Genesis 26:26-35

Covenant with Abimelech

26 Then ¹Abimelech came to him from Gerar with his adviser Ahuzzath and Phicol the commander of his army.

27 Isaac said to them, "²Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?"

28 They said, "We see plainly ³that the LORD has been with you; so we said, 'Let there now be an oath between us, even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you,

29 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 ⁴blessed of the LORD.' "

30 Then ⁵he made them a feast, and they ate and drank.

31 In the morning they arose early and ⁶exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace.

32 Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac's servants came in and told him about * the well which they had dug, and said to him, "We have found water."

33 So he called it Shibah; therefore * the name of the city is ⁷Beersheba to this day.

34 When Esau was forty years old ⁸he married * Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite;

35 and ⁹they brought grief * to Isaac and Rebekah.

Genesis 26:26-35 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.

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 21:22
• 2. Judges 11:7
• 3. Genesis 21:22, 23
• 4. Genesis 24:31; Psalms 115:15
• 5. Genesis 19:3
• 6. Genesis 21:31
• 7. Genesis 21:31
• 8. Genesis 28:8; Genesis 36:2
• 9. Genesis 27:46

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "and his confidential friend"
• [b]. Lit "us and you"
• [c]. Lit "and just as we"
• [d]. Lit "swore one to another"
• [e]. Lit "took as wife"
• [f]. Lit "were a bitterness of spirit to"