John Calvin 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)

But Abimelech had not come near her. Though Abraham had deprived himself of his wife, the Lord intervened in time to preserve her unharmed. When Moses previously recounts that she was taken away by Pharaoh, he does not say whether her chastity was violated or not; but since the Lord then also declared himself the defender of her whom he now saved from dishonor, we should not doubt that her integrity was preserved both times. For why did he now forbid the king of Gerar to touch her, if he had previously allowed her to be defiled in Egypt? We see, however, that when the Lord so delays his help as not to extend his hand to the faithful until they are in extreme danger, he shows the more clearly how admirable his Providence is.

Wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? The explanation given by some, that Abimelech here compares himself with the men of Sodom, is perhaps too refined. The following meaning appears to me more simple; namely ‘O Lord, although you severely punish adultery, shall your wrath pour itself out on innocent men, who have rather fallen into error, than sinned knowingly and willingly?’ Moreover, Abimelech seems so to clear himself, as if he were entirely free from blame: and yet the Lord both admits and approves his excuse.

We must, however, note in what way, and to what extent he boasts that his heart and hands are guiltless. For he does not claim for himself a purity which is completely spotless; but only denies that he was led by lust, either tyrannically or purposely, to abuse another man’s wife. We know how great is the difference between a crime and a fault; thus Abimelech does not exempt himself from every kind of charge, but only shows that he had been conscious of no such wickedness as required this severe punishment.

The ‘simplicity of heart,’ of which he speaks, is nothing else than that ignorance which stands opposed to consciousness of guilt; and ‘the righteousness of his hands,’ is nothing but that self-government, by which men abstain from force and acts of injustice. Besides, the question Abimelech asked proceeded from a common feeling of religion. For nature itself dictates, that God preserves a just discrimination in inflicting punishments.