Genesis 26

There was a famine in the land, besides the earlier famine that happened in Abraham's time. So Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.

1And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

NoteThe Philistines were a people settled on the coastal plain southwest of Canaan. In the books of Samuel they are Israel's chief rivals, arriving from the Aegean around 1200 BC; their appearance here, centuries earlier, is one of the places where Genesis uses a later, familiar name for the inhabitants of that region. Gerar was a town in the dry southern country between the coast and the desert. "Abimelech" means roughly "my father is king" and may be a royal title rather than a personal name, which is why a king of Gerar by that name also appears in Abraham's lifetime (Genesis 20).

2The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt. Live in the land that I will tell you about.

2And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:

NoteEgypt, watered by the Nile rather than by rainfall, did not fail when the rains failed in Canaan, so it was the standard destination for herdsmen escaping famine, Abraham went there in Genesis 12, and Jacob's sons will later. The instruction not to go is therefore telling Isaac to give up the obvious survival move.

3Stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will carry out the promise I swore to your father Abraham.

3Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;

Note"Stay as a foreigner" translates a word for living long-term in a land where you hold no ancestral property and no citizen's rights: you live at the goodwill of the locals, dependent on their protection, and cannot own land or graze freely by right. It is the same status Abraham held.

4I will make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky, and I will give all these lands to your descendants. Through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

4And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

NoteThe Hebrew verb here can be read two ways, and translators divide on it: either "all the nations will be blessed through your descendants," or "all the nations will bless themselves by your descendants": that is, they will use his family as the standard in their own blessings, saying "may we be as fortunate as they are." Both senses are grammatically available.

5This is because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept what I asked of him: my commands, my rules, and my laws."

5Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Note"Commands, rules, and laws" are the standard set of Hebrew legal terms used later for the body of law given through Moses. Applying them to Abraham, who lived long before that law existed, is a way of saying his conduct amounted to the same thing.

6So Isaac lived in Gerar.

6And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:

7The men of that place asked him about his wife, and he said, "She is my sister." He was afraid to say, "She is my wife." He thought the men of the place might kill him on account of Rebekah, because she was beautiful to look at.

7And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.

NoteSaying a woman is your sister rather than your wife removes the motive to kill you: a husband is an obstacle to be got rid of, but a brother is the man you must negotiate with, which buys time. Abraham used the same tactic twice (Genesis 12 and 20). Note that in Abraham's case the claim was half true (Sarah was his half-sister) while Rebekah is Isaac's cousin once removed, not his sister.

8After Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out of a window and saw Isaac being affectionate with his wife Rebekah.

8And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.

NoteThe Hebrew verb translated "being affectionate with" is *metsaheq*, from the same root as Isaac's name, *Yitzhaq*, "he laughs." The line reads something like "Isaac was Isaac-ing with Rebekah," and the word is plainly sexual enough that Abimelech draws the obvious conclusion. English cannot carry both the pun and the sense at once.

9Abimelech called Isaac and said, "She is certainly your wife! How could you say, 'She is my sister'?" Isaac answered him, "Because I thought I might be killed because of her."

9And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.

10Abimelech said, "What is this you have done to us? One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt on us."

10And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.

NoteIn the thinking behind this scene, guilt for adultery falls on a whole community, not only on the individual who committed it, and it exposes them all to punishment. Abimelech's complaint is not moral squeamishness but alarm: Isaac's lie could have brought disaster on his entire people without their knowing why.

11So Abimelech gave an order to all his people: "Anyone who touches this man or his wife will certainly be put to death."

11And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

Note"Touches" here has its legal sense, harms, molests, interferes with. The decree puts Isaac and Rebekah under royal protection, backed by the death penalty.

12Then Isaac planted crops in that land, and that same year he harvested a hundred times what he had planted. The LORD blessed him.

12Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.

NoteA hundredfold return is an enormous yield; ordinary grain harvests in this region ran to perhaps five- or tenfold. It is also worth noting that Isaac is sowing crops at all, his family are herdsmen, and planting grain means settling in one place long enough to see a harvest through.

13The man became great. He kept moving forward and kept growing, until he was very great.

13And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:

14He owned flocks and herds and a large number of servants, and the Philistines were jealous of him.

14For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.

15The Philistines had blocked up all the wells that his father's servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham, and had filled them with dirt.

15For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.

NoteIn semi-arid country a well is capital: digging one is expensive, and holding one amounts to a claim on the surrounding grazing land. Filling a well with dirt does not destroy it permanently but makes it useless without heavy labor to reopen it. It was a recognized hostile act, the equivalent of driving someone off the land without a fight.

