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Sister Sister
Is the Bible Contradictory About Lying with One's Sister?
James Patrick Holding
Cursed is he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother.
- Deuteronomy 27:22
And Abraham said... She is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
- Genesis 20:11-12
In light of the Deutreronomic rule, and Abraham's good standing with God, is there a problem here? Logically one could argue that there is not, since the Deuteronomic treaty took place hundreds of years after Abraham, and furthermore, Abraham was likely in a situation much like Cain's described here in which the moral hierarchy had to bend -- whereas by the time of Israel, there were many other options open. But there's a much simpler answer than that -- if Sarah was Abe's half-sister, it seems odd that nothing is said about this when we are told about Terah's sons earlier in Genesis. Could it be -- think carefully, critics -- that this is just another fib by Abraham as a way of covering his behind after being discovered? Hasn't Abe just finished a massive deception, and what makes the critics so sure he's telling all rightly now? (Note that Gen. 11:31 says that Sarah is Terah's daughter in law!)
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