Genesis 26
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 26
Isaac and Abimelech. 1 [a](A)There was a famine in the land, distinct from the earlier one that had occurred in the days of Abraham, and Isaac went down to Abimelech, king of the Philistines in Gerar.(B) 2 The Lord appeared to him and said: Do not go down to Egypt, but camp in this land wherever I tell you. 3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I will give all these lands, in fulfillment of the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.(C) 4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth will find blessing—(D) 5 this because Abraham obeyed me, keeping my mandate, my commandments, my ordinances, and my instructions.
6 [b]So Isaac settled in Gerar. 7 When the men of the place asked questions about his wife, he answered, “She is my sister.” He was afraid that, if he called her his wife, the men of the place would kill him on account of Rebekah, since she was beautiful. 8 But when they had been there for a long time, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out of a window and saw Isaac fondling his wife Rebekah. 9 He called for Isaac and said: “She must certainly be your wife! How could you have said, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “I thought I might lose my life on her account.” 10 “How could you have done this to us!” exclaimed Abimelech. “It would have taken very little for one of the people to lie with your wife, and so you would have brought guilt upon us!” 11 Abimelech then commanded all the people: “Anyone who maltreats this man or his wife shall be put to death.”
12 [c]Isaac sowed a crop in that region and reaped a hundredfold the same year. Since the Lord blessed him, 13 (E)he became richer and richer all the time, until he was very wealthy. 14 He acquired flocks and herds, and a great work force, and so the Philistines became envious of him. 15 (F)The Philistines had stopped up and filled with dirt all the wells that his father’s servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham. 16 So Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us; you have become far too numerous for us.” 17 Isaac left there and camped in the Wadi Gerar where he stayed. 18 Isaac reopened the wells which his father’s servants had dug back in the days of his father Abraham and which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham’s death; he gave them names like those that his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the wadi and reached spring water in their well, 20 the shepherds of Gerar argued with Isaac’s shepherds, saying, “The water belongs to us!” So he named the well Esek,[d] because they had quarreled there. 21 Then they dug another well, and they argued over that one too; so he named it Sitnah.[e] 22 So he moved on from there and dug still another well, but over this one they did not argue. He named it Rehoboth,[f] and said, “Because the Lord has now given us ample room, we shall flourish in the land.”
23 From there Isaac went up to Beer-sheba. 24 The same night the Lord appeared to him and said: I am the God of Abraham, your father. Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for the sake of Abraham, my servant.(G) 25 So Isaac built an altar there and invoked the Lord by name. After he had pitched his tent there, Isaac’s servants began to dig a well nearby.
26 (H)Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath, his councilor, and Phicol, the general of his army. 27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have driven me away from you?” 28 They answered: “We clearly see that the Lord has been with you, so we thought: let there be a sworn agreement between our two sides—between you and us. Let us make a covenant with you: 29 you shall do no harm to us, just as we have not maltreated you, but have always acted kindly toward you and have let you depart in peace. So now, may you be blessed by the Lord!” 30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning they exchanged oaths. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they departed from him in peace.
32 That same day Isaac’s servants came and informed him about the well they had been digging; they told him, “We have reached water!” 33 He called it Shibah;[g] hence the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day. 34 [h]When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hivite.(I) 35 But they became a source of bitterness to Isaac and Rebekah.
Footnotes
- 26:1 The promise of land and numerous descendants given to Abraham (12:1–3; 15; 17; 22:17–18) is renewed for his son Isaac. The divine blessing to Isaac is mentioned also in vv. 12, 24, and 29.
- 26:6–11 This scene is the third version of the wife-in-danger story (cf. chaps. 12 and 20). The mention of the famine in 26:1 recalls the famine in 12:10; the name Abimelech, king of the Philistines in Gerar, recalls 20:2. The deception, according to all the stories, is the claim that the wife is a sister. This story (from the Yahwist source) departs from the two previous accounts in that the wife is not taken into the harem of the foreign king.
- 26:12–33 The dispute is over water rights. In a sparsely watered land, wells were precious and claims on water could function as a kind of claim on the land. Scholars generally judge the account of the dispute over water rights and its settlement by a legal agreement between Isaac and Abimelech to be a Yahwist version of the similar story about Abraham in 21:22–34. Here, Abimelech realizes that Isaac has brought blessing to his people and thus desires a covenant with him. The feast in v. 30 is part of the covenant ceremony.
- 26:20 Esek: “quarrel.”
- 26:21 Sitnah: “opposition.”
- 26:22 Rehoboth: “wide spaces,” i.e., ample room to live; site is probably SW of modern day Beer-sheba.
