“So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.”
My Notes
What Does Genesis 20:17 Mean?
After Abraham prays for Abimelech—the pagan king who had unknowingly taken Sarah—God heals Abimelech, his wife, and his servants. The healing includes the ability to bear children, which God had closed as a consequence of taking Sarah. Abraham, who has been waiting decades for his own child, prays for a pagan king's household to conceive—and God answers the prayer immediately.
The irony is rich: Abraham, who still doesn't have the son God promised him, intercedes for a Gentile king's fertility, and God opens the closed wombs. The man still waiting for his own miracle is being used as the instrument of someone else's miracle. Abraham's prayer works for others before it works for himself.
The healing through Abraham's prayer establishes a pattern that will repeat throughout Scripture: God's people serve as conduits of blessing to the nations around them. Abraham doesn't hoard God's favor for his own household. He channels it toward a pagan king's household. The blessing of Abraham flows outward—to all families of the earth (Genesis 12:3)—starting here, with a prayer for a Gentile's closed womb.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Have you been asked to intercede for someone else's miracle while still waiting for your own? How did that feel?
- 2.If blessing flows outward before it completes inward, how does serving others during your waiting season change the nature of the wait?
- 3.Abraham's prayer worked for the pagan king immediately. What does God's willingness to bless through your prayers, even during your own waiting, tell you?
- 4.Can you be the instrument of someone else's answer while your own prayer is still pending?
Devotional
Abraham prays for a pagan king's household—and God opens the wombs Abraham has been waiting decades for God to open in his own household. The man still waiting for Isaac intercedes for Abimelech's fertility. And God answers the prayer for the pagan king immediately while Abraham's own promise is still unfulfilled.
The irony isn't accidental. God is teaching Abraham something about the nature of blessing: it flows outward before it completes inward. You're called to be a blessing to others even while your own blessing is incomplete. Abraham's prayer for Abimelech's household isn't despite his own waiting—it's part of it. The man who learns to bless others during his own unfulfilled season is the man God trusts with the fulfillment when it arrives.
Abraham's prayer works. Immediately. The wombs open. The children come. For Abimelech. Not for Abraham. Not yet. The instrument of someone else's miracle is still waiting for his own. And the willingness to intercede for others while your own need persists is one of the most mature expressions of faith in the patriarchal narratives.
If you've been praying for something for years and it hasn't come—while watching God answer prayers for others, sometimes through your own intercession—Abraham's situation is your situation. The waiting isn't punishment. It's preparation. And the intercession for others isn't a distraction from your own need. It's the channel through which God's blessing flows through you to the world. Pray for others. Even while you wait. Especially while you wait.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
So Abraham prayed unto God,.... As the Lord had told Abimelech be would, Gen 20:7; he might pray for the forgiveness of…
- Abraham in Gerar 2. אבימלך .2 'ǎbı̂ymelek, Abimelekh, “father of the king.” 7. נביא nābı̂y' “prophet,” he who speaks…
So Abraham prayed - This was the prime office of the נביא nabi; see Gen 20:7.
Here is, I. The kindness of a prince which Abimelech showed to Abraham. See how unjust Abraham's jealousies were. He…
Abraham prayed See note on Gen 20:20. This verse explains Gen 20:20.
Barrenness was regarded as the sign of Divine…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture