Genesis 26:9
in Genesis 26Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die because of her.
KJV
And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.
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This verse in Genesis 26
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis 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.
This site's exposition
So she is really your wife
The king who confronts Isaac here bears the name of the king who rebuked Abraham in chapter 20. John Wesley held that he was a different man, since nearly a hundred years lay between the two events. He took Abimelech as a royal title, like Caesar at Rome.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Abimelech called Isaac,....
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקְרָ֨א | vaiyikra' | and he summoned | H7121 → | 733 times |
| אֲבִימֶ֜לֶךְ | ʾavimelekh | Abimelech | H40 → | 66 times |
| לְיִצְחָ֗ק | leyitzchak | <to> Isaac | H3327 → | 108 times |
| וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אַ֣ךְ | ʾakh | surely | H389 → | 161 times |
| הִנֵּ֤ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אִשְׁתְּךָ֙ | ʾishtekha | [is] wife your | H802 → | 781 times |
| הִ֔וא | hi' | she | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| וְאֵ֥יךְ | veeikh | and how? | H349 → | 82 times |
| אָמַ֖רְתָּ | ʾamarta | did you say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲחֹ֣תִי | ʾachoti | [is] sister my | H269 → | 114 times |
| הִ֑וא | hi' | she | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלָיו֙ | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יִצְחָ֔ק | yitzchak | Isaac | H3327 → | 108 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אָמַ֔רְתִּי | ʾamarti | I thought | H559 → | 5305 times |
| פֶּן־ | pen- | lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| אָמ֖וּת | ʾamut | I should die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| עָלֶֽיהָ׃ | ʾaleiha | on her | H5921 → | 5755 times |
וַיִּקְרָ֨אand he summoned
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
אֲבִימֶ֜לֶךְAbimelech
ʾavimelekhH40 →66 times
לְיִצְחָ֗ק<to> Isaac
leyitzchakH3327 →108 times
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙and he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אַ֣ךְsurely
ʾakhH389 →161 times
הִנֵּ֤הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
אִשְׁתְּךָ֙[is] wife your
ʾishtekhaH802 →781 times
הִ֔ואshe
hi'H1931 →1879 times
וְאֵ֥יךְand how?
veeikhH349 →82 times
אָמַ֖רְתָּdid you say
ʾamartaH559 →5305 times
אֲחֹ֣תִי[is] sister my
ʾachotiH269 →114 times
הִ֑ואshe
hi'H1931 →1879 times
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֵלָיו֙to him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
יִצְחָ֔קIsaac
yitzchakH3327 →108 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
אָמַ֔רְתִּיI thought
ʾamartiH559 →5305 times
פֶּן־lest
pen-H6435 →133 times
אָמ֖וּתI should die
ʾamutH4191 →839 times
עָלֶֽיהָ׃on her
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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.