So Isaac stayed in Gerar.(A)

When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,(B)” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”

When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines(C) looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?(D)

Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”

10 Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us?(E) One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”

11 So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who harms(F) this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”(G)

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So Isaac lived in Gerar.

Isaac Lies about His Wife

Later on, the men of that place asked about his wife, so he replied, “She’s my sister,” because he was afraid to call her “my wife.” He kept thinking, “…otherwise, the men around here will kill me on account of Rebekah, since she’s very beautiful.”

After he had been there awhile, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out through a window and saw Isaac caressing[a] his wife Rebekah.

So Abimelech called Isaac and confronted him. “She is definitely your wife!” he accused him, “So why did you claim, ‘She’s my sister?’”

Isaac responded, “Because I had thought ‘…otherwise, I’ll die on account of her.’”

10 “What have you done to us?” Abimelech asked. “Any minute now, one of the people could have had sex with your wife and you would have caused all of us to be guilty.” 11 So he issued this order to everyone: “Whoever touches this man or his wife is to be executed.”

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 26:8 Or fondling; the Heb. verb is a word play on the name Isaac and sounds like it.