Jerome : (Chapter 20, verse 12.) Truly my sister is from my father, but not from my mother. That is, her father is Aran, not her mother. But because it says in Hebrew: truly my sister is the daughter of my father, and not the daughter of my mother: and it sounds more likely that she should be called Abraham's sister, we say this in her defense, that at that time such marriages were not yet prohibited by law. — Hebrew Questions on Genesis John Chrysostom : Then, from a wish to make excuses for himself, he said, "Don't think I lied to you in that way; 'She is my sister on my father's side, though not my mothers, and she became my wife all the same.' She claims the same father as I … and hence I called her my sister. So don't condemn me. Even if the fear of death brought me to this sorry pass and the dread of your killing me but sparing her, still what was said by me was not a lie in the way you imply." See what great pains the good man takes to show that he had not told a lie even in this matter. For you to learn everything precisely from me (he is saying), listen also to the plan we formed between us "when God led me out from my father's home." Observe in this case, I ask you, the good man's wisdom. He teaches them by way of story that from the very beginning he had a special relationship with God and that God had personally moved him from home and led him there so that the king might learn that he was one of those people who had great confidence in God. — HOMILIES ON Genesis 45.19