וַיִּקְרָ֨א אֲבִימֶ֜לֶךְ לְיִצְחָ֗ק וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אַ֣ךְ הִנֵּ֤ה אִשְׁתְּךָ֙ הִ֔וא וְאֵ֥יךְ אָמַ֖רְתָּ אֲחֹ֣תִי הִ֑וא וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלָיו֙ יִצְחָ֔ק כִּ֣י אָמַ֔רְתִּי פֶּן־אָמ֖וּת עָלֶֽיהָ׃
Lalu Abimelekh memanggil Ishak dan berkata, “Ternyata ia sungguh istrimu! Mengapa engkau berkata, ‘Ia saudara perempuanku’?” Jawab Ishak kepadanya, “Sebab pikirku, jangan-jangan aku mati karena dia.”
Redeeming Relevance; Genesis
Similarly, when challenged by Avimelech about his plot to conceal his wife’s true identity, Yitzchak is basically silent except to say that he was scared for his life (Bereshit 26:9): He saw no need to use this as an opportunity to engage Avimelech in a protracted discussion about ethics. In contrast, Avraham, being much more interested in the spiritual education of others, makes sure to explain that he felt compelled to conceal his wife’s true identity because of the low moral level of the Philistines (Bereshit 20:11–12). Avraham also explains the linguistic justification of calling Sarah his sister to make sure that Avimelech understands Avraham’s own punctilious concern with ethics – even though from a normative halachic perspective, Avraham would certainly have been allowed to lie in order to save his life. Avraham wanted to make a point about Avimelech and his followers’ need to grow religiously. From Yitzchak’s very limited response, however, we see that such a point did not appear to be part of his agenda. Yitzchak’s focus simply did not lay in his interactions with others.