Genesis 26
26
The Adventures of Isaac in Gerar
1Now, another famine struck the land, like the one in Abraham’s time. Isaac traveled to Gerar # 26:1 Gerar means “lodging place” and was directly on the route to Egypt. Isaac and Rebekah were apparently on their way down to Egypt. where Abimelech was the Philistine king. 2Yahweh appeared before Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Stay in the land that I will reveal to you. 3Live there as a foreigner, and my presence will be with you. I promise to bless you, # 26:3 God blessed Isaac even in a time of famine. See vv. 12–14. for I will give all these lands to you and your descendants. I will fulfill the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 4I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven, and I will one day give them all these lands. I will bless all the nations of the earth through your offspring 5because Abraham was faithful to me. He listened to my voice and yielded his heart to follow my direction. He kept my commandments, my instructions, and my teachings.” # 26:5 Or “my laws.” The laws of Moses for Israel had not yet been given. Abraham had no Bible; therefore, he depended on hearing Yahweh’s voice and followed his revelation in all its forms. Yahweh commends Abraham for his faithfulness. The Hebrew word for “teachings” is a plural form of torah. Many years later, Yahweh revealed the Torah to Moses, who set it down in the books we know as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (see Ex. 34:27). The universe of meaning for the Hebrew word torah includes direction, instruction, rules, etc.
6So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7The men of the land noticed Rebekah’s beauty and asked Isaac about her. “Oh, she’s just my sister,” he replied. Rebekah was indeed very beautiful, and he was afraid to tell them, “She’s my wife,” for he thought that the men of the land would kill him and take his wife.
8One day, after Isaac had lived there awhile, the Philistine king Abimelech looked out his window and saw Isaac affectionately caressing # 26:8 Or “fondling.” Perhaps we would say, “They were making out.” This Hebrew word in its consonantal form is a play on words with the name Isaac. his wife Rebekah. 9So Abimelech summoned Isaac and said, “So, this woman is your wife! Why did you say that she was your sister?”
“Because I thought the men of the land would kill me and take her,” Isaac said.
10“Don’t you realize what you’ve done to us?” Abimelech asked. “One of our men might have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt and punishment upon us!” 11So Abimelech issued a stern warning to all the people, saying, “Whoever lays a hand on this man or his wife shall be put to death!”
Isaac Becomes Very Wealthy
12Isaac planted crops in that land, and in the same year # 26:12 Isaac did not hoard his seed in a time of famine but sowed it in the enemy’s land and reaped great blessing. See Deut. 28:1–14. reaped a hundred-fold harvest, for Yahweh greatly blessed him! # 26:12 God transformed a land of famine into a land of abundant harvest. If you sow your seed in the day of famine, watch God multiply it into an abundant harvest. See 2 Cor. 8:1–5; 9:6–11. 13Isaac grew richer and richer # 26:13 Or “greater and greater.” until he was extremely wealthy. 14He acquired so many flocks and herds and so many servants that the Philistines grew jealous, 15so the Philistines stopped up all of Isaac’s wells and filled them with dirt—the same wells his father’s servants had dug in the time of Abraham. # 26:15 In the culture of the day, to dig a well on unclaimed land was a proof of title to the land. To stop the wells of someone else was considered an act of war. Isaac refused to war against the people and chose instead to move away. 16Eventually Abimelech’s jealousy got the better of him, and he said to Isaac, “You must leave us! You have become too rich and powerful for us!” 17So Isaac departed from Abimelech’s domain and camped near the Wadi of Gerar, where he settled.
Isaac Digs New Wells
18Isaac reopened and restored the wells his father Abraham had originally dug—the wells the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham’s death. And Isaac gave these wells the same names that his father had given them.
19One day, when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, they uncovered a spring-fed well. # 26:19 Or “living water,” that is, an unfailing spring of water flowing beneath the surface. Isaac not only reopened ancient wells but also went on to open his own. God’s spiritual “Isaacs” will always be those who not only respect the wisdom of the elders but also go on to dig their own wells. 20But the herdsmen of Gerar picked a fight # 26:20 There is an implication of physical violence over the well, for the same Hebrew word is found in Ex. 21:18 concerning a fistfight. with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “That’s our well!” So Isaac named the well Argument # 26:20 Or “Esek,” which means “contention,” “dispute,” “quarrel,” or “argument.” because of the sharp contention. 21They dug a second well, and it also caused a quarrel, so Isaac named that well Hostility. # 26:21 Or “Sitnah,” which means “accusation,” “hostility,” or “enmity.” 22Then he pulled up stakes from there and dug a third well, but this one was dug without any quarreling, so Isaac named it Spacious, # 26:22 Or “Rehoboth,” which means “broad places,” “room [roomy],” or “spacious places.” This place was later known as Wadi Ruhebe and is located about twenty miles (thirty kilometers) southwest of Beersheba. saying, “Finally, Yahweh has made ample room for us and we will become prosperous # 26:22 Or “fruitful.” in the land!”
23From there, Isaac moved his camp to Beersheba. 24That very night, Yahweh appeared before him # 26:24 In Beersheba, God dug a well in Isaac. The strife with others had taken its toll on Isaac, leaving him hungry for a fresh encounter with God. When others were jealous, continually harassing him, faithful Isaac was visited by God. and said:
“I am the God of Abraham your father.
You will never need to fear a thing for I am with you
and I will greatly bless you.
Your children will flourish and succeed
because of the promises I gave my servant Abraham.”
25So Isaac built an altar, # 26:25 That Isaac built an altar implies that he offered sacrifices upon this altar, remembering the altar he once was placed upon by his father (see Gen. 22). prayed, and worshiped Yahweh there. He pitched his tent there, and his servants started digging another well. # 26:25 The altar, the tent, and the well—each one points to an aspect of the lives of the patriarchs: the altar of worship, the tent of temporary sojourn, and the deep well of satisfaction in God.
26Then King Abimelech came to Isaac from Gerar with his adviser # 26:26 Although the Hebrew word can be translated “friend,” Ahuzzah was a counselor who had the ear of the king. The names Abimelech and Abraham are both found seven times in this chapter. Ahuzzath and his army commander Phicol. 27Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me now, since you hated me and sent me away?”
28They answered, “We have witnessed firsthand how powerfully Yahweh’s favor has been with you, so we say, let there be a peace treaty among us. Let us make a covenant 29to do each other no harm. Swear to us that you will not trouble us, just as we have not troubled you and have always treated you well and sent you away in peace. Now look at how Yahweh has blessed you!” 30So Isaac prepared a wonderful feast for them, and they all ate and drank together. 31Then the next morning, they got up early and exchanged oaths. Isaac said goodbye to them, and they left Isaac in peace.
32Later that same day, Isaac’s servants came with wonderful news about the well they had dug, saying, “We’ve just found water!” # 26:32 Yahweh truly smiled on what Isaac had done in forgiving and feeding his enemies, for on the same day he made this covenant with Abimelech, his servants brought him the news of a fresh well of water they found. Since Isaac had remained silent over the offense of losing wells, God honored him with a new one. 33So he named it Oath. # 26:33 Or “Shibah,” which means “oath” or “seven.” The triliteral Hebrew root can also be interpreted as “abundance” and is translated in this way by Syriac, Vulgate, Aquila, and Symmachus. The preferred translation is “oath” (LXX) or “vow.” This is why the city where they dug the well is called Beersheba # 26:33 Or “Well of the Oath.” Isaac’s name is associated with wells seven times in Genesis. to this day.
