Genesis: Those are some twisted sisters. Their offspring are the ancestors of Moab (Ruth, from which King David descends, comes from Moab) and Ammon (just heard about King Nahash of Ammon in the discussion of the last passage).
Job: Zophar thinks Job is a stubborn idiot and that it would take a miracle for him to understand the truth that he is being punished because he is wicked and should confess….based merely on the fact that Job has lost everything and is covered in boils. Rather than soothing his friend, he judges him. He is only (unknowingly) right that Job is ignorant of what is going on behind the scenes–as ignorant as Zophar.
Ok. Forgive me, but this is how things go in my head. Forever, Sarah is barren, until the run-in with Abimelech. Now, it says Abimelech never touched her, but in the next chapter, she is with child. So, in my brain I’m thinking maybe Abraham was sterile, and maybe Sarah made up at least some of the conversation between Abimelech and God. Question: how long was Sarah with Abimelech…how long were his wife and maids barren? We hear from him again in verses 22-34. Is the well symbolic of Sarah’s womb? Is this the delicate way they used to speak of such things? Perhaps I am drawing wrong connections. But Abimelech says of the well the same thing he implies of Sarah’s being married: “I did not know; you did not tell me.” (paraphrase)
The offering of Isaac has been commented on by many. Paul (Romans 4:11) and the author of Zondervan’s NASB Study Bible note on 22:5 think Abraham said “we will…return to you” because Abraham knew, especially in light of the promises to be fulfilled through Isaac, that God can raise people from the dead. The note on verse 16 suggests Abraham’s tested faith and devotion in the offering of Isaac may be a foreshadowing of God’s love for us in offering his only son (whom he did raise up from the dead), as reflected in John 3:16 and Romans 8:32.
Well it turns out my thinking involving Abraham’s sterility is incorrect, as we see in chapter 25. He’s quite fertile. Scratch everything I said up there about that.
Ichthus77 