Genesis 26:2

2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, "Don't go down to Egypt, but live in the land where I tell you to live.

Genesis 26:2 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 26:2

And the Lord appeared unto him
In a vision or dream, when he was at Gerar: and said, go not down into Egypt;
as his father had done in the like case, and where Isaac thought to have gone, and the rather, as that was a fruitful country; and so the Targum of Jonathan,

``and it was in the heart of Isaac to go down into Egypt, and the Lord appeared unto him''

and charged him not to go thither; partly to try his faith in him, and dependence on his providence for support in this time of famine, and partly lest he should think of continuing there, and be unmindful of the promise of the land of Canaan to Abraham's seed: dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of;
even the land of Canaan, which he was now about to give him on account of the promise of it to Abraham and his seed, and to renew it to him and to his seed.

Genesis 26:2 In-Context

1 Now there was a time of hunger in the land, besides the time of hunger that happened during Abraham's life. So Isaac went to the town of Gerar to see Abimelech king of the Philistines.

2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, "Don't go down to Egypt, but live in the land where I tell you to live.

3 Stay in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. I will give you and your descendants all these lands, and I will keep the oath I made to Abraham your father.

4 I will give you many descendants, as hard to count as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. Through your descendants all the nations on the earth will be blessed.

5 I will do this because your father Abraham obeyed me. He did what I said and obeyed my commands, my teachings, and my rules."