Genesis 26

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Facing famine, Isaac went to Gerar, where the LORD appeared, commanding him to stay and reiterating the Abrahamic covenant. Isaac, fearing for his life, misrepresented Rebekah as his sister, a deception discovered by King Abimelech. Isaac prospered greatly, leading to Philistine envy and disputes over wells. After further divine reassurance, Isaac made a covenant of peace with Abimelech at Beersheba.

Isaac and God’s Covenant Reaffirmed 1–6

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

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

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 lands, and I will establish the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;

and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these lands; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

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

And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:

Isaac Deceives Abimelech 7–11

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

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.

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 because of her.

And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might easily have lain with thy wife, and thou wouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.

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

Prosperity and Philistine Envy 12–17

And Isaac sowed in that land, and found in the same year a hundredfold: and Jehovah blessed him.

And the man waxed great, and grew more and more until he became very great:

and he had possessions of flocks, and possessions of herds, and a great household: and the Philistines envied him.

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

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

And Isaac departed thence, and encamped in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

Conflict Over Wells 18–23

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.

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

And the herdsmen of Gerar strove with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him.

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

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 Jehovah hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

And he went up from thence to Beer-sheba.

God Appears at Beersheba 24–25

And Jehovah 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.

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

Covenant with Abimelech 26–33

Then Abimelech went to him from Gerar, and Ahuzzath his friend, and Phicol the captain of his host.

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

And they said, We saw plainly that Jehovah was with thee: and we said, Let there now be an oath betwixt us, even betwixt us and thee, and let us make a covenant with thee,

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 Jehovah.

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

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.

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.

And he called it Shibah: therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba unto this day.

Esau Marries Hittite Women 34–35

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

and they were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Genesis 26

Verse 1

beside the first famine — The first is that of 12:10, when Abram 'went down into Egypt to sojourn there'. Ra'ab is hunger, famine. Isaac goes to Gerar, to 'Abimelech king of the Philistines', where Abraham had sojourned (20:1), and the LORD appears to him in v.2.

Verse 2

Go not down into Egypt — The verb is yarad, to go down, the one used when Abram 'went down into Egypt' (12:10). This is the first time the LORD appears to Isaac. 'Dwell' (shakan) 'in the land which I shall tell thee of' recalls the 'land that I will shew thee' of 12:1: the place is the LORD's choosing, not the famine's.

Verse 3

I will perform the oath — 'Sojourn' is gur, to live as a resident stranger, the word of 12:10, whose noun magur is 'the land wherein thou art a stranger' (17:8). The promise is renewed to Isaac in Abraham's terms: 'I will be with thee', blessing, the land, and 'the oath which I sware unto Abraham'. Ps 105:9 names it 'his oath unto Isaac'.

Verse 4

in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed — The promise is that of 22:17–18, with the stars of 15:5, now given to Isaac by name. Peter cites it as 'in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed' (Acts 3:25), and Paul reads the singular 'seed' of Christ: 'to thy seed, which is Christ' (Gal 3:16).

Verse 5

kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws — These are four terms for what Abraham observed, and the last (torah, plural 'laws') makes its first appearance in the KJV. 'Obeyed my voice' is the ground given in 22:18, 'because thou hast obeyed my voice', after the offering of Isaac. The words describe Abraham's obedience before the law at Sinai.

Verse 7

She is my sister — Isaac repeats Abraham's words (12:13; 20:2). 'Feared' (yare) names the motive: 'lest… the men of the place should kill me'. Abraham gave the same reason in 20:11, 'Surely the fear of God is not in this place', and Prov 29:25 says 'The fear of man bringeth a snare'. Rebekah is 'fair to look upon', as Sarai was (12:11).

Verse 10

thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us — Asham is guilt, the word also used for the trespass offering. Abimelech's complaint, 'What is this thou hast done unto us?', echoes the Abimelech of Abraham's day: 'thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin' (20:9). 'Lightly' is me'at, 'almost': one of his people had nearly lain with her.

Verse 12

received in the same year an hundredfold — He sowed in the land he was told to dwell in (v.2). 'Hundredfold' is me'ah she'arim, literally a hundred measures. 'And the LORD blessed him' is the promise of v.3 kept; v.13 adds that he 'waxed great… until he became very great'. Christ names the same yield for seed on good ground (Mark 4:8).

Verse 15

the Philistines had stopped them — The wells were Abraham's. At Beersheba he had set apart seven ewe lambs 'that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well' (21:30). Satam is to stop up. v.18 shows the closing was done 'after the death of Abraham', and Isaac reopens them.

Verse 18

he called their names after the names by which his father had called them — 'Digged again' is literally 'returned and digged' (shuv). The wells (be'er) had been named by Abraham, and Isaac gives the same names back, so the sites carry their first witness. He then finds a new well (v.19) in the valley and loses two to strife before Rehoboth.

Verse 22

Rehoboth — The name is from rachab, to be wide, the verb in 'the LORD hath made room for us'. The earlier wells, Esek (v.20) and Sitnah (v.21), were named for strife (Esek from 'asaq, 'strove with him', v.20). 'Fruitful' (parah) recalls God's blessing words at creation, and the same word in 17:6, 'I will make thee exceeding fruitful'. The name records what the LORD did.

Verse 24

I am the God of Abraham thy father — The LORD appears 'the same night', at Beersheba (v.23). 'Fear not' is the word given to Abram in 15:1. Abraham is 'my servant', and the blessing is for his sake. The title 'God of Abraham' becomes 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' (Ex 3:6).

Verse 25

called upon the name of the LORD — The altar, the tent and the calling are Abraham's pattern at Bethel (12:8), and Abraham 'called there on the name of the LORD' at Beersheba itself (21:33). Qara' is to call. The LORD has just spoken to Isaac here (v.24), and he answers with worship before anything else.

Verse 28

We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee — 'We saw certainly' repeats the verb (ra'oh ra'inu, 'seeing, we saw'). 'With thee' is the promise of vv.3 and 24, seen by the Philistines. Abimelech said as much to Abraham, 'God is with thee in all that thou doest' (21:22). 'Make a covenant' is literally to 'cut' one (karat).

Verse 33

Shebah — Shib'ah is 'seven', the root of the verb 'to swear' (shaba', 'sware', v.31). Abraham gave the place its name when seven ewe lambs were set apart and 'there they sware both of them' (21:30–31). The city is called Beersheba 'unto this day'.

Verse 34

Esau was forty years old — Forty is Isaac's age when he took Rebekah (25:20). Esau takes two Hittite wives. Abraham had made his servant swear not to take a wife for Isaac 'of the daughters of the Canaanites' (24:3), and Rebekah later calls them 'the daughters of Heth' (27:46).

Verse 35

a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah — Morah ruach is literally 'bitterness of spirit'. Rebekah later says she is 'weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth' (27:46), and Esau, 'seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father', takes another wife (28:8).