Genesis 26

1 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Avraham. Yitzchak went to Avimelekh king of the Pelishtim, to Gerar.

2 The LORD appeared to him, and said, "Don't go down into Mitzrayim. Dwell in the land which I will tell you of.

3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you. For to you, and to your seed, I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to Avraham your father.

4 I will multiply your seed as the stars of the sky, and will give to your seed all these lands. In your seed will all the nations of the eretz be blessed,

5 because Avraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my mitzvot, my statutes, and my laws."

6 Yitzchak lived in Gerar.

7 The men of the place asked him about his wife. He said, "She is my sister," for he was afraid to say, "My wife," lest, he thought, the men of the place might kill me for Rivka, because she was beautiful to look on.

8 It happened, when he had been there a long time, that Avimelekh king of the Pelishtim looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Yitzchak was caressing Rivka, his wife.

9 Avimelekh called Yitzchak, and said, "Behold, surely she is your wife. Why did you say, 'She is my sister?'" Yitzchak said to him, "Because I said, 'Lest I die because of her.'"

10 Avimelekh said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people might easily have lain with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us!"

11 Avimelekh charged all the people, saying, "He who touches this man or his wife will surely be put to death."

12 Yitzchak sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year one hundred times what he planted. The LORD blessed him.

13 The man grew great, and grew more and more until he became very great.

14 He had possessions of flocks, possessions of herds, and a great household. The Pelishtim envied him.

15 Now all the wells which his father's servants had dug in the days of Avraham his father, the Pelishtim had stopped, and filled with eretz.

16 Avimelekh said to Yitzchak, "Go from us, for you are much mightier than we."

17 Yitzchak departed from there, encamped in the valley of Gerar, and lived there.

18 Yitzchak dug again the wells of water, which they had dug in the days of Avraham his father. For the Pelishtim had stopped them after the death of Avraham. He called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

19 Yitzchak's servants dug in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.

20 The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Yitzchak's herdsmen, saying, "The water is ours." He called the name of the well `Esek, because they contended with him.

21 They dug another well, and they argued over that, also. He called the name of it Sitnah.

22 He left that place, and dug another well. They didn't argue over that one. He called it Rechovot. He said, "For now the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land."

23 He went up from there to Be'er-Sheva.

24 The LORD appeared to him the same night, and said, "I am the God of Avraham your father. Don't be afraid, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your seed for my servant Avraham's sake."

25 He built an altar there, and called on the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there. There Yitzchak's servants dug a well.

26 Then Avimelekh went to him from Gerar, and Achuzzat his friend, and Pikhol the captain of his host.

27 Yitzchak said to them, "Why have you come to me, since you hate me, and have sent me away from you?"

28 They said, "We saw plainly that the LORD was with you. We said, 'Let there now be an oath between us, even between us and you, and let us make a covenant with you,

29 that you will do us no harm, as we have not touched you, and as we have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in shalom.' You are now the blessed of the LORD."

30 He made them a feast, and they ate and drink.

31 They rose up some time in the morning, and swore one to another. Yitzchak sent them away, and they departed from him in shalom.

32 It happened the same day, that Yitzchak's servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water."

33 He called it Shibah. Therefore the name of the city is Be'er-Sheva to this day.

34 When Esav was forty years old, he took as wife Yehudit, the daughter of Be'eri the Hittite, and Basemat, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

35 They grieved Yitzchak and Rivka's spirits.

Genesis 26 Commentary

Chapter 26

Isaac, because of famine, goes to Gerar. (1-5) He denies his wife and is reproved by Abimelech. (6-11) Isaac grows rich, The Philistines' envy. (12-17) Isaac digs wells God blesses him. (18-25) Abimelech makes a covenant with Isaac. (26-33) Esau's wives. (34,35)

Verses 1-5 Isaac had been trained up in a believing dependence upon the Divine grant of the land of Canaan to him and his heirs; and now that there is a famine in the land, Isaac still cleaves to the covenant. The real worth of God's promises cannot be lessened to a believer by any cross providences that may befall him. If God engage to be with us, and we are where he would have us to be, nothing but our own unbelief and distrust can prevent our comfort. The obedience of Abraham to the Divine command, was evidence of that faith, whereby, as a sinner, he was justified before God, and the effect of that love whereby true faith works. God testifies that he approved this obedience, to encourage others, especially Isaac.

Verses 6-11 There is nothing in Isaac's denial of his wife to be imitated, nor even excused. The temptation of Isaac is the same as that which overcame his father, and that in two instances. This rendered his conduct the greater sin. The falls of those who are gone before us are so many rocks on which others have split; and the recording of them is like placing buoys to save future mariners. This Abimelech was not the same that lived in Abraham's days, but both acted rightly. The sins of professors shame them before those that are not themselves religious.

Verses 12-17 God blessed Isaac. Be it observed, for the encouragement of poor tenants who occupy other people's lands, and are honest and industrious, that God blessed him with a great increase. The Philistines envied Isaac. It is an instance of the vanity of the world; for the more men have of it, the more they are envied, and exposed to censure and injury. Also of the corruption of nature; for that is an ill principle indeed, which makes men grieve at the good of others. They made Isaac go out of their country. That wisdom which is from above, will teach us to give up our right, and to draw back from contentions. If we are wrongfully driven from one place, the Lord will make room for us in another.

Verses 18-25 Isaac met with much opposition in digging wells. Two were called Contention and Hatred. See the nature of worldly things; they make quarrels, and are occasions of strife; and what is often the lot of the most quiet and peaceable; those who avoid striving, yet cannot avoid being striven with. And what a mercy it is to have plenty of water; to have it without striving for it! The more common this mercy is, the more reason to be thankful for it. At length Isaac digged a well, for which they strove not. Those that study to be quiet, seldom fail of being so. When men are false and unkind, still God is faithful and gracious; and his time to show himself so is, when we are most disappointed by men. The same night that Isaac came weary and uneasy to Beer-sheba, God brought comforts to his soul. Those may remove with comfort who are sure of God's presence.

Verses 26-33 When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him, ( Proverbs 16:7 ) . Kings' hearts are in his hands, and when he pleases, he can turn them to favour his people. It is not wrong to stand upon our guard in dealing with those who have acted unfairly. But Isaac did not insist on the unkindnesses they had done him; he freely entered into friendship with them. Religion teaches us to be neighbourly, and, as much as in us lies, to live peaceable with all men. Providence smiled upon what Isaac did; God blessed his labours.

Verses 34-35 Esau was foolish in marrying two wives together, and still more in marrying Canaanites, strangers to the blessing of Abraham, and subject to the curse of Noah. It grieved his parents that he married without their advice and consent. It grieved them that he married among those who had no religion. Children have little reason to expect God's blessing who do that which is a grief of mind to good parents.

Chapter Summary

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.