Genesis 26
26
God’s Promise to Isaac
1Now there was a famine in the land, besides #ch. 12:10 the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to #ch. 20:2 Abimelech king of the #ch. 21:34Philistines. 2And the Lord appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; dwell #ch. 12:1in the land of which I shall tell you. 3#ch. 20:1; Heb. 11:9 Sojourn in this land, and #ch. 28:15 I will be with you and will bless you, for #See ch. 13:15 to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish #[Mic. 7:20]; See ch. 22:16-18the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4#Cited Ex. 32:13; See ch. 15:5 I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And #See ch. 12:3in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5because #ch. 22:18Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
Isaac and Abimelech
6So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7When the men of the place asked him about his wife, #ch. 12:13; 20:2, 13 he said, “She is my sister,” for #[Prov. 29:25] he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because #ch. 24:16she was attractive in appearance. 8When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with#26:8 Hebrew may suggest an intimate relationship Rebekah his wife. 9So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’” 10Abimelech said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and #ch. 20:9you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11So Abimelech warned all the people, saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”
12And Isaac sowed in that land and reaped in the same year a hundredfold. The Lord #ver. 3; ch. 24:1, 35blessed him, 13and the man became rich, and gained more and more until he became very wealthy. 14He had possessions of flocks and herds and many servants, so that the Philistines #[Eccles. 4:4]envied him. 15(Now the Philistines had stopped and filled with earth all the wells #ch. 21:30that his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father.) 16And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
17So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar and settled there. 18And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And #ch. 21:31he gave them the names that his father had given them. 19But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20the herdsmen of Gerar #ch. 21:25quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek,#26:20 Esek means contention because they contended with him. 21Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah.#26:21 Sitnah means enmity 22And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth,#26:22 Rehoboth means broad places, or room saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
23From there he went up to Beersheba. 24And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, #ch. 17:7; 24:12; 28:13; Ex. 3:6 “I am the God of Abraham your father. #ch. 15:1; See Ps. 27:1-3 Fear not, for #ch. 28:15; 31:3; [ch. 21:22, 23]I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” 25So he #ch. 12:7; 13:18built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
26When Abimelech went to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his adviser and #ch. 21:22Phicol the commander of his army, 27Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and #ver. 16have sent me away from you?” 28They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you. So we said, let there be a sworn pact between us, between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, 29that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. #ch. 24:31You are now the blessed of the Lord.” 30So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31In the morning they rose early and #ch. 21:31exchanged oaths. And Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace. 32That same day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they had dug and said to him, “We have found water.” 33He called it Shibah;#26:33 Shibah sounds like the Hebrew for oath therefore the name of the city is #ch. 21:31; 22:19Beersheba to this day.
34When Esau was forty years old, he took #[ch. 28:9; 36:2, 3]Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite to be his wife, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite, 35and #ch. 27:46they made life bitter#26:35 Hebrew they were bitterness of spirit for Isaac and Rebekah.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Genesis 26
26
Isaac Lives at Gerar
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.
Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.