Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Genesis » Chapter 26 » Verse 14-33

Genesis 26:14-33 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

14 For he had possession H4735 of flocks, H6629 and possession H4735 of herds, H1241 and great store H7227 of servants: H5657 and the Philistines H6430 envied H7065 him.

15 For all the wells H875 which his father's H1 servants H5650 had digged H2658 in the days H3117 of Abraham H85 his father, H1 the Philistines H6430 had stopped H5640 them, and filled H4390 them with earth. H6083

16 And Abimelech H40 said H559 unto Isaac, H3327 Go H3212 from us; for thou art much H3966 mightier H6105 than we.

17 And Isaac H3327 departed H3212 thence, and pitched his tent H2583 in the valley H5158 of Gerar, H1642 and dwelt H3427 there. H8033

18 And Isaac H3327 digged H2658 again H7725 the wells H875 of water, H4325 which they had digged H2658 in the days H3117 of Abraham H85 his father; H1 for the Philistines H6430 had stopped H5640 them after H310 the death H4194 of Abraham: H85 and he called H7121 their names H8034 after the names H8034 by which H834 his father H1 had called H7121 them.

19 And Isaac's H3327 servants H5650 digged H2658 in the valley, H5158 and found H4672 there a well H875 of springing H2416 water. H4325

20 And the herdmen H7462 of Gerar H1642 did strive H7378 with Isaac's H3327 herdmen, H7462 saying, H559 The water H4325 is ours: and he called H7121 the name H8034 of the well H875 Esek; H6230 because they strove H6229 with him.

21 And they digged H2658 another H312 well, H875 and strove H7378 for that also: and he called H7121 the name of it H8034 Sitnah. H7856

22 And he removed H6275 from thence, and digged H2658 another H312 well; H875 and for that they strove H7378 not: and he called H7121 the name of it H8034 Rehoboth; H7344 and he said, H559 For now H6258 the LORD H3068 hath made room H7337 for us, and we shall be fruitful H6509 in the land. H776

23 And he went up H5927 from thence to Beersheba. H884

24 And the LORD H3068 appeared H7200 unto him the same night, H3915 and said, H559 I am the God H430 of Abraham H85 thy father: H1 fear H3372 not, for I am with H854 thee, and will bless H1288 thee, and multiply H7235 thy seed H2233 for my servant H5650 Abraham's H85 sake.

25 And he builded H1129 an altar H4196 there, and called H7121 upon the name H8034 of the LORD, H3068 and pitched H5186 his tent H168 there: and there Isaac's H3327 servants H5650 digged H3738 a well. H875

26 Then Abimelech H40 went H1980 to him from Gerar, H1642 and Ahuzzath H276 one of his friends, H4828 and Phichol H6369 the chief captain H8269 of his army. H6635

27 And Isaac H3327 said H559 unto them, Wherefore H4069 come H935 ye to me, seeing ye hate H8130 me, and have sent me away H7971 from you?

28 And they said, H559 We saw H7200 certainly H7200 that the LORD H3068 was with thee: and we said, H559 Let there be now an oath H423 betwixt H996 us, even betwixt H996 us and thee, and let us make H3772 a covenant H1285 with thee;

29 That thou wilt do H6213 us no hurt, H7451 as we have not touched H5060 thee, and as we have done H6213 unto thee nothing but H7535 good, H2896 and have sent thee away H7971 in peace: H7965 thou art now H6258 the blessed H1288 of the LORD. H3068

30 And he made H6213 them a feast, H4960 and they did eat H398 and drink. H8354

31 And they rose up betimes H7925 in the morning, H1242 and sware H7650 one H376 to another: H251 and Isaac H3327 sent them away, H7971 and they departed H3212 from him in peace. H7965

32 And it came to pass the same day, H3117 that Isaac's H3327 servants H5650 came, H935 and told H5046 him concerning H182 the well H875 which they had digged, H2658 and said H559 unto him, We have found H4672 water. H4325

33 And he called H7121 it Shebah: H7656 therefore the name H8034 of the city H5892 is Beersheba H884 unto this day. H3117

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 26

Commentary on Genesis 26 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Introduction

Isaac's Joys and Sorrows - Genesis 26

The incidents of Isaac's life which are collected together in this chapter, from the time of his sojourn in the south country, resemble in many respects certain events in the life of Abraham; but the distinctive peculiarities are such as to form a true picture of the dealings of God, which were in perfect accordance with the character of the patriarch.


