Sunday Sermonette

As I suggested last week, I speculate that the main intent of the scribes who inserted Genesis 26 into the story was to legitimize title to the land. The conclusion of the chapter would seem to strongly support this. The monks who inserted the chapter breaks put this one in a weird place, however. The beginning of the next story is appended to the end of this one. I'll keep with convention, however, and leave them together.

²⁶ Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. ²⁷ Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”
²⁸ They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you ²⁹ that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”
³⁰ Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. ³¹ Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.
³² That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” ³³ He called it Shibah,^[f] and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.^[g]

Jacob Takes Esau’s Blessing

³⁴ When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. ³⁵ They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

That's funny because Abraham had already named it Beersheba back in Genesis 21. Isaac seems to have a tendency to live the same stories his father lived.

Another funny thing -- ten chapters later we will learn that Basemath was actually the daughter of Ishmael. Little mix-up there! While polygamy is generally fine in the OT, it ceases to be in most references in the NT although there are some exceptions. Of course the seminal story of Adam and Eve seems to imply monogamy but it certainly isn't definitive. The Koran actually limits the practice by establishing a limit of four wives. Few biblical figures have even that many with the exception of Solomon. However they have unknown numbers of concubines, i.e. sex slaves.

Footnotes:

f. Genesis 26:33 Shibah can mean oath or seven.
g. Genesis 26:33 Beersheba can mean well of the oath and well of seven.