Abimelech was caught between a rock and a hard place. He was left with one of two undesirable choices. His own businessmen were envious of Isaac’s prosperity, and they wanted Abimelech to drive him out of their land. Isaac was hurting their markets, because he was able to offer goods at reasonable prices during a famine, while they couldn’t supply the same goods in comparable quantities under current conditions. Moreover, if the demand for goods was satisfied by the supply that Isaac offered, the Philistine businessmen were unable to charge famine prices to make up for the loses, they would have naturally incurred, when goods were insufficient to meet the demand for their goods.
By driving Isaac out of Philistia, he broke the treaty he (or his father) made with Abraham (Genesis 21:22-32), which was a multigenerational agreement, handed down by the fathers to the sons (Genesis 21:23). Neither party was to deal falsely with the other. Isaac didn’t lift up his hand against anyone in Gerar, but the wells that he dug were seized by the Philistines (Genesis 26:18-21) with apparent support from Abimelech, who told Isaac to leave Gerar (Genesis 26:15-16). Nevertheless, Abimelech feared the Lord, not because he worshiped him, but because the Lord blessed Isaac so well. He was afraid, now that the treaty between them was broken that Isaac would return and do him harm.
Therefore, Abimelech left Gerar to visit with Isaac to ward off any undesirable reprisals that Isaac might do to him, and he came in strength. He not only brought with him Phichol, the chief captain of his armies, but he brought along his friend, Ahuzzath, who may have been an ally, representing one or more other tribes (cp. Genesis 14:13). Perhaps, due to the fact that Isaac left Philistia completely to dwell in Beersheba, the southern limit of Canaan (cp. Judges 20:1), Abimelech may have feared that Isaac was there to renew alliances his father, Abraham, had made with Mamre, Eshcol and Aner or their descendants (Genesis 26:26).
Isaac was suspicious of Abimelech’s intentions for his visit, so he asked him directly why he had come (Genesis 26:27). Abimelech admitted his fear of the Lord, whom Isaac served, because he had been watching Isaac and knew of a certainty, it was the Lord who blessed him, just as the same Lord had blessed Abraham, Isaac’s father. By the time of Abraham, the worship of God had become corrupt (Romans 1:21-25, 28; cp. Joshua 24:2). So, the call of Abraham represented a return to monotheism, which had been replaced with polytheism.
The two represented two entirely different worldviews. It is a very fearful matter to believe in a God who cannot be manipulated. The worship practices in polytheism have their goal in getting the god, whom they serve, to do the thing they desire. They act out in worship what they wish the god to do. The belief is the gods are the reality, and men are their shadows. Therefore, if they (the shadows) practice a worship scene in which the god (the reality) does good to the people, then the god/reality must do, as his shadow shows him doing. Thus, the people/shadows end up manipulating their god.
On the other hand, the true God cannot be manipulated, but Abimelech didn’t understand this idea. He believed that Isaac was a better manipulator than he was.[1] Therefore, he feared that Isaac’s God could be turned to ‘bless’ Isaac (Genesis 26:28; cp. 21:22) by destroying his enemy, Abimelech, whom Isaac has claimed hates him (cp. Genesis 26:27). Therefore, and apart from the dubious claims of treating Isaac well, he wanted to make or renew a treaty of peace between the Philistines and Isaac (Genesis 26:29). So, Isaac welcomed his visitors and made a feast for them, and later, in the morning, they swore and made at treaty of peace between them, and Isaac sent them away (Genesis 26:30-31).
Afterward, Isaac’s servants came to him after digging out the well that Abraham had dug years earlier, which was filled in with earth (Genesis 26:15), and they told him they had found water. So, Isaac named the well, Beersheba (Genesis 26:32-33), which it had been called in Abraham’s day (Genesis 21:31).[2]
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[1] See my earlier study: Monotheism v/s Polytheism, wherein I discus this matter in greater detail. See also: John N. Oswalt, The Bible Among the Myths (Grand Rapids; Zondervan, 2009) page 51.
[2] The well had been filled in with earth by the Philistines (cp. Genesis 26:15, 18), which in effect ended the treaty Abraham had made with Abimelech. With the treaty renewed and the well dug out again, Isaac renamed the well with its original name.
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