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Isaac lived in Gerar. The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “My wife”, lest, he thought, “the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at.” When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah, his wife. Abimelech called Isaac, and said, “Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, ‘She is my sister?’”

Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Lest I die because of her.’”

10 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 on us!”

11 Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death.”

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So Isaac settled in Gerar.

Isaac’s Deception

When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,”(A) for he was afraid to say “my wife,” thinking,(B) “The men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is a beautiful woman.”(C) When Isaac had been there for some time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see[a] Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.

Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”

10 Then Abimelech said, “What is this you’ve done to us? One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.”(D) 11 So Abimelech warned all the people with these words: “Whoever harms this man or his wife will certainly die.”

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 26:8 Or and he looked and behold