Genesis 26
26
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 lands, and I will establish the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these lands; 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, 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 lain with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. 11And Abimelech charged all the people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
12And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. 13And the man waxed great, and grew more and more until he became very great: 14and he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and a great household: and the Philistines envied him. 15Now 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 encamped 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 strove with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they contended with him. 21And they digged another well, and they 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 his friend, and Phicol the captain of his host. 27And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore are ye come unto me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you? 28And they said, We saw plainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there now be 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 Shibah: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.
34And when Esau was forty years old he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite: 35and they were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Genesis 26
26
The Promise Reaffirmed to Isaac
1There was another famine in the land in addition to the one that had occurred in Abraham’s time. # Gn 12:10 And Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar. # Gn 20:2 2The Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I tell you about; 3stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. # Gn 12:2; 26:24; 28:15; 31:3 For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, # Gn 12:7; 13:15; 15:18 and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. # Gn 22:16-18; Ps 105:9 4I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky, I will give your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed # Or will bless themselves by your offspring, # Gn 12:3; 18:18; Ac 3:25; Gl 3:8 5because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My mandate, My commands, My statutes, and My instructions.” # Lv 18:30; Dt 11:1 6So Isaac settled in Gerar.
Isaac’s Deception
7When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” # Gn 12:13; 20:5 for he was afraid to say “my wife,” thinking, # Pr 29:25 “The men of the place will kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is a beautiful woman.” # Gn 24:16 8When Isaac had been there for some time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down from the window and was surprised to see # Or and he looked and behold — Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah.
9Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’? ”
Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.”
10Then Abimelech said, “What is this you’ve done to us? One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us.” # Gn 20:8-10 11So Abimelech warned all the people with these words: “Whoever harms this man or his wife will certainly die.”
Conflicts over Wells
12Isaac sowed seed in that land, and in that year he reaped # Lit found a hundred times what was sown. The Lord blessed him, # Gn 24:1,35 13and the man became rich and kept getting richer until he was very wealthy. 14He had flocks of sheep, herds of cattle, and many slaves, and the Philistines were envious of him. 15The Philistines stopped up all the wells that his father’s slaves had dug in the days of his father Abraham, # Gn 21:30 filling them with dirt. 16And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Leave us, for you are much too powerful for us.” # Or are more numerous than we are
17So Isaac left there, camped in the Valley of Gerar, and lived there. 18Isaac reopened the water wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham and that the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died. He gave them the same names his father had given them. 19Then Isaac’s slaves dug in the valley and found a well of spring # Lit living water there. 20But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen and said, “The water is ours! ” So he named the well Quarrel # Or Esek because they quarreled with him. # Gn 21:25 21Then they dug another well and quarreled over that one also, so he named it Hostility. # Or Sitnah 22He moved from there and dug another, and they did not quarrel over it. He named it Open Spaces # Or Rehoboth and said, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.”
The Lord Appears to Isaac
23From there he went up to Beer-sheba, 24and the Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. # Gn 17:7-8; 24:12; Ex 3:6; Ac 7:32 Do not be afraid, for I am with you. # Gn 21:17; Ex 20:20; 2Kg 6:16; Is 41:10; 43:1,5 I will bless you and multiply your offspring because of My servant Abraham.”
25So he built an altar there, # Gn 8:20; 12:7; 13:18; 35:7; Ex 17:15; Jos 8:30 called on the name of Yahweh, and pitched his tent there. Isaac’s slaves also dug a well there. # Gn 26:32
Covenant with Abimelech
26Now Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army. # Gn 21:22 27Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me? You hated me and sent me away from you.”
28They replied, “We have clearly seen how the Lord has been with you. We think there should be an oath between two parties — between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you: 29You will not harm us, just as we have not harmed you but have only done what was good to you, sending you away in peace. You are now blessed by the Lord.” # Gn 24:31; Ps 115:15
30So he prepared a banquet for them, and they ate and drank. 31They got up early in the morning and swore an oath to each other.# Lit swore, each man to his brother # Gn 21:31 Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace. 32On that same day Isaac’s slaves came to tell him about the well they had dug, saying to him, “We have found water! ” # Gn 26:19 33He called it Sheba. # Or Shibah Therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba # = Well of the Oath # Gn 21:30-31 to this day.
Esau’s Wives
34When Esau was 40 years old, he took as his wives Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. # Gn 28:9; 36:2-3 35They made life bitter # Lit And they became bitterness of spirit for Isaac and Rebekah. # Gn 27:46
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