(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)
“There was a famine in the land, in addition to the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar. Yahweh appeared to him, and said, “Don’t go down into Egypt. Live in the land I will tell you about. Live in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For I will give to you, and to your offspring, all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of the sky, and will give all these lands to your offspring. In your offspring all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my requirements, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.””
(Genesis 26:1-6)
Famines were not unusual. They had happened before – like when Abraham lived there – and they would happen again. This time, Isaac was told NOT to go to Egypt. That’s what Abraham had done (Genesis 12). Abraham didn’t consult God before he went. Nothing tells us that Isaac did either. But this time, God spoke and told Isaac to stay in the Land. It doesn’t say what the difference between the two circumstances is, but there had been DECADES of following God and interacting with God in the intervening time. Perhaps their relationship was stronger. We don’t really know. But this time, God spoke first and was clear in His instructions.
This Abimelech MAY have been the same man that Abraham encountered (if he was long-lived), but most scholars believe he was either a son of that man or that ‘Abimelech’ was a kind of title word for the position of leadership among those people (like Pharaoh or Caesar).
Isaac was the chosen heir. Abraham had settled on him everything that there was to settle, and made sure his other children were taken care of (Genesis 25:6). But Isaac hadn’t received his inheritance from God. Here God blesses Isaac. God gives him the blessing. It is conditional on his obedience. It is a blessing that is also connected with the Land. It is for him and his offspring. Only God can give His blessing.
Isaac obeys. He stays in the Land. He had travelled to Gerar – which was between where he had been and Egypt – and stayed there among the people once God spoke to him. He did not leave the Land.
This wasn’t just a voice Isaac heard. God appeared to him, as He had appeared to Abraham. Perhaps in a dream, but it was an appearance. A one-to-one. Pre-incarnate Jesus had a face-to-face with Isaac.
The sage Ramban writes: ‘BESIDE THE FIRST FAMINE THAT WAS IN THE DAYS OF ABRAHAM. Perhaps there was no famine in the world until the days of Abraham. This is why Scripture counts from it, for otherwise, what need is there to mention it? In my opinion the correct reason why Scripture mentions it is to tell us that people remembered the first famine, mentioning that on account of it Abraham went down to Egypt and there G-d did him great honor. It was for this reason that Isaac wanted to go in his father’s footsteps by descending into Egypt until it was said to him, Go not down into Egypt. The reason for the prohibition has been stated by our Rabbis: “You [Isaac] are a perfect burnt-offering and residence outside of the Land of Israel does not befit you.” In my opinion, there is also included in this subject a reference to the future. Abraham’s exile into Egypt on account of the famine is an allusion to the exile of his children there. His going to Abimelech however was not an exile for he resided there of his own volition. But Isaac’s going [to the land of Abimelech, as recorded here in this verse, And Isaac went unto Abimelech] on account of the famine, does allude to an exile since he left his place against his will and went to another land. Now Isaac’s exile was from his own place to the land of the Philistines, which was the land in which his father had resided. This alludes to the Babylonian Exile, which took place in the land in which their ancestors had resided, namely, Ur of the Chaldees. TO ABIMELECH, KING OF THE PHILISTINES. It is not known whether this is the same Abimelech who lived in the days of Abraham or whether every Philistine king was so called, for in the time of David he was also called Abimelech. Onkelos, however, is of the opinion that the Abimelech with whom Isaac dealt was a son [of the one mentioned in the account of Abraham]. The reason that Isaac went to Abimelech was that he intended to go down to Egypt, so he went to Abimelech, his father’s confederate, in the hope that perhaps he would deal kindly with him in the days of the famine, thus making it unnecessary for him to go down to Egypt. Now Abimelech, on account of his covenant with Abraham, did not harm him or his family at all.’
The sage Rav Hirsch writes: ‘V. 2. From V.3 it is apparent that Isaac had the intention of going to Egypt the usual place of refuge from famine. He first went to Abimelech who had made a treaty with his father, to see, so it seems, if it was possible to find help there. But there was famine there too. There, God appeared to him, and directed him not to seek help from human hands. His field was to be cultivating obedience to God. שכון, dwelling quietly, is more than גור and less than ישב. It repeatedly says הארצות האל just these lands, which you so repeatedly see affected by drought and famine, do I give you and your descendants, so that, by following My Laws, such a rich abundance shall flourish there, that all the nations of the world shall feel themselves impelled to find out from you and your example what are the causes that enable people so to be the creators of their own blessings. The duty of שמר of guarding something entrusted to our care, involves two duties; (1) constant care, we must keep it constantly in our mind, hence the ordinary explanation ושמרתם זו משנה (ת״כ in many places) to guard the Torah means “learning”, for just by “learning”, the revealed Will of God is kept constantly in our minds in all its relations. (2) protection, to surround it with such protective measures that it remains unbroken and uninjured, hence those national laws of precaution which are made for the purpose of guarding oneself against transgression, תקנות and גזרות. That conscientiousness which guards itself not only against doing wrong but against anything that borders on wrong and easily leads to its being committed, which Abraham practised. The fulfilment of his mission which is here testified concerning Abraham could be parallel to the description of that mission given him in Ch. 18,19. מצותי corresponding to חקותי ,עשות צדקה ומשפט to שמר דרך ה׳ לעשות וגו׳, the way to such fulfilment, and תורתי, the צוה בניו ואת ביתו, the teaching and education for such life.’
The Torah: A Women’s Commentary writes: ‘The Torah repeatedly portrays Isaac as a passive figure; he is largely overshadowed by other members of his family. Only in this passage does Isaac appear as the chief actor. Even here, however, his father looms large. In all these episodes Isaac walks in his father’s footsteps, performing deeds similar to his father’s but with different results. First, God’s blessings are bestowed upon him due solely to his father’s merit. Second, his lie that Rebekah is his sister (repeating Abraham’s “wife-sister” deceptions in Genesis 12 and 21) backfires. Third, the wells he digs are repeatedly taken away (Genesis 26:15; contrast with Abraham who stands his ground in Genesis 21). And yet, Isaac gains a moral victory and comes away blessed (see 26:29). In this fashion, he represents another mode of Jewish survival: compliance rather than confrontation. Isaac receives the covenant only on account of his father’s merit. Abimelech. This is the name also of the king whom Abraham had deceived with the “wife-sister” ruse in Genesis 20. 3–5. “I will be with you… because Abraham hearkened to My voice and kept My charge.” God bestows blessings upon Isaac because of Abraham’s (not Isaac’s) merit, further underscoring his stature vis-à-vis his more distinguished father.’
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