When God caused, &c.— It is observable here, that the noun and verb are both in the plural, When the Elohim they caused me to wander, another striking proof of the doctrine of the Sacred Trinity.
REFLECTIONS.—We have here,
1. Abimelech's care and haste to get rid of Sarah: he warns his servants, and trembles himself. When sin is in the case, we cannot be too solicitous to be rid of it.
2. His serious reproof of Abraham: a great sin, which would have involved his kingdom in ruin, brought on him by Abraham's suspicious fear and dissimulation, without any provocation. Note; (1.) Adultery is among the greatest of sins. (2.) Kings shall rue for it. (3.) Their people are often involved in their punishment. (4.) The greatest injury any man can do us, is to lead us into sin. (5.) Uncharitable suspicions are very injurious to ourselves, and oftentimes the cause of greater evil to others.
3. Abraham's weak excuse. His fears of the place favoured of censoriousness: his fears of his wife bespoke his unbelief. Note; (1.) We are too apt to conclude they have no religion, who are not exactly in our way of thinking: But we are often mistaken to our shame; their practice reproves us. (2.) Equivocations generally lead us into scrapes; but truth will never shame its author.