In Parashat VaYera, when Avimelech, king of Gerar, following a nocturnal Revelation from God, confronts Avraham and demands to know why he misrepresented his relationship with Sara, Avraham states,
Beraishit 20:11
…“Because I thought: Surely the Fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.”
While Avraham is credited with promoting monotheism in an idolatrous world, his assumption that “Fear of God” is a state of mind that can be expected to exist in any setting including Gerar, reflects the universalism inherent within the concept. Such an understanding allows for our being able to comprehend what Yosef, still in character as the second-in-command in Egypt, says to his siblings: