John Calvin Commentary Genesis 26

And there was a famine. Moses relates that Isaac was tried by nearly the same kind of temptation as that through which his father Abraham had twice passed. I have previously explained how severe and violent this assault was.

The condition in which it was God's will to place His servants, as strangers and pilgrims in the land He had promised to give them, seemed sufficiently troublesome and hard. But it appears even more intolerable that He scarcely allowed them to exist (so to speak) in this wandering, uncertain, and changeable kind of life, but almost consumed them with hunger.

Who would not say that God had forgotten Himself, when He did not even supply His own children—whom He had received into His special care and trust—with food, however sparingly and scantily? But God thus tried the holy fathers, so that we might be taught by their example not to be weak and cowardly under temptations.

Regarding the terms here used, we may observe that although there were two periods of famine in Abraham's time, Moses alludes only to the one of which the remembrance was most recent.

And the Lord appeared to him. I do not doubt that a reason is given here why Isaac went to the country of Gerar rather than to Egypt, which perhaps would have been more convenient for him; but Moses teaches that he was restrained by a heavenly oracle, so that he was not left with a free choice.

It may be asked here, why did the Lord prohibit Isaac from going to Egypt, where He had allowed his father to go? Although Moses does not give the reason, we may conjecture that the journey would have been more dangerous for the son. The Lord could indeed have also endowed the son with the power of His Spirit, as He had done his father Abraham, so that the abundance and delicacies of Egypt would not have corrupted him by their allurements. But since He governs His faithful people with such moderation that He does not correct all their faults at once and make them entirely pure, He assists their weaknesses and anticipates, with suitable remedies, those evils by which they might be ensnared.

Therefore, because He knew that there was more weakness in Isaac than there had been in Abraham, He was unwilling to expose him to danger; for he is faithful, and will not suffer his own people to be tempted beyond what they are able to bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). Now, just as we must be persuaded that however arduous and burdensome the temptations that come upon us may be, Divine help will never fail to renew our strength, so, on the other hand, we must beware that we do not rashly rush into dangers; but each person should be admonished by his own weakness to proceed cautiously and with fear.

Dwell in the land. God commands him to settle in the promised land, yet with the understanding that he should live there as a stranger. The indication was thus given that the time had not yet arrived when he would exercise dominion over it. God indeed sustains his mind with the hope of the promised inheritance but requires this honor to be given to His word: that Isaac should remain inwardly at rest amidst outward disturbances. And truly, we never lean on a better support than when, disregarding the appearance of present things, we depend entirely on the word of the Lord and apprehend by faith that blessing which is not yet apparent.

Moreover, He again impresses the promise previously made, in order to make Isaac more ready to obey. For the Lord is accustomed to awaken His servants from their laziness in this way, so that they may fight valiantly for Him, while He constantly affirms that their labor shall not be in vain. For although He requires from us a free and unreserved obedience, as a father does from his children, He yet so condescends to the weakness of our capacity that He invites and encourages us by the prospect of reward.

Because that Abraham obeyed my voice. Moses does not mean that Abraham’s obedience was the reason why the promise of God was confirmed and ratified to him. Rather, from what has been said before (Genesis 22:18), where we have a similar expression, we learn that what God freely bestows upon the faithful is sometimes, undeservedly, attributed to them, so that they, knowing their intention is approved by the Lord, may more ardently dedicate and devote themselves entirely to His service. Therefore, He now commends Abraham’s obedience so that Isaac may be stimulated to imitate his example.

Although laws, statutes, rites, precepts, and ceremonies had not yet been written, Moses used these terms to show more clearly how diligently Abraham regulated his life according to the will of God alone—how carefully he abstained from all the impurities of the heathen, and how exactly he pursued the straight course of holiness, without turning aside to the right hand or to the left. For the Lord often honors His own law with these titles to restrain our excesses, as if to say that it lacked nothing to be a perfect rule but embraced everything pertaining to absolute holiness.

The meaning, therefore, is that Abraham, having formed his life in complete accordance with the will of God, walked in His pure service.

And the men of the place asked him. Moses relates that Isaac was tempted in the same manner as his father Abraham, in having his wife taken from him; and without doubt he was so led by the example of his father, that he, being instructed by the similarity of the circumstances, might become associated with him in his faith.

Nevertheless, on this point he ought rather to have avoided than imitated his father’s fault; for no doubt he well remembered that the chastity of his mother had twice been put in great danger; and although she had been wonderfully rescued by the hand of God, yet both she and her husband paid the penalty of their distrust: therefore the negligence of Isaac is inexcusable, because he now strikes against the same stone.

He does not in express terms deny his wife; but he is to be blamed, first, because, for the sake of preserving his life, he resorts to an evasion not far removed from a lie; and secondly, because, in absolving his wife from conjugal fidelity, he exposes her to prostitution; but he aggravates his fault, principally (as I have said), by not taking warning from domestic examples but voluntarily casting his wife into manifest danger.

From this it appears how great is the propensity of our nature to distrust, and how easy it is to be devoid of wisdom in times of perplexity. Since, therefore, we are surrounded on all sides with so many dangers, we must ask the Lord to confirm us by his Spirit, lest our minds should faint, and be dissolved in fear and trembling; otherwise we shall be frequently engaged in vain enterprises, of which we shall repent soon, and yet too late to remedy the evil.

Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out at a window. Truly admirable is the kind forbearance of God, in not only condescending to pardon the twofold fault of his servant, but in stretching forth His hand and wonderfully averting, by applying a speedy remedy, the evil which he would have brought upon himself.

God did not allow—as had twice occurred to Abraham—his wife to be torn from his embrace; instead, He stirred up a Gentile king to correct his folly mildly and without causing him any trouble. But although God sets before us such an example of His kindness, so that the faithful, if they should ever fall, may confidently hope to find Him gentle and gracious, yet we must beware of complacency when we observe that the holy woman, who was at that time the only mother of the Church on earth, was exempted from dishonor by a special privilege.

Meanwhile, we may surmise from Abimelech's judgment how holy and pure Isaac's conduct had been, upon whom not even a suspicion of evil could fall; and further, how much greater integrity flourished in that age than in our own. For why does he not condemn Isaac as guilty of fornication, since it was probable that some crime was concealed when he disingenuously put forward the title of 'sister' and tacitly denied her to be his wife?

Therefore, I have no doubt that his religion and the integrity of his life served to defend his character. By this example, we are taught to cultivate righteousness throughout our lives, so that people may not be able to suspect anything wicked or dishonorable about us. For there is nothing that will more completely vindicate us from every trace of disgrace than a life lived in modesty and temperance.

We must, however, add, as I have also mentioned before, that lusts were not at that time so commonly and abundantly indulged as to cause a negative suspicion to arise in the king's mind concerning a foreign resident of honest character. Therefore, he easily convinces himself that Rebekah was a wife and not a prostitute.

The chastity of that age is further proved by this: that Abimelech takes the familiar playfulness of Isaac with Rebekah as proof of their marriage. For Moses does not speak about marital intercourse, but about some overly familiar gesture, which was proof of either an immoral display or marital love.

But now licentiousness has so broken through all bounds that husbands are compelled to hear in silence of the immoral conduct of their wives with strangers.