Abraham tells a foreign king that Sarah is his sister. Again. He already pulled this move with Pharaoh in Egypt (Genesis 12:13). Now in Gerar, he does it a second time—and the Targum Jonathan reveals the real reason why.
Abimelech, king of Gerar, takes Sarah into his household. That night, "a word came from before the Lord unto Abimelek, in a dream of the night," telling him he is a dead man for taking another man's wife. Abimelech protests his innocence. Abraham told him she was his sister. She confirmed it. He acted "in the truthfulness of my heart and the innocency of my hands."
God agrees—and the Targum's version of God's response is remarkable. "Before Me also it is manifest that in the truthfulness of thy heart thou didst this, and so restrained I thee from sinning before Me; therefore I would not permit thee to come near her." God does not merely acknowledge Abimelech's innocence. God takes credit for physically preventing him from touching Sarah. The divine intervention was not passive. It was an active restraint.
But the most revealing addition comes when Abraham explains himself. In the Hebrew, Abraham says Sarah is "the daughter of my father but not the daughter of my mother" (Genesis 20:12). The Targum changes this: she is "the daughter of my father's brother"—making Sarah his cousin, not his half-sister. And then Abraham adds a line that does not exist in the original Hebrew at all: "When they sought to turn me aside to the worship of idols, and I went forth from my father's house, I said to her, This is the kindness thou shalt do me: in every place to which we come, say concerning me, He is my brother."
The "sister" deception was not cowardice. It was a survival pact forged in the moment Abraham broke from his family's idolatry. When he rejected the gods of his father, he became a target. The agreement with Sarah was a strategy born from religious persecution—a detail the Targum supplies to defend Abraham's honor.
Abimelech gives Abraham sheep and a thousand silver coins, and tells Sarah the money is "a veil of the eyes"—compensation for one night separated from her husband. The Targum ends with a pointed note: "Abraham knew that Abimelek had not come near Sarah his wife." The patriarch's reputation, and his wife's dignity, are preserved.
And Abraham went on from thence to the land of the south, and dwelt between Rekam and Chagra, and had his habitation in Gerar.
And Abraham said concerning Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelek, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah.
And a word came from before the Lord unto Abimelek, in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold, thou diest, because of the woman whom thou hast carried away, and she a man's wife.
But Abimelek had not come nigh to defile her; and he said, Lord, shall the son of a people who hath not sinned, and whom it is right to absolve in the judgment, be killed?
Did he not tell me, She is my sister? and did not she also say, He is my brother? In the truthfulness of my heart and the innocency of my hands have I done this.
And the Word of the Lord said to him in a dream, Before Me also it is manifest that in the truthfulness of thy heart thou didst this, and so restrained I thee from sinning before Me; therefore I would not permit thee to come near her.
And now let the wife of the man return; for he is a prophet; he will pray for thee, and thou shalt live: but if thou wilt not let her return, know that dying thou shalt die, thou and all who are thine.
And Abimelek arose in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these words before them; and the men feared greatly.
And Abimelek called Abraham, and said, What hast thou done to us? And in what have I sinned against thee? For thou hast brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin. Thou hast wrought with me works that are not right.
And Abimelek said to Abraham, What hast thou seen, that thou didst this thing?
And Abraham said, Because I said in my heart, The fear of the Lord is not in this place, and they will kill me for the sake of my wife.
But in truth she is my sister, the daughter of my father's brother, but not of the kindred of my mother; and she became my wife.
And it was when they sought to turn me aside to the wor-ship of idols, and I went forth from my father's house, that I said to her, This is the kindness thou shalt do me: in every place to which we come, say concerning me, He is my brother.
And Abimelek took sheep, and restored Sarah his wife to him.
{And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before you; and wherever is right in your eyes, dwell.}
And to Sarah he said, Behold, I have given a thousand sileen of silver to thy brother; behold, they are to thee a veil of the eyes, inasmuch as thou wast hidden from thine husband one night, and I would have seen thee: for were I to give all that I have it would not suffice (or be proportionate). And the words were debated. And Abraham knew that Abimelek had not come near Sarah his wife.
