What Does Genesis 20:10 Mean?
And Abimelech said to Abraham, What did you see, that you have done this thing?
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?THE KEY
The question makes the deed legible by tracing it back to the perception that framed it.
THE MEANING
What you see as true or necessary shapes what you do; the act is an outward trace of an inward seeing. Abraham means “father of a multitude,” while Abimelech means “my father is king,” placing fatherhood and authority in the exchange.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that an action begins without any perception guiding it. The deed has a hidden beginning in what seemed visible, desirable, or necessary.
THE ROOT
רָאִיתָ
ra'ita
GROWS FROM
ראה
R-ʾ-H
To see, look, or perceive.
The Hebrew question asks, “What did you see or perceive?”, reaching for the perception behind the deed, not just a report of eyesight. In Genesis 22:14, יִרְאֶה (yir’eh), from this same root, is rendered “will provide,” preserving a link between seeing and seeing to a need.
ALSO GROWS
mar'eh: Appearance, sight, or vision.
מַרְאֶה
This branch makes seeing more than a glance: it includes the appearance through which something is perceived.
yir'eh: He will see; in Genesis 22:14, “will provide.”
יִרְאֶה
The verse’s question about what was seen touches a root that can also carry the sense of seeing to what is needed.
עָשִׂיתָ
asita
GROWS FROM
עשה
ʿ-Ś-H
To do or make.
“hast done” in this verse is asita. The form here means “you did,” while its root also means “make.” The question places seeing beside making: what is perceived gives shape to the reality enacted.
ALSO GROWS
ma'aseh: Work, deed, or thing made.
מַעֲשֶׂה
This branch carries the same root from doing into the work or deed that results.
oseh: One who does or makes.
עֹשֶׂה
The root names both the act and the one carrying it out.
הַדָּבָר
ha-davar
GROWS FROM
דבר
D-B-R
To speak; as a noun, a word, matter, affair, or thing.
“this thing” in this verse is ha-davar. The Hebrew word translated “thing” can also mean “word” or “matter,” so the English can make this sound more inert than it is. The question opens onto the matter behind the deed, as well as the perception that shaped it.
ALSO GROWS
dibber: He spoke.
דִּבֶּר
This verb shares the root of “thing,” joining speech and matter within the same word family.
devarim: Words, matters, or things.
דְּבָרִים
This plural shows how Hebrew uses the same root for what is spoken and what is at issue.
THE PATTERN
What a person perceives as real or desirable gives direction to the act that follows.
And the woman saw that the tree was good for eating, and that it was a craving for the eyes, and a tree to be desired for making one wise. And she took of its fruit and ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.By trust he left Egypt behind, not fearing the seething of the king, for he held firm as one who sees the unseen.The lamp of the body is the eye. So if your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light.THE THREAD
And the woman saw that the tree was good for eating, and that it was a craving for the eyes, and a tree to be desired for making one wise. And she took of its fruit and ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.Both verses turn on רָאָה (ra’ah, to see or perceive): the woman sees and takes, while Abraham is asked what he saw before he acted. The shared root makes perception the unspoken beginning of the deed.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
You can read any verse this way in the app, keep it as a card, and send it on.
A Bible app where you send verses from your keyboard and in Messages, and every verse has a Deep Dive.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us