1 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, to Gerar. 2 Yahweh appeared to him, and said, "Don't go down into Egypt. Live in the land I will tell you about. 3 Live in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For to you, and to your seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and will give to your seed all these lands. In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my requirements, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." 6 Isaac lived in Gerar. 7 The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, "She is my sister," for he was afraid to say, "My wife," lest, he thought, "the men of the place might kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to look at." 8 It happened, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was caressing Rebekah, his wife. 9 Abimelech called Isaac, and said, "Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, 'She is my sister?'" Isaac said to him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die because 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 on us!" 11 Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, "He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death." 12 Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. Yahweh blessed him. 13 The man grew great, and grew more and more until he became very great. 14 He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. 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 had stopped, and filled with earth. 16 Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go from us, for you are much mightier than we." 17 Isaac departed from there, encamped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there. 18 Isaac dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father. For the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them. 19 Isaac's servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. 20 The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water is ours." He called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. 21 They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. He called its name Sitnah. 22 He left that place, and dug another well. They didn't argue over that one. He called it Rehoboth. He said, "For now Yahweh has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land." 23 He went up from there to Beersheba. 24 Yahweh appeared to him the same night, and said, "I am the God of Abraham your father. Don't be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your seed for my servant Abraham's sake." 25 He built an altar there, and called on the name of Yahweh, and pitched his tent there. There Isaac's servants dug a well. 26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain 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 saw plainly that Yahweh was with you. We said, 'Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace.' You are now the blessed of Yahweh." 30 He made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 They rose up some time in the morning, and swore one to another. Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace. 32 It happened the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water." 33 He called it Shibah. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day. 34 When Esau was forty years old, he took as wife Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They grieved Isaac's and Rebekah's spirits.
A famine in the land obliges Isaac to leave Beer-sheba and go to Gerar, v. 1. God appears to him, and warns him not to go to Egypt, v. 2. Renews the promises to him which he had made to his father Abraham, vv. 3-5. Isaac dwells at Gerar, v. 6. Being questioned concerning Rebekah, and fearing to lose his life on her account, he calls her his sister, v. 7. Abimelech the king discovers, by certain familiarities which he had noticed between Isaac and Rebekah, that she was his wife, v. 8. Calls Isaac and reproaches him for his insincerity, vv. 9, 10. He gives a strict command to all his people not to molest either Isaac or his wife, v. 11. Isaac applies himself to husbandry and breeding of cattle, and has a great increase, vv. 12-14. Is envied by the Philistines, who stop up the wells he had dug, v. 15. Is desired by Abimelech to remove, v. 16. He obeys, and fixes his tent in the valley of Gerar, v. 17. Opens the wells dug in the days of Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up, v. 18. Digs the well, Ezekiel 19:1-14, 20; and the well Sitnah, Ezekiel 20:21; and the well Rehoboth, Ezekiel 20:22. Returns to Beer-sheba, Ezekiel 20:23. God appears to him, and renews his promises, Ezekiel 20:24. He builds an altar there, pitches his tent, and digs a well, Ezekiel 20:25. Abimelech, Ahuzzath, and Phichol, visit him, Ezekiel 20:26. Isaac accuses them of unkindness, Ezekiel 20:27. They beg him to make a covenant with them, Ezekiel 20:28, Ezekiel 20:29. He makes them a feast, and they bind themselves to each other by an oath, Ezekiel 20:30, Ezekiel 20:31. The well dug by Isaac's servants (Genesis 26:25) called Shebah, Genesis 26:33. Esau, at forty years of age, marries two wives of the Hittites, Genesis 26:34, at which Isaac and Rebekah are grieved, Genesis 26:35.
INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 26
This chapter treats of Isaac's removal to Gerar, occasioned by a famine, Genesis 26:1; of the Lord's appearance to him there, advising him to sojourn in that place, and not go down to Egypt; renewing the covenant he had made with Abraham, concerning giving that country to him and his seed, Genesis 26:2; of what happened unto him at Gerar on account of his wife, Genesis 26:7; of Isaac's great prosperity and success, which drew the envy of the Philistines upon him, Genesis 26:12; of his departure from hence to the valley of Gerar, at the instance of Abimelech; and of the contentions between his herdsmen, and those of Gerar, about wells of water, which caused him to remove to Beersheba, Genesis 26:16; of the Lord's appearance to him there, renewing the above promise to him, where he built an altar, pitched his tent, and his servants dug a well, Genesis 26:24; of Abimelech's coming to him thither, and making a covenant with him, Genesis 26:26; which place had its name from the oath then made, and the well there dug, Genesis 26:32; and lastly, of the marriage of Esau, which was a great grief to Isaac and Rebekah, Genesis 26:34.
(Genesis 26:1-5) Isaac, because of famine, goes to Gerar.
(Genesis 26:6-11) He denies his wife and is reproved by Abimelech.
(Genesis 26:12-17) Isaac grows rich, The Philistines' envy.
(Genesis 26:18-25) Isaac digs wells God blesses him.
(Genesis 26:26-33) Abimelech makes a covenant with Isaac.
(Genesis 26:34, Genesis 26:35) Esau's wives.
Isaac's Joys and Sorrows - Genesis 26
The incidents of Isaac's life which are collected together in this chapter, from the time of his sojourn in the south country, resemble in many respects certain events in the life of Abraham; but the distinctive peculiarities are such as to form a true picture of the dealings of God, which were in perfect accordance with the character of the patriarch.
*More commentary available by clicking individual verses.