The History of the Old Testament Methodized, Chapter 3 · Section 20 – Section 22
SECT. XX.
ABout this time there was a Famine, or great ſcarcity of Proviſions in that part of the Land of Canaan where Iſaac dwelt, and he had thoughts of going down into Egypt, as his Father had done on the like occaſion, Gen. 12.10. But God appearing to him, bad him he ſhould not go thither, but ſtay in Canaan, and he would be with him and bleſs him, and give to him that Land [by way of Promiſe] and to his Poſterity [by way of actual Poſſeſſion;] and the Inheritance of all thoſe Countries poſſeſſed by ſo many ſeveral Nations, ſhould be Theirs; And He would perform the Oath which he ſware to Abraham his Father, and would make his Seed to multiply as the Stars of Heaven, and in his Seed all the Nations of the Earth ſhould be bleſſed; For the Meſſias ſhould come of him. For he did not forget Abraham's Faithfulneſs and ſincere Obedience to him, and would recompence it by bleſſing his Son. (s)The Piety of Parents is very bencfieial to their Children, provided they walk in the ſteps of their Religious Parents.Hereupon Iſaac went to Gerar, a City of the Philiſtins, where he was born, Gen. 21.2. The men of the place asking him concerning Rebecca, and he being afraid they would kill him, that ſome of them might have her, (being a beautiful woman) if he own'd himſelf her Husband, he (as his Father(t)Exempla Patrum liberos in utram que partem potenter trahunt. Abraham had twice done before, Ch. 12.13, 19. & 20.2.) ſaid, She was his Siſter, which though true in a ſenſe (ſhe being his Kinſwoman) yet it was not ſo to their underſtandings. After ſome time Abimelech King of the Place looking out at a Window, ſaw Iſaac uſing ſome free, though innocent familiarity with Rebecca (which between any that were not Man and Wife He thought would not have been decent) and thereupon he told Iſaac that certainly ſhe was his Wife; which he immediately confeſſed, and declared the reaſon of his not owning it before. Abimelech expoſtulates with him for this, telling him that ſome of his Subjects might poſſibly have taken Rebecca to himſelf, and have lain with her, and ſo brought great guilt upon them. By which we ſee that diſſimulation, but much more Adultery (before the giving of the Moral Law) were condemned by the very light of Nature, and Heathen-Morality. Abimelech further charges his Subjects, That none of them ſhould injure Iſaac upon pain of Death. Iſaac now falls to Husbandry, and hath (by the bleſſing of God) an hundred-fold increaſe, and grew to ſo great Riches and Wealth, that it drew the envy of the Philiſtins upon him, inſomuch that they ſtop'd up the Wells that had been digged there formerly by his Fathers Servants. This injury was great, both becauſe of the ſcarcity of Water there, as alſo becauſe it was done againſt their Covenant and Oath formerly made with his Father Abraham, Gen. 21.30. But Iſaac, without making any further diſturbance about it, ſet his Servants to dig them again, and to call them by the Names his Father had formerly given them. Abimelech gives him notice how ſome of his Subjects envied him, and therefore adviſes him to remove from thence; which he accordingly did, to the valley or lower ground of Gerar. There his Servants digging, found another Well. But the Herdſmen of Gerar ſtrove with his Servants, and got it from him. So he called it Eſec, ſignifying contention. Then his Servants digged and found another Spring, and that alſo theſe men of Gerar ſtrove for, ſo that he called it*From this word Satan hath his name. Sittah, ſignifying hatred. Then they removed further, and digging again, found another Well, and for that the Philiſtins ſtrove not, and therefore Iſaac called it Rehoboth, intimating that God had now made room for them, that they might grow in the Land. The Famine being ended, he returned to the Place from whence he came, viz. Beerſheba; where the Lord appeared to him, and comforted him againſt the envious dealings of the Philiſtins, and promiſed to bleſs him, and to multiply his Seed, for his Father Abraham's ſake. Here he builds an Altar to Sacrifice thankfully unto God, and here he calls upon his Name and worſhips him in a publick and ſolemn manner, declaring hereby that he would worſhip no other God, than the God of his Father Abraham. Abimelech with ſome of his chief Courtiers follow him hither, and tell him, That they ſaw the Lord was with him, and did eminently bleſs him, and therefore they deſired to make a Covenant with him, whereby He ſhould be engaged that he ſhould not hurt them, as they had not done him any conſiderable injury, the ſmall annoyance about the Wells being a thing not worthy to be remembred. Iſaac conſenting hereunto, did thereupon make them a great Feaſt, and the next morning they did confirm their Covenant mutually by their Oaths, and ſo he ſent them away in peace. The ſame day Iſaac's Servants came and told him of the Well they had found thereabout. And he called it Sheba, ſignifying an Oath. This Well was formerly ſo called by Abraham, Ch. 21.31. but having been ſtop'd (as it ſeems) by the Philiſtins, and now opened again by Iſaac's Servants, the old name is again impoſed upon the like occaſion.
Ch. 26. from 1. to 34.
SECT. XXI.
ESau being now 40 years old, contrary to the conſent and will of his Parents, took two Wives of the Stock of the Hittites (one of the accurſed Nations of the Canaanites) viz. Judith (u)Eſau's Wives, and their Fathers had ſeveral Names, as appears, Gen. 36.2.the Daughter of Beeri, and Baſhemath the Daughter of Elon, who by reaſon of their being bred up in Idolatry, and their averſeneſs to the true worſhip of God, and other ill qualities, were very diſpleaſing, troubleſome, and uneaſie to Iſaac and Rebecca.
Ch. 26. v. 34, 35.
Ch. 27. v. 46.
Ch. 28. v. 8.
SECT. XXII.
IShmael, Abraham's Son by Hagar, at the age of 137 died, and was gathered unto (x)Abraham dicitur congregatus ad populum ſuum, i. e. ad ſocietatem iuſtorum, qualis ipſe erat. Haec phraſis etiam male morientibus attribuitur, quia ſcil. illi congregentur ad malos tanquam ad populum ſuum. Ianſ.his people; that is, ſuch as were like him, 12 Princes being deſcended from him, and their Caſtles and Towns were called after their Names.
Gen. 25. from 12. to 19.