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After this, Abraham went to the Philistines, and out of fear he said about Sarah that she was his sister; “And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah” (Gen. 20:2). But since Sarah had already been tempted by Pharaoh and, moreover, had Isaac in her womb, and Abraham’s prayer was persistent, then as soon as Abimelech ascended to his bed, suddenly, like Adam, a dream fell upon him, and God said to him in a dream: “Behold, you are dying for the sake of the wife you have taken: this is the woman who lives with her husband.” Abimelech answered: “Will you destroy the tongue... of the righteous? with a pure heart and righteous hands I did this.” Then God said: “For this reason I did not allow you to touch her... lest you sin against Me” (Gen. 20:3-6). Abimelech, rising early in the morning, called Abraham to him and reproached him for almost leading him into grave sin. Abraham said to this: “I was afraid, therefore I called Sarah sister; and I did not lie in that, for she is truly my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, my sister on my father’s side, because the daughter of my father’s brother, but not my sister on my mother’s side, because Arran, the son of Terah, had in marriage not a sister, but a stranger, and she, loving her family, remained in her tribe and did not want to go and live with her son Lot and her daughters Sarah and Melcha.” Then Abimelech said to Sarah: “Behold, I have given a thousand pieces of silver to your brother” (Gen. 20:16), and I am returning you to him with gifts, because you have put a veil over the eyes of everyone who is with me, you have exposed me before everyone. Abimelech says: I put a veil over the eyes of everyone who is with me, that is, she shamed everyone who was with Abimelech, clearly denouncing him in front of everyone. For when a sudden dream fell upon Abimelech, which showed Sarah that God was her helper, then she said to him in a loud voice in front of everyone: It is indecent for you, having left your wife, to take another for adultery. But if Sarah had not regained her youth after conceiving Isaac, then, of course, Abimelech would not have felt lust for the one who was already ninety years old. “Now Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maidservant, and began to give birth” (Gen. 20:17). For from the time when Abimelech set out to take Sarah to himself until her return to Abraham, birth pains tormented the wives in Abimelech’s house, and those for whom the time of birth had already come could not give birth. You might be interested in: