Abraham entered Abimelech's territory and said Sarah was his sister, so Abimelech intended to take her as his wife. God spoke to Abimelech in a dream and acknowledged that he acted in the integrity of his heart, believing she was Abraham's sister. God then said, "I also withheld you from sinning against Me" (Genesis 20:6). The wording is significant: although taking another man's wife would have wronged Abraham and Sarah, God names the offense as a sin against Himself. This is one of several early passages in Genesis, alongside the sin of Sodom against the LORD and Joseph's refusal of Potiphar's wife, that show sin is always, at its deepest level, against God. Abimelech's case reinforces that every transgression, whatever human harm it also causes, is first of all a violation of the relationship with God.