Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." Then Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.

If God had not intervened things would not have turned out well for Abraham and Sarai. It is a measure of Abraham's insecurity and the imperfect quality of his faith that he resorted to subterfuge.