Verses 1-5

Renewal of the Promise. - A famine “ in the land ” (i.e., Canaan, to which he had therefore returned from Hagar's well; Genesis 25:11), compelled Isaac to leave Canaan, as it had done Abraham before. Abraham went to Egypt, where his wife was exposed to danger, from which she could only be rescued by the direct interposition of God. Isaac also intended to go there, but on the way, viz., in Gerar, he received instruction through a divine manifestation that he was to remain there. As he was the seed to whom the land of Canaan was promised, he was directed not to leave it. To this end Jehovah assured him of the fulfilment of all the promises made to Abraham on oath, with express reference to His oath (Genesis 22:16) to him and to his posterity, and on account of Abraham's obedience of faith. The only peculiarity in the words is the plural, “ all these lands .” This plural refers to all the lands or territories of the different Canaanitish tribes, mentioned in Genesis 15:19-21, like the different divisions of the kingdom of Israel or Judah in 1 Chronicles 13:2; 2 Chronicles 11:23. האל ; an antique form of האלּה occurring only in the Pentateuch. The piety of Abraham is described in words that indicate a perfect obedience to all the commands of God, and therefore frequently recur among the legal expressions of a later date. יהוה משׁמרת שׁמר “to take care of Jehovah 's care,” i.e., to observe Jehovah , His persons, and His will, Mishmereth , reverence, observance, care, is more closely defined by “ commandments, statutes, laws, ” to denote constant obedience to all the revelations and instructions of God.


Verses 6-11

Protection of Rebekah at Gerar. - As Abraham had declared his wife to be his sister both in Egypt and at Gerar, so did Isaac also in the latter place. But the manner in which God protected Rebekah was very different from that in which Sarah was preserved in both instances. Before any one had touched Rebekah, the Philistine king discovered the untruthfulness of Isaac's statement, having seen Isaac “sporting with Rebekah,” sc., in a manner to show that she was his wife; whereupon he reproved Isaac for what he had said, and forbade any of his people to touch Rebekah on pain of death. Whether this was the same Abimelech as the one mentioned in Gen 20 cannot be decided with certainty. The name proves nothing, for it was the standing official name of the kings of Gerar (cf. 1 Samuel 21:11 and Ps 34), as Pharaoh was of the kings of Egypt. The identity is favoured by the pious conduct of Abimelech in both instances; and no difficulty is caused either by the circumstance that 80 years had elapsed between the two events (for Abraham had only been dead five years, and the age of 150 was no rarity then), or by the fact, that whereas the first Abimelech had Sarah taken into his harem, the second not only had no intention of doing this, but was anxious to protect her from his people, inasmuch as it would be all the easier to conceive of this in the case of the same king, on the ground of his advanced age.


Verses 12-17

Isaac's Increasing Wealth. - As Isaac had experienced the promised protection (“I will be with thee,” Genesis 26:3) in the safety of his wife, so did he received while in Gerar the promised blessing. He sowed and received in that year “ a hundred measures, ” i.e., a hundred-fold return. This was an unusual blessing, as the yield even in very fertile regions is not generally greater than from twenty-five to fifty-fold ( Niebuhr and Burckhardt ), and it is only in the Ruhbe , that small and most fruitful plain of Syria, that wheat yields on an average eighty, and barley a hundred-fold. Agriculture is still practised by the Bedouins, as well as grazing (Robinson, Pal. i. 77, and Seetzen ); so that Isaac's sowing was no proof that he had been stimulated by the promise of Jehovah to take up a settled abode in the promised land.

Genesis 26:13-17

Being thus blessed of Jehovah , Isaac became increasingly ( הלוך , vid., Genesis 8:3) greater (i.e., stronger), until he was very powerful and his wealth very great; so that the Philistines envied him, and endeavoured to do him injury by stopping up and filling with rubbish all the wells that had been dug in his father's time; and even Abimelech requested him to depart, because he was afraid of his power. Isaac then encamped in the valley of Gerar, i.e., in the “undulating land of Gerar,” through which the torrent ( Jurf ) from Gerar flows from the south-east (Ritter, Erdk . 14, pp. 1084-5).


