Genesis26
King James Version · Public Domain
1And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.
2And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
4And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
5Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
6And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
7And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.
8And it came to pass, 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 sporting with Rebekah his wife.
9And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.
10And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.
11And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
12Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.
13And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:
14For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
15For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.
16And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
17And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
18And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.
19And Isaac's servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
20And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
21And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
22And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.
23And he went up from thence to Beer–sheba.
24And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.
25And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.
26Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
27And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
28And they said, We saw certainly that the Lord was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;
29That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the Lord.
30And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
31And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
32And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.
33And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beer–sheba unto this day.
34And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:
35Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Genesis 26.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Isaac, because of famine, goes to Gerar. (1–5). He denies his wife and is reproved by Abimelech. (6–11). Isaac grows rich, The Philistines' envy. (12–17). Isaac digs wells God blesses him. (18–25). Abimelech makes a covenant with Isaac. (26–33). Esau's wives. (34, 35).
vv1-5
Isaac had been trained up in a believing dependence upon the Divine grant of the land of Canaan to him and his heirs; and now that there is a famine in the land, Isaac still cleaves to the covenant. The real worth of God's promises cannot be lessened to a believer by any cross providences that may befall him. If God engage to be with us, and we are where he would have us to be, nothing but our own unbelief and distrust can prevent our comfort. The obedience of Abraham to the Divine command, was evidence of that faith, whereby, as a sinner, he was justified before God, and the effect of that love whereby true faith works. God testifies that he approved this obedience, to encourage others, especially Isaac.
vv6-11
There is nothing in Isaac's denial of his wife to be imitated, nor even excused. The temptation of Isaac is the same as that which overcame his father, and that in two instances. This rendered his conduct the greater sin. The falls of those who are gone before us are so many rocks on which others have split; and the recording of them is like placing buoys to save future mariners. This Abimelech was not the same that lived in Abraham's days, but both acted rightly. The sins of professors shame them before those that are not themselves religious.
vv12-17
God blessed Isaac. Be it observed, for the encouragement of poor tenants who occupy other people's lands, and are honest and industrious, that God blessed him with a great increase. The Philistines envied Isaac. It is an instance of the vanity of the world; for the more men have of it, the more they are envied, and exposed to censure and injury. Also of the corruption of nature; for that is an ill principle indeed, which makes men grieve at the good of others. They made Isaac go out of their country. That wisdom which is from above, will teach us to give up our right, and to draw back from contentions. If we are wrongfully driven from one place, the Lord will make room for us in another.
Key Words
רָעָב: hunger (more or less extensive)
אֶרֶץ: the earth (at large, or partitively a land)
בַּד: properly, separation; by implication, a part of the body, branch of atree, bar forcarrying; figuratively, chief of a city; especially (with prepositional prefix) as an adverb, apart, only, besides
רִאשׁוֹן: first, in place, time or rank (as adjective or noun)
יוֹם: a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)
אַבְרָהָם: Abraham, the later name of Abram
יִצְחָק: Jitschak (or Isaac), son of Abraham
יָלַךְ: to walk (literally or figuratively); causatively, to carry (in various senses)
גְּרָר: Gerar, a Philistine city
אֲבִימֶלֶךְ: Abimelek, the name of two Philistine kings and of two Israelites
Cross References
Genesis 26Explicit covenant oath sworn to Abraham by God, which God here promises to perform to Isaac.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Direct parallel of Abraham's prior covenant with Abimelech and Phichol at Beer-sheba.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, John Calvin, JFB
Abimelech uses almost identical words reproving Isaac as he did Abraham for bringing guilt upon them.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Divine warning not to touch God's anointed; matches Abimelech's warning not to touch Isaac.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Abraham previously named Beer-sheba because of an oath; Isaac restores and renews the name.
Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin
The 'first famine' in Abraham's day, which prompted his descent to Egypt.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Abraham's previous journey to Gerar under Abimelech, matching Isaac's current migration.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
The exact wording of the blessing: 'in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.'
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Abraham's precedent of calling his wife his sister out of fear for his life.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
The original dispute over the wells digged by Abraham's servants.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
God repeats the core covenant promise and blessing first given to Isaac in Gerar.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Isaac refers back to Abimelech commanding him to depart because he was too mighty.
Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin
Esau's profane character shown in his marriages, ignoring the covenant blessing and parental advice.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Uses 'touch' in the context of keeping a man from defiling another's wife.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Jesus references a harvest of 'an hundredfold,' parallel to Isaac's miraculous yield.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The naming of Beersheba, which Isaac reclaims and restores.
Supported by JFB
Isaac builds an altar at Beer-sheba, following Abraham's practice of calling on God's name there.
Supported by John Calvin
Contrast with Abraham's strict oath to not take a wife of the Canaanites for Isaac.
Supported by JFB
Rebekah expresses her deep grief over the Hittite wives of Esau.
Supported by Matthew Henry, John Calvin
Esau realizes his Canaanite wives did not please his father Isaac.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Observation that right work and prosperity draw envy from one's neighbor.
Supported by JFB
Wisdom regarding anger and jealousy, illustrating the Philistines' envy of Isaac.
Supported by JFB
Earlier strife between the herdmen of Abram and Lot over limited resources.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The language of swearing an oath betwixt parties matches Abraham's earlier covenant.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Abimelech claims they did not touch Isaac, referencing his earlier protective decree.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The Philistines recognize Isaac as 'the blessed of the Lord' due to his great agricultural prosperity.
Supported by JFB
Covenant-making completed with a shared feast, a standard ancient near eastern treaty practice.
Supported by JFB
Jesus' offer of 'living water,' translating the Hebrew 'springing water' found by Isaac's servants.
The successful finding of water in the well that was dug in verse 25.
Supported by Matthew Henry