Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 26:6-11”
Categories: Genesis“So Isaac lived in Gerar. When 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.’ It 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. Then 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.”’ Abimelech 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.’ So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, ‘He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.’
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“So Isaac lived in Gerar.” (verse 6) Because of the famine in Canaan Isaac travelled to the land of the Philistines in his search for greener pastures. As we noted yesterday, he was likely on his way to Egypt but the Lord prohibited him from going there. “Gerar was probably a commercial town trading with Egypt, and therefore Isaac's needs during the famine are here supplied.” (Barnes’ Notes on the Bible) “In response to divine bidding, Isaac stays in Gerar. However, his feeling of security is undermined when the local menfolk begin to show an interest in his beautiful wife.” (Nahum Sarna)
“‘She is my sister,’ for he was afraid to say, ‘my wife,’” (verse 7) This apple didn’t fall far from the tree from which it grew. Like his father before him, Isaac’s fear for his life motivated him to cover his hide in a most unrighteous manner. Unlike Abraham, whose wife was also his half-sister, Isaac’s lie was not a stretching of the truth or even a half-truth. “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). This sin is inexcusable, even though, on occasion, all people fold to the pressures of prevarication. “Let God be found true, though every man be found a liar” (Romans 3:4). Praise be to the Lord that He stands willing and ready to forgive us of even our worst transgressions.
“The men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.” (verse 7) Like her beautiful mother Sarah, Rebekah had held her age very well. It has been estimated that she would have been married to Isaac for at least 40 years at this time, so that made her sixty years old or close to it. When she entered the city “the men of the place asked about” her because her physical form was so pleasing to the eye. There are some authorities, however, who believe that this event actually took place when Rebekah was much younger, before the birth of her twin sons, because they are not mentioned in the narrative and they would have been a dead giveaway that she was married. But it is not unreasonable to conclude that Jacob and Esau were grown men by this time and either stayed behind or travelled in different directions.
“Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah.” (verse 8) This event occurred after Isaac and Rebekah had dwelled among the people of Gerar for “a long time.” “The account suggests that Isaac and Rebekah were in the courtyard overlooked by the king’s residence.” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) As Abimelech was glancing out the window, he caught sight of Isaac “caressing” or “fondling” his would-be sister! The word for “fondling” is the Hebrew word metsahek. “Hebrew metsahek is a word play on the name Isaac (yitshak).” (Nahum Sarna) This was not a display of affection between siblings but the romantic embrace of smitten paramours!
“Behold, certainly she is your wife!” (verse 9) Isaac was so busted! “The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins follow after” (1 Timothy 5:24). “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23)! Abimelech was completely aware of the story that Isaac had been telling the men of his domain and he was mortified! “What is this you have done to us?” (verse 10) Isaac put the people of Gerar in a precarious predicament with his prevarication! “One of the people might easily have lain with your wife…” (verse 10) “In reproving Isaac, the king inferentially confirms the patriarch’s assessment of the low moral standards of the local inhabitants.” (Nahum Sarna) Fortunately for Rebekah and by the grace of the Lord, even though she and her husband had lived in Gerar for “a long time,” no one had attempted to lay a hand on her!
“You would have brought guilt upon us.” (verse 10) Even this heathen king knew right from wrong when it came to the sin of adultery! “Probably it might be fresh in his memory how sorely God had punished his predecessor and all his family in the days of Abraham (chap. 20.) for only an intention of adultery. It is very observable here, that Abimelech takes it for granted, that their ignorance of Rebekah’s being Isaac’s wife would not have been a sufficient excuse for their sin.” (Benson’s Commentary) “So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, ‘He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.’” (verse 11) Even though the men of this realm lived by much less than rigid moral standards, there was still a safeguard in place for the sanctity of the marriage bonds, and the enforcement for violation was no less than the pain of death! Would to God that His own people would take the marriage covenant so seriously!
Please read Genesis 26:12-17 for tomorrow.
Have a great day!
- Louie Taylor
