John Calvin Commentary Genesis 20:7

"Now therefore restore the man`s wife. For he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live. And if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine." — Genesis 20:7 (ASV)

Now therefore, restore the man his wife. God does not now speak of Abraham as a common man, but as one who is so uniquely dear to Himself that He undertakes the defense of his conjugal bed by a kind of privilege. He calls Abraham a prophet for the sake of honor, as if He were charging Abimelech with having injured a man of great and singular excellence, so that Abimelech might not wonder at the greatness of the punishment inflicted upon him.

And although the word prophet is properly the name of an office, yet I think it has here a more comprehensive significance, and that it stands for a chosen man, and one who is familiar with God. For since at that time no Scripture was in existence, God not only made Himself known by dreams and visions but also chose for Himself rare and excellent men to scatter abroad the seed of piety, by which the world would become more inexcusable.

But since Abraham is a prophet, he is appointed, as it were, a mediator between God and Abimelech. Christ, even then, was the only Mediator; but this was no reason why some men should not pray for others, especially those who excelled in holiness and were accepted by God, as the Apostle teaches that the fervent prayers of a righteous man avail much (James 5:16).

And we should not, today, neglect such intercession, provided it does not obscure the grace of Christ nor lead us away from Him. But that, under this pretext, the Papists resort to the patronage of the dead is absurd. For as the Lord does not here send the king of Gerar to Noah, or to any one of the dead fathers, but to the presence of the living Abraham, so the only precept we have on this subject is that, by mutually praying for each other, we should cultivate charity among ourselves.

And if thou restore her not. Hence we learn the intention of those threats and denunciations with which God terrifies men: namely, to forcibly impel to repentance those who are too reluctant. In the beginning of this discourse, it had been absolutely declared, Thou art a dead man; now the condition is added, Unless thou restore her. Yet the meaning of both expressions is the same, though at first God speaks more sharply, so that He may inspire the offender with the greater terror.

But now, when he is subdued, God expresses His intention more clearly and leaves him the hope of pardon and salvation. Thus the knot is untied with which many entangle themselves when they perceive that God does not always, or instantly, execute the punishments which He has denounced, because they deem it a sign either that God has changed His purpose or that He pretends a different thing by His word from that which He has secretly decreed.

He threatens destruction to the Ninevites by Jonah, and afterwards spared them (Jonah 3:4). The unskilled do not perceive how they can escape from one of two absurdities: namely, that God has retracted His sentence, or that He had pretended to be about to do what He really did not intend.

But if we hold fast this principle, that the call to repentance is included in all threats, the difficulty will be solved. For although God, in the first instance, addresses men as lost and therefore penetrates them with the immediate fear of death, still the end is to be regarded. For if He invites them to repentance, it follows that the hope of pardon is left them, provided they repent.