And they rose up quickly in the morning, and swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
31. betimes ] More often rendered “early”; cf. 2Ch 36:15. The etymology of the Old English word is “by time,” i.e. “in good time.” See Psa 5:3 (P.B.V.).
sware ] Cf. on Gen 21:31.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 31. They rose up betimes] Early rising was general among the primitive inhabitants of the world, and this was one cause which contributed greatly to their health and longevity.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
They rose up betimes; partly for the despatch of their journey and business, and partly because then their minds were most vigorous, and sober, and fit to perform so sacred an action as an oath was.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And they rose up betimes in the morning,…. Abimelech and his friends, in order to return home, and Isaac to take his leave of them, and both to make the covenant between them in form, and confirm it by an oath, for which the morning was the fitter time; when the mind is quite free and composed, and attentive to what is done, as so solemn a transaction should be performed with the utmost attention and seriousness:
and swore one to another; to live in amity and friendship, and not distress and disturb each other:
and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace; he took his leave of them in a friendly manner, and they departed well pleased with the reception they had met with, and the success they had had, having agreed on and settled articles of peace to mutual satisfaction.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
31. And sware one to another. Isaac does not hesitate to swear; partly, that the Philistines may be the more easily appeased; partly, that he may not be suspected by them. And this is the legitimate method of swearing, when men mutually bind themselves to the cultivation of peace. A simple promise, indeed, ought to have sufficed; but since dissimulations or inconstancy causes men to be distrustful of each other, the Lord grants them the use of his name, that this more holy confirmation may be added to our covenants; and he does not only permit, he even commands us to swear as often as necessity requires it. (Deu 6:13.) Meanwhile we must beware, lest his name be profaned by rashly swearing.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Gen 26:31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
Ver. 31. And they rose up betimes, &c, ] The proverb is, De sero convivium, de mane consilium. It was the Persians’ barbarous manner, in the midst of their cups, to advise of their weightiest affairs, as Pererius here noteth: Ardua negotia, praesertim in quibus iuramentum intervenit, ieiuno stomacho suscipi peragique debent, saith Piscator. Weighty businesses are best despatched fasting.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
betimes: Gen 19:2, Gen 21:14, Gen 22:3, Gen 31:55
sware: Gen 14:22, Gen 21:23, Gen 21:31, Gen 21:32, Gen 25:33, Gen 31:44, 1Sa 14:24, 1Sa 20:3, 1Sa 20:16, 1Sa 20:17, 1Sa 30:15, Heb 6:16
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE MAN OF PEACE
They departed from him in peace.
Gen 26:31
The lives of Abraham and Jacob are as attractive as the life of Isaac is apparently unattractive. Isaacs character had few salient features. It had no great faults, no striking virtues; it is the quietest, smoothest, most silent character in the Old Testament. It is owing to this that there are so few remarkable events in the life of Isaac, for the remarkableness of events is created by the character that meets them. It seems to be a law that all national, social and personal life should advance by alternate contractions and expansions. There are few instances where a great father has had a son who equalled him in greatness. The old power more often reappears in Jacob than in Isaac. The spirit of Abrahams energy passed over his son to his sons son. The circumstances that moulded the character of Isaac were these. (1) He was an only son. (2) His parents were both very old. An atmosphere of antique quiet hung about his life. (3) These two old hearts lived for him alone.
I. Take the excellences of his character first. (1) His submissive self-surrender on Mount Gerizim, which shadowed forth the perfect sacrifice of Christ. (2) His tender constancy, seen in his mourning for his mother, and in the fact that he alone of the patriarchs represented to the Jewish nation the ideal of true marriage. (3) His piety. It was as natural to him as to a woman to trust and love: not strongly, but constantly, sincerely. His trust became the habit of his soul. His days were knit each to each by natural piety.
II. Look next at the faults of Isaacs character. (1) He was slow, indifferent, inactive. We find this exemplified in the story of the wells (Gen 26:18-22). (2) The same weakness, ending in selfishness, appears in the history of Isaacs lie to Abimelech. (3) He showed his weakness in the division between Jacob and Esau. He took no pains to harmonise them. The curse of favouritism prevailed in his tent. (4) He dropped into a querulous old age, and became a lover of savoury meat. But our last glimpse of him is happy. He saw the sons of Jacob at Hebron, and felt that Gods promise was fulfilled.
Illustration
(1) To yield in matters where property and prestige are concerned, though, of course, not the rights of conscience, is clearly the teaching of the New Testament. And when a strong man does this (or a strong nation), it is a remarkably glorious moral victory. But it must be clear, before you magnify the nobility of this surrender of just rights, that the surrender is not due to moral weakness, or cowardice, or a molluscous indifference. The mere suspicion of any of these is fatal. The glory of our Lord yielding His cheeks to the smiter lies in the fact that, at any moment, He might have asked the Father, who would have given Him twelve legions of angels. He went to the Cross of His own free will. He could lay down or resume His life as He chose. It is this suspicion that Isaac was not a morally strong man, but weak and yielding, inclined to sacrifice anything for peace, that casts a shadow over what else would have been after the highest type of Christianity. What is the true view of his action is open to very interesting discussion.
For ourselves, the lesson is obvious. Our religion and morality must be equivalent and reinforce each other; and when we yield, it must always clearly be for conscience sake alone.
(2) The materials for a judgment are fragmentary, but probably Wellhausens appreciation would be generally accepted. Isaac was a peace-loving shepherd, desirous of living quietly beside his tents, anxious to avoid strife and the appeal to force. His religious life was deep, and we must interpret his apparently unheroic surrenders by the command and promise of God in verses 2 and 3. May it not be said that Isaac is to be regarded as a type of the Peacemakers who shall be called sons of God? Isaac realises that he is where he is by the Divine Will, and that therefore he is under the Divine protection. Jehovah will fight for him. Hence, when the Philistines are moved with envy because of his prosperity and would quarrel with him, he yields the cause of the dispute, and moves elsewhere. His action is approved, and we read of the reward given it.
When what we think to be our rights are challenged, we are bound to consider before we yield to angry opposition whether we can lay them before God. Are we in the way of His command?
Though our claims to a thing in dispute may be perfectly just, and hence abide in Gods will, we are required by this very confidence to cultivate a peaceful spirit. God is on our side, and we can afford to reason, and even yield a point, knowing that justice must win in the end.
(3) On the suggestion of Gen 24:63, Isaac has been called the Wordsworth of the Old Testament, but he hardly deserves the title, for he seems to have lacked motif and independence. We find him loving savoury meat (Gen 27:9); his leanings to self-indulgence were evidently well understood by his wife and children, who knew that to pander to them was the best way of securing his favour; and if we may form conclusions from the notes of time given to us, he must have spent forty or fifty years as a blind and helpless invalid. He seems to have resigned the control of his family into the hands of Rebekah, and to have shrunk from exercising the authority which a father ought over his growing sons, with results that all the subsequent centuries have condemned.