Bible Strands
Genesis 26:8
When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Abimelech observing Isaac and Rebekah from a window after Isaac’s prolonged residence in Gerar, directly following Isaac’s deception about their marital relationship.
The words — וַ/יַּשְׁקֵ֗ף (va/i.yash.Kef) translates literally as “and he looked down,” and אָֽרְכוּ (a.re.khu) means “they had become long,” describing the duration of Isaac’s stay.
The thread — The motif of royal observation through a window appears in Judges 5:28, while the surrounding narrative context ties the scene to marital fidelity and fear of violence.
Why it lands — The text demonstrates how prolonged deception endangers covenant promises and requires divine intervention to preserve the promised line.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 62:5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so your sons will marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.
- Judges 5:28 Sisera’s mother looked through the window; she peered through the lattice and lamented: ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming? What has delayed the clatter of his chariots?’
- Proverbs 5:18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth:
- Proverbs 7:6 For at the window of my house I looked through the lattice.
- Song of Solomon 2:9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look, he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice.
- Ecclesiastes 9:9 Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.