Genesis 26:9

Then Abimelech called to Isaac, and said, “Surely she is your wife; why did you say ‘She is my sister?’” Isaac answered him, “I said it, so that I might not die because of her.”

Open English Bible (US)

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

8But after he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of the window, and saw Isaac just as he was caressing Rebekah his wife.

10Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might have lain with your wife and so you would have brought guilt upon us.”

Read all of Genesis 26

Cross References

Genesis 12:18Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife?

Acts 12:11Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know beyond all doubt that the Lord has sent his angel, and has rescued me from Herod’s hands and from all that the Jewish people have been expecting.”

Matthew Henry on Genesis 26:7-12

Isaac's Denial of His Wife. ( b. c. 1840.) 6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: 7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon. 8 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. 9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said,… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Genesis 26:9