The big reveal: Who was Isaac's father, really?

Theories abound, but when I translated the text, word by word, I found my answer.

Welcome back to The Life of H: Sarah, Reimagined, where I translate Sarah’s story, verse by verse, from biblical Hebrew into poetic and restorative English.

Today I share my translation of Genesis Chapter 20 verses 6-8, in which God, in a dream, confronts the king who has taken Sarah to bed. Behind all the drama about God’s wrath toward the king, I found consequential hints as to what really did (and did not) happen in that.

To get caught up with my translation of Chapter 20 start here. Or check out the Table of Contents to read the translation-in-progress, in order.

What really happened in the king’s bed?

Here we are in Genesis Chapter 20. And how we read these verses is consequential. After all, a lot hangs on what actually transpires in King Abimelech’s bedchamber. At stake are these questions:

+ Do Sarah and Abimelech consummate their union? If they do, might Abimelech, not Abraham, be Isaac’s father?

+ Or, as some have posited: is God the child’s father?

+ Alternately, is the traditional reading correct: That Abraham is in fact Isaac’s father?

After immersing myself in the text, I have come to my own conclusion.

Listen to my translation of Genesis 20 verses 6-8 then read on to see who I believe Isaac’s father is, and how I arrived at this conclusion.

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