16Abimelech said to Isaac, "Move away from us, because you are far stronger than we are."

16And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.

17So Isaac left that place and set up his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and he settled there.

17And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

NoteThe "valley" is a wadi, a streambed that runs with water after rain and lies dry the rest of the year. Water can often be reached by digging into its gravel bed, which is why the well-digging happens there.

18Isaac dug open again the water wells that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had blocked up after Abraham died. He gave them the same names his father had given them.

18And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father had called them.

19Isaac's servants dug in the valley and found a well of fresh, flowing water there.

19And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.

NoteThe Hebrew phrase is "living water", water from an underground spring, moving of its own accord, as opposed to standing water collected in a cistern. It was prized as fresher, cleaner, and unlikely to run out.

20The herdsmen of Gerar argued with Isaac's herdsmen, saying, "The water is ours." So he named the well Esek, because they argued with him.

20And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac’s herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.

Note*Esek* means "quarrel" or "contention." Naming places after what happened at them is common in Genesis, and the name is usually a pun on a word in the sentence that explains it.

21They dug another well, and the herdsmen argued over that one too, so he named it Sitnah.

21And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.

Note*Sitnah* means "hostility" or "accusation", from a legal root meaning to oppose someone or bring a charge against them. The same root lies behind the word *satan*, "adversary."

22He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not argue over that one. He named it Rehoboth and said, "Now the LORD has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land."

22And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

Note*Rehoboth* means "wide open spaces" or "room," and Isaac's explanation ("the LORD has made room for us") is a play on the name.

23From there he went up to Beersheba.

23And he went up from thence to Beersheba.

NoteBeersheba lies at the southern edge of settled Canaan, on the border of the desert. Abraham had made a treaty and dug a well there in Genesis 21, so Isaac is returning to his father's ground.

24That same night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and give you many descendants, for the sake of my servant Abraham."

24And the LORD appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father: fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake.

25So Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD. He set up his tent there, and there his servants dug a well.

25And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac’s servants digged a well.

NoteAn altar is a raised stone platform for burning animal or grain offerings. "Called on the name of the LORD" is an idiom for public worship, proclaiming the god's name aloud and claiming the site for him, which, together with building the altar and pitching the tent, amounts to formally taking possession of the place.

26Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar, along with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol, the commander of his army.

26Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.

Note"One of his friends" renders a court title, not a personal description: the King's Friend was an official position, a royal confidant or adviser. Phichol's title marks him as head of the armed forces. Abimelech is arriving with his cabinet, which signals that this is a state visit, not a social one.

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

27And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?

28They said, "We saw clearly that the LORD was with you, and we said, let there now be a sworn promise between us, between us and you. Let us make an agreement with you,

28And they said, We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee: and we said, Let there be now an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee;

NoteWhat they propose is a treaty of the ordinary ancient kind between unequal parties: a sworn agreement, with the gods called as witnesses, binding both sides to non-aggression. Breaking such an oath was believed to bring down the punishment of the deity invoked, which is what made it enforceable between people who had no shared court to appeal to.

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

29That thou wilt do us no hurt, as we have not touched thee, and as we have done unto thee nothing but good, and have sent thee away in peace: thou art now the blessed of the LORD.

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

30And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.

NoteEating together sealed a treaty. The shared meal was part of the legal procedure, not hospitality added afterward: it made the two parties, for the purposes of the agreement, members of one household.

31They got up early in the morning and swore an oath to one another. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.

31And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.

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

32And it came to pass the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water.

33He named it Shebah. That is why the name of the city is Beersheba to this day.

33And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.

Note*Shebah* echoes the Hebrew word for "oath" and also the word for "seven" (oaths were sworn by sevens; compare the seven lambs in Genesis 21). *Beersheba* can accordingly be read as "well of the oath" or "well of seven." "To this day" is the narrator speaking to his own readers, long after the events.

34Esau was forty years old when he married Judith, the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite.

34And Esau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite:

NoteThe Hittites here are a local Canaanite group, not the great Anatolian empire of the same name; Genesis uses the term for people living in and around Hebron. The point of recording the marriages is that Esau married local women, whereas Abraham had gone to great lengths to get Isaac a wife from the family back in Mesopotamia (Genesis 24), and Jacob will be sent to do the same. Forty is also the age at which Isaac himself married.

35These two women were a grief to Isaac and to Rebekah.

35Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

NoteThe Hebrew is literally "bitterness of spirit" to Isaac and Rebekah. The phrase describes deep and lasting distress, not passing annoyance.