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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Genesis 26:6 - 26:16
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Rebekah's Danger
v. 6. And Isaac dwelt in Gerar, remaining there after the Lord had appeared unto him.
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. Rebekah had been a beautiful woman at the time of her marriage, Gen_24:16, and she had retained her beauty. Isaac was so well aware of this that he, knowingly or unknowingly, followed the example of his father, Gen_12:11-12; Genesis 20, replying to the questions concerning the woman living with him that she was his sister. This was a foolish and dangerous perversion of the truth, as events showed.
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. By chance Abimelech, looking out of a window of his palace, became witness of the fact that Isaac, who probably occupied a house with its open court nearby, was treating his wife Rebekah with such familiar endearments as are altogether in order between husband and wife, but would hardly be considered permissible between brother and sister.
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. The reproof which Abimelech administered was well merited on Isaac's part, and his excuse that he feared to be put to death on her account was very lame. The Lord's promise is that He will keep those that trust in Him in all their ways, that is, as long as they conduct themselves in conformity with His Word. The weakness of Isaac is related as a warning to us.
v. 11. And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. The bad experience of the people in the king's house upon the occasion of Abraham's sojourn in Gerar, although three fourths of a century ago, had not been forgotten, hence the strictness of the in junction on Abimelech's part, which obtained for both Isaac and Rebekah the greatest security, the Lord thus holding His protecting hand over them in spite of their weakness.
v. 12. Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. That was an extraordinary blessing of the Lord that Isaac literally found a hundred measures for every measure of grain sowed by him.
v. 13. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great. There was no stop, no interruption in his progress in accumulating wealth.
v. 14. For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants; and the Philistines envied him, jealous of the blessing which the Lord poured out upon 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. The hostilities which grew out of the envy in the hearts of the Philistines began with their filling up the wells at Gerar, to which Isaac held title, with earth.
v. 16. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. To the act of spite was added the direct expulsion by the Philistine king, the reason being that Isaac had become mightier in wealth and power than the Philistines cared to see. Thus the believers of all times are obliged to endure acts of jealousy and open enmity on account of the blessing which the Lord lays upon them; and they must learn to suffer cheerfully for His sake.