The Free Thinkers guide to the Bible
Part 4 #9 - The establishment of the Priesthood in Genesis
The introduction of “Prophet’s and Praying”
Welcome back to the Free Thinkers guide to the bible. I created this series so that ‘anyone’ can explore and understand the bible. You don’t need to be a biblical scholar; all you need is a desire to see what is written. I will present to you several biblical examples and demonstrate the process of sifting the accounts to reveal the hidden. This process is very similar to archeology, where the layers are excavated and analyzed.
Just not the dirty part, though you will be digging up some dirt along the way.
Warning:
The series unfolds like a story in a book. Please study the content in the order it is presented if you want to have the best experience. The series begins with Part 1 #1 – The Flood
The goal of the “A” writers was to promote and establish the Levitical priesthood. Not just the Levite priesthood; but specifically the Aaronid priesthood. The “A” writers went to great lengths to mold their accounts in order to establish priestly worship and the Aaronid priesthood in the first five books of the bible. The scribes craftily inserted priestly matters into the original “B” writer’s framework of stories; and the “D” writers Moses first person recounting of the travels and experiences of the Exodus.
Tip: The “A” writers used the title God (Elohim) almost exclusively when they referred to the Creator in their Genesis scroll accounts. The “B” writers used the name of the Creator which was changed to ‘the LORD’ or ‘GOD’ by the KJV translators throughout their accounts.
Before you begin the study; read through the accounts and note any inconsistencies, peculiarities, similarities and questions that come to mind.
Gen. 12:10-20, Gen. 20:1-18, Gen. 21:22-34 & Gen. 26
There are questions that should come to your mind while reading the accounts:
Preface
Why are there three accounts in the Genesis scroll that contain the sister/wife deception? We know that the first story involves Abram and Sarai, the second involves Abraham and Sarah and the third story involves Isaac and Rebekah.
As with our previous studies, we know that the priestly “A” writers have likely inserted an account that is similar to the other two accounts but subliminally focuses the reader’s attention on priestly matters that they wanted to give the illusion of antiquity and authority.
In the first portion of the study we will review the two “B” writers accounts...
Gen 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. (Sarah was sixty-five years old)
Like father, like son
Abram and Sarai in Egypt - Pharaoh “B”
Gen 12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. 11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: 12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. 13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
14 And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. 15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 16 And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.
17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife. 18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? 19 Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way. 20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
Word Occurrences
The Lord – 1X
There was a famine in the land – 1X
She is my sister – 1X
A fair woman to look upon – 2X (65+ yrs old - middle age - lived to 127 yrs old)
Like father, like son
Isaac and Rebekah in Gerar - Abimelech “B”
Gen 26:1 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. 2 And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: ***
Gen 26:6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: 7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. 9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her. 10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. 11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. 12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. 13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: 14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. 15 For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.
16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac; Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. 17 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18 And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them. 19 And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. 20 And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him. 21 And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
22 And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land. 23 And he went up from thence to Beersheba. 24 And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God (mighty one) of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake. 25 And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.
26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army. 27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? 28 And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee; 29 That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the LORD. 30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. 31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. 32 And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water. 33 And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.
34 And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: 35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
Word Occurrences
The Lord – 7X
God – 1X
There was a famine in the land – 1X
She is my sister – 2X
A fair woman to look upon – 1X (15+ yrs old (old enough to draw water from well))
Gen 25:20 And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian...
Abimelech – 7X (king of the Philistines)
Phichol the chief captain of his army – 1X
Gerar – 5X
Observations
The two stories bear several similarities; the famine in the land they dwelt in, the men presented their wives as their sisters to the people of the land they went to, the two women were seen as 'fair', and the leaders of the people in the land sent them away.
There is a strong possibility that Abraham and Sarah would have related the tale regarding their time in Egypt to their son at some time in his life. When faced with a similar situation it would have been easy for Isaac to use the same strategy that his father used.
The Odd story out…
The next account we will review bears many similarities to the Isaac and Rebekah account that we just reviewed. This priestly “A” account was inserted between the two previous examples. The leader is named/called Abimelech; Phichol is the chief captain of his host, the account occurs in Gerar and there is of course; the wife/sister tie in.
Before beginning, we should examine the context and explore the events that occur before and after the account to determine if it is a legitimate account...
Position of the story in the chronology of Genesis
Before - Abraham and Sarah in Gerar
Gen 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
Gen 17:5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
Gen 17:17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
Gen 18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. 12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
Before the account Abraham was one-hundred years old, Sarah was ninety years old and past the normal child bearing age. This should make us ask the questions... Sarah was still 'fair' looking when she was sixty-five years old in the first "B" story; Was she still considered to be 'fair' looking twenty-five years later? and Why would Abimelech take Sarah who is considered to be in her old age and past child bearing age and desire to 'touch' (lay with) her?
Abraham and Sarah in Gerar - Abimelech “A”
Gen 20:1 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.
3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife. 4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? 5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. 6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning (châṭâ) against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her. 7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet (Nabi), and he shall pray (pâlal) for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.
8 Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended (châṭâ) thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin (chăṭâ'âh)? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.
