Genesis 26:24-34

24 Where the Lord appeared to him that same night, saying: I am the God of Abraham thy father, do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.

25 And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent; and commanded his servants to dig a well.

26 To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers, came from Gerara,

27 Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate, and have thrust out from you?

28 And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant,

29 That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee; but with peace have sent thee away, increased with the blessing of the Lord.

30 And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:

31 Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away peaceably to their own home.

32 And behold, the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him of a well which they had digged, and saying: We have found water.

33 Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city was called Bersabee, even to this day.

34 And Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the Hethite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon, of the same place.

Genesis 26:24-34 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.