Genesis Vol 3.pdf - College Press

SOJOURN IN THE NEGEB 2O:l-21:34
and apparently was the common title-rather than per-
sonal name-of the kings of Gerar, as Pharaoh, for example,
was of the rulers of Egypt, Agag of the kings of the
Amalekites (1 Sam. Ir), Caesar of the emperors of Rome
(whence such later titles as K~iser, Czar, etc.), This fact
makes it entirely plausible that the Abimelech who cove-
nanted with Isaac later (Gen. 26) was a successor to the
Abimelech who had dealings with Abraham. The latter
evidently sought out Abraham on the patriarch’s arrival
within the region of which his capital, Gerar, was the
dominant city. We must realize that the nomads of
Abraham’s time were not wanderers all the time; rather,
they alternated between periods of migration and periods
of a more or less settled life. Because water was precious
and the nomadic sheiks had to have it for their flocks,
they had to hunt out the area where water-usually from
wells-was available. Abraham was of this class. Cornfeld
suggests that Abimelech visited Abraham somewhere in
the locality, probably for the purpose of concluding a
treaty of mutual protection that would safeguard his de-
scendants from Israelite encroachments. It may well be
also that he took Sarah into his harem, not especially
because he was infatuated with her beauty (she was now
ninety years old: cf. 17:17, 21:2) but for the very same
purpose of cementing an alliance with this wealthy and
influential patriarch. As a matter of fact, on comparing
the motives and actions of these two men, it will strike
most of us, I think, that Abraham’s conduct, generally
speaking, was below the level of integrity manifested by
the Philistine king. Certainly Abimelech’s role in the
entire transaction supports the view stated above that
these early Philistines, unlike those of later times, as a
general rule behaved honorably and peacefully. Cf. Jamie-
son (CECG, 166) : “These early Philistines were a settled
population, who occupied themselves for the most part in
the peaceful pursuits of agriculture and keeping cattle.
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