And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
Gen 26:6-11
He said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife
Isaacs false expedient
I.
THE TEMPTATION COMES AFTER A TIME OF GREAT BLESSING. We are wise and happy if we can use the time of great blessing so as to gather strength for future trials.
II. HE DID NOT THRUST HIMSELF IN THE WAY OF TEMPTATION. He was in the way of Providence and duty.
III. HE REPEATED THE SIN OF HIS FATHER, BUT INCURRED GREATER GUILT,
IV. THE TREATMENT HE RECEIVED PLACES HEATHEN VIRTUE IN A FAVOURABLE LIGHT.
V. HIS DELIVERANCE SHOWS THAT GOD PROTECTS HIS SAINTS FROM THE EVILS WHICH THEY BRING UPON THEMSELVES. (T. H. Leale.)
Isaacs temptation and sin
Isaac had generally lived in solitude; but now he is called into company, and company becomes a snare. The men of the place asked him of his wife. These questions excited his apprehensions, and put him upon measures for self-preservation that involved him in sin. Observe–
1. He did not sin by thrusting himself into the way of temptation; for he was necessitated, and directed of God, to go to Gerar. Even the calls of necessity and duty may, if we be not on our watch, prove ensnaring; and if so, what must these situations be in which we have no call to be found?
2. The temptation of Isaac is the same as that which had overcome his father, and that in two instances. This rendered his conduct the greater sin. The falls of them that have gone before us are so many rocks on which others have split; and the recording of them is like placing buoys over them, for the security of future mariners.
3. It was a temptation that arose from the beauty of Rebekah. There is a vanity which attaches to all earthly good. Beauty has often been a snare both to those who possess it and to others. (A. Fuller.)
Isaacs deceit
Here we have–
I. A. sin COMMITTED. Cowardly fear led to it, and fear kept it up. There are three faults in Isaacs character exposed by it–
1. Cowardliness.
2. Selfishness.
3. Want of reliance on God.
II. A. sin DETECTED. Every sin will be some day found out.
III. A. sin REPROVED. Abimelech, although reproving Isaac, does so with great forbearance, and follows up his reproof with an act of great kindness. Learn:
1. Avoid deceit–be sure your sin will find you out.
2. Reprove sin with kindness; be merciful to those who err. (J. H. Smith.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
And Isaac dwelt in Gerar. Continued there; in this he was obedient to the command and will of God.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Protection of Rebekah at Gerar. – As Abraham had declared his wife to be his sister both in Egypt and at Gerar, so did Isaac also in the latter place. But the manner in which God protected Rebekah was very different from that in which Sarah was preserved in both instances. Before any one had touched Rebekah, the Philistine king discovered the untruthfulness of Isaac’s statement, having seen Isaac “sporting with Rebekah,” sc., in a manner to show that she was his wife; whereupon he reproved Isaac for what he had said, and forbade any of his people to touch Rebekah on pain of death. Whether this was the same Abimelech as the one mentioned in Gen 20 cannot be decided with certainty. The name proves nothing, for it was the standing official name of the kings of Gerar (cf. 1Sa 21:11 and Ps 34), as Pharaoh was of the kings of Egypt. The identity is favoured by the pious conduct of Abimelech in both instances; and no difficulty is caused either by the circumstance that 80 years had elapsed between the two events (for Abraham had only been dead five years, and the age of 150 was no rarity then), or by the fact, that whereas the first Abimelech had Sarah taken into his harem, the second not only had no intention of doing this, but was anxious to protect her from his people, inasmuch as it would be all the easier to conceive of this in the case of the same king, on the ground of his advanced age.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Isaac’s Denial of His Wife. | B. C. 1840. |
6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: 7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon. 8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. 9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her. 10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. 11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
Isaac had now laid aside all thoughts of going to Egypt, and, in obedience to the heavenly vision, sets up his staff in Gerar, the country in which he was born (v. 6), yet there he enters into temptation, the same temptation that his good father had been once and again surprised and overcome by, namely, to deny his wife, and to give out that she was his sister. Observe,
I. How he sinned, v. 7. Because his wife was handsome, he fancied the Philistines would find some way or other to take him off, that some of them might marry her; and therefore she must pass for his sister. It is an unaccountable thing that both these great and good men should be guilty of so strange a piece of dissimulation, by which they so much exposed both their own and their wives’ reputation. But we see, 1. That very good men have sometimes been guilty of very great faults and follies. Let those therefore that stand take heed lest they fall, and those that have fallen not despair of being helped up again. 2. That there is an aptness in us to imitate even the weaknesses and infirmities of those we have a value for. We have need therefore to keep our foot, lest, while we aim to tread in the steps of good men, we sometimes tread in their by-steps.
