We have indeed seen that Hashem has been with you…let the oath that [previously] existed between ourselves now be between you and us…just as we have done with you only good, and sent you away in peace…Now, you – blessed by Hashem![2]
Nice, laudatory speech, this was. Avimelech bends over backwards to praise Yitzchok. Entirely evasive, however. Yitzchok had not minced words. Upon seeing the delegation, Yitzchok was completely blunt. “You hate me, and drove me away from you!”[3] Avimelech, like a good politician who is asked a question, ignores it and answers a different one. “Frankly, I just don’t want to talk about how we treated you in the past. But you’ve been fabulously successful since then, so we would like to have you on our side – or at least not actively opposed to us.” Could Yitzchok been satisfied with such a statement? What was Avimelech thinking?
Maybe we’ve been too harsh with Avimelech. Perhaps there is another way of looking at him. He may have been a very astute master of foreign affairs.
It has long been the practice that some high-ranking representative of a country takes up residence in a foreign location with which his government has peaceful relations. There, he looks after the interests of his own countrymen who have business or other interests in that second country. (Today we call them ambassadors.)
Conflicts sometimes broke out between the two countries. Each country would withdraw its ambassador. At times, a country was beset with civic unrest, when the masses were stirred up. This led foreign monarchs to withdraw their ambassadors. This was done not to voice displeasure or intervene on a country’s internal affairs, but to ensure the safety of the ambassadors. No one could predict what the outcome of the strife would be. A foreign ambassador might become the target of the wrath of the populace. So the ambassador would head home, returning to his post only after the unrest was quelled.
This is exactly what Avimelech meant. “We have indeed seen that Hashem has been with you.” Not recently, but well before! Avimelech says, “Hate you? G-d forbid! We always held you in high regard, and recognized that you were blessed by G-d. The people, however, were not so sophisticated. They witnessed your success, and became intensely jealous. And worse. They became conspiratorial. Why was the Jews so successful, while their economy was flat?
“I sent you away. But that was for your own safety! I was concerned about where the unrest could lead. This in no way indicated any hatred for you. Au contraire! ‘As we have done with you only good, and sent you away in peace.’
“Actually, it was a win-win decision. I intended all along that our relationship should deepen – that we would work on joint projects in the future: ‘the oath that [previously] existed between ourselves now be between you and us.’ We could even call this covenant ‘The Isaac Accords,’ ushering in a new era of cooperation.
“None of this could happen without first defusing the tensions of the masses. They had to be disarmed. I sent you away to demonstrate the ludicrousness of their claims. Word came back that you continued to prosper in your new location, while the lot of the masses did not improve during your absence. After a while, they got the message.
“It’s time to renew our covenant. Because of the brilliant way I handled things, we can now do a political reset.”
Seen this way, Avimelech was a political genius.
- Adapted from Divrei Shaul, by R. Yosef Shaul Nathanson, the Sho’el U-Meshiv ↑
- Bereishis 26:28-29 ↑
- Bereishis 26:27 ↑