This post contains a comparison of three similar passages from the Book of Genesis. All three stories contain a triangle of personalities.

Incident 1: Abram and Sarai in Egypt. Local Ruler: Pharaoh
Incident 2: Abraham and Sarah in Gerar. Local Ruler Abimalech
Incident 3: Isaac and Rebekah in Gerar. Local Ruler: Abimalech

In the first two tellings of this similar tale, God intervened on behalf of the man's wife after the local ruler had taken the wife from the man. In the first two tellings of this story the man and his wife are Abram and Sarai also known as Abraham and Sarah.

In the last two tellings of this story, the local ruler is Abimalech. In the last two tellings of this story the man and his wife leave that place on good terms. In the last two tellings of this similar story, the events take place in Gerar.

All three tellings of this story begin with the man and his wife heading south. All three stories have a man referring to his own wife as his sister because in all three stories the man and his wife are in a foreign land. And in all three stories the man and his wife are lacking material possessions. And in all three stories the man and his wife gain material possessions, namely sheep, oxen, servants, etc. And in all three renditions of this tale, the local ruler of the foreign land was duped into believing that the man's wife was his sister. And in all three stories, this local ruler became inflamed and asked why, once he was afforded the truth of the matter. And finally, in all three renditions, the husband and wife depart from the area with all their newfound assets.



Gen12: 9 And Abram journeyed, going on and pulled up stakes toward the south.10 And there was a famine in the land. And Abram went down into Egypt to stay there, for the famine was grievous in the land.11 And it happened, when he had come near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that you are a beautiful woman to look upon. 12 And it will be when the Egyptians see you, they shall say, This is his wife. And they will kill me, but they will save you alive.13 I pray you, say that you are my sister, so that it may be well with me for your sake. And my soul shall live because of you.14 And it happened when Abram had come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful.15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her before Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.16 And he treated Abram well for her sake. And he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and male servants, and maidservants, and she-asses, and camels. 17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she is your wife? 19 Why did you say, She is my sister? And so I was about to take her to me as wife. Now therefore behold your wife. Take her and go. 20 And Pharaoh commanded men concerning him. And they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

As a tangential yet significant aside here, Abram basically sent his wife off to get violated by the Pharaoh, not just to save his own cowardly ass, but also to enjoy the plethora of creature comforts that Egypt had to offer him.

Or was Abram relying on God to keep his wife from getting violated by the Pharaoh? If so, why could he not rely on God to defend him if he told the truth from the outset, which was that this beautiful woman, Sarai, was in fact his wife?

Further to that, if Abram did realize that God would intervene on his behalf, was this entire scenario just a clever attempted manipulation on Abe's part to garner material advantage from foreigners in their own land with God providing the omnipotent muscle, while using his wife as bait? How noble is that? What happened to truth in the face of enemies?

Note too, that the plagues unleashed upon Pharaoh and his people were an obvious sign to Pharaoh that it was because Sarai was in fact Abram's wife because he immediately went to Abram now knowing that Sarai was not his wife. The essence here is that God told Pharaoh not to have intercourse with Abram's wife in some fashion that Pharaoh immediately understood, which mirrors the following incident.

Continuing on through Genesis, the same two characters sporting the new and improved God given names "Abraham" and "Sarah" are heading south again and again a similar scenario ensues, except this time Pharaoh is supplanted with Abimalech:


Gen20:1 And Abraham moved from there toward the south country, and lived between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar.2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech the king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, you are about to die, for the woman whom you have taken; for she is a man's wife.4 But Abimelech had not come near her. And he said, Lord, will You also kill a righteous nation?5 Did he not say to me, She is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother. In the sincerity of my heart and innocency of my hands I have done this.6 And God said to him in a dream, Yes, I know that you did this in the sincerity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me. Therefore I did not allow you to touch her.7 Now therefore, restore his wife to the man. For he is a prophet, and he shall pray for you, and you shall live. And if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you, and all that are yours.8 And Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears. And the men were greatly afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, What have you done to us? In what have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done. 10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, What did you see that you have done this thing? 11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will kill me for my wife's sake. 12 And yet truly she is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife. 13 And it happened when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, This is your kindness which you show to me, at every place where we shall come, say of me, He is my brother. 14 And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and men-servants and women-servants, and gave them to Abraham. And he restored him Sarah his wife.15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before you. Live where it pleases you. 16 And to Sarah he said, Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. Behold, he is to you a covering of the eyes, to all that are with you, and with all this, you are justified.

The core story from the first excerpt can plainly be seen within this second story, with much elaboration (a common historical trend in textual reproduction).

Moving on to our final passage with this "sister as wife" motif, we see Abraham and Sarai now being supplanted with Isaac and Rebekah, yet still with Abimalech playing the same role as local ruler:


Genesis 26:
6 And Isaac lived in Gerar.7 And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, She is my sister. For he feared to say, My wife; lest the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she was beautiful of form.8 And when he had been there a long time, it happened that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through the window, and saw; and behold! Isaac was caressing Rebekah his wife.9 And Abimelech called Isaac and said, Behold! She surely is your wife. And why did you say, She is my sister? And Isaac said to him, Because I said, Lest I die on account of her.10 And Abimelech said, What is this you have done to us? One of the people might have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him.13 And the man became great. And he went forward and grew until he grew very great.14 And he had possession of flocks and possession of herds, and many servants. And the Philistines envied him.15 For all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them and filled them with earth.16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, Go away from us, for you are mightier than we are.17 And Isaac departed from there, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and lived there.



In summation, this is obviously a thrice told tale. Of the few events in Abraham's entire (very long) life, only the most salient of events would be worth significance in recording for history. The same goes for Isaac. This alone makes it not only remarkable that such coincidences would ensue it clearly entertains the notion that this was a repeated, embellished story of similar origins for all. And if someone were to attempt to argue that it is commonplace for a man to call his wife his sister, so that he did not get killed by foreigners, then the onus would be on them to provide evidence of that commonality with other citations from the bible which refer to a noble man calling his wife his sister, in order that they may benefit. Moreover, if such incidents are so commonplace in Abraham's and Isaac's lives, why bother to include such mundane references about them at all?

Attempting to argue against the conclusion that this is the same story told three different ways, one must account for the coincidental nature of these three similar passages in the Bible with more than mere superficial justifications in order to maintain any credibility.

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