GENESIS 26........THE BELOVED AND I

Genesis 26

1 There was a famine in the land,

Besides the first that hit the sand

Of Palestine when Abraham

Walked on its soil. It was no scam

That Isaac went to Gerar where

Abimelech was reigning there

King of the Philistines. 2 Then YHWH

Appeared to him and said "Do you

Not go down to Egypt, but live

In the land which I truly give

To you. 3 "Live in this land, and I

Shall be with you and bless you by

Descendants to whom I shall give

All of these lands, a place to live,

And so perform the oath I swore

To Father Abraham before.

4 "And I will multiply your seed

Like stars of heaven, and I indeed

Shall give to your descendants all

These lands, and in your seed all nations

Shall be blessed because in his stations

5 "Abraham heard My voice and call,

Kept My charge, My every command,

My statutes, and My laws on hand."



Your charge, the Decalogue, contains three things:

Commandments telling what to do for kings

And common folk, and statutes telling how

To find forgiveness for the guilty brow,

And finally laws that describe the way

That humans must conceive You to forestay

The errors of philosopher and priest.

Thus wisdom of all things from great to least

Is found in that soon charge known from the time

That Adam stepped out of Edenic clime,

And Noah wandered safely from the ark,

And Enoch whirled apace like morning lark.

So Abraham too kept eternal charge,

Though folk of faith neglect it by and large.



6 So Isaac lived in Gerar. 7 And

The men of the place asked first-hand

About his wife. And he said "She

Is my sister." The reason he

Said so was fear to say, "She is

My wife," because the thought was his,

"Lest the men of the place kill me

For Rebekah, because that she

Is beautiful to look at." 8 Now

It happened, when he had somehow

Been there a while, Abimelech

King of the Philistines on deck

Looked through a window, and he saw,

And there was Isaac, with his paw

Showing endearment to his wife,

Rebekah, secret of his life

And helpmeet. 9 Then Abimelech

Called Isaac to him for a speck

And said "Quite certainly she's your

Wife. So how could you say before,

'She is my sister'?" Isaac said

To him, "I had it in my head

'Lest I die on account of her.'"

10 Abimelech said "My dear sir,

What is this you have done to us?

One of the people might soon thus

Have lain with your wife, and you would

Have brought guilt on us." 11 So for good

Abimelech charged all his folk

And said "Who gives this man a poke

Or touches his wife surely must

Be put to death and bite the dust."



Taqiyya was established, it is true,

Since Abraham was threatened by a few

Egyptian courtiers who thought Sarah fair

And might make fine addition anywhere

The house of women raised a cloistered tower,

And latticed windows shaded tree and flower.

So Isaac too kept up the noble trait

And used it when he entered stranger's gate.

How many since have, without thought of threat,

Lied to no purpose greater than to get

A bit of gold or fame! Let Abraham

And Isaac both correct the anagram.

The law says not to make one's witness false.

True faith's a march and battle, not a waltz.



12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and

Reaped in the same year at his hand

A hundredfold, and YHWH blessed him.

13 The man began to prosper limb

By limb, and still prospered until

He prospered and he had his fill

14 Of fine possessions both of flocks

And herds and servants in their hocks.

So the Philistines envied him.

15 The Philistines filled to the brim

The wells his father's servants dug

In Abraham's his father's fug,

And they had filled them all with earth.

16 Abimelech said to Isaac,

"Away from us, and go, be quick,

For you are mightier than we."

17 Then Isaac heard their prayer and plea.

Departed from there and pitched tent

In Gerar's valley where he went

To live. 18 And Isaac dug again

The wells of water which the men

Had dug in days of Abraham

His father, for Philistine dam

Had stopped them up after the death

Of Abraham. In the same breath

He called them by the names which were

The ones his father would confer.

19 Also Isaac's servants dug in

The valley, and found well to win

Of running water there. 20 But then

Gerar's herdsmen with Isaac's men

Quarrelled and said "The water's ours"

Since quarrelling was in their powers.

So he called the well Esek, since

They quarrelled but did not convince.

21 Then they dug there another well,

They quarrelled over that a spell.

So he called its name Sitnah. 22 And

He moved from there and out of hand

He dug another well, and they

Did not quarrel for it that day.

So he called it Rehoboth, since

As he had said "We need not wince

For now YHWH has made room for us,

And we'll also be prosperous

In the land." 23 Then he went from there

To Beersheba. 24 And YHWH came where

He was the same night and said "I

Am your father Abraham's God,

Do not fear, I'm with you and I

Will bless you and will multiply

Your descendants upon the sod

For My servant Abraham's sake."

25 So he built an altar to make

A place to call on YHWH's name there,

And there he stopped to pitch his tent.

His servants dug the well they meant.



With neither promise nor a blessing here,

(Is this not faith in You, Beloved, I rear?)

I lay a floor of sacrifice and call

On Your name, though I am a soul too small

To claim a heritage, a well or tent.

You are enough for me in what You meant

By saying You would bless the holy seed.

I follow and hold to that simple creed.

Just bless and multiply the one You will,

As long as I can come and there be still

Upon the sacrificial floor where You

Are present in the whispered word of Huu.

My sowing and my harvest prosper where

Your lovely voice stays trembling on the air.



26 Abimelech came from Gerar

To him with Ahuzzath, a star

One of his friends, and Phichol who

Was commander of his army.

27 And Isaac said to them, "Why do

You come to me, since you hate me

And have sent me away from you?"

28 But they said "We have surely seen

That YHWH is with you. So we mean

To say 'Let there now be an oath

Between you and us, between both,

And let us make a pact with you,

29 'That you will do us no harm too,

Since we have not touched you, and since

We've done nothing to make you wince

But only good and sent you out

In peace. You are without a doubt

The blessed of YHWH.'" 30 So he made them

A feast after their stratagem,

And they ate and drank, 31 then arose

Early that morning so's to close

The deal and swear an oath with each

And one another without breech,

And so they left him then in peace.

32 It happened on the same day that

Isaac's servants came where he's at

To tell him of the well's increase,

How they had dug it and they'd found

The water coming from the ground.

33 So he called it Shebah. Therefore

It's still Beersheba evermore.



Beersheba stands in Negev to this day,

A place where Jew and Arab still hold sway,

And still hope that the promises are true

That Isaac's seed might thrive and yet renew

The peace once sworn to king and flock and well.

The market place continues, where they sell

The needful and the luscious, while the sky

Is like the sky was when Isaac passed by.

I seek beyond the timid oaths of men

That last while spear and arm rattle again

The well, the springing well, that rushed out in

Reward for dusty work and flight from sin.

In You, Beloved, I find that well of life

That once and always ends all human strife.



The second explanation of the name

Of Beersheba now enters in the game.

I guess for some this is the proof and sure

That Scripture is a compilation pure

And outright merely human in its scope.

Two explanations are proof there’s no hope

You speak to any by Your word or less

By mountain thunder or the wind’s caress.

If every day becomes a revelation

Of new blessings and pacts in explanation,

It does not mean that all before has failed.

The wilderness is heavenly city veiled.

Each day renews both veiling and the spark

Of light that penetrates the human dark.



34 When Esau was forty years old,

He took as wives Judith the bold

Daughter of Beeri the Hittite,

And Basemath also Hittite,

The daughter of Elon. 35 And they

Were grief of mind in their own way

To Isaac and Rebekah who

Wished only kinfolk for their due.