Genesis, Chapter 26
1 Isaac Settles in Gerar, 18 Quarrel over the Wells, 26 Covenant with Abimelech1 Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2 The LORD appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt;astay in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to yourbdescendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will multiply yourcdescendants as the stars of heaven, and will give yourddescendants all these lands; and by youredescendants all the nations of the earthfshall be blessed; 5 because Abrahamgobeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.” | |
6 So Isaachlived in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “ithe men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.” 8 It came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out through a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, certainly she is your wife! How then did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘I might die on account of her.’” 10 Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech charged all the people, saying, “He who touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.” | |
12 Now Isaac sowed in that land andjreaped in the same year a hundredfold. And the LORD blessed him, 13 and the man became rich, and continued to growkricher until he became verylwealthy; 14 for he had possessions of flocksmand herds and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. 15 Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped upnby filling them with earth. 16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you areotoo powerful for us.” 17 And Isaac departed from there and camped in the valley of Gerar, andpsettled there. | |
18 Then Isaac dug again the wells of water whichqhad been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and hergave them the same names which his father hadsgiven them. 19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well oftflowing water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the welluEsek, because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named itvSitnah. 22 He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named itwRehoboth, for he said, “xAt last the LORD has madeyroom for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” | |
23 Then he went up from there to Beersheba. 24 The LORD appeared to him the same night and said,“I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply yourzdescendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.” | |
26 Then Abimelech came to him from Geraraawith his adviser Ahuzzath and Phicol the commander of his army. 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We see plainly that the LORD has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even betweenabyou and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched youacand have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.’” 30 Then he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they arose early andadexchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace. 32 Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac’s servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” 33 So he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day. | |
Read more:Genesis, Chapter 27
26 In this chapter we have,
26:2 The Lord said, go not down into Egypt. Sojourn in this land - There was a famine in Jacob's days, and God bid him go down intoEgypt, Gen 46:3-4, a famine in Isaac's days, and God bid him not go down: a famine in Abraham's days, and God left him to his liberty, directing him neither way, which (considering that Egypt was always a place of trial to God's people)some ground upon the different characters of these three patriarchs.Abraham was a man of very intimate communion with God, and to him all places and conditions were alike; Isaac a very good man, but not cut out for hardship, therefore he is forbidden to go to Egypt; Jacob inured to difficulties, strong and patient, and therefore he must go down into Egypt, that the trial of his faith might be to praise, and honour, and glory. Thus God proportions his people's trials to their strength.
26:5 Abraham obeyed my voice - Do thou do so too, and the promise shall be sure to thee. A great variety of words is here used to express the Divine Will to which Abraham was obedient, my voice, my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws - Which may intimate, that Abraham's obedience was universal; he obeyed the original laws of nature, the revealed laws of divine worship, particularly that of circumcision, and all the extraordinary precepts God gave him, as that of quitting his country, and that (which some think is more especially referred to) the offering up of his son, which Isaac himself had reason enough to remember. Those only shall have the benefit of God's covenant with their parents, that tread the steps of their obedience.
26:7 He said, she is my sister - So Isaac enters into the same temptation that his father had been once and again surprised and overcome by, viz. to deny his wife, and to give out that she was his sister!It is an unaccountable thing, that both these great and good men should be guilty of so odd a piece of dissimulation, by which they so much exposed both their own and their wives reputation.
26:8 This Abimelech was not the same that was in Abraham's days, Gen 20:2-18, for this was near an hundred years after, but that was thecommon name of the Philistine kings, as Caesar of the Roman emperors.
26:10 Lightly - Perhaps.
26:12 Isaac received an hundred fold - And there seems to be an emphasis laid upon the time; it was that same year when there was a famine in the land; while others scarce reaped at all, he reaped thus plentifully.
26:20 Esek - That is, contention.
26:21 Sitnah - That is, hatred.
26:22 He digged a well, and for that they strove not - Those that follow peace, sooner or later, shall find peace: those that study to be quiet seldom fail of being so. This well they called Rehoboth - Enlargements, room enough.
26:24 Fear not, I am with thee, and will bless thee - Those may remove with comfort that are sure of God's presence with them wherever they go.
26:28 The Lord is with thee, and thou art the blessed of the Lord, q.d. Be persuaded to overlook the injuries offered thee, for God has abundantly made up to thee the damage thou receivedst. Those whom God blesseth and favours, have reason enough to forgive those that hate them, since the worst enemy they have cannot do them any real hurt. Let there be an oath betwixt us - Whatever some of his envious subjects might mean, he and his prime ministers, whom he had now brought with him, designed no other but a cordial friendship. Perhaps Abimelech had received by tradition the warning God gave to his predecessor not to hurt Abraham, Gen 20:7,and that made him stand in such awe of Isaac, who appeared to be as much the favourite of heaven as Abraham was.
26:34 He took to wife - Marrying Canaanites, who were strangers to the blessing of Abraham, and subject to the curse of Noah.