## Da'at Zekenim on Genesis Chapter 20

###### Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 20:16:1
[Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 20:16:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Da%27at%20Zekenim%20on%20Genesis/r/20:16:1)

**הנה נתתי אלף כסף לאחיך.**אלף לשון למוד כמו ואאלפך חכמה כסף לשון חימוד כי נכסוף נכספת. והפי' הנה נתתי ולמדתיך עצה טובה וחמודה על אודות אחיך. לאחיך על אחיך על אודות אותו שאמרת עליו אחי הוא הנה. וי"מ אלף כמו שגר אלפיך כסף לשון חימוד כדפירש"י הנה הוא לך כסות עינים אותו שם דאח שאת קוראה לו לשון כיבוד וצנוע הוא שלא לומר בעלי הוא ולמה תאמר כן לכל אשר אתך כלו' לאנשים הרגילים אצלך שיודעים שבעליך הוא:

**Daat Zekenim translated by Rb. Eliyahu Munk:**
הנה נתתי אלף כסף לאחיך, “here I have given one thousand silver pieces to your brother;” The root אלף has different meanings in different contexts. For instance, in Job 33,33, ואאלפך חכמה, it means: “I will teach you wisdom.” It also appears as an expression for excessive desire, as in Genesis 31,30: כי נכסוף נכספת, where Lot acknowledges Yaakov’s great “longing to return to his father’s home after so many years of absence.” In our verse the correct interpretation is that Avimelech having given this amount of silver to Sarah’s brother Avraham who had told him that he was her brother, means that it should teach her a lesson to really love him. An alternate interpretation is that it is used as an expression for craving after material wealth as in Deuteronomy 7,13: שגר אלפיך, “the exceptional increase in your flocks and sheep, the example quoted by Rashi who says that it is a metaphor for riches, something nearly everyone is craving for. הנה לך כסות עינים, “here it shall serve you as a cover for the eyes;” Avimelech refers to the word אחיך, saying that Sarah had described her husband as her brother out of a sense of chastity. Had she referred to him as “my husband,” anyone hearing her say this would immediately have understood it as “my sexual partner.” She was too chaste to refer to anyone other than to her husband in such terms.


###### Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 20:16:2
[Da'at Zekenim on Genesis 20:16:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Da%27at%20Zekenim%20on%20Genesis/r/20:16:2)

**ואת כל ונוכחת.**אבל לכל העולם שאין מכירין בדבר תוסרי ותוכיח שלא תאמרי אחי הוא שלא תבא לידי תקלה:

**Daat Zekenim translated by Rb. Eliyahu Munk:**
ואת כל ונוכחת, “and you will be found justified before all and sundry.” Avimelech warns her that not everyone understands such lofty moral standards; therefore they would have taken you at your word, not knowing that they were a metaphor. In future, therefore, she is not to mislead people by describing her husband as her brother. The only people who do not misunderstand your reference to your ”brother”, are the ones that are part of your household. Beware not to be the source of being so misunderstood.