Genesis 26King James Version (KJV)
26 And 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.
2 And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
3 Sojourn 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;
4 And 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;
5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:
7 And 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.
8 And 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.
9 And 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.
10 And 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.
11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.
12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him.
13 And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great:
14 For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him.
15 For 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.
16 And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we.
17 And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
18 And 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.
19 And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water.
20 And 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.
21 And they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of it Sitnah.
22 And 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.
23 And he went up from thence to Beersheba.
24 And 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.
25 And 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.
26 Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath one of his friends, and Phichol the chief captain of his army.
27 And Isaac said unto them, Wherefore come ye to me, seeing ye hate me, and have sent me away from you?
28 And 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;
29 That 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.
30 And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink.
31 And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace.
32 And 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.
33 And he called it Shebah: therefore the name of the city is Beersheba unto this day.
34 And 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:
35 Which were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.
Commentary
Isaac and Abimelech (26:1-33)
When a famine created hardship in Canaan, Isaac proved his faith and obedience by refusing to leave the land. He remained in the Palestine region on the south coast of Canaan, believing that God would provide for him and his household in the land God promised him. But he lacked the faith to trust God to protect him from violence and, like his father, he lied to protect himself (26:1-11; cf. 12:10-20, 20:1-18).
God blessed Isaac as he had promised, but Isaac’s farming successes stirred up the envy of the Philistines. He and his men were forced to flee from place to place as the Philistines either seized their wells or filled them in (12-22). Gradually he was pushed out of the best Philistine pastures, but God was still with him. Though he was forced back eventually to Beersheba, God reassured him of his presence and encouraged him to persevere (23-25).
The Philistine king, fearful of the power of Isaac’s God, thought it wise to renew the treaty made previously with Abraham. In spite of the Philistines’ hostility and arrogance, Isaac renewed the treaty (26- 31; cf. 21:22-24). That same day Isaac’s men found water, having redug Abraham’s well that the Philistines had apparently filled in (32-33; cf. 21:25-34).
Note: Abimelech (meaning ‘father-king’) was not a person’s name, but a Philistine royal title (cf. the Egyptian royal title, Pharaoh). The Abimelech of Abraham’s day was a different Abimelech from the one of Isaac’s day. The Abimelech of David’s day was named Achish (cf. the title of Ps 34 with 1 Sam 21:10- 15). Likewise Phicol was not a person’s name, but the title of the army commander (cf. 21:32; 26:26).
Jacob receives Isaac’s blessing (26:34-28:9)
The custom in ancient times was for the father of the household to confirm the birthright on his firstborn son by giving his special blessing just before he died. People considered this blessing to be more than just a promise; they saw it as a prophecy that carried God’s favour. Isaac knew that God’s will was for Jacob, not Esau, to receive the firstborn’s blessing (see 25:23). Yet he was determined to give the blessing to Esau, even though Esau, by taking wives from among the Canaanites, confirmed his own position as being outside God’s covenant blessings (26:34-27:4).
Rebekah and Jacob were also at fault, because of their deceit and lack of trust in God (5-24). In spite of these failures, Jacob received the blessing that God intended for him. He was to be the head of God’s promised people, who would live in a prosperous land and have victory over their enemies (25-29).
On finding that his scheme had not worked, Isaac accepted the fact that God’s will for the blessing of Jacob could not be changed (30-37). The only blessing Isaac could give Esau was the promise that he too would be father of a nation (to be known as Edom; cf. 25:30); but that nation would live in a barren region where it would be in constant conflict with its neighbours, particularly Israel (38-40; cf. Num 24:18; 1 Sam 14:47; 2 Sam 8:13-14; 1 Kings 11:15-16; 2 Kings 8:20-22; 14:7,22).
In bitterness Esau planned to kill Jacob, so Rebekah decided to send Jacob to her brother Laban for safety (41-45). However, knowing Isaac’s feeling concerning Jacob’s deceit, she gave Isaac a different reason for sending Jacob away. Jacob needed a wife, and Rebekah knew that Isaac would not want a third Canaanite daughter-in-law, as Esau’s existing Canaanite wives created enough trouble (46; cf. 26:34-35). Isaac therefore agreed to Rebekah’s suggestion to send Jacob north to find a wife among Rebekah’s relatives. He sent Jacob off with the blessing of the covenant, this time giving his blessing knowingly and willingly. As for Rebekah, she gained what she wanted, but as far as we know she never saw her favourite son again (28:1-5).
When Esau learnt that his parents did not approve of his Canaanite wives, he married again, this time to one of Ishmael’s daughters. By such a marriage, Esau gave further confirmation that he was outside God’s covenant blessings (6-9).