Genesis 26
26
Isaac Settles in Gerar
1Now there was a famine in the land [of Canaan], besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to #This is not the Abimelech of ch 20. Abimelech may actually be a dynastic title, like Caesar or Pharaoh, instead of a proper name. The events recounted in chapters 20 and 26 are separated by almost a hundred years.Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I will tell you. 3Live temporarily [as a resident] in this land and I will be with you and will bless and favor you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish and carry out the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of the heavens, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, 5because Abraham listened to and obeyed My voice and [consistently] kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
6So Isaac stayed in Gerar. 7The men of the place asked him about his wife, and he said, “She is my #When Abraham used this ploy, it was a half-truth; when Isaac said this it was a complete lie. At this time Isaac was at least seventy-five years old; Rebekah’s age at this time is not known.sister,” for he was afraid to say, “my wife”—thinking, “the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is very beautiful.” 8It happened when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac #The name “Isaac” is based on the Hebrew verb translated “caressing,” whose primary meaning is “to laugh” (cf 17:19).caressing Rebekah his wife. 9Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “See here, Rebekah is in fact your wife! How did you [dare to] say to me, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I thought I might be killed because of her [desirability].” 10Abimelech said, “What is this that you have done to us? One of the men [among our people] might easily have been intimate with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us [before God].” 11Then Abimelech commanded all his people, “Whoever touches this man [Isaac] or his wife [Rebekah] shall without exception be put to death.”
12Then Isaac planted [seed] in that land [as a farmer] and reaped in the same year a hundred times [as much as he had planted], and the Lord blessed and favored him. 13And the man [Isaac] became great and gained more and more until he became very wealthy and extremely distinguished; 14he owned flocks and herds and a great household [with a number of servants], and the Philistines envied him. 15Now all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines stopped up by filling them with dirt. 16Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from here, because you are far too powerful for us.” 17So Isaac left that region and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and settled there.
Quarrel over the Wells
18Now Isaac again dug [and reopened] the wells of water which had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, because the Philistines had filled them up [with dirt] after the death of Abraham; and he gave the wells the same names that his father had given them. 19But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing [spring] water, 20the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours!” So Isaac named the well Esek (quarreling), because they quarreled with him. 21Then his servants dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so Isaac named it Sitnah (enmity). 22He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over that one; so he named it Rehoboth (broad places), saying, “For now the Lord has made #I.e. broad places.room for us, and we shall be #Lit fruitful.prosperous in the land.”
23Then he went up from there to Beersheba. 24The Lord appeared to him the same night and said,
“I am the God of Abraham your father;
Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
I will bless and favor you, and multiply your descendants,
For the sake of My servant Abraham.”
25So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord [in prayer]. He pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
Covenant with Abimelech
26Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, his [close friend and confidential] adviser, and Phicol, the commander of his army. 27Isaac said to them, “Why have you [people] come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28They said, “We see clearly that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘There should now be an oath between us [with a curse for the one who breaks it], that is, between you and us, and let us make a covenant (binding agreement, solemn promise) with you, 29that you will not harm us, just as we have not touched you and have done nothing but good to you and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed and favored of the Lord!’ ” 30Then Isaac held a [formal] banquet (covenant feast) for them, and they ate and drank. 31They got up early in the morning and swore oaths [pledging to do nothing but good to each other]; and Isaac sent them on their way and they left him in peace. 32Now on the same day, Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug, saying, “We have found water.” 33So he named the well #This could mean “oath” or “overflow, abundance.” Likewise, the name Beersheba could mean “well of abundance,” or “well of the oath,” or “seven wells.”Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.
34When Esau was forty years old he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite as his wives; 35and they were a #Lit bitterness of spirit.source of grief to [Esau’s parents] Isaac and Rebekah.
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Bereshis 26
26
1And there was a ra'av (famine) in ha'aretz, besides the ra'av harishon that was in the days of Avraham. And Yitzchak went unto Avimelech Melech Pelishtim (Philistines) unto Gerar.