II. How he was detected, and the cheat discovered, by the king himself. Abimelech (not the same that was in Abraham’s days, ch. 20, for this was nearly 100 years after that, but this was the common name of the Philistine kings, as Csar of the Roman emperors) saw Isaac more familiar and pleasant with Rebekah than he knew he would be with his sister (v. 8): he saw him sporting with her, or laughing; it is the same word with that from which Isaac had his name. He was rejoicing with the wife of his youth, Prov. v. 18. It becomes those in that relation to be pleasant with one another, as those that are pleased with one another. Nowhere may a man more allow himself to be innocently merry than with his own wife and children. Abimelech charged him with the fraud (v. 9), showed him how frivolous his excuse was and what might have been the bad consequences of it (v. 10), and then, to convince him how groundless and unjust his jealousy of them was, took him and his family under his particular protection, forbidding any injury to be done to him or his wife upon pain of death, v. 11. Note, 1. A lying tongue is but for a moment. Truth is the daughter of time; and, in time, it will out. 2. One sin is often the inlet to many, and therefore the beginnings of sin ought to be avoided. 3. The sins of professors shame them before those that are without. 4. God can make those that are incensed against his people, though there may be some colour of cause for it, to know that it is at their peril if they do them any hurt. See Psa 105:14; Psa 105:15.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 6-16:
Verses 6-11: Isaac made the same mistake his father Abraham had made in Gerar almost a century earlier (Ge 20:2). He feared for his own safety, and tried to pass off Rebekah as his sister rather than his wife. This deception was revealed, however, one day when Abimelech saw him “sporting” tsachaq, literally laughing and playing with Rebekah and using liberties which clearly showed she was a wife and not a sister.
Abimelech was highly indignant at Isaac’s deception. The Philistine rebuked the man of God for his sin, an experience that must have been humiliating for Isaac. It is shameful when those who do not claim to be God’s people manifest a higher moral code than do those who claim to belong to God.
Isaac readily admitted his duplicity, but sought to excuse himself by claiming fear for his life. Isaac’s deception was a mark of lack of faith. He should have trusted God to keep His word assuring Divine protection in the land of his temporary sojourn.
Abimelech’s order forbidding any of his subjects to attempt to harm Isaac or his family implies faith in the God of Isaac. The Philistines generally were notorious for their immorality. But Abimelech manifested a high degree of respect for the moral principles of God.
Verses 12-16: In spite of his deception, Jehovah blessed Isaac during his final year’s sojourn in Gerar. His harvest for that year was an hundredfold, literally a hundred measures for each measure sown. In addition his livestock multiplied. This prosperity aroused the envy of the natives of the land. They filled the wells he depended on to water his livestock. This was almost an act of war. Certainly it was a strong hint that Isaac was no longer welcome in that land. There is implication that Abimelech himself instigated the opposition to Isaac. He soon asked Isaac to leave. There was apprehension that Isaac and his household would grow strong enough to unite with Abimelech’s enemies and take his territory.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Gen. 26:8. Sporting.] That is, taking freedomsusing familiarities with her, such as exceeded those that were common between brothers and sisters. (Bush.)
Gen. 26:10. One of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife.] Lightly equivalent to easily. He intimates that the sin in that case would have been one of ignorance.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Gen. 26:6-11
ISAACS FALSE EXPEDIENT
The false position in which Isaac placed himself with the men of Gerar was intended by him as an expedient to save the virtue of his wife. The purpose in itself was good, but the means he used were unworthy of a man divinely called to a life of faith and duty. He sinned against the truth. There are certain circumstances in this history which throw light both on the nature of his fault and on the character of the population around him.
I. The temptation comes after a time of great blessing. The great promises which God had given to his father had just been renewed to Isaac. It would seem as if nothing but peace and tranquillity must follow such great blessings. We find, however, that they are followed by a time of great trials. And such is the experience of the saints of God in all ages. We are wise and happy if we can use the time of great blessing so as to gather strength for future trials.
II. He did not thrust himself in the way of temptation. Isaac contributed nothing to the temptation by his own conduct. He obeyed the command of God by not going down into Egypt, and by sojourning in the land. He was in the way of Providence and of duty. His temptation arose naturally from the circumstances in which he was placed.
