Discovery BoxGenesis 20:9 
Context20:9 Abimelech summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? What sin did I commit against you that would cause you to bring such great guilt on me and my kingdom? 1 You have done things to me that should not be done!” 2
Genesis 44:16
Context44:16 Judah replied, “What can we say 3 to my lord? What can we speak? How can we clear ourselves? 4 God has exposed the sin of your servants! 5 We are now my lord’s slaves, we and the one in whose possession the cup was found.”
1 tn Heb “How did I sin against you that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin?” The expression “great sin” refers to adultery. For discussion of the cultural background of the passage, see J. J. Rabinowitz, “The Great Sin in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18 (1959): 73, and W. L. Moran, “The Scandal of the ‘Great Sin’ at Ugarit,” JNES 18 (1959): 280-81.
2 tn Heb “Deeds which should not be done you have done to me.” The imperfect has an obligatory nuance here.
3 tn The imperfect verbal form here indicates the subject’s potential.
4 tn The Hitpael form of the verb צָדֵק (tsadeq) here means “to prove ourselves just, to declare ourselves righteous, to prove our innocence.”
5 sn God has exposed the sin of your servants. The first three questions are rhetorical; Judah is stating that there is nothing they can say to clear themselves. He therefore must conclude that they have been found guilty.