Verses 18-22

Reopening and Discovery of Wells. - In this valley Isaac dug open the old wells which had existed from Abraham's time, and gave them the old names. His people also dug three new wells. But Abimelech's people raised a contest about two of these; and for this reason Isaac called them Esek and Sitnah , strife and opposition. The third there was no dispute about; and it received in consequence the name Rehoboth , “breadths,” for Isaac said, “ Yea now ( כּי־עתּה , as in Genesis 29:32, etc.) Jehovah has provided for us a broad space, that we may be fruitful (multiply) in the land .” This well was probably not in the land of Gerar, as Isaac had removed thence, but in the Wady Ruhaibeh , the name of which is suggestive of Rehoboth, which stands at the point where the two roads from Gaza and Hebron meet, about 3 hours to the south of Elusa , 8 1/3 to the south of Beersheba, and where there are extensive ruins of the city of the same name upon the heights, also the remains of wells (Robinson, Pal. i. 289ff.; Strauss , Sinai and Golgotha); where too the name Sitnah seems to have been retained in the Wady Shutein , with ruins on the northern hills between Ruhaibeh and Khulasa ( Elusa ).


Verses 23-25

Isaac's Journey to Beersheba. - Here, where Abraham had spent a long time (Genesis 21:33.), Jehovah appeared to him during the night and renewed the promises already given; upon which, Isaac built an altar and performed a solemn service. Here his servants also dug a well near to the tents.


Verses 26-33

Abimelech's Treaty with Isaac. - The conclusion of this alliance was substantially only a repetition of renewal of the alliance entered into with Abraham; but the renewal itself arose so completely out of the circumstances, that there is no ground whatever for denying that it occurred, or for the hypothesis that our account is merely another form of the earlier alliance; to say nothing of the fact, that besides the agreement in the leading event itself, the attendant circumstances are altogether peculiar, and correspond to the events which preceded. Abimelech not only brought his chief captain Phicol (supposed to be the same as in Genesis 21:22, if Phicol is not also an official name), but his מרע “ friend ,” i.e., his privy councillor, Ahuzzath . Isaac referred to the hostility they had shown; to which Abimelech replied, that they (he and his people) did not smite him ( נגע ), i.e., drive him away by force, but let him depart in peace, and expressed a wish that there might be an oath between them. אלה the oath, as an act of self-imprecation, was to form the basis of the covenant to be made. From this אלה came also to be used for a covenant sanctioned by an oath (Deuteronomy 29:11, Deuteronomy 29:13). תּעשׂה אם “that thou do not:” אם a particle of negation used in an oath (Genesis 14:23, etc.). (On the verb with zere , see Ges. §75, Anm. 17; Ewald, §224.) - The same day Isaac's servants informed him of the well which they had dug; and Isaac gave it the name Shebah ( שׁבעה , oath), in commemoration of the treaty made on oath. “ Therefore the city was called Beersheba .” This derivation of the name does not shut the other (Genesis 21:31) out, but seems to confirm it. As the treaty made on oath between Abimelech and Isaac was only a renewal of his covenant concluded before with Abraham, so the name Beersheba was also renewed by the well Shebah . The reality of the occurrence is supported by the fact that the two wells are in existence still (vid., Genesis 21:31).


Verse 34-35

Esau's Marriage. - To the various troubles which the Philistines prepared for Isaac, but which, through the blessing of God, only contributed to the increase of his wealth and importance, a domestic cross was added, which caused him great and lasting sorrow. Esau married two wives in the 40th year of his age, the 100th of Isaac's life (Genesis 25:26); and that not from his own relations in Mesopotamia, but from among the Canaanites whom God had cast off. On their names, see Genesis 34:2-3. They became “ bitterness of spirit, ” the cause of deep trouble, to his parents, viz., on account of their Canaanitish character, which was so opposed to the vocation of the patriarchs; whilst Esau by these marriages furnished another proof, how thoroughly his heart was set upon earthly things.