Kejadian 20:16

20:16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given a thousand pieces of silver ¹  to your ‘brother.’ ²  This is compensation for you so that you will stand vindicated before all who are with you.” ³ 

Kejadian 42:16

42:16 One of you must go and get ⁴  your brother, while ⁵  the rest of you remain in prison. ⁶  In this way your words may be tested to see if ⁷  you are telling the truth. ⁸  If not, then, as surely as Pharaoh lives, you are spies!”

[20:16]  ¹ sn A thousand pieces [Heb “shekels”] of silver. The standards for weighing money varied considerably in the ancient Near East, but the generally accepted weight for the shekel is 11.5 grams (0.4 ounce). This makes the weight of silver here 11.5 kilograms, or 400 ounces (about 25 pounds).

[20:16]  ² sn To your ‘brother.’ Note the way that the king refers to Abraham. Was he being sarcastic? It was surely a rebuke to Sarah. What is amazing is how patient this king was. It is proof that the fear of God was in that place, contrary to what Abraham believed (see v. 11).

[20:16]  ³ tn Heb “Look, it is for you a covering of the eyes, for all who are with you, and with all, and you are set right.” The exact meaning of the statement is unclear. Apparently it means that the gift of money somehow exonerates her in other people’s eyes. They will not look on her as compromised (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:74).

[42:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “send from you one and let him take.” After the imperative, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose.

[42:16]  ⁵ tn The disjunctive clause is here circumstantial-temporal.

[42:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “bound.”

[42:16]  ⁷ tn The words “to see” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[42:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “the truth [is] with you.”