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Obal, Abimael, Sheba,
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Abraham and Abimelek
Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar,
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and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
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But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”
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Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?
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Early the next morning Abimelek summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid.
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Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.”
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And Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”
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Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him.
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And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.”
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Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again,
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for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
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The Treaty at Beersheba
At that time Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do.
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Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had seized.
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But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.”
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So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men made a treaty.
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and Abimelek asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”
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After the treaty had been made at Beersheba, Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces returned to the land of the Philistines.
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The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanok, Abida and Eldaah. All these were descendants of Keturah.
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Isaac and Abimelek
Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar.
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When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.
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So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”
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Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”
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So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who harms this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
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Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”