- 26:33 Shibah: the place name Shibah is a play on two Hebrew words, shebu‘ah, “oath,” and shwebaa‘, “seven.” In v. 31, they exchanged oaths.
- 26:34–35 These verses from the Priestly source introduce the next section on Esau’s loss of his right as firstborn by suggesting a motivation for this in Isaac’s and Rebekah’s dislike for Esau’s Canaanite wives.
Genesis 26
Tree of Life Version
Confirming the Covenant with Isaac
26 Now there was a famine in the land—aside from the previous famine that happened in Abraham’s days. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines, to Gerar. 2 Then Adonai appeared to him and said, “Do not go down to Egypt. Dwell in the land about which I tell you. 3 Live as an outsider in this land and I will be with you and bless you—for to you and to your seed I give all these lands—and I will confirm my pledge that I swore to Abraham your father. 4 I will multiply your seed like the stars of the sky and I will give your seed all these lands. And in your seed all the nations of the earth will continually be blessed, 5 because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My charge, My mitzvot, My decrees, and My instructions.” 6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar.
7 Now the men of the place asked about his wife. So he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “my wife”—“or else the men of the place would kill me on account of Rebekah, because she’s good looking.”
8 Now after he had been there for a long time, King Abimelech of the Philistines peered down through the window and saw, behold, Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. 9 So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “So in fact she’s your wife! Now how could you say, ‘She’s my sister’?”
Isaac said to him, “Because I said, ‘Or else I might die because of her.’”
10 Then Abimelech said, “What is it that you’ve done to us? One of the people could have easily slept with your wife and you would’ve brought guilt on us.”
11 So Abimelech commanded all the people saying, “Whoever touches this man or his wife will surely die!”
Adonai Blesses Isaac
12 Then Isaac sowed in that land and in that year reaped a hundredfold. Adonai blessed him 13 and the man became great and continued to become greater until he became very great. 14 He acquired livestock of sheep and livestock of cattle, and numerous servants. Then the Philistines envied him. 15 All the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the days of his father Abraham the Philistines stopped up and filled with dirt. 16 So Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much more powerful than us.”
17 So Isaac departed from there, camped in the Valley of Gerar and dwelled there. 18 Then Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of his father Abraham—the Philistines had stopped them up after Abraham’s death. He gave them the same names that his father had given them. 19 Then Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found a well of living water there. 20 But the shepherds of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s shepherds saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Quarrel, because they quarreled with him. 21 Then he dug another well and they quarreled over it too, so he named it Accusation. 22 Then he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he named it Wide Spaces and said, “Because now Adonai has created wide spaces for us and we will be fruitful in the land.”
23 He went up from there to Beer-sheba. 24 Adonai appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you, and I will bless you and multiply your seed for the sake of Abraham my servant.”
25 So he built an altar there and called on the Name of Adonai. He pitched his tent there and Isaac’s servants hollowed out a well there.
Covenant of Isaac and Abimelech
26 Now Abimelech went to him from Gerar along with Achuzzat his friend and Phicol the commander of his army. 27 Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and sent me away from you?”
28 They said, “We’ve clearly seen that Adonai has been with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an agreement between us—between us and you—and let us make a covenant with you: 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we haven’t touched you and just as we did nothing to you but good, and sent you away in shalom. You are now blessed by Adonai.”
30 Then he made a feast for them and they ate and drank. 31 Then they got up early in the morning and made a pledge, each to his brother. Then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in shalom. 32 Now it happened that on that day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well that they dug, and said to him, “We’ve found water.” 33 So he called it Pledge. That is why the city’s name is Beer-sheba to this day.
34 When Esau was 40 years old, he took as wife Judith the daughter of Be-eri the Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 But they caused a bitterness of spirit for Isaac and Rebekah.
1 Mosebok 26
Svenska Folkbibeln
Isak i Gerar
26 Det blev en ny hungersnöd i landet, efter den som hade inträffat på Abrahams tid, och Isak begav sig då till filisteernas kung Abimelek[a] i Gerar. 2 Då uppenbarade Herren sig för honom och sade: "Drag inte ner till Egypten utan bo kvar i det land som jag säger dig. 3 Stanna som främling här i landet. Jag skall vara med dig och välsigna dig, ty åt dig och dina efterkommande skall jag ge alla dessa landområden, och jag skall hålla den ed som jag har svurit din fader Abraham. 4 Jag skall göra dina efterkommande talrika som stjärnorna på himlen, och åt dina efterkommande skall jag ge alla dessa landområden. Och i din avkomma skall alla jordens hednafolk bli välsignade, 5 eftersom Abraham lyssnade till min röst och tog vara på det jag förordnat: mina befallningar, föreskrifter och lagar."
