Gen. 26:1-6, 12-33

Isaac and Abimelech

26:1 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to King Abimelech of the Philistines. 2 The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; settle in the land that I shall show you. 3 Reside in this land as an alien, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and will give to your offspring all these lands; and all the nations of the earth shall gain blessing for themselves through your offspring, 5 because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws."

6 So Isaac settled in Gerar. (Genesis 26:1-6, NRSV)

7 When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, "She is my sister"; for he was afraid to say, "My wife," thinking, "or else the men of the place might kill me for the sake of Rebekah, because she is attractive in appearance." 8 When Isaac had been there a long time, King Abimelech of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw him fondling his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelech called for Isaac, and said, "So she is your wife! Why then did you say, 'She is my sister'?" Isaac said to him, "Because I thought I might 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 upon us." 11 So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, "Whoever touches this man or his wife shall be put to death." (Genesis 26:7-11, NRSV)

12 Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in the same year reaped a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him, 13 and the man became rich; he prospered more and more until he became very wealthy. 14 He had possessions of flocks and herds, and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. 15 (Now the Philistines had stopped up and filled with earth all the wells that his father's servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham.) 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us; you have become too powerful for us."

17 So Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham; for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names that his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20 the herders of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herders, saying, "The water is ours." So he called the well Esek, because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also; so he called it Sitnah. 22 He moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he called it Rehoboth, saying, "Now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land."

23 From there he went up to Beer-sheba. 24 And that very night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham; do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you and make your offspring numerous for my servant Abraham's sake." 25 So he built an altar there, called on the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well.

26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army. 27 Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?" 28 They said, "We see plainly that the LORD has been with you; so we say, let there be an oath between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you 29 so that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD." 30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths; and Isaac set them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. 32 That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water!" 33 He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day. (Genesis 26:12-33, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of February 7, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two):

While Isaac has been a part of the narrative since his birth (Gen. 21:2), and before that as Abraham’s promised heir, in chapter 26, it now seems to focus for the first time on Isaac himself, and not his family. Jon D. Levenson says,

In comparison with the two larger-than-life figures who are his father (Abraham) and his son (Jacob), there is remarkably little narrative about Isaac. Indeed, he generally appears passive and, in places, even comic (e.g., 26:8-9; 27:18-23). Gen. 26:1-33 is the only collection of biblical narrative centrally devoted to the middle patriarch. (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on Gen. 26:1-33).

“Now there was a famine in the land,” we are told, “besides the former famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham” (Gen. 26:1a). For the “former famine [that had occurred in the days of] Abraham,” Ronald Hendel says, “see 12:10. Isaac is in some sense recapitulating events of his father’s life” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Gen. 26:1). The present famine reminds us that the former famine sent Abram and Sarai into Egypt. This time Isaac and Rebekah “go to Gerar, to King Abimelech of the Philistines” (v. 1b), apparently repeating the experience of Abraham and Sarah at Gerar (20:1-18). “Abimelech,” says Rabbi J. H. Hertz was “possibly the dynastic name of the Philistine rulers” (Pentateuch & Haftorahs, 2^nd ed., 24^th printing, 1981, on Gen. 26:1). “The LORD appeared to Isaac,” according to the narrator, “and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; settle in the land that I shall show you” (v. 2). Rabbi Hertz says, “Isaac would naturally resolve to do what his father had done in similar circumstances, as described in XII, 10x” (ibid., on 26:2). The promise of land originally made to Abraham (12:7; 13:15-17; 15:7, 18-21; 17:8) is now made to Isaac. “Reside in this land as an alien,” says the LORD, “and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will fulfill the oath that I swore to your father Abraham “ (26:3). The promise of numerous offspring originally made to Abraham is also repeated for Isaac. “I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and will give your offspring all these lands” (v. 4a; cf. 13:16; 15:4-5; 17:2-8, 16; 22:17). And the LORD repeats the promise of blessing for people through Abraham’s offspring: “and all the nations of the earth shall gain blessing for themselves through your offspring” (v. 4b; cf. 12:3; 22:18). Verses 3b-5, says Hendel, “are later expansions on the initial blessing, providing Isaac with the patriarchal promises of land, offspring, and blessings. This expansion is based on the second angelic speech to Abraham in 22:15-18 and alludes to Abraham’s obedience in that chapter” (op. cit., on vv. 2-5). And the LORD says all of this is “because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws” (26:5). Rabbi Hertz explains these terms (citing the JPS 1917 translation):

because that Abraham. Emphasizing the unity and continuity of Abraham and his descendants.

commandments. Laws dictated by the moral sense, e.g. against the crimes of robbery, bloodshed, etc (tvvcm [mitswôth]).

statutes. Laws ordained by God which we are to observe although reason cannot assign an explanation, e.g. the prohibition of swine’s flesh (MyqvH [chûqîm]).

laws. Customs and traditional ordinances orally transmitted from generation to generation (tvrvt [tôrôth]). These definitions are given in the Midrash. (op. cit., on v. 5).

