Genesis 26
New American Standard Bible
Isaac Settles in Gerar
26 Now there was (A)a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to (B)Abimelech king of the Philistines. 2 And the Lord (C)appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; (D)stay in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Live for a time in this land and (E)I will be with you and (F)bless you, for (G)to you and to your [a]descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish (H)the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. 4 (I)I will multiply your [b]descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your [c]descendants all these lands; and (J)by your [d]descendants all the nations of the earth [e]shall be blessed, 5 because Abraham [f](K)obeyed Me and fulfilled his duty to Me, and kept My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”
6 So Isaac lived in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, “(L)She is my sister,” for he was (M)afraid to say, “my wife,” thinking, “[g]the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, since she is (N)beautiful.” 8 Now it came about, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked down through a window, and saw them, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 Then Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she certainly is your wife! So how is it that you said, ‘She is my sister’?” And Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘otherwise I might be killed on account of her.’” 10 And (O)Abimelech said, “What is this that you have done to us? One of the people might easily have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” 11 So Abimelech commanded all the people, saying, “He who (P)touches this man or his wife will certainly be put to death.”
12 Now Isaac sowed in that land and [h]reaped in the same year a hundred times as much. And (Q)the Lord blessed him, 13 and the man (R)became rich, and continued to grow [i]richer until he became very [j]wealthy; 14 for (S)he had possessions of flocks [k]and herds, and a great household, so that the Philistines envied him. 15 Now (T)all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up [l]by filling them with dirt. 16 Then Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are [m](U)too powerful for us.” 17 So Isaac departed from there and camped in the Valley of Gerar, and [n]settled there.
Argument over the Wells
18 Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which [o]had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he [p]gave them the same names which his father had [q]given them. 19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of [r]flowing water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar (V)quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well [s]Esek, because they argued with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it [t]Sitnah. 22 Then he moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it [u]Rehoboth, for he said, “[v](W)At last the Lord has made [w]room for us, and we will be (X)fruitful in the land.”
23 And he went up from there to (Y)Beersheba. 24 And the Lord (Z)appeared to him the same night and said,
“(AA)I am the God of your father Abraham;
(AB)Do not fear, for I am with you.
I (AC)will bless you and multiply your [x]descendants,
For the sake of My servant Abraham.”
25 So he built an (AD)altar there and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
Covenant with Abimelech
26 Then (AE)Abimelech came to him from Gerar [y]with his adviser Ahuzzath, and Phicol the commander of his army. 27 Isaac said to them, “(AF)Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” 28 They said, “We have seen plainly (AG)that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘An oath must now be taken [z]by us,’ that is, [aa]by you and us. So let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you [ab]and have done to you nothing but good, and have sent you away in peace. You are now the (AH)blessed of the Lord.” 30 Then (AI)he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. 31 In the morning they got up early and [ac](AJ)exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away, and they left 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 [ad]Shibah; therefore the name of the city is (AK)Beersheba to this day.
34 When Esau was forty years old (AL)he [ae]married Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; 35 and (AM)they [af]brought grief to Isaac and Rebekah.
