Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Genesis 20:15 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 15. 15And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Abimelech offers Abraham freedom to settle anywhere in his land that seems good to him. Unlike Pharaoh's expulsion in Genesis 12, this ruler pairs rebuke and restitution with continued hospitality, further challenging Abraham's stereotype.
Read It With
- Genesis 20:1–18
Read verses 9–16 and Genesis 12:18–20. The rebuke comes before the land offer; Sarah is restored before settlement is offered; Genesis 12 provides the contrasting expulsion. Without this context, the offer could seem like approval of Abraham's conduct.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The land offer adds continued hospitality after truthful confrontation and Sarah's return.
Read Genesis 20:14–16 together
Why these verses belong together: Sarah's restoration, gifts, land, and the silver statement together narrate material and public repair.
Verse 14. 14 And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.
Verse 15. 15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.
Verse 16. 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.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
The land offer does not approve Abraham's deception or prove that every relationship should continue after serious harm.
Abimelech's generosity does not make Gerar morally perfect or erase Sarah's exposure to royal power.
What Remains True
Truthful confrontation and generous repair can coexist: accountability need not become revenge, and hospitality need not suppress moral clarity.
How It Can Shape Life
- Set boundaries and name harm clearly while offering a safe path forward when that remains wise; generosity should follow truth rather than purchase silence.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 20:1–18 — God Protects Sarah in GerarSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? very strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Displayed wording, boundary, repeated wife-sister pattern, explicit non-contact, rebuke, restoration, prayer, healing, promise placement, and later kinship law.
Exact location: Genesis 20:1–18 in the pinned eng-kjv2006 source; compared with Genesis 12:10–20; 18:1–33; 21:1–7; 26:1–11; Leviticus 18:9, 11; 20:17
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Marriage language, integrity, innocence, divine restraint, non-contact, prophet and prayer, fear, loyal-kindness request, plural wandering verb, difficult silver phrase, healing, giving birth, and emphatic womb closure.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 20:1–18; lemmas and morphology for ishah, be'ulat ba'al, tom-levav, niqyon kappayim, chasakh, naga, navi, palal, yare, hesed, ta'ah, kesut einayim, yakach, rapha, yalad, atsar, and rechem
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Prophet and intercession syntax, emphatic death warning, plural verb, silver weight, difficult covering-of-eyes idiom, vindication, emphatic womb closure, and proposed timeline.
Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 20:1–18 and translator notes, especially 20:7, 13, 16–18
Open NET Genesis 20 ↗