^20:8Early in the morning¹⁹ Abimelech summoned²⁰ all his servants. When he told them about all these things,²¹ they²² were terrified. ^20:9Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom?²³ You have done things to me that should not be done!”²⁴^20:10Then Abimelech asked²⁵ Abraham, “What prompted you to do this thing?”²⁶

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Footnotes

19 Heb “And Abimelech rose early in the morning and he summoned.”
20 The verb קָרָא (qara’) followed by the preposition לְ (lamed) means “to summon.”
21 Heb “And he spoke all these things in their ears.”
22 Heb “the men.” This has been replaced by the pronoun “they” in the translation for stylistic reasons.
23 Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” 18 (1959): 280–81.
24 Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.
25 Heb “And Abimelech said to.”
26 Heb “What did you see that you did this thing?” The question implies that Abraham had some motive for deceiving Abimelech.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid. Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.” And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Early the next morning Abimelek summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.” And Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Early in the morning Abimelech got up, called all his servants together, and personally told them all these things, and the men were terrified.

Then Abimelech called Abraham in and said to him, “What have you done to us? How did I sin against you that you have brought such enormous guilt on me and on my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.” Abimelech also asked Abraham, “What made you do this?”

NLTNew Living Translation

Abimelech got up early the next morning and quickly called all his servants together. When he told them what had happened, his men were terrified. Then Abimelech called for Abraham. “What have you done to us?” he demanded. “What crime have I committed that deserves treatment like this, making me and my kingdom guilty of this great sin? No one should ever do what you have done! Whatever possessed you to do such a thing?”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

So Abimelech rose early in the morning. And he called all his servants and told them all these things, and the men were very afraid. And Abimelech called for Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you that you brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin? You have done things to me that should not be done.” And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What were you thinking that you did this thing?”

KJV 1900King James Version

Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid. Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?

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