III. He repeated the sin of his father, but incurs greater guilt. About eighty years before this time, Abraham and Sarah had made a similar compact (Gen. 20:13). It would appear that this was a common expedient with married people among strangers in those times of social insecurity. Isaac used his fathers expedient, but forgot the bitter failure by which it was followed. There was before him an example which suggested warning enough, and therefore by repeating this fault he incurred greater guilt.
IV. The treatment he received places heathen virtue in a favourable light. Abimelech assures Isaac that his fears were groundless (Gen. 26:10). Though these people were idolators they still retained some salutary fear of God, and regarded the violation of the marriage covenant as a sin of the worst type. Isaac ought to have had a more generous faith in his neighbours, and therefore he merits a similar reproof to that which was administered to his father (Gen. 20:9-11).
V. His deliverance shows that God protects His saints from the evils which they bring upon themselves. Isaac was delivered from the evils to which he had exposed himself. God used the virtue and integrity of Abimelech to protect him. The vain self-reliance and wicked policy of the old corrupt nature often bring Gods saints into trouble. They may be beaten back for a time, still they hold on their way.
ISAACS FALSEHOOD
The history of Uriah and David makes it easy to understand how such falsehoods came to be spoken; for in those unscrupulous days a stranger ran a risk of being put to death on some pretext that a royal tyrant might take his wife in marriage. We find that Abraham committed this very sin of lying twice before. Now in Isaacs case this certainly would account for, though by no means excuse, his lie. He had before him the example of his fathers cowardly falsehood. And he copied it. We are thus ever prone to imitate the character of those we admire. Their very failings seem virtues; and hence comes a solemn consideration, that a good mans faults are doubly dangerous; the whole weight of his authority is thrown into the scale; his very virtues fight against God. Another thing which will help to explain Isaacs act is an idiosyncrasy of character. He was possessed of a kind of subtlety, an over-fine edge of mind; and the tendency of this is toward craft and cunning. Such characters see both sides of a question; go on refining and refining, weighing points of subtle casuistry, until at last they become bewildered, and can scarcely see the border line between right and wrong. It requires characters like Abimelechs, rude, straightforward, to cut asunder the knot of their difficulties. Observe, again, how this tendency to falsehood through over-refinement is seen in Jacob also, Isaacs son: thus it is that characters are handed down from father to son. Remark, too, another quality which accompanies such characters as Isaacswant of courage: lest I die for her. Contemplative men, who meditate at eventide, who are not men of action, want those practical habits which are oftentimes the basis of truthfulness. It is a want especially remarkable now. Never was there a day in which this tone of mind was more common, or more dangerous. Our day is not remarkable for devoutness; and the men who are so are not remarkable for manliness. They have somewhat of effeminacy in their charactersare tender, soft, wanting a firm, broad footing on reality. It is just to such minds as these that the Church of Rome offers peculiar attractions. She appeals to all that craves for awe, reverence, tenderness, mystery. Men get to live in mystery and shadows, and call it devoutness. Then in this borderland, between this reality and unreality,this cloud region as it were,truth itself melts away by degrees. Is it not an indisputable fact that, as soon as men leave our Church for Rome, their word is not to be trusted; that they get a double dealing spirit; a habit of casuistry, and of tampering with truth on plausible and subtle pretences which is a disgrace to Englishmen, not to say Christians! Therefore, let religious life strengthen itself by action. We want a more real life. A life merely prayerful, spent in dim religious lights, amidst the artistic parts of religion, architecture, chantings, litanies, fades into the unreal and merely imaginative soul passes into the false soul.(Robertson.)
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen. 26:6-7. Gerar was probably a commercial town trading with Egypt, and therefore Isaacs wants during the famine are here supplied. The men of the place were struck with the appearance of Rebekah, because she was fair. Isaac, in answer to their inquiries, pretends that she is his sister, feeling that his life was in peril, if she was known to be his wife. Rebekah was at this time not less than thirty-five years married, and had two sons upwards of fifteen years old. She was still however in the prime of life, and her sons were probably engaged in pastoral and other field pursuits.(Murphy.)
The beauty of Rebekah exposed Isaac to great risk and brought him into this trouble. Thus every earthly good has some vanity attached to it.