Footnotes
- Genesis 26:3 Lit seed
- Genesis 26:4 Lit seed
- Genesis 26:4 Lit seed
- Genesis 26:4 Lit seed
- Genesis 26:4 Or bless themselves
- Genesis 26:5 Lit listened diligently to My voice
- Genesis 26:7 Lit lest...place
- Genesis 26:12 Lit found
- Genesis 26:13 Lit great
- Genesis 26:13 Lit great
- Genesis 26:14 Lit and possessions of herds
- Genesis 26:15 Lit and filled them
- Genesis 26:16 Lit much mightier than we
- Genesis 26:17 Lit dwelt
- Genesis 26:18 Lit they had dug
- Genesis 26:18 Lit called their names as the names
- Genesis 26:18 Lit called
- Genesis 26:19 Lit living
- Genesis 26:20 I.e., argument
- Genesis 26:21 I.e., accusation
- Genesis 26:22 I.e., broad places
- Genesis 26:22 Lit Truly now
- Genesis 26:22 Or broad
- Genesis 26:24 Lit seed
- Genesis 26:26 Lit and his confidential friend
- Genesis 26:28 Lit between us
- Genesis 26:28 Lit between us and you
- Genesis 26:29 Lit and just as we
- Genesis 26:31 Lit swore one to another
- Genesis 26:33 Meaning uncertain, perhaps oath
- Genesis 26:34 Lit took as wife
- Genesis 26:35 Lit were a bitterness of spirit to
Genesis 26
The Message
26 There was a famine in the land, as bad as the famine during the time of Abraham. And Isaac went down to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
2-5 God appeared to him and said, “Don’t go down to Egypt; stay where I tell you. Stay here in this land and I’ll be with you and bless you. I’m giving you and your children all these lands, fulfilling the oath that I swore to your father Abraham. I’ll make your descendants as many as the stars in the sky and give them all these lands. All the nations of the Earth will get a blessing for themselves through your descendants. And why? Because Abraham obeyed my summons and kept my charge—my commands, my guidelines, my teachings.”
6 So Isaac stayed put in Gerar.
7 The men of the place questioned him about his wife. He said, “She’s my sister.” He was afraid to say “She’s my wife.” He was thinking, “These men might kill me to get Rebekah, she’s so beautiful.”
8-9 One day, after they had been there quite a long time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac fondling his wife Rebekah. Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So, she’s your wife. Why did you tell us ‘She’s my sister’?”
Isaac said, “Because I thought I might get killed by someone who wanted her.”
10 Abimelech said, “But think of what you might have done to us! Given a little more time, one of the men might have slept with your wife; you would have been responsible for bringing guilt down on us.”
11 Then Abimelech gave orders to his people: “Anyone who so much as lays a hand on this man or his wife dies.”
12-15 Isaac planted crops in that land and took in a huge harvest. God blessed him. The man got richer and richer by the day until he was very wealthy. He accumulated flocks and herds and many, many servants, so much so that the Philistines began to envy him. They got back at him by throwing dirt and debris into all the wells that his father’s servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham, clogging up all the wells.
16 Finally, Abimelech told Isaac: “Leave. You’ve become far too big for us.”
17-18 So Isaac left. He camped in the valley of Gerar and settled down there. Isaac dug again the wells which were dug in the days of his father Abraham but had been clogged up by the Philistines after Abraham’s death. And he renamed them, using the original names his father had given them.
19-24 One day, as Isaac’s servants were digging in the valley, they came on a well of spring water. The shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s shepherds, claiming, “This water is ours.” So Isaac named the well Esek (Quarrel) because they quarreled over it. They dug another well and there was a difference over that one also, so he named it Sitnah (Accusation). He went on from there and dug yet another well. But there was no fighting over this one so he named it Rehoboth (Wide-Open Spaces), saying, “Now God has given us plenty of space to spread out in the land.” From there he went up to Beersheba. That very night God appeared to him and said,
I am the God of Abraham your father;
don’t fear a thing because I’m with you.
I’ll bless you and make your children flourish
because of Abraham my servant.
25 Isaac built an altar there and prayed, calling on God by name. He pitched his tent and his servants started digging another well.
26-27 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath his advisor and Phicol the head of his troops. Isaac asked them, “Why did you come to me? You hate me; you threw me out of your country.”
28-29 They said, “We’ve realized that God is on your side. We’d like to make a deal between us—a covenant that we maintain friendly relations. We haven’t bothered you in the past; we treated you kindly and let you leave us in peace. So—God’s blessing be with you!”
30-31 Isaac laid out a feast and they ate and drank together. Early in the morning they exchanged oaths. Then Isaac said good-bye and they parted as friends.
32-33 Later that same day, Isaac’s servants came to him with news about the well they had been digging, “We’ve struck water!” Isaac named the well Sheba (Oath), and that’s the name of the city, Beersheba (Oath-Well), to this day.
* * *
34-35 When Esau was forty years old he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite. They turned out to be thorns in the sides of Isaac and Rebekah.
* * *
Genesis 26
King James Version
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.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson