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.
When the men of that place asked Isaac about his wife, he told them, 'She is my sister.' He was afraid to say, 'She is my wife,' because he thought, 'The men here might kill me to take Rebekah, since she is so beautiful.'
Isaac lied about Rebekah being his sister instead of his wife because he was afraid the local men would kill him to steal his beautiful wife.
📚 Historical Context
This incident occurred when Isaac moved to Gerar during a famine, following the same deceptive pattern his father Abraham had used twice before with Sarah. In ancient times, it was common for powerful men to kill husbands to take their wives, especially beautiful ones. Isaac's fear reflects the dangerous reality of being a foreigner in a land where local rulers had absolute power.
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