Genesis 26:8

8 And when full many days were passed, and he (had) dwelled there, Abimelech, king of Palestines, beheld by a window, and saw him playing with Rebecca, his wife. (And when they had lived there for many days, Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, looked out a window, and saw Isaac kissing his wife Rebecca.)

Genesis 26:8 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 26:8

And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time
Perhaps some years: for though it is in the original, "when days were prolonged to him there" F2; yet days are sometimes put for years: that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window;
in his own palace, near to which, in all likelihood, were the apartments that Isaac and Rebekah dwelt in; and this he did accidentally, and not out of curiosity, or with any intention to observe or pry into the behaviour and conduct of these two persons one towards the other: and saw, and, behold, Isaac [was] sporting with Rebekah his wife;
laughing and joking with her, which by his motions and gestures, and the airs and freedoms he took, Abimelech could perceive were such as were not usual between brothers and sisters, though honest and lawful between man and wife; such as embracing her in his arms, and frequently kissing her, and the like.


FOOTNOTES:

F2 (Mymyh Mv wl wkra yk) "cum prolongati essent ei ibi dies", Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt.

Genesis 26:8 In-Context

6 And so Isaac dwelled in Gerar.
7 And when he was asked of [the] men of that place of his wife (And when he was asked by the men of that place about his wife), he answered, She is my sister; for he dreaded to acknowledge that she was fellowshipped to him in matrimony, and he guessed lest peradventure they would slay him for the fairness of her.
8 And when full many days were passed, and he (had) dwelled there, Abimelech, king of Palestines, beheld by a window, and saw him playing with Rebecca, his wife. (And when they had lived there for many days, Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, looked out a window, and saw Isaac kissing his wife Rebecca.)
9 And when Isaac was called (to him), the king said, It is open, that she is thy wife; why saidest thou, that she was thy sister? Isaac answered, For I dreaded (For I was afraid), lest I should die for her.
10 And Abimelech said, Why hast thou deceived us? Some man of the people might do lechery with thy wife, and thou haddest brought in grievous sin on us. (And Abimelech said, Why hast thou deceived us? Some man of my people might have done lechery with thy wife, and then thou wouldest have brought in a grievous sin upon us.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.