6 Så stannade Isak i Gerar. 7 När männen på orten frågade om hans hustru, sade han: "Hon är min syster", för han var rädd för att säga: "min hustru". Han tänkte: "Männen här på platsen kan slå ihjäl mig för Rebeckas skull, eftersom hon är så vacker." 8 Men när han hade varit där en längre tid, hände det sig att filisteernas kung Abimelek tittade ut genom fönstret och fick se Isak kela med sin hustru Rebecka. 9 Abimelek kallade till sig Isak och sade: "Hon är ju din hustru! Hur kunde du säga att hon är din syster?" Isak svarade honom: "Jag var rädd att jag annars skulle bli dödad för hennes skull." 10 Då sade Abimelek: "Vad har du gjort mot oss? Hur lätt kunde det inte ha hänt att någon från vårt folk hade legat med din hustru, och då hade du dragit skuld över oss." 11 Sedan befallde Abimelek hela folket: "Den som rör den här mannen eller hans hustru skall straffas med döden."
12 Isak sådde där i landet och fick det året hundrafalt, ty Herren välsignade honom. 13 Han blev en mäktig man, och hans egendom växte mer och mer, så att han till slut var mycket rik. 14 Han ägde så mycket får och nötboskap och hade så många tjänare att filisteerna blev avundsjuka på honom. 15 Alla brunnar som hans fars tjänare hade grävt medan hans fader Abraham levde, fyllde filisteerna igen med jord. 16 Abimelek sade till Isak: "Flytta bort från oss! Du har blivit alldeles för mäktig för oss." 17 Då flyttade Isak därifrån och slog sig ner i Gerars dalgång och bodde där.
18 Isak grävde på nytt upp de vattenbrunnar som hade grävts på hans fader Abrahams tid men som filisteerna hade fyllt igen efter Abrahams död. Och han gav dem samma namn som hans far hade givit dem. 19 När Isaks tjänare grävde i dalen, fann de en källa med rinnande vatten. 20 Herdarna i Gerar började då tvista med Isaks herdar och sade: "Vattnet är vårt!" Därför gav han den brunnen namnet Esek,[b] eftersom de hade grälat med honom. 21 Därefter grävde Isaks tjänare en annan brunn, men de började tvista om den också. Då gav han den namnet Sitna.[c] 22 Sedan bröt han upp därifrån och grävde ännu en brunn. Om den tvistade de inte. Därför gav han den namnet Rehobot,[d] och sade: "Nu har Herren gett oss utrymme, så att vi kan föröka oss i landet."
23 Därifrån drog Isak upp till Beer-Sheba. 24 Den natten uppenbarade sig Herren för honom och sade: "Jag är din fader Abrahams Gud. Frukta inte! Jag är med dig, och jag skall välsigna dig och göra din avkomma talrik för min tjänare Abrahams skull". 25 Då byggde han ett altare där och åkallade Herrens namn och slog upp sitt tält. Och Isaks tjänare grävde där en brunn.
Isak och Abimelek sluter förbund
26 Abimelek kom till honom från Gerar tillsammans med sin vän Ahussat och sin befälhavare Pikol. 27 Men Isak sade till dem: "Varför kommer ni till mig, ni som hatar mig och har drivit bort mig ifrån er." 28 De svarade: "Vi har tydligt sett att Herren är med dig. Därför tänkte vi att vi borde ge varandra en ed och sluta förbund: 29 Du skall inte göra oss något ont, liksom vi å vår sida inte har ofredat dig och inte gjort dig annat än gott och låtit dig fara i frid. Du är nu välsignad av Herren." 30 Då ordnade Isak en festmåltid för dem, och de åt och drack. 31 De steg upp tidigt följande morgon och svor varandra eden. Sedan sände Isak i väg dem, och de for ifrån honom i frid.
32 Samma dag kom Isaks tjänare och berättade för honom om den brunn de hade grävt och sade till honom: "Vi har funnit vatten." 33 Och han kallade den Shiba. Därför heter staden Beer-Sheba än i dag.
Esaus hustrur
34 När Esau var fyrtio år tog han till hustrur Judit, dotter till hetiten Beeri, och Basemat, dotter till hetiten Elon. 35 Men de blev en hjärtesorg för Isak och Rebecka.
Footnotes
- 1 Mosebok 26:1 Abimelek Sannolikt son eller sonson till Abimelek i 1 Mos 20:2.
- 1 Mosebok 26:20 Esek betyder "gräl".
- 1 Mosebok 26:21 Sitna betyder "strid".
- 1 Mosebok 26:22 Rehobot betyder "utrymme".
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.
1996, 1998 by Stiftelsen Svenska Folkbibeln