height, with plumbing, frescoes, and a script nobody has yet read.
- Further afield
- The Indus Valley cities are in decline after centuries of grid-planned streets and drains. In China the Erlitou culture is building the first palace complexes. Stonehenge is standing and already old.
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