Ambrose of Milan : There came a famine, and so he went to Egypt. He knew that in Egypt the dissipation of youth was widespread, characterized by lust, impudent desires and unrestrained passions. He understood that among such men the modesty of his wife would be defenseless and that her beauty would be a danger for him. So he told his wife to say that she was his sister. By this we are taught that it is not so much beauty that one should seek in a wife, for this often leads to the death of the husband. In fact, it is not so much the beauty of the wife but her virtue and her seriousness that make a husband happy. Whoever desires the happiness of marriage should look not for a wealthy woman, who will not be held in check by the obligations of marriage. One looks not for one ornamented with jewels but with good manners. The wife who is conscious of being of a higher social level generally humiliates her husband. These things have a close connection with pride. Sarah was not richer in goods. She was not of more noble origin. Therefore she did not think her husband inferior but loved him as one of equal dignity. She was not held back by riches, by her parents, by her relatives, but she followed her husband wherever he went. She went to a foreign land; she declared herself to be his sister. She was willing, if necessary, to endanger her own modesty rather than the security of her husband. To safeguard her husband, she lied, saying that she was his sister out of fear that those who were seeking to ensnare her modesty would have killed him as a rival and defender of his wife. The Egyptians, in fact, as soon as they saw her, struck by her uncommon beauty, presented her to the king and treated Abraham with respect, honoring him as the brother of her who was pleasing to the king. — ON ABRAHAM 1.2.6 Bede : And when he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife: "I know that you are a beautiful woman, and that when the Egyptians see you, they will say that you are his wife, and they will kill me and keep you alive: therefore, please say that you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you," and so on until it was said, "The Lord, however, struck Pharaoh with great plagues and his house because of Sarai, Abram's wife; and Pharaoh called Abram and said to him: What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say she was your sister, so that I took her as my wife?" Abraham did not lie because he said his wife was his sister, for she was also that, being a close relative; likewise Lot was called his brother, though he was his brother's son. Thus, he concealed that she was his wife but did not deny that she was his sister, entrusting the defense of his wife's chastity to God and avoiding human deceit as a man, since if he did not avoid danger as much as he could, he would tempt God rather than hope in Him. Indeed, what Abraham trusted in the Lord came to pass, for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, who had taken her as his wife, being gravely afflicted, returned her to her husband. It is therefore far from us to believe that she was defiled by another's embrace, for it is much more credible that Pharaoh was not permitted to do this because of great afflictions. It can also be said that, according to the book of Esther, wherever any woman who pleased the king was prepared for him, she was anointed with myrrh oil for six months, and for another six months used various ointments and perfumes, and only then entered the king. It could be that after Sarai pleased the king, and while she was being prepared to enter him for a year, and Pharaoh had given many gifts to Abraham, and Pharaoh was afterwards struck by the Lord, she still remained untouched by his embrace. — Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron) Didymus the Blind : On the literal level Abraham made an intelligent compromise with the lustfulness of the Egyptians, being certain that God, who had made him leave his own country, would watch over his marriage. He suggested to his wife that she tell them that she was his sister, because if they were told that and only that at the beginning, they would not have the idea that she was his wife, and by that means he would deceive them. In fact, marriage between brother and sister was practiced in Egypt and in his own country, as he said later, "She really is my sister." It was therefore a clever strategy to suggest to Sarah to say only that at first. As the laws against adultery were probably respected among the Egyptians, Abraham thought in fact that they would kill him in order not to be considered as adulterers.So much for the literal level. As for the spiritual meaning, those who pass from virtue to vice are said to descend into Egypt. One finds often in the Scriptures, "Woe to those who descend into Egypt." Here it does not say "he descended" but "he entered." His descent is an entrance, because every zealous man condescends to those who fall without falling with them … to deliver them from their fall. Just as one becomes Jewish for the sake of the Jews without being a Jew, and ungodly for the sake of the ungodly without being ungodly, so one comes into Egypt without living as an Egyptian. The others then descend there, but Abraham enters there. It is not their vice that leads him there but the fulfillment of a divine plan. The virtuous man enters into Egypt in the sense that he makes use of foreign culture to draw something useful from it, as Paul the blessed apostle did in citing the verse of Aratus, "for we are indeed his offspring," in order to behave accordingly, and "to an unknown god" or "Cretans are always liars." He urges us in the same way to "take every thought captive" in order to put it at the service of Christ. Having entered Egypt, as we have explained it, he imposes restrictions on virtue that she should not say that she is his wife, because the zealous and perfect man does not say that virtue has become his exclusive privilege in order not to provoke the jealousy of those who do not have it. He says that she is his sister, giving himself thus a secondary rank with regard to the union that he enjoys with her, in order to put himself within range of the weak and to inspire in them the desire to receive her as something that is at the disposition of all in common. The fact is that often, when we want to direct the attention of someone to a teaching, we begin by putting it in language common with him, for example the teaching about providence, so that afterward he may receive it personally. The evangelical teaching is thus the gracious spouse of the zealous man, but he does not keep her for himself, even if he speaks of her only "among the mature." He places her in common with all, like Paul, who said, "I wish that all were as I myself am," because, having become such, they might know that this culture is the spouse of the perfect man. "Wisdom begets discernment to a man"; and as for me, says the perfect, "I became enamored of her beauty," that of wisdom, it is understood. But the wise man wishes to share with all that which is his, because in this way they will not become jealous. — On Genesis Ephrem the Syrian : Abraham gave a human reason as human beings do. Nevertheless, because Sarah thought it was Abraham who was sterile, she was taken to the palace. [This happened] first, so that she might learn that it was she who was barren; second, so that her love for her husband might be seen, for she did not exchange [her husband] for a king while she was a sojourner; and [last], so that the mystery of her descendants might be prefigured in her. Just as she had no love for the kingdom of Egypt, they would not love the idols, the garlic or the onions of Egypt. The entire house of Pharaoh was struck down by Sarah's deliverance. So too would all Egypt be struck down by the deliverance of her descendants. — COMMENTARY ON Genesis 9:3