He that toucheth— i.e.. defiles. See Genesis 20:6. Proverbs 6:29.
REFLECTIONS.—We have here,
1. A famine, which obliges Isaac to remove from Canaan into the land of the Philistines. He must, like his father before him, learn to suffer, ere he receive the promise.
2. God's appearing to him. He forbids his journey to AEgypt. Note; We are always right, when given up to the Divine guidance.
3. The promise made him. As Abraham's chosen son, he is his successor in the covenant, and God confirms it to him for Abraham's sake. Note; They who have God's favour need not fear famine or any thing else.
4. Isaac's dissimulation. Fear is one of the most dangerous passions which Satan works upon. To have got over the fear of death, is to be a great way towards heaven.
5. The discovery of his dissimulation, and the rebuke of Abimelech. Isaac is seen using some freedoms, which, however innocent in a husband, had been evil in a brother; and with reason he is reproached with the danger to which he exposed his wife, and the sin to which he might have tempted his hospitable friends. Note; When we lay snares in the way of the innocent, their sins will light upon our own heads.