Génesis 26:18

18 Y volvió a abrir Isaac los pozos de agua que habían abierto en los días de Abraham su padre, y que los filisteos habían cerrado, muerto Abraham; y los llamó por los nombres que su padre los había llamado

Génesis 26:18 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 26:18

And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had
digged in the days of Abraham his father
This seems to refer to the same wells made mention of in ( Genesis 26:15 ) , since it follows, for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham;
these were what Abraham's servants had dug, when he lived at Gerar, and which the Philistines durst not stop during his life; but when he was dead and particularly out of envy to Isaac his son, whom they observed to prosper much, they stopped them up, that he might have no benefit by them; for otherwise they would scarcely have stopped them, if he had not been upon the spot, but would have made use of them themselves. The opening of them again by Isaac seems to be done, as Jarchi observes, before he removed from Gerar to the valley, though it is here related; unless it can be thought that Abraham dwelt in the valley also, and had dug wells there, which the Philistines stopped up after his death, and Isaac opened when he came there; and if so one would think he should have had no occasion to have dug other new wells, as we find he afterwards did; besides, this seems to be out of the jurisdiction of the Philistines, and not in their power to have stopped them here; it seems therefore most probable that these were Abraham's wells at Gerar, and not in the valley. Origen ^F11 makes mention of wonderful wells being dug in the land of the Philistines by righteous men, meaning Abraham and Isaac; and particularly in Askelon which, according to some, is the same with Gerar; (See Gill on Genesis 20:1); and he called their names after the names by which his father had
called them;
which he did out of respect to his father, to preserve the memory of his name, as well as to make his title and claim to them the more dear and certain.

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 Contr. Cels. l. 4. p. 193.

Génesis 26:18 In-Context

16 Y dijo Abimelec a Isaac: Apártate de nosotros, porque mucho más fuerte que nosotros te has hecho

17 E Isaac se fue de allí; y asentó sus tiendas en el valle de Gerar, y habitó allí

18 Y volvió a abrir Isaac los pozos de agua que habían abierto en los días de Abraham su padre, y que los filisteos habían cerrado, muerto Abraham; y los llamó por los nombres que su padre los había llamado

19 Y los siervos de Isaac cavaron en el valle, y hallaron allí un pozo de aguas vivas

20 Y los pastores de Gerar riñeron con los pastores de Isaac, diciendo: El agua es nuestra; por eso llamó el nombre del pozo Esek, porque habían altercado con él