May the mumbling commence!
When we faithfully walk with the Lord, our enemies are
made into allies and friends. What a
miracle! Read from Peterson’s The Message:
Then Abimelech
came to him from
Gerar with Ahuzzath his advisor and Phicol the head
of his troops. Isaac asked them, “Why did you come to me? You hate me; you
threw me out of your country.”
They
said, “We’ve
realized that God is on your side. We’d like to make a
deal between us – a covenant that we
maintain friendly relations. We haven’t
bothered you in the past; we treated you kindly and let you leave us in peace. So – God’s blessing be with you!”
Isaac
laid out a feast and
they ate and drank together. Early in the morning they
exchanged oaths. Then Isaac said good-bye
and they parted as friends.
Later
that same day, Isaac’s servants came to him with news about the well they had been digging.
“We’ve struck
water!”
Isaac named the well Sheba (Oath), and that’s
the name of the city,
Beersheba (Oath-Well),
to this day.
(Genesis 26:26-33)
Now read the same passage from the NIV translation:
Meanwhile, Abimelech had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal advisor and
Phicol the commander of his forces. Isaac asked them,
“Why have you
come to me, since you were hostile to me and
sent me away?”
They
answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord
is 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
that you will do us no harm, just as we did not molest you but always treated
you well and sent you away in peace. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”
Isaac
then made a feast
for them, and they
ate and drank. Early the next morning
the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac
sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.
That day
Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they
had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” He called it Shiba, and to
this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.
(Genesis 26:26-33)
If nothing else, Peterson is consistent. I still disagree with the different phrasing that
he does for “the Lord is with you”. It’s
far too dangerous to change that to “God is on your side”. That statement has been abused far too often. Why try to give it more credence?
And there is a huge qualitative difference between a
treaty and a covenant. Treaty is a
temporary agreement, while covenant is more of a permanent agreement. Yes, Peterson is consistent. These differences shadow his work when
Abraham made his treaty with Abimelech.
Also, I do not like the change of the statement that
Isaac is blessed by the Lord to a pronouncement of blessing from
Abimelech. It was an observation of
Abimelech not a blessing. The greater
always blesses the lesser, and in this case, Isaac is clearly the greater.
Finally, Peterson puts a much more positive spin on the
conclusion of the passage. Isaac shares
the meal with Abimelech and his men.
They become friends. That’s quite
different than making a meal for them and parting in peace.
I would hope and dream that that would be the
conclusion, but the history that stretches out from that point tells a much
different story – a story that continues all the way unto today.
Yet, still, the Lord had transformed at the time an enemy
into an ally. And that is a
miracle! Praise God!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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