Abraham makes a covenant with Abimelech concerning a well
that Abraham has dug. He offers Abimelech
payment as assurance to his claim for the well.
It is interesting that Abimelech, who is the King of Philistia, and who
Abraham dealt with less than honourably concerning Sarah, would agree to enter
an agreement with Abraham. He certainly
wasn’t what we could call a Philistine today.
He was either very gullible or very forgiving or very kind-hearted. The people of Philistia certainly get a bad
rap in the account of history presented by the scribes later. Those who write the history get to give their
slant on the truth after all.
Another point of interest is the covenant between Abraham
and Abimelech. There is a tendency to
look at covenants as something God did with the people starting with Noah
giving the sign of the rainbow that God would never again send a universal
flood (that may change with global warming).
However, as we see in this passage it is very much a contract between any
two parties. I remember my wonderful Old
Testament prof Gordon Hamilton talking about how serious a covenant was taken
in biblical times. If you broke a
covenant serious things would happen – like having your eye plucked out. And that was probably the least serious thing
that could happen. It is a good thing
that contract law isn’t enforced that way these days but it is also a reminder
of the importance we should give to entering into agreements or making vows .
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