Genesis 26:8

26:6-11 There is nothing in Isaac's denial of his wife to be imitated, nor even excused. The temptation of Isaac is the same as that which overcame his father, and that in two instances. This rendered his conduct the greater sin. The falls of those who are gone before us are so many rocks on which others have split; and the recording of them is like placing buoys to save future mariners. This Abimelech was not the same that lived in Abraham's days, but both acted rightly. The sins of professors shame them before those that are not themselves religious.

And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time,.... Perhaps some years: for though it is in the original, "when days were prolonged to him there" (b); yet days are sometimes put for years: that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window; in his own palace, near to which, in all likelihood, were the apartments that Isaac and Rebekah dwelt in; and this he did accidentally, and not out of curiosity, or with any intention to observe or pry into the behaviour and conduct of these two persons one towards the other: and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife; laughing and joking with her, which by his motions and gestures, and the airs and freedoms he took, Abimelech could perceive were such as were not usual between brothers and sisters, though honest and lawful between man and wife; such as embracing her in his arms, and frequently kissing her, and the like. (b) "cum prolongati essent ei ibi dies", Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt.

(8) Abimelech. —Upon this title of the Philistine monarchs see Note on Genesis 21:22 . As eighty years had elapsed since Abraham’s sojourn in Gerar, it is highly improbable that the same king was still reigning; but both king and people maintain on this occasion the good character previously deserved. The Philistines, however, at this period, were a feeble colony of strangers, and were kept in restraint by a sense of their weakness. They had received a vast accession of strength from abroad before they became formidable enemies of the Israelites at the end of the period of the Judges. (See Genesis 10:14 .)

8 . at a window ] The account suggests that Isaac and Rebekah were in the courtyard overlooked by the king’s residence. Cf. 2 Samuel 11:2 . sporting ] See Genesis 21:9 marg., “playing.” The word in the original is the same as that from which the name “Isaac” was popularly derived; cf. Genesis 17:17 ; Genesis 17:19 , Genesis 21:6 . Here the meaning seems to be that of “fondling,” the caress of husband and wife, rather than of brother and sister. LXX παίζοντα , Lat. jocantem .

Using more free and familiar carriage than became a brother and sister, but such as was allowable between husband and wife. See Deu 24:5 Proverbs 5:18,19 . But that this was not the conjugal act, may easily be gathered from the circumstances of the time and place; which was open to Abimelech’s view; and therefore that was not consistent either with Isaac’s modesty or with his prudence, because he would not have her thought to be his wife.

CHAPTER 26 Ge 26:1-35. Sojourn in Gerar. 1. And there was a famine in the land … And Isaac went unto … Gerar—The pressure of famine in Canaan forced Isaac with his family and flocks to migrate into the land of the Philistines, where he was exposed to personal danger, as his father had been on account of his wife's beauty; but through the seasonable interposition of Providence, he was preserved (Ps 105:14, 15).

Verse 8. - And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time (literally, when were prolonged to him there the days ), that Abimelech king of the philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife - i . e . caressing and using playful liberties with her, which showed she was not a sister, but a wife - παίζοντα (LXX.), jocantem (Vulgate). Genesis 26:8

Abimelek observes Isaac sporting with Rebekah as only husband and wife should, constrains him to confess that she is his wife, charges him with the impropriety of his conduct, and commands his people to refrain from harming either of them on pain of death. We see how insecure a female's honor was in those days, if she was in a strange land, and had not a band of men to keep back the hand of violence. We perceive also that God mercifully protects his chosen ones from the perils which they bring upon themselves by the vain self-reliance and wicked policy of the old corrupt nature. This remnant of the old man we find in the believers of old, as in those of the present time, though it be different and far less excusable in its recent manifestations.

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 Genesis 20 cannot be decided with certainty. The name proves nothing, for it was the standing official name of the kings of Gerar (cf. 1 Samuel 21:11 and Psalm 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.

[Bible] 26:3. And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfil the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father. 26:4. And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. 26:5. Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed my ceremonies and laws. 26:6. So Isaac abode in Gerara. 26:7. And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning his wife, he answered: She is my sister: for he was afraid to confess that she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would kill him because of her beauty. 26:8. And when very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech, king of the Palestines, looking out through a window, saw him playing with Rebecca, his wife. 26:9. And calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should die for her sake. 26:10. And Abimelech said: Why hast thou deceived us? Some man of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying: 26:11. He that shall touch this man's wife, shall surely be put to death. 26:12. And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. 26:13. And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and increasing, till he became exceeding great. 26:14. And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great family. Wherefore the Palestines envying him, 26:15. Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his father, Abraham, had digged, filling them up with earth: 26:16. Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for thou art become much mightier than we. 26:17. So he departed, and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell there: