1There was another famine in the land besides the earlier one during the time of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar. 2The LORD had appeared to Isaac and had said, “Do not go to Egypt; stay in this land, where I tell you to stay. 3#Gen 22.16–18Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham. 4I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give them all this territory. All the nations will ask me to bless them as I have blessed your descendants. 5I will bless you, because Abraham obeyed me and kept all my laws and commands.”

6So Isaac lived at Gerar. 7#Gen 12.13; 20.2When the men there asked about his wife, he said that she was his sister. He would not admit that she was his wife, because he was afraid that the men there would kill him to get Rebecca, who was very beautiful. 8When Isaac had been there for some time, King Abimelech looked down from his window and saw Isaac and Rebecca making love. 9Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is your wife! Why did you say she was your sister?”

He answered, “I thought I would be killed if I said she was my wife.”

10“What have you done to us?” Abimelech said. “One of my men might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have been responsible for our guilt.” 11Abimelech warned all the people: “Anyone who ill-treats this man or his wife will be put to death.”

12Isaac sowed seed in that land, and that year he harvested a hundred times as much as he had sown, because the LORD blessed him. 13He continued to prosper and became a very rich man. 14Because he had many herds of sheep and cattle and many servants, the Philistines were jealous of him. 15So they filled in all the wells which the servants of his father Abraham had dug while Abraham was alive.

16Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave our country. You have become more powerful than we are.” 17So Isaac left and set up his camp in the Valley of Gerar, where he stayed for some time. 18He dug once again the wells which had been dug during the time of Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham's death. Isaac gave the wells the same names that his father had given them.

19Isaac's servants dug a well in the valley and found water. 20The shepherds of Gerar quarrelled with Isaac's shepherds and said, “This water belongs to us.” So Isaac named the well “Quarrel”.

21Isaac's servants dug another well, and there was a quarrel about that one also, so he named it “Enmity”. 22He moved away from there and dug another well. There was no dispute about this one, so he named it “Freedom”. He said, “Now the LORD has given us freedom to live in the land, and we will be prosperous here.”

23Isaac left and went to Beersheba. 24That night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid; I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants because of my promise to my servant Abraham.” 25Isaac built an altar there and worshipped the LORD. Then he set up his camp there, and his servants dug another well.

The Agreement between Isaac and Abimelech

26 # Gen 21.22 Abimelech came from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army to see Isaac. 27So Isaac asked, “Why have you now come to see me, when you were so unfriendly to me before and made me leave your country?”

28They answered, “Now we know that the LORD is with you, and we think that there should be a solemn agreement between us. We want you to promise 29that you will not harm us, just as we did not harm you. We were kind to you and let you leave peacefully. Now it is clear that the LORD has blessed you.” 30Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31Early next morning each man made his promise and sealed it with a vow. Isaac said goodbye to them, and they parted as friends.

32On that day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well which they had dug. They said, “We have found water.” 33He named the well “Vow”. That is how the city of Beersheba#26.33 Beersheba: This name in Hebrew means “Well of the Vow” or “Well of Seven” (see also 21.31). got its name.

Esau's Foreign Wives

34When Esau was forty years old, he married two Hittite women, Judith the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath the daughter of Elon. 35They made life miserable for Isaac and Rebecca.

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B'resheet (Gen) 26

1A famine came over the land, not the same as the first famine, which had taken place when Avraham was alive. Yitz’chak went to G’rar, to Avimelekh king of the P’lishtim. 2Adonai appeared to him and said, “Don’t go down into Egypt, but live where I tell you. 3Stay in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, because I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants. I will fulfill the oath which I swore to Avraham your father — 4I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, I will give all these lands to your descendants, and by your descendants all the nations of the earth will bless themselves. 5All this is because Avraham heeded what I said and did what I told him to do — he followed my mitzvot, my regulations and my teachings.”

(ii) 6So Yitz’chak settled in G’rar. 7The men of the place asked him about his wife, and out of fear he said, “She is my sister.” He thought, “If I tell them she’s my wife, they might kill me in order to take Rivkah. After all, she is a beautiful woman.” 8But one day, after he had lived there a long time, Avimelekh king of the P’lishtim happened to be looking out of a window when he spotted Yitz’chak caressing Rivkah his wife. 9Avimelekh summoned Yitz’chak and said, “So she is your wife, after all! How come you said, ‘She is my sister’?” Yitz’chak responded, “Because I thought, ‘I could get killed because of her.’” 10Avimelekh said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!” 11Then Avimelekh warned all the people: “Whoever touches this man or his wife will certainly be put to death.”

12Yitz’chak planted crops in that land and reaped that year a hundred times as much as he had sowed. Adonai had blessed him.

(iii) 13The man became rich and prospered more and more, until he had become very wealthy indeed. 14He had flocks, cattle and a large household; and the P’lishtim envied him. 15Now the P’lishtim had stopped up and filled with dirt all the wells his father’s servants had dug during the lifetime of Avraham his father. 16Avimelekh said to Yitz’chak, “You must go away from us, because you have become much more powerful than we are.” 17So Yitz’chak left, set up camp in Vadi G’rar and lived there. 18Yitz’chak reopened the wells which had been dug during the lifetime of Avraham his father, the ones the P’lishtim had stopped up after Avraham died, and called them by the names his father had used for them. 19Yitz’chak’s servants dug in the vadi and uncovered a spring of running water. 20But the herdsmen of G’rar quarreled with Yitz’chak’s herdsmen, claiming, “That water is ours!” So he called the well ‘Esek [quarrel], because they quarreled with him. 21They dug another well and quarreled over that one too. So he called it Sitnah [enmity]. 22He went away from there and dug another well, and over that one they didn’t quarrel. So he called it Rechovot [wide open spaces] and said, “Because now Adonai has made room for us, and we will be productive in the land.”

(iv) 23From there Yitz’chak went up to Be’er-Sheva. 24Adonai appeared to him that same night and said, “I am the God of Avraham your father. Don’t be afraid, because I am with you; I will bless you and increase your descendants for the sake of my servant Avraham.” 25There he built an altar and called on the name of Adonai. He pitched his tent there, and there Yitz’chak’s servants dug a well.

26Then Avimelekh went to him from G’rar with his friend Achuzat and Pikhol the commander of his army. 27Yitz’chak said to them, “Why have you come to me, even though you were unfriendly to me and sent me away?” 28They answered, “We saw very clearly that Adonai has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there be an oath between us: let’s make a pact between ourselves and you 29that you will not harm us, just as we have not caused you offense but have done you nothing but good and sent you on your way in peace. Now you are blessed by Adonai.’”

(v) 30Yitz’chak prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. 31The next morning, they got up early and swore to each other. Then Yitz’chak sent them on their way, and they left him peacefully. 32That very day Yitz’chak’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug, “We have found water.” 33So he called it Shiv‘ah [oath, seven], and for this reason the name of the city is Be’er-Sheva [well of seven, well of an oath] to this day.

34When ‘Esav was forty years old, he took as wives Y’hudit the daughter of Be’eri the Hitti and Basmat the daughter of Elon the Hitti. 35But they became a cause for embitterment of spirit to Yitz’chak and Rivkah.

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Genesis 26

B'resheet (Gen) 26