Genesis 26:25-35

25 So he built an altar there, called on the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac's servants dug a well.

26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his adviser and Phicol the commander of his army.

27 Isaac said to them, "Why have you come to me, seeing that you hate me and have sent me away from you?"

28 They said, "We see plainly that the Lord has been with you; so we say, let there be an oath between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you

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

30 So he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.

31 In the morning they rose early and exchanged oaths; and Isaac set them on their way, and they departed from him in peace.

32 That same day Isaac's servants came and told him about the well that they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water!"

33 He called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day.

34 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite;

35 and they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.

Genesis 26:25-35 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. A word resembling the word for [oath]
• [b]. That is [Well of the oath] or [Well of seven]