References (23)
Abraham said of his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." [] And Avimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her. [Abraham repeats the same mistake he made earlier, see . His son Isaac does the same, see .]
But God (Elohim) came to Avimelech in a dream at night and said to him, "Behold, you are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is another man's wife."
Avimelech had not come near her (had no intimate relations or sexual intercourse with her), and he said, "Lord (Adonai), will you also kill a righteous nation?
Avimelech rose early in the morning and called (cried out) to all his servants and spoke all these words in their ears [carefully recounting everything he had dreamed to them], and the men were very afraid.
Then Avimelech called Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you that you have brought this great sin upon me and my kingdom? You have done to me what should not be done!"
And Avimelech said further to Abraham, "How do you explain that you have done this?"
And Avimelech took sheep and oxen and servants and maidservants and gave them to Abraham, and returned his wife Sarah to him.
And Avimelech said, "Behold, my land is before you; dwell wherever it pleases you."
And Abraham prayed to God (the only God – Hebr. ha-elohim), and God (Elohim) healed Avimelech and his wife and his female servants [slaves, concubines], so that they could have children again.
For the Lord (Yahweh) had closed all the wombs in Avimelech's house because of Abraham's wife Sarah.
[This describes the first healing in the Bible. There are several lessons here:
• Abraham must pray for someone else who suffers from the same problem as he himself has before he himself is healed. It is only after this event, in the next chapter (), that Sarah becomes pregnant!
• Abraham was not sinless when he prayed; it was his half-lie () that caused the situation with Avimelech. God can use us to pray for others despite our own shortcomings.
• The result of the healing was not immediately apparent. The healing took place when Abraham prayed, but it was only later, when the women began to give birth, that the visible evidence of the healing could be seen!]
[The "first occurrence" principle
The first time something is mentioned in the Bible, important lessons and fundamental truths about that subject are often presented. In biblical interpretation, this principle is called "first occurrence." One example is blood (Hebr. damm), which when mentioned in is also equated with human life. Jesus uses the principle of first occurrence when he teaches about marriage in and says that "from the beginning" the Creator made man male and female, see ; . In general, the teaching in the books of Moses also lays a foundation for the rest of the Bible, see .
Note! As with all principles of biblical interpretation, it is important to maintain balance and always read the text in its context. A word does not necessarily mean the same thing every time it is mentioned. The first time the serpent (Hebr. nachash) is mentioned, it is associated with Satan, but the bronze serpent () is also a clear reference to Jesus (). When Jesus urges believers to be like serpents, the meaning, right from the first occurrence, is that a believer should question ideologies and ways of thinking that are not from God and cast doubt on false beliefs. However, the negative meaning is balanced, but it should be done in an innocent and pure way (like a dove), see . Sometimes it can also be difficult to know whether something is mentioned first chronologically or thematically. The order of the books in the Old Testament is also different in the Hebrew Bible than in our Western Bibles.]
And it came to pass at that time that Avimelech and Pichol, the leader of his army, spoke to Abraham and said, "God (Elohim) is with you in everything you do.
And Abraham rebuked Avimelech because of the water sources (wells – Hebr. ) that Avimelech's servants had forcibly removed (destroyed) [probably filled with earth and stones].
And Avimelech said, "I don't know who did this, nor have you told me, I haven't heard anything about this until today."
And Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Avimelech, and the two made a covenant. [They made a blood covenant with each other, which was relatively common at that time.]
And Avimelech said to Abraham, "What do these seven female lambs mean that you have set apart?"
So they made a covenant at Beer-Sheva, and Avimelech and Pichol, the leader of his army, got up and returned to the land of the Philistines.
There was a famine in the land, a famine unlike the one in Abraham's days. Isaac went to
Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at
Gerar.
[Gerar marked the southern border of Canaan and was located near Gaza, see .]It happened that after he had been there a long time, the Philistine king Avimelech looked out of a window and saw Isaac (Hebr. Yitzchak) laughing (fooling around, having fun, joking, "playfully fighting" – Hebr. tsachaq) with Rebekah, his wife.
[Hebrew tsachaq is similar to Isaac's name, which means laughter, see , . The same word is used by Potiphar's wife when she accuses Joseph of assaulting her, see , . The word is also used to describe how Ishmael mocked Isaac, see . All of this reinforces how Isaac ignored and "mocked" God's promise of protection, and lied to protect himself.]
Avimelech called Isaac and said, "Behold, she is indeed your wife; how could you say, 'She is my sister'?"
Isaac answered him, "Because I said to myself, 'Otherwise I will die because of her.
Avimelech said, "What have you done to us? One of our people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us."
Avimelech commanded all the people, saying, "Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death."
Avimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you are much more powerful than we are."
Then Avimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzat, his advisor (personal friend – Hebr. merea), and Pichol, the officer of his army.
