Genesis 26:8 Commentary and Bible Study

Unlike Sarah, Rebekah had not been taken and was still with Isaac, but she was vulnerable to harm because Isaac had withdrawn his public protection. What Abimelech saw told him that Isaac had lied to him. Such familiarity towards her was clear proof that she was in fact his wife. But why had he done such a thing? Abimelech was incensed about it. Isaac explains that it was his fear that had driven him to take this step. In his case there was even less excuse for this ruse than there had been for Abraham, for in Abraham’s case it was at least true that Sarah was his half-sister. Isaac was afraid that he might be killed on her account and he tells the king so. But for Abimelech the issue was that Isaac’s lack of honesty had exposed the people to sin. The passage again provides an interesting insight into the morals of this ancient city. On the one hand the king was deeply concerned at the possibility that someone might unknowingly have committed adultery with the wife of this foreigner. On the other hand he seemed unabashed that one of his people – and in saying this he probably included himself – might have taken Rebekah lightly or easily and had intercourse with her. The latter possibility does not seem to have troubled him greatly. It is the same response he shows to Abraham. In fact he speaks of it as a likely and reasonable course of action. By the king’s confession his people had no scruples about fornication and Isaac was right to sense danger. Abimelech must have been amazed that both father and son should resort to the same duplicity. Isaac therefore is corrected by a heathen king and quite rightly so. This strange reversal of roles occurs at times to the shame of believers. When it does, they must accept it as the rebuke of God and certainly not attempt to justify themselves. It was the Lord’s gentle way of correcting him. As Calvin says, ‘It ought, however, deeply to have wounded the mind of the holy man, when he perceived that his offence was obnoxious to the judgment even of the [spiritually] blind.’ When this is allowed to happen, it should tell us how far we have slipped from the truth that the conscience of the lost are more active than our own consciences. This is God’s skilful way of handling us when we do not respond to his voice. He sends us the rebuke from a lesser creature whom we know that we ought to exceed in righteousness.Understanding now the real identity of Rebekah, Abimelech makes a public proclamation concerning Isaac and his wife that no one shall touch them. Isaac was evidently well known to all the city. In saying this Abimelech recognised Isaac’s fear and admitted that it was not unjustified. God therefore provided for Isaac and Rebekah’s safety in this unexpected way in spite of the weakness and deception of Isaac.