According to Jon D. Levenson,

Traditional commentators differ . . . on the extent of the charge, commandments, laws, and teachings [citing the NJPS 1985, 1999] that Abraham had observed, to his son’s benefit (v. 5). Rashi, following strong rabbinic precedents (e.g., b Yoma 28b), thinks that Abraham observed all categories of Jewish law, even the Oral Torah. His grandson, Rashbam, more dedicated to the plain sense, thinks that Abraham observed only those commandments that had been communicated to him in Genesis or that human reason can intuit without revelation. (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on Gen. 26:1-5)

And we are told, “So Isaac settled in Gerar” (v. 6). Later, he will depart “from there,” and camp “in the valley of Gerar” (v. 17), and then go “up to Beer-shebah” (v. 23).

The section omitted in the assigned reading for the day (Gen. 26:7-11) is the third instance when the Matriarch is endangered by the threat of being taken into a foreign king’s harem. For discussion of these events, see the comments for January 23, 2010 , seventeen days ago (Saturday in the week of the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two).

In “the same year” (Gen. 26:12), that is, according to Rabbi Hertz, “in the year of the famine [v. 1]” (op. cit., on Gen. 26:12), “Isaac sowed seed in that land, and . . . reaped a hundredfold. The LORD blessed him, and the man became rich; he prospered more and more until he became very wealthy” (vv. 12-13). The Rabbi points out that this prosperity in the midst of famine “was regarded as not a natural thing but a Divine blessing” (ibid.). But a problem develops related to this prosperity. Abraham’s experience of trouble between his herders of livestock and the herders of Lot’s livestock (Gen. 13:7) seems to be repeated in Isaac’s experience in conflict over the wells. “He [i.e., Isaac] had possessions of flocks and herds, and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him” (v. 14). Parenthetically, the narrator explains, “Now the Philistines had stopped up and filled with earth all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham” (v. 15). According to Hendel, “The conflict with the Philistines over wells recalls Abraham’s conflict with the Philistines over the well of Beer-sheba (21:25 E)” (op. cit., on 26:12-33; ‘E’ represents one of the sources of the Pentateuch in the critical view, the others being “J,” “D,” and “P”). At this point, “Abimelech said to Isaac, ‘Go away from us; you have become too powerful for us’ ” (v. 16). Rabbi Hertz says,

The prosperity of the Patriarch [Isaac] creates envy among his neighbours. Modern anti-Semitism is, likewise, largely dictated by envy, thus illustrating the Rabbinic saying, “What happened to the Patriarchs, repeats itself in the life of their descendants. (Ibid.)

As Abraham gave Lot his choice of “the plain of the Jordan” and “settled in the land of Canaan” (13:10, 12), so now Isaac departs and camps “in the valley of Gerar” (v. 17). But for the sake of peace, he must move again. “Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham; for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the names that his father had given them” (v. 18). But the neighboring Philistines again challenge Isaac. “But when Isaac's servants dug in the valley (lHan0!7Ba, bannāchal) and found there a well of spring water, the herders of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herders, saying, ‘The water is ours’ ” (vv. 19-20a). According to the Rabbi, “The Heb. word nahal means a wady or river-bed, which in the winter, or even after a storm, is a rushing stream, but in summer is usually reduced to a mere thread of water, or may even be entirely dry. In the bed of such wadys, water may often be found by digging (Driver)” (ibid., on v. 17). As to the quarreling, we may be reminded of conflicts over water rights that occur from time to time in our own country. But the narrator continues: “So he called the well Esek^b (qW,fe, ‘ēśeq), because they contended (UqW04fat4h9&, hith‘aśś ^eqû) with him” (v. 20b). The NRSV text note b says, “that is, contention.” And the contention is repeated. “Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also; so he called it Sitnah^c (hn!&FW9, śitnāh)” (v. 21). The NRSV text note c says, “that is Enmity.” But with the digging of another well, the contention is not repeated. “He moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he called it Rehoboth^d (tObHor4, r ^echōvôth), saying, ‘Now the LORD has made room (byH9r4h9, hirchîv) for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land’ ” (v. 22). The NRSV text note d says, “that is Broad places or Room.” Rabbi Hertz says, “Rehoboth [means] ‘room,’ latitude; lit. ‘broad places.’ In Heb. the word denoting ‘spaciousness’ is used to express comfort and security. Twenty miles S.W. of Beer-sheba there is a well known as Ruhaibeh” (ibid., on v. 22).

