And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
Ver. 17. And Isaac departed thence.] Was compelled to do so; though, not long before, the king of the country had charged all his people, on pain of death, not to disquiet him. Eνθα το ηδυ πλησιον και το λυπηρον. a So near neighbours are prosperity and adversity. Friends are very changeable creatures, saith Plato b Friends! there is no friend, saith c Socrates, no fast friend. Faithful friends, quoth the Duke of Buckingham to Bishop Morton in Richard III's time, are in this age, all, for the most part, gone in pilgrimage; and their return is uncertain. d Sejanus's friends showed themselves, as did likewise Haman's, most passionate against him; saying, that if Caesar had clemency, he ought to reserve it for men, not use it toward monsters. Carnal friends were never true to any that trusted to them: whereas, trust in God, at length, will triumph, as we see in this patriarch.
a Antipho.
b Fιλος ευμεταβλητον ζωον. - Plato.
c φιλοι, ουδεις Fιλος .
d Trussers Contin. of Dan. Chronicle.