Genesis 26:8
in Genesis 26When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.
KJV
And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.
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This verse in Genesis 26
Commentary
8 notes on this verseIsaac means "rejoicing." The inquisitive king saw him playing with his wife and helpmate, Rebekah. The king (his name was Abimelech) represents, I believe, a wisdom above this world, looking down upon the mystery signified by such childlike playing. Rebekah means "submission." Oh, what prudent playing! Rejoicing joined to submission, with the king as audience. The Spirit exults in such merrymaking in Christ, attended with submissiveness.
This site's exposition
Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window
on Genesis 26:8-9
Abimelech looks down from a window and sees Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. The first two times the lie broke under a plague at 12:17 and a dream at 20:3. This time it breaks on a domestic moment seen by a man who happened to be looking. Isaac's answer is his father's reasoning again.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Now Isaac was there a long time. Abimelech looked out of the window and saw him fondling his wife, Rebekah; he summoned him and said to him, "So she is your wife? Why did you say, 'She is my sister?' " Since the good man was unmasked by this evidence, instead of dissembling any further, he admitted it and gave a clear explanation of why he brought himself to call her his sister. He said, "I was afraid I might be killed on her account; the fear of death drove me to this extreme."Perhaps, however, he had been forewarned, since Isaac's father too had saved his own life by devising such a stratagem, and, for this reason, Isaac followed the same path. The king, however, had a lively memory of what he had suffered in the case of the patriarch for abducting Sarah, and at once he admitted his liability to punishment from on high by saying to him, "Why did you do it? Some one of my people could easily have slept with your wife, whereas you would have had us be in ignorance." This deception, he is saying, we have already undergone at the hands of your father, and in the present case had we not quickly come upon the truth, we were on the verge of undergoing the same. "You would have let us be in ignorance." You see, that time too they were on the verge of sinning through ignorance, and this time you were within a hairsbreadth of causing us to fall into sin out of ignorance.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
This Abimelech was not the same that was in Abraham's days, chap. xx, 2-18, for this was near an hundred years after, but that was the common name of the Philistine kings, as Caesar of the Roman emperors.
): he saw him sporting with her, or laughing; it is the same word with that from which Isaac had his name. He was rejoicing with the wife of his youth, Prov. v. 18 . It becomes those in that relation to be pleasant with one another, as those that are pleased with one another.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
This Abimelech was not the same that was in Abraham's days, chap. xx, 2-18, for this was near an hundred years after, but that was the common name of the Philistine kings, as Caesar of the Roman emperors.
And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time,....
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife - Whatever may be the precise meaning of the word, it evidently implies that there were liberties taken and freedom used on the occasion, which were not lawful but between man and wife.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֗י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אָֽרְכוּ־ | ʾarekhu- | they had become long | H748 → | |
| ל֥וֹ | lo | to <the> him | ||
| שָׁם֙ | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| הַיָּמִ֔ים | haiyamim | the days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וַיַּשְׁקֵ֗ף | vaiyashkef | and he looked down | H8259 → | 22 times |
| אֲבִימֶ֙לֶךְ֙ | ʾavimelekh | Abimelech | H40 → | 66 times |
| מֶ֣לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים | pelishtim | [the] Philistines | H6430 → | 287 times |
| בְּעַ֖ד | bead | through | H1157 → | 105 times |
| הַֽחַלּ֑וֹן | hachalon | the window | H2474 → | |
| וַיַּ֗רְא | vaiyar' | and he saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וְהִנֵּ֤ה | vehineh | and there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| יִצְחָק֙ | yitzchak | Isaac | H3327 → | 108 times |
| מְצַחֵ֔ק | metzachek | [was] playing | H6711 → | 13 times |
| אֵ֖ת | ʾet | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| רִבְקָ֥ה | rivkah | Rebekah | H7259 → | 30 times |
| אִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃ | ʾishto | wife his | H802 → | 781 times |
וַיְהִ֗יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
כִּ֣יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
אָֽרְכוּ־they had become long
ʾarekhu-H748 →
ל֥וֹto <the> him
lo
שָׁם֙there
shamH8033 →834 times
הַיָּמִ֔יםthe days
haiyamimH3117 →2304 times
וַיַּשְׁקֵ֗ףand he looked down
vaiyashkefH8259 →22 times
אֲבִימֶ֙לֶךְ֙Abimelech
ʾavimelekhH40 →66 times
מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
פְּלִשְׁתִּ֔ים[the] Philistines
pelishtimH6430 →287 times
בְּעַ֖דthrough
beadH1157 →105 times
הַֽחַלּ֑וֹןthe window
hachalonH2474 →
וַיַּ֗רְאand he saw
vaiyar'H7200 →1300 times
וְהִנֵּ֤הand there!
vehinehH2009 →843 times
יִצְחָק֙Isaac
yitzchakH3327 →108 times
מְצַחֵ֔ק[was] playing
metzachekH6711 →13 times
אֵ֖תwith
ʾetH854 →929 times
רִבְקָ֥הRebekah
rivkahH7259 →30 times
אִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃wife his
ʾishtoH802 →781 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Song of Solomon 2:9My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 8:14
Come away, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Song of Solomon 2:17
Before the day breaks and shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.
- Song of Solomon 8:14
Through
Isaiah 62:5For as a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.
it leads to
- Isaiah 65:19
I will rejoice in Jerusalem and take delight in My people. The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard in her.
- Isaiah 62:4
No longer will you be called Forsaken, nor your land named Desolate; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will…
- Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand…
- Isaiah 49:18–22
Lift up your eyes and look around. They all gather together; they come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “you will wear them all as jewelry and put them on…
- Psalms 45:11–16
and the king will desire your beauty; bow to him, for he is your lord.
- Isaiah 65:19
Through
Judges 5:28Sisera’s mother looked through the window; she peered through the lattice and lamented: ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? What has delayed the clatter of his chariots?’
it leads to
- 2 Kings 1:2
Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers and instructed them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will…
- 2 Kings 1:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 1; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 51.12-13; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.