Genesis 20 · Verse 16

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.

Genesis 20:16, King James Version

Genesis 20:16 in other translations

BSB	And he said to Sarah, “See, I am giving your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is your vindication before all who are with you; you are completely cleared.”
WEB	To Sarah 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.”
ASV	And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, it is for thee a covering of the eyes to all that are with thee; and in respect of all thou art righted.
YLT	and to Sarah he hath said, ‘Lo, I have given a thousand silverlings to thy brother; lo, it is to thee a covering of eyes, to all who are with thee;' and by all this she is reasoned with.
DARBY	And to Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver; behold, let that be to thee a covering of the eyes, in respect of all that are with thee, and with all; and she was reproved.
BBE	And he said to Sarah, See, I have given to your brother a thousand bits of silver so that your wrong may be put right; now your honour is clear in the eyes of all.
Webster	And to Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, to all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.

What does Genesis 20:16 mean?

Adam Clarke's Commentary

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 χιλια διδραχμα, a thousand didrachma, no doubt meaning shekels; for in Gen 23:15, Gen 23:16, 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, Exo 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, Gen 20:2, Gen 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, και παντα αληθευσον, 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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 20:14-18

We often trouble ourselves, and even are led into temptation and sin, by groundless suspicions; and find the fear of God where we expected it not. Agreements to deceive generally end in shame and sorrow; and restraints from sin, though by suffering, should be thankfully acknowledged. Though the Lord rebuke, yet he will pardon and deliver his people, and he will give them favour in the sight of those with whom they…

Read the full comment on Genesis 20:14-18 →

Genesis 20:16 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וּלְשָׂרָ֣הu.le.sa.Rahand to SarahH8283

אָמַ֗ר'a.Marhe saidH559

הִנֵּ֨הhi.Nehhere!H2009

נָתַ֜תִּיna.Ta.tiI giveH5414

אֶ֤לֶף'E.lefa thousandH505

כֶּ֙סֶף֙ke.sefsilverH3701

לְאָחִ֔יךְle.'a.Chikhto brother yourH251

הִנֵּ֤הhi.Nehthere!H2009

הוּא\־hu'-itH1931

לָךְ֙loKhfor <the> you

כְּס֣וּתke.Sut[is] a covering ofH3682

עֵינַ֔יִם'ei.Na.yimeyesH5869

לְכֹ֖לle.Kholto allH3605

אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.SherwhoH834

אִתָּ֑ךְ'i.Takh[are] with youH854

וְאֵ֥תve.'Etand withH854

כֹּ֖לkoleveryoneH3605

וְנֹכָֽחַת\׃ve.no.Kha.chat<and> [you are] vindicatedH3198

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 20:16

Genesis 20:5
Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.
Proverbs 27:5
Open rebuke is better than secret love.
Genesis 24:65
For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant had said, It is my master: therefore she took a vail, and covered herself.
Jonah 1:6
So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
Revelation 3:19
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Proverbs 25:12
As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.
Genesis 26:11
And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
Proverbs 12:1
Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.
Proverbs 9:8-9
Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
1 Chronicles 21:3-6
And Joab answered, The Lord make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel? Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword. But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king’s word was abominable to Joab.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

thy.
5; Pr 27:5
thousand.What these pieces were is not certain; but it is probable they were shekels, as it is so understood by the Targum; and the LXX. render it {didrachma,} by which the Hebrew shekel is rendered in ch. 23:15, 16.
behold.Or, "behold IT (the 1,000 shekels) is to thee," etc.
26:11
a covering.
24:65
thus.
1Ch 21:3-6; Pr 9:8,9; 12:1; 25:12; 27:5; Jon 1:6; Re 3:19

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Genesis 20:15
And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.
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.
Genesis 20:17
So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.

Read all of Genesis 20

Genesis 20:16 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y á Sara dijo: He aquí he dado mil monedas de plata á tu hermano; mira que él te es por velo de ojos para todos los que están contigo, y para con todos: así fué reprendida.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et à Sara il dit: Voici, j’ai donné 1 000 pièces d’argent à ton frère; voici, cela te sera une couverture des yeux pour tous ceux qui sont avec toi, et pour tous. Ainsi elle fut reprise.
German Elberfelder 1871	Und zu Sara sprach er: Siehe, ich habe deinem Bruder tausend Silbersekel gegeben; siehe, das sei dir eine Augendecke vor allen, die bei dir sind, und in Bezug auf alles ist die Sache rechtlich geschlichtet.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Saræ autem dixit: Ecce mille argenteos dedi fratri tuo, hoc erit tibi in velamen oculorum ad omnes qui tecum sunt, et quocumque perrexeris: mementoque te deprehensam.