GEN1087 Here Abraham is speaking to someone who is foreign to the religion of ancient Israel, but he assumes that Abimelech would understand exactly what he meant by “fear of God” – a sense of common decency or ethical awareness which would keep Abimelech from murdering him to acquire his wife. This meaning is evident also in the case of the (probably Egyptian) midwives who refrain from killing the Israelite newborn males because “they feared God” Exodus 1:21. Conversely, in the aftermath of the Exodus, when the Amalekites attacked the Israelites who were particularly defenseless and vulnerable, Deuteronomy demands that they be wiped out because they did not “Fear God” Deuteronomy 25:18; contrast with Genesis 42:18. (By Elaine Adler Goodfriend, “Ethical Theory and Practice in the Hebrew Bible) OXFORD 36