10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? 11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. 12 And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. 13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.
14 And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife. 15 And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee. 16 And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved. 17 So Abraham prayed (pâlal) unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.
18 For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife.
A Treaty with Abimelech
Gen 21:22 And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest: 23 Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned. 24 And Abraham said, I will swear. 25 And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of a well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away. 26 And Abimelech said, I wot not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to day. 27 And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and both of them made a covenant. 28 And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. 29 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves? 30 And he said, For these seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well. 31 Wherefore he called that place Beersheba; because there they sware both of them. 32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba: then Abimelech rose up, and Phichol the chief captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. 33 And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God. 34 And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days.
Word Occurrences
The Lord – 1X likely redactor insertion
God – 9X
She is my sister – 2X
a fair woman to look upon – 0X
Abimelech – 14X (king of Gerar) the land of the Philistines
Phichol the chief captain of his army – 2X
Gerar – 2X
Prophet – 1X (Nabi) H3030 – An inspired man
Pray(ed) – 1X (pâlal) H6419 – to intercede on others behalf, to make a humble petition
Sin(ning) – 2X (châṭâ) H2398 - to harm, offend, commit a trespass /1X (chăṭâ'âh) H2401 an offense
After - Abraham and Sarah in Gerar
Gen 21:5 And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. Gen 6 And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. Gen 7 And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.
Gen 23:1 And Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years old: these were the years of the life of Sarah.
Directly after the account; Sarah gives birth to Isaac at the age of ninety (which is 3/4 of her lifespan).
Observations
Abraham is said to have interceded (prayed/palal) on Abimelech’s behalf. This word only occurs twice in Genesis and only once in the aspect of intercession/praying to the Creator.
This account contains the first occurrence in the bible and only occurrence in the Genesis scroll of ‘prophet’. The writer of the account declares that God gave Abraham the title and the responsibility of intercessor between man and the Creator.
Comparison and Examination
The two “B” writers accounts make sense. There are no real challenges to the stories content. Both accounts contain a famine in the land they dwelt in, both men presented their wives as their sisters to the people of the land they went to, both women were seen as 'fair', and the leaders of the people in the land sent them away.
The priestly “A” account seems to mirror most of the character's and events of the “B” writers Isaac and Rebekah in Gerar account. They both have Abimelech as the ruler and Phichol as the chief of the army. Both accounts occur in Gerar and contain the sister/wife story.
This account does not state that Sarah was 'fair', but it does state that Abimelech found ninety year old Sarah attractive and was only kept from (naga - lying with) her because of the dream.
There is the question of Sarah's pregnancy; Sarah gave birth to Isaac directly after this account; which would indicate that Sarah was likely pregnant with Isaac at the time of the account!
There is also the question of the possibility of Abimelech still being alive and king as well as Phichol being alive and chief of the army when Isaac and Rebekah would have travelled to Gerar.
The time between this account and the future Isaac/Rebekah account is approx. sixty years according to when Rebekah gave birth to the twins...
Gen 25:26 And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.
This tells us that Abimelech and Phichol were sixty years older at the time of the “A” writer account.
This would bring about the question of the virility of Abimelech and his desire to lie with Rebekah as he would be advanced in age. Or as many posture; that this is the son of Abimelech? And Phichol is an aged man still leading the army?
There are too many questions and inconsistencies in this account. When they are placed together they make the possibility of this account being a well written fabrication... very likely.
I leave this for you to ponder and judge...
Conclusion
The pattern of evidence is obvious at this point in the studies. The “A” account writer(s) intentionally inserted priestly matters into the earlier writings to give them authority and to introduce the readers to the priestly concepts that would be further developed in the Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy accounts.
The “A” Creation account introduced the seventh day Sabbath and Blessing. (Genesis 1)
The “A” writer(s) then introduced covenant, Clean/unclean animals, the Altar, Olah offerings, a sweet savour, and the prohibition against eating meat with the blood in the Flood account. (Genesis 6-9)
The “A” writer(s) introduced the Priesthood, tithing and priestly authority in the Melchizedek account. (Genesis 14)
The “A” writer(s) introduced the eternal ritual of the eighth day circumcision in the Abrahamic covenant account. (Genesis 17)
The “A” writer(s) reinforced the priestly matters of Olah offerings and the Altar in the Sacrifice of Isaac account (Genesis 22)
The “A” writer(s) introduced the priestly matters of The House of God, Anointing and vowing to God. Tithing was also affirmed in the Stairway to heaven account (Genesis 28)
The “A” writer(s) introduced Defiled and reinforced the priestly matter of circumcision in the Defiling of Dinah account (Genesis 34)
The “A” writer(s) introduced Ritually Clean, Drink offering, the mitzvah of Gid hanosheh and reinforced anointing. We also covered the prohibition against mixing meat and dairy in the Jacob become Israel accounts. (Genesis 32 & 35)
The “A” writer(s) introduced Prophets and Praying in these accounts. (Genesis 20 & 21)
Author: Hoyt Allen Spiker - 2026 - Shemoth20@Gmail.com
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