2And Hashem appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Mitzrayim; dwell in ha'aretz which I shall tell thee of;
3Sojourn in ha'aretz hazot, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy zera, I will give all these lands, and I will perform the shevu'ah (oath) which I swore unto Avraham avichah;
4And I will make thy zera to multiply as the kokhavim of Shomayim, and will give unto thy zera all these lands; and in thy zera shall kol Goyei Ha'Aretz be blessed;
5Because Avraham obeyed My voice, and was shomer over My mishmeret (charge), My mitzvot, My chukkot, and My torot.
6And Yitzchak dwelt in Gerar;
7And the anshei hamakom asked him about his isha; and he said, She is my achot; for he feared to say, She is my isha; lest, said he, the anshei hamakom should kill me for Rivkah; because she was beautiful to look upon.
8And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Avimelech Melech Pelishtim (Philistines) looked out at a chalon, and saw, and, hinei, Yitzchak metzachek (was caressing) Rivkah his isha.
9And Avimelech called Yitzchak, and said, Hinei, of a surety she is thy isha; and why saidst thou, She is my achot? And Yitzchak said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die because of her.
10And Avimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have slept with thy isha, and thou shouldest have brought asham (guilt) upon us.
11And Avimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his isha shall surely be put to death.
12Then Yitzchak sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and Hashem blessed him.
13And the man became very prosperous, and went forward, and grew until he became gadol me'od:
14For he had possession of tzon, and possession of herds, and many avadim; and the Pelishtim envied him.
15For all the wells which avdei aviv had dug in the days of Avraham aviv, the Pelishtim had stopped them up, and filled them with dirt.
16And Avimelech said unto Yitzchak, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
17And Yitzchak departed from there, and encamped in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
18And Yitzchak dug again the be'erot hamayim (wells of water), which they had dug in the days of Avraham aviv; for the Pelishtim had stopped them up after the mot Avraham; and he called their shemot after the shemot by which his av had called them.
19And avdei Yitzchak dug in the valley, and found there a well of mayim chayyim.
20And the herdmen of Gerar did quarrel with Yitzchakʼs herdmen, saying, The mayim is ours; and he called the shem of the well Esek (Contention); because they disputed with him.
21And they dug another be'er, and feuded over that also; and he called the shem of it Sitnah (Enmity).
22And he moved away from there, and dug another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the shem of it Rechovot (Broad Places); and he said, For now Hashem hath made rachav (room) for us, and we shall be fruitful in ha'aretz.
23And he went up from there to Be'er-Sheva.
24And Hashem appeared unto him balailah hahu, and said, I am Elohei Avraham avichah; fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy zera for the sake of Avdi Avraham (My Servant Abraham).
25And he built a Mizbe'ach there, and called upon the Shem of Hashem, and pitched his ohel there: and there avdei Yitzchak dug a well.
26Then Avimelech went to him from Gerar, and Achuzzat his adviser, and Phichol the sar tz'va of his.
27And Yitzchak said unto them, Why come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
28And they said, We saw certainly that Hashem was with thee; and we said, Let there be now an oath between us, even between us and thee, and let us cut a brit (covenant) with thee;
29That thou wilt do us no ra'ah, just as we have not touched thee, and just as we have done unto thee nothing but tov, and have sent thee away in shalom; thou art now the Beruch Hashem (the blessed of Hashem).
30And he made them a mishteh (feast), and they did eat and drink.
31And they rose up early in the boker, and swore one to another: and Yitzchak sent them away, and they departed from him in shalom.
32And it came to pass the same day, that the avdei Yitzchak came, and told him concerning the be'er which they had dug, and said unto him, We have found mayim.
33And he called it Shevah (Seven, Oath): therefore the shem of the Ir is Be'er-Sheva unto this day.
34And Esav was arba'im shanah when he took to wife Yehudit the bat Be'eri the Chitti, and Basmat the bat Elon the Chitti:
35and they were a morat ruach (grief of mind) unto Yitzchak and Rivkah.
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