This incident teaches us, that in swerving at all from the strict path of duty, we may be furnishing a precedent to others of whom we little dream. No man knows, in doing wrong, what use will be made of his example.(Bush.)
Gen. 26:8. There is here no Divine interference: all is human detection and human foresight. There is no further meaning in this verse than appears in the words. What passed was no more than is related, but was enough to justify the kings inference,(Alford.)
Gen. 26:9. But why was this a necessary inference? Might not Isaac justly have subjected himself to evil imputations? Might he not have been guilty of great crimes under the covert of his alleged relationship to Rebekah? The answer to this is highly creditable to the patriarch. It is clear that his general deportment at Gerar had been so uniformly upright and exemplary, that Abimelech knew not how to entertain an ill opinion of his conduct; and though his words were inconsistent with his conduct in the present instance, yet, judging from his whole deportment, he comes to the conclusion rather that his words had been somehow false, than that his actions had been wrong. Such is usually the paramount influence of a good life.(Bush.)
Jacob feared for his own safety. Such quiet, calculating men often lack courage.
Gen. 26:10. A just reproof for those who by their lack of manly and straight-forward conduct expose others to sin.
The sin which the king of Gerar intimates might have been brought upon his people would have been strictly one of inadvertence or ignorance on his part. His words show, however, that it was a deeply fixed persuasion in the minds of heathen nations that the violation of the marriage covenant was a sin of deep die, and one which merited, and was likely to draw after it, the Divine indignation.(Bush.)
Gen. 26:11. The righteous indignation of Abimelech was worthy of a good king. On the other hand, the timid policy of Isaac was unworthy of a servant of God.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
4. The Threat to Rebekahs Honor (Gen. 26:6-11). Because Gerar was situated in the Judean foothills south of Gaza and likely controlled the inland caravan route to Egypt, no doubt it was a commercial city. Therefore Isaacs needs during the famine were here supplied. The men of the place were attracted to Rebekah because she was fair to look upon. Isaac, apprehensive of personal danger on account of his wifes beauty, followed the same deceptive course that his father had adopted (Gen. 12:13, Gen. 20:2) of passing his wife off as his sister. At that time Rebekah was at least thirty-five years married and the mother of two fullgrown sons who evidently had been kept in the background, perhaps engaged in pastoral and other field pursuits. But after a considerable lapse of time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, happened to be looking out at a window and saw, and behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife (literally, he was fondling her, and certainly not in the manner by which a brother would show affection for his sister). Whereupon Abimelech constrained Isaac to admit that she was his wife, charged him with the impropriety of his conduct, and commanded his own subjects to refrain from harming either of them on. pain of death. Knobel pronounces this story to be a duplicate account of a similar incident in the life of Abraham. But a close examination will show that the circumstances here detailed are different from those of the earlier transaction. Although the name of the principal personage in both narratives is Abimelech, a royal title, it is highly probable, considering that an interval of about seventy years had elapsed, another king was reigning in Isaacs day: then Rebekah was not taken into the royal harem; and there was a difference also in the way in which her conjugal relation to Isaac was discovered. Altogether the stories are marked by distinctive peculiarities of their own; and though it is striking, it cannot appear improbable that, in the same country and at the same court, where Oriental notions as to the rights of royalty obtained, incidents of such a description should, from time to time, occur. Isaacs conduct, however, in this affair, has been made the subject of severe animadversion by the friends as well as the foes of Revelation, as a compound of selfishness and weakness, as well as of cold indifference to his wifes honor, for which the same apology cannot be made as in the earlier case of Abraham. But Waterland (Scripture Vindicated), after a full and dispassionate examination of the circumstances, gives his verdict, that the patriarch did right to evade the difficulty so long as it could be lawfully evaded, and to await and see whether Divine Providence might not, in some way or other, interpose before the last extremity. His hope was not disappointed (CECD, 191).
Lange (CDHCG, 505506): In the declaration of Isaac the event here resembles Abrahams experience, both in Egypt and at Gerar, but as to all else, it differs entirely. With regard to the declaration itself, it is true that Rebekah was also related to Isaac, but more distantly than Sarah to Abraham. It is evident from the narrative itself that Isaac is not so seriously threatened as Abraham, although the inquiries of the people at Gerar might have alarmed him. It is not by a punishment inflicted upon a heathen prince, who perhaps might have abducted the wife, but through the intercourse of Isaac with Rebekah that the true relation became known. That the Abimelech mentioned in this narrative is the same person who, eighty years before, received Sarah into his harem, appears plausible to Kurtz and Delitzsch, since it may be taken for granted that as a man gray with hair as he, did not send for Rebekah and take her into his harem. We reject these as superficial grounds. The main point is, that Isaac appears in this narrative as a very cautious man, while the severe edict of Abimelech seems to suppose a solemn remembrance in the kings house of the former experience with Abraham. The oath that follows seems also to show that the new Abimelech avails himself of the policy of his father, as well as Isaac. The windows in old times were latticed openings for the light to enter, as found in the East at the present day.