And so, “from there he went up to Beer-sheba. And that very night the LORD appeared to him and said, ‘I am the God of your father Abraham; do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you and make your offspring numerous for my servant Abraham's sake’ ” (vv. 23-24). The promise is renewed, and Isaac flourishes at Beer-sheba. “So he built an altar there, called on the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well” (v. 25). Then, it appears that there was reconciliation between Isaac and Abimelech. “Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army” (v. 26). The Rabbi says, “If the Abimelech and Phicol are identical with those mentioned in Chap. XXI, they must have been old men in the time of Isaac” (ibid., on v. 26). Isaac questions them: “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?” (v. 27). But they respond, recognizing the LORD’s blessing of Isaac, and its possible threat to them: “They said, ‘We see plainly that the LORD has been with you; so we say, let there be an oath between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you so that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD’ ” (vv. 28-29). Rabbi Hertz sees here “the same motive for seeking friendship as in XXI, 22” (ibid., on v. 28). So they celebrate as friends and a covenant of peace is concluded. “So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths; and Isaac set them on their way, and they departed from him in peace’ ” (vv. 30-31). And Isaac receives good news. “That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug, and said to him, ‘We have found water!’ ” (v. 32). And Isaac “called it [i.e., the well] Shibah (hf!7b4w9, šiv‘āh); therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba (fbaw,, rx26B4, b ^e’ēr šev‘ ) to this day” (v. 33). Rabbi Hertz explains: “Shibah. Better, Good Fortune. The Semitic root fbw [š-b-‘]–in addition to its other meanings and because of those other meanings–denotes ‘to be fortunate.’ Thus the Samaritan Targum for yrwxb [b ^e’āš ^erî] in Gen. XXX, 13 is yfbwmb (Oppenheim in berliner’s Magazin, 1875)” (ibid., on v. 33).

Heb. 13:17-25

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls and will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with sighing--for that would be harmful to you.

18 Pray for us; we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. 19 I urge you all the more to do this, so that I may be restored to you very soon.

Benediction

20 Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Final Exhortation and Greetings

22 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly. 23 I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been set free; and if he comes in time, he will be with me when I see you. 24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those from Italy send you greetings. 25 Grace be with all of you.

The following comments are based on those of February 7, 2006 (Tuesday in the week of the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year Two):

The writer to the Hebrews adds some final admonitions as he (or she) draws to a close. “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls and will give an account” (Heb. 13:17a). The leaders here, as noted in previous comments, are the current leaders of the community, not the earlier leaders who founded the community (v. 7). The writer says, “Let them [i.e., the current leaders] do this [i.e., give an account] with joy and not with sighing–for that would be harmful to you” (v. 17b). Harold W. Attridge says, “For the call to submit to leaders, see 13:7; 1 :et. 2:5).

In another instruction, the writer requests prayer. “Pray for us; we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things” (v. 18). According to F. F. Bruce, “The terms of our author’s request for prayer for himself may suggest that he himself occupied, or had occupied, some position of responsibility in regard to his readers. But what this position might be we can only surmise. The good conscience of which he speaks is probably the fruit of a sense of duty done, a responsibility well discharged” (The Epistle to the Hebrews, NICNT, Rev. ed., 1990, p. 386, on Heb. 13:18). “I urge you all the more to do this,” says the writer, “so that I may be restored to you very soon” (v. 19). “It is difficult,” says Bruce,

to be sure how much should be read between the lines of this petition. Does he suspect a certain spirit of resentment against him for some reason or other–perhaps because he has been so long away? Is there an element of personal apologia in his request for prayer and his protestation of conscientious and honorable behavior? And what was the nature of the restraint which prevented him from coming to see them sooner? Some have thought of imprisonment; but in that case he might have said so explicitly. His reference to Timothy’s release in v. 23 has been thought to suggest that he himself is not in custody, but a contrary inference has also been drawn. (ibid., pp. 386-387, on v. 19)

