And God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and he said to him: Lo thou shalt die for the woman thou hast taken: for she hath a husband.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, on account of the woman whom thou hast taken: for she is a man's wife.

And God cometh in unto Abimelech in a dream of the night, and saith to him, 'Lo, thou art a dead man, because of the woman whom thou hast taken, and she married to a husband.'

But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him: 'Behold, thou shalt die, because of the woman whom thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.'

Then God came to Abimelech through a dream in the night, and he said to him: "Lo, you shall die because of the woman that you have taken. For she has a husband."

Et venit Jehova ad Abimelech in somnio noctis, et dixit et, Ecce es mortuus, propter uxorem quam accepisti: quum ipsa maritata sit marito.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night. Here Moses shows that the Lord acted with such gentleness, that in punishing his servant, he yet, as a father, forgave him: just as he deals with us, so that, while chastising us with his rod, his mercy and his goodness far exceed his severity. Hence also we infer, that he takes greater care of the pious than carnal sense can understand; since he watches over them while they sleep. This also is to be carefully noticed; that however we may be despised by the worlds we are yet precious to him, since for our sake he reproves even kings, as it is written in Psalm 105:14. But as this subject was more fully discussed in the twelfth chapter, (Genesis 12:1) let the readers there seek what I now purposely omit. Whereas, God is said to have come, this is to be applied to the perception of the king, to whom undoubtedly the majesty of God was manifested; so that he might clearly perceive himself to be divinely reproved and not deluded with a vain spectre. Behold, thou art but a dead man. Although God reproved king Abimelech, for the sake of Abraham, whom he covered with his special protection; he yet intends to show, generally, his high displeasure against adultery. And, in truth, here is no express mention of Abraham; but rather a general announcement is made, for the purpose of maintaining conjugal fidelity. Thou shalt die, because thou hast seized upon a women who was joined to a husband.' Let us therefore learn, that a precept was given in these words, to mankind, which forbids any one to touch his neighbor's wife. And, truly, since nothing in the life of man is more sacred than marriage, it is not to be wondered at, that the Lord should require mutual fidelity to be cherished between husbands and wives and should declare that he will be the Avenger of it, as often as it is violated. He now addresses himself, indeed, only to one man; but the warning ought to sound in the ears of all, that adulterers -- although they may exult with impunity for a time -- shall yet feel that God, who presides over marriage, will take vengeance on them. (Hebrews 13:4.)

But God came to Abimelech - Thus we find that persons who were not of the family of Abraham had the knowledge of the true God. Indeed, all the Gerarites are termed גוי צדיק goi tsaddik, a righteous nation, Genesis 20:4.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, (c) thou [art but] a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she [is] a man's wife.
(c) So greatly God detests the breach of marriage.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night,.... Put a dream into his mind, by which he cautioned him against taking Sarah to be his wife; so careful was the Lord that no wrong should be done to such a godly and virtuous person, to which she was exposed through the weakness of her husband. Aben Ezra wrongly interprets this of an angel, when it was God himself:
and said unto him, behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; that is, God would punish him with death, unless he restored the woman, whom he had taken, to her husband; not for any uncleanness he had committed with her, but for taking her without her free and full consent, and without inquiring more strictly into her relation to Abraham, and connection with him, and for his impure and unlawful desires after her, if persisted in:
for she is a man's wife, or "married to an husband" (c); and therefore it was unlawful in him to take her to be his wife.
(c) "maritata marito", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator, Schmidt.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream--In early times a dream was often made the medium of communicating important truths; and this method was adopted for the preservation of Sarah.

But God came to Abimelech in a dream - It appears by this that God revealed himself by dreams, which evidenced themselves to be divine and supernatural, not only to his servants the prophets, but even to those that were out of the pale of the church; but then usually it was with some regard to God's own people.