Genesis 20:10

Genesis 20:10, in plain English

Abimelech asks the follow-up question: What could possibly have made you do something like this? He's asking Abraham to explain his reasoning.

Why it's here

Abimelech wants to understand. He's not just venting; he's genuinely puzzled about what could motivate such a risk. Abraham is about to have the chance to actually explain himself and take responsibility.

Who's speaking

Abimelech continuing to question Abraham

Where it sits in the story

The question invites Abraham to articulate his fear and his assumptions. Sometimes we need to be asked directly before we see how unfounded our fears really were.

The scholarly reading

Abimelech presses his inquiry, demanding Abraham's explanation for why he perpetrated such deception.

Language and setting

The question 'What prompted you to do such a thing?' (mah ra'îtā kî 'āśîtā) seeks the rational motivation (what did you see/perceive) underlying Abraham's choice. In Hebrew legal and wisdom literature, understanding motivation was prerequisite to assigning culpability. This interrogative stance reflects ancient Near Eastern judicial procedure wherein the accused must provide account for apparently irrational conduct.

Voice

Abimelech, seeking Abraham's rationale.

Significance

The question invites Abraham's self-examination, establishing space for confession and the clarification of motives that will follow. The narrative structure here employs the pedagogical function of questioning familiar from Wisdom literature—through interrogation, truth emerges.

8Early the next morning Abimelech got up and summoned all his servants; and when he described to them all that had happened, the men were terrified.

9Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”

10Abimelech also asked Abraham, “What prompted you to do such a thing?”

11Abraham replied, “I thought to myself, ‘Surely there is no fear of God in this place. They will kill me on account of my wife.’

12Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father—though not the daughter of my mother—and she became my wife.

Read all of Genesis 20 — Even the father of faith stumbles into the same lie twice. God protects the promise despite the man carrying it.