The Hittite Wives of Esau
34When Esau was forty, he married two Hittite women, Judith # 26:34 Judith means “praised.” the daughter of Beeri # 26:34 Beeri means “my well.” and Basemath # 26:34 Basemath means “fragrance” or “spice.” the daughter of Elon. 35They made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah. # 26:35 Isaac failed to deal with Esau concerning his Hittite wives. Remember how much care Abraham gave to finding a wife for Isaac (see Gen. 24)? Why didn’t Isaac now give great attention to finding the proper wife for his son? The Targums say that Esau and his wives rebelled against Isaac and Rebekah’s instruction.
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Genesis 26: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationGenesis 26
26
1There was a famine in the land, as bad as the famine during the time of Abraham. And Isaac went down to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
2-5 God appeared to him and said, “Don’t go down to Egypt; stay where I tell you. Stay here in this land and I’ll be with you and bless you. I’m giving you and your children all these lands, fulfilling the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I’ll make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky and give them all these lands. All the nations of the Earth will get a blessing for themselves through your descendants. And why? Because Abraham obeyed my summons and kept my charge—my commands, my guidelines, my teachings.”
6So Isaac stayed put in Gerar.
7The men of the place questioned him about his wife. He said, “She’s my sister.” He was afraid to say “She’s my wife.” He was thinking, “These men might kill me to get Rebekah, she’s so beautiful.”
8-9One day, after they had been there quite a long time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac fondling his wife Rebekah. Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So, she’s your wife. Why did you tell us ‘She’s my sister’?”
Isaac said, “Because I thought I might get killed by someone who wanted her.”
10Abimelech said, “But think of what you might have done to us! Given a little more time, one of the men might have slept with your wife; you would have been responsible for bringing guilt down on us.”
11Then Abimelech gave orders to his people: “Anyone who so much as lays a hand on this man or his wife dies.”
12-15Isaac planted crops in that land and took in a huge harvest. God blessed him. The man got richer and richer by the day until he was very wealthy. He accumulated flocks and herds and many, many servants, so much so that the Philistines began to envy him. They got back at him by throwing dirt and debris into all the wells that his father’s servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham, clogging up all the wells.
16Finally, Abimelech told Isaac: “Leave. You’ve become far too big for us.”
17-18So Isaac left. He camped in the valley of Gerar and settled down there. Isaac dug again the wells which were dug in the days of his father Abraham but had been clogged up by the Philistines after Abraham’s death. And he renamed them, using the original names his father had given them.
19-24One day, as Isaac’s servants were digging in the valley, they came on a well of spring water. The shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s shepherds, claiming, “This water is ours.” So Isaac named the well Esek (Quarrel) because they quarreled over it. They dug another well and there was a difference over that one also, so he named it Sitnah (Accusation). He went on from there and dug yet another well. But there was no fighting over this one so he named it Rehoboth (Wide-Open Spaces), saying, “Now God has given us plenty of space to spread out in the land.” From there he went up to Beersheba. That very night God appeared to him and said,
I am the God of Abraham your father;
don’t fear a thing because I’m with you.
I’ll bless you and make your children flourish
because of Abraham my servant.
25Isaac built an altar there and prayed, calling on God by name. He pitched his tent and his servants started digging another well.
26-27Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his advisor and Phicol the head of his troops. Isaac asked them, “Why did you come to me? You hate me; you threw me out of your country.”
28-29They said, “We’ve realized that God is on your side. We’d like to make a deal between us—a covenant that we maintain friendly relations. We haven’t bothered you in the past; we treated you kindly and let you leave us in peace. So—God’s blessing be with you!”
30-31Isaac laid out a feast and they ate and drank together. Early in the morning they exchanged oaths. Then Isaac said good-bye and they parted as friends.
32-33Later that same day, Isaac’s servants came to him with news about the well they had been digging, “We’ve struck water!” Isaac named the well Sheba (Oath), and that’s the name of the city, Beersheba (Oath-Well), to this day.
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34-35When Esau was forty years old he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite. They turned out to be thorns in the sides of Isaac and Rebekah.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.