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Isaac also received such an oracle as his father had often received.
Of this oracle it is thus written: "And there was a famine aver the
land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And
Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar, And
the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; but
dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of. And abide in this
land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: unto thee and
unto thy seed I will give all this land; and I will establish mine
oath, which I sware unto Abraham thy father: and I will multiply
thy seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all this
land: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
because that Abraham thy father obeyed my voice, and kept my
precepts, my commandments, my righteousness, and my laws." This
patriarch neither had another wife, nor any concubine, but was content
with the twin-children begotten by one act of generation. He also was
afraid, when he lived among strangers, of being brought into danger
owing to the beauty of his wife, and did like his father in calling her
his sister, and not telling that she was his wife; for she was his
near blood-relation by the father's and mother's side. She also
remained untouched by the strangers, when it was known she was his
wife. Yet we ought not to prefer him to his father because he knew no
woman besides his one wife. For beyond doubt the merits of his
father's faith and obedience were greater, inasmuch as God says it is
for his sake He does Isaac good: "In thy seed," He says,
"shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because that Abraham
thy father obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts, my commandments, my
statutes, and my laws." And again in another oracle He says, "I
am the God 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." So that we must understand how chastely Abraham acted,
because imprudent men, who seek some support for their own wickedness
in the Holy Scriptures, think he acted through lust. We may also
learn this, not to compare men by single good things, but to consider
everything in each; for it may happen that one man has something in his
life and character in which he excels another, and it may be far more
excellent than that in which the other excels him. And thus,
according to sound and true judgment, while continence is preferable to
marriage, yet a believing married man is better than a continent
unbeliever; for the unbeliever is not only less praiseworthy, but is
even highly detestable. We must conclude, then, that both are good;
yet so as to hold that the married man who is most faithful and most
obedient is certainly better than the continent man whose faith and
obedience are less. But if equal in other things, who would hesitate
to. prefer the continent man to the married?
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