Genesis 26:1-5

Isaac Settles in Gerar

1 Now there was ¹a famine in the land, besides * the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to ²Abimelech king of the Philistines.

2 The LORD ³appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; ⁴stay in the land of which I shall tell you.

3 "Sojourn in this land and ⁵I will be with you and ⁶bless you, for ⁷to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish ⁸the oath which I swore to your father Abraham.

4 "⁹I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and ¹⁰by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;

5 because * Abraham ¹¹obeyed * Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws."

Genesis 26:1-5 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 26

This chapter treats of Isaac's removal to Gerar, occasioned by a famine, Ge 26:1; of the Lord's appearance to him there, advising him to sojourn in that place, and not go down to Egypt; renewing the covenant he had made with Abraham, concerning giving that country to him and his seed, Ge 26:2-6; of what happened unto him at Gerar on account of his wife, Ge 26:7-11; of Isaac's great prosperity and success, which drew the envy of the Philistines upon him, Ge 26:12-15; of his departure from hence to the valley of Gerar, at the instance of Abimelech; and of the contentions between his herdsmen, and those of Gerar, about wells of water, which caused him to remove to Beersheba, Ge 26:16-23; of the Lord's appearance to him there, renewing the above promise to him, where he built an altar, pitched his tent, and his servants dug a well, Ge 26:24,25; of Abimelech's coming to him thither, and making a covenant with him, Ge 26:26-31; which place had its name from the oath then made, and the well there dug, Ge 26:32,33; and lastly, of the marriage of Esau, which was a great grief to Isaac and Rebekah, Ge 26:34,35.

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 12:10
• 2. Genesis 20:1, 2
• 3. Genesis 12:7; Genesis 17:1; Genesis 18:1
• 4. Genesis 12:1
• 5. Genesis 26:24; Genesis 28:15; Genesis 31:3
• 6. Genesis 12:2
• 7. Genesis 12:7; Genesis 13:15; Genesis 15:18
• 8. Genesis 22:16-18; Psalms 105:9
• 9. Genesis 15:5; Genesis 22:17; Exodus 32:13
• 10. Genesis 22:18; Galatians 3:8
• 11. Genesis 22:16

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "dwell"
• [b] Lit "seed"
• [c] Lit "seed"
• [d] Lit "seed"
• [e] Lit "seed"
• [f] Or "bless themselves"
• [g] Lit "hearkened to My voice"