The writer concludes with a magnificent benediction: “Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” (vv. 20-21). This benediction is frequently used in Christian worship. Now, his work began as a sermon closes in the manner of an Epistle. He calls upon his readers to “bear with my word of exhortation,” a clue to the kind of work what we call “the Epistle to the Hebrews” is, it’s “literary genre,” so to speak. It has alternated throughout between exposition of passages from the Hebrew Bible and expositions and admonitions based on these passages, and so, “word of exhortation” is a modest description of the whole. But the concluding word about Timothy being “set free,” and the greetings for “leaders and all the saints,” followed by greetings from “those from Italy” (v. 24), remind us that it also bears the stamp of a letter (not a “postage” stamp, and no pun intended).

John 7:53-8:11

The Woman Caught in Adultery

[[ 53 Then each of them went home, 8:1 while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 4 they said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 She said, "No one, sir." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”]] (John 7:53-8:11, NRSV)

The following comments are based on those of December 30, 2008 (Tuesday in the week of the First Sunday after Christmas, References for December 30,Year One), comments that were based on earlier comments, those of December 10, 2008 (Wednesday in the week of the Second Sunday of Advent, Year One), and earlier as noted there.

The square brackets around the above text, [[ . . . ]] in the NRSV (cf. the note and the italicized text in TNIV), are a reminder: “The most ancient authorities lack 7:53-8:11; other authorities add the passage here or after 7:36 or after 21:25 or after Luke 21:38, with variations of text; some mark the passage as doubtful” (NRSV text note k on Jn. 7:53-8:11). According to Donald G. Miller and Bruce M. Metzger, the story of how Jesus dealt with the Woman Caught in Adultery (Jn. 7:53-8:11), though “omitted in many ancient manuscripts, appears to be an authentic incident in Jesus’ ministry, though not belonging originally to John’s Gospel” (NOAB, 2^nd ed., 1994, on Jn. 7:53-8:11). This variation in New Testament manuscripts is understood to mean that the passage, while not a part of the original manuscript of John’s Gospel, describes an authentic event in Jesus’ ministry–he really was confronted by this situation. According to C. K. Barrett, “the story is probably ancient; there is evidence that Papias recorded a story ‘about a woman accused in the Lord’s presence of many sins’” (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962, reprint 1972, sec. 759d, p. 868, on Jn. 7:53-8:11).

After the meeting of the Pharisees in which Nicodemus’s tentative expression of respect–if not faith–in Jesus is challenged (Jn. 7:45-52), “then each of them went home, while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives” (7:53-8:1). “Early in the morning,” the narrative continues, “he came again to the temple” (v. 2a). We may compare the overnight return to Bethany, just beyond the Mount of Olives, in the reports of Holy Week (Mt. 10:17-18; Mk. 11:11-12). According to Luke, “Every day he was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives, as it was called. And all the people would get up early in the morning to listen to him in the temple” (Lk. 21:37-38). According to David L. Tiede, revised by Christopher R. Matthews, “these verses and . . . 19:47-48 form a bracket around Luke’s depiction of Jesus’ teaching in the temple, which goes on for an indefinite period” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Lk. 21:37-38).

“All the people came to him,” we are told, “and he sat down and began to teach them” (Jn. 8:2b). At this time, the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’” (vv. 3-5). That she was “caught in the very act” (v. 4), says Barrett, “is significant . . . eyewitnesses were necessary if punishment was to be inflicted” (loc. cit.). But the Mosaic Law about adultery calls for the death of both the man and the woman (Lev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22). If the woman is engaged, and both are guilty, they are to be stoned (Deut. 22:23-24). But if he forces her (v. 25), “then only the man who lay with her shall die.” “According to the Mishnah,” says Barrett, “stoning is the punishment when the woman is betrothed, strangling when she is married” (ibid.).

We are told that they, “the scribes and the Pharisees” (v. 3), “said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him” (v. 6a). Jesus’ first response is to bend down and write with his finger on the ground (v. 6b). “It is fruitless,” says Barrett, “to ask what Jesus wrote on the ground (6); he simply refuses to pass judgment” (ibid.). They persist in their questioning him, but he stands up and says, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (v. 7), then bends down and continues writing (v. 8). After the accusers quietly slink away–that’s the word, isn’t it?–Jesus says, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again” (v. 11). We can be grateful for a Lord who regards sin as a serious matter, but who recognizes the supreme value of persons whom he seeks to redeem. That’s the problem with sin, you know. It injures persons created in God’s image.

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net