Genesis 26:26 - Exposition

Then (literally, and) Abimelech went to him from Gerar, —the object of this visit was to resuscitate the alliance which had formerly existed between the predecessor of Abimelech and Abraham ( Genesis 21:22-32 ); yet the dissimilarity between the two accounts is so great as to discredit the hypothesis that the present is only another version of the earlier transaction— and Ahuzzath one of his friends ,— מֵרֵעֵהוּ ; neither ὁ νυμφαγωγὸς αὐτοῦ ( LXX .), nor a suite or number of his friends (Onkelos), nor one of his friends ( A . V .); but his friend, and probably his privy councilor (Keil, Kalisch, Murphy), whose presence along with the monarch and his general marks the first point of difference between the present and the former incident— and Phichol ( vide Genesis 21:22 ) the chief captain of his army.