Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 20:4

"Now Abimelech had not come near her. And he said, Lord, wilt thou slay even a righteous nation?" — Genesis 20:4 (ASV)

A righteous nation. —Knobel has pointed out that there is an allusion here to the fate of Sodom. Though the malady was confined to Abimelech and his household, yet he sees destruction threatening his whole people, who, compared with the inhabitants of the Ciccar cities, were righteous. There is indirect proof of the truth of Abimelech’s assertion in the fact that death (Genesis 20:3) is acknowledged as the fitting punishment for adultery.