Finally in this connection, the following: Criticism, with almost complete unanimity (we know only of Koenig as an exception) calls this a later (Isaac) version of the original (Abraham) legend, or else calls chapter 26 the original and chapter 20 derivative. Yet the differences, aside from the very plain statements of the text to the same effect, point to two different situations: here a famine, there none; here Rebekah is not molested, there Abimelech took Sarah; here accidental discovery, there divine intervention; here no royal gift, there rich recompense. Of course, criticism usually points to Gen. 12:10 f. as being merely another form of the same incident. Yet at least one aspect of the critical approach can be refuted completely on purely critical grounds. For, as K.C. [Koenigs Kommentar on Genesis] observes, it is unthinkable that J, to whom chapter 12 as well as chapter 26 are attributed, should have preserved two versions of one and the same incident (Leupold, EG, 721).
Review Questions
See Gen. 26:34-35.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
Abimelech Takes Rebekah as His Wife Gen 26:6-11 gives us the account of King Abimelech taking Rebekah, Jacob’s wife, as his own.
Gen 26:7 “And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister” – Comments – Even in African culture, it is common to call a person who is a dear friend and even a close relative, as your father, mother, brother, or sister. It is a term of endearment, and not just a word of kinship. When extended families move in together, due to loss of parents, the children of the relatives become sons and daughters of uncles and aunts.
Gen 26:7 Comments – Because of Rebekah beauty Isaac told the men of that place that she was his sister. We can imagine how many times he must have heard the story of how God delivered Sarah from the hands of Pharaoh (Gen 12:14-20) and from Abimelech (Gen 20:1-18) and returned her to Abraham. Therefore, Isaac said the same thing that his father had told the men of Pharaoh, believing that God would intervene for him the same miraculous way.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Rebekah’s Danger
v. 6. And Isaac dwelt in Gerar, v. 7. And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister; for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon. v. 8. And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah, his wife. v. 9. And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife; and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.
v. 10. And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? One of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. v. 11. And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. v. 12. Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. v. 13. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great. v. 14. For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants; and the Philistines envied him, v. 15. For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham, his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. v. 16. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 26:6-11
6So Isaac lived in Gerar. 7When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.” 8It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. 9Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.'” 10Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
Gen 26:7 “She is my sister, for he was afraid to say, ‘my wife'” Some see this as a cultural element related to the Nuzi Tablets, where a man actually adopted his wife. If that is the case then Isaac is telling the truth. But, it seems that Isaac is simply following in the footprints of his father (cf. Gen 12:13; Gen 20:2; Gen 20:12). In Abraham’s case this was a half-truth, but in Isaac’s it is uncertain because in this verse (and Gen 26:9) his action is attributed to his personal fear. It shows a lack of faith on Isaac’s part because God had promised to be with him and protect him. Yet, in the midst of Isaac’s unbelief, as with Abraham, God was faithful.
Gen 26:8 “Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah” This term “caressing” (BDB 850, KB 1019, Piel PARTICIPLE) is from the same root as the name for Isaac, which means “to laugh” or “to play” (BDB 850, cf. Gen 17:17; Gen 17:19; Gen 18:12; Gen 21:6; Gen 21:9). Here it has a sexual connotation as it does in Gen 39:17 and Exo 32:6. Some translations use the term “fondling.”
Gen 26:10 “And Abimelech said” Both the Abimelech of Abraham’s day and the Abimelech of Isaac’s day come across as much more morally and ethically sensitive than the Patriarchs. This may imply that at this stage of history the Canaanites had some degree of spirituality.
Gen 26:11 YHWH’s protection is behind this decree!
The phrase “shall surely be put to death” reflects a Qal INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and a Hophal IMPERFECT VERB of the same root (BDB 559, KB 562), which was a grammatical way to show intensification.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Gerar: Gen 20:1
Reciprocal: